This article discusses how the conditions in Russia are changing the characteristics of rural families, reducing the prevalence of traditional culture, changing the behavior of rural youth, and increasing familial conflict and the incidence of divorce. The deterioration of the social and economic situation that is being experienced today by many…

By making the husband and wife legal adversaries, the traditional divorce process only reinforces and escalates anger and distrust. In contrast, mediation employs principles of cooperation and conflict resolution. A description of family mediation is provided and includes guidelines for deciding issues about money and children. (Author)

Discusses the fast growing profession of mediation for couples undergoing separation and divorce. Discusses questions of consumers concerning how the process works, how long it takes, and its costs and questions of professionals, concerning the process, the qualifications of mediators, and referral for mediation. (Author/ABB)

Discusses a study to determine if a predictable pattern of adjustment, common among couples in which the wife was a doctoral student, could be anticipated and plotted. Makes recommendations for facilitating progress and providing support for students during stressful periods. (JOW)

To better serve the growing number of Spanish-speaking couples and families in the U.S., it is useful to have a battery of instruments to assess the nature of their marital distress. This article presents the standard assessment battery that Brigham Young University uses to evaluate marital distress. (Contains 11 references and 1 table.) (GCP)

Examines the Marriage Contract Game which can improve the skills of distressed couples and refocus their attention away from their children and toward their own marriages. Subjects were four distressed couples. Results showed that game play improved couple's problem-solving and positive feeling statements in home discussions of problems. (BH)

Presents Couples' Seminar, designed to help spouses confront the new context for the family resulting from professional job loss, to help them adapt to that context, and to make restructuring of their obsolete patterns possible. Notes that this preventive approach recognizes the reluctance of professional workers to seek professional help to deal…

Relationship education holds much promise for reducing the individual, family, and community costs of relationship distress and breakdown. To realize this, potential educators need to offer evidence-based education that tailors content to the risk and resiliency profiles of the couples. Education needs to be offered at crucial developmental points…

The authors suggest that counselors should expand their awareness of emotional abuse within heterosexual relationships, offering definitions of emotional abuse and statistics that confirm the victimization of men. The implications of this knowledge for counselors" personal growth and therapeutic practice are discussed. The statistics on the…

Describes a two-year treatment of a case of marital abuse. Used psychoanalytic and family systems theory to understand the processes contributing to the emergence of violence. Documents resistances to total change. (Author/ABB)

ASSIST is a self-help program for spouses whose partners are employed in stressful occupations. Describes ASSIST from a practitioner's viewpoint, discusses emergent issues among spouses, and suggests using ASSIST as a helping resource. (Author)

The weeks following the birth of a child can be stressful for new mothers. Maternal stress may be increased when mothers are dissatisfied with instrumental partner support (e.g., division of childcare duties and family decision-making power). The purpose of the current study was to determine if there is an association between dissatisfaction with…

This article describes a conceptual framework for couple-based assessment strategies grounded in empirical findings linking couple distress to a broad range of both individual and relationship characteristics. These characteristics can contribute to, exacerbate, or result from relationship problems. On the basis of these findings, the authors…

The effects of individual values upon the development of conflicts and the resolution of marital problems through counseling are explored, using the Interpersonal Growth Scale (IGS). This instrument is described as it evaluates the processes of growing apart and growing together, and notes operating values, determining their functions and…

Parents of a premature infant with possible developmental problems were having marital difficulties stemming from different attitudes and approaches towards the professionals treating their child. (CL)