Explored the frequency of marital separations of 48 hours or more due to marital discord in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, residents (N=1,101). Results indicated one in six couples is likely to separate at some point in their relationship. Income and children account for much of the variation between race, sex, and separations. (Author/BL)

Of marriages in 1972, fewer joint remarriages than first marriages ended in divorce. Within specific age/sex groupings (e.g., men 20 to 24 years old), more remarriages than first marriages ended in divorce. Difference occurred because couples entering remarriages were older than those entering first marriages and divorce rates declined with…

Examines how much attention males and females pay to positive and negative information about their marriages as a function of their belief that the marriage is either in trouble or basically satisfactory. Participants (N=121) viewed and responded to videotapes of couples discussing their problems. Female participants attended more than male…

Explores how couples cope with marital conflict from the early years of their relationships to the present time. Focuses on conflict management styles from face-to-face confrontation to avoidance, as well as gender and ethnicity influences on styles of coping with conflict. Implications for social work practice are discussed. (Author/MKA)

Examined characteristics of continuing relationship between former spouses (N=118) as function of parent status, gender, length of marriage, and time since separation. Certain aspects of the continuing relationship were found to be significantly related to each of these demographic characteristics. (Author/NRB)

Sixty marital dyads completed Dyadic Adjustment Scale and participated in problem discussions while using communication box. Intent ratings of distressed wives were significantly more negative than those provided by distressed husbands or by nondistressed wives. Distressed wives predicted that impact of their messages would be more negative than…

Evaluated the effect of previous marital history, particularly the husband's marriage order, on the stability of first and second marriages of White and Black women. The most important predictor of the instability of first marriages of women are the previous divorces of husbands. (Author)

Assessment of community couples (N=272) revealed that more women than men reported physically aggressing against their partners at premarriage and 18 months. At 30 months, men and women did not report significantly different rates of aggression. Likelihood of physical aggression at 30 months given aggression before marriage and at 18 months was…

Examined the interaction between marital distress and spouses' attributions and expectancies regarding the marital relationship in predicting depressive symptoms in a mixed sample of 59 clinic and nonclinic couples. Best predictor of depression for both sexes was measure of disaffection, reflecting emotional distance and alienation in the…

Considered perceptions of relationship quality (positive communication, caring gestures, recollections of happiest times) in 81 discordant clinic and 51 nondiscordant community couples. Spouses in nondistressed community marriages reported more frequent and higher quality positive communication and longer lasting and more recent happiest memories…

Explores the hypothesis that spouses involved in couples counseling will present similar intimacy complaints. Couples (N=100) described their expectations and perceptions of current marital intimacy. Results show that husbands and wives came to counseling with different intimacy complaints. Discusses implications of these results for case…

Examined three dimensions of divorce-related stressors (occurrence, perceived disruptiveness, and area of life change) in 80 divorced parents 6 to 12 months post decree. Findings showed men and women generally reported similar levels of stress associated with divorce-related experiences. Results support importance of area of life change and…

Compared divorced men and women in regard to previous levels of marital adjustment and problems experienced in former marriages. Used personality traits assessed at the beginning of each marriage to predict problem ratings reported after divorce. Results indicated that wives reported more problems in their former marriage than husbands. (BH)

An increasing number of persons are going to confront the problems associated with adjusting to the termination of a marriage. Experiences of males and females are quite different, particularly in such areas as stress associated with divorce, property settlements, changes in social participation, and effects on income. (Author)

Examined lifetime prevalence of suicide ideation and attempts in 1,425 Hispanics and 1,309 non-Hispanic Whites. Compared to non-Hispanic Whites, fewer Hispanics reported ideation or attempts. More women of both ethnic groups reported suicide attempts than did men. Individuals with psychiatric disorder diagnoses were more likely to report suicide…