Compared two behavioral treatments for marital discord with a nonspecific control and waiting-list control. Behavioral treatments combined problem-solving skills with contingency management procedures, differing only in contracting form, good faith contracts, and quid pro quo contracts. Both behavioral groups improved significantly more than…

Investigated the relative effectiveness of therapeutic components common to behavioral marital therapies: procedures designed to change behavior and attitudes, and nonspecific therapeutic effects. Ordering produced three treatment conditions--nonspecific, behavioral, and behavioral-attitudinal. The behavioral-attitudinal group showed significantly…

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was completed by 42 fathers and 71 mothers of pediatric cancer patients and 26 fathers and 29 mothers of hemophilic children. MMPI profiles were examined for signs of emotional disturbance. Results indicated both groups of parents suffered more distress than a normal group. (Author)

Examined the reliability of spouses as observers of the behaviors that occur in their own marital relationships. Distressed and nondistressed couples collected data in the home. Across the entire checklist, nondistressed couples exhibited significantly greater consensus than did distressed couples, based on both percentage agreement and kappa.…

Distressed couples were more critical of each other and less responsive to each other's influence efforts. Distressed and nondistressed couples were similar in their frequencies of inquiries and solution proposals. Criticism and responsiveness were important predictors of both satisfaction with outcomes and attainment of resolutions. (Author)

Life satisfaction, trust, optimism, and political conservatism differentiated remarried, married, divorced and never-married groups. Divorced people were less satisfied with life, more liberal, and less optimistic. Background factors that were related to divorce included parental divorce, hometown, family income, and church attendance. (Author)

Marriages of respondents that ended in divorce were not as good as marriages of other couples they had known nor did the marriage meet expectations held prior to entering into the relationship. The most frequent problem was unfaithfulness. (Author)

Couples completed questionnaires designed to test assumptions of the Spouse Observation Checklist. The assumption that the checklist represents the universe of marital pleasing and displeasing events received some support. Data did not support the assumption that couples can reliably observe their own behavior. (Author)

Two marriage counseling approaches were explored: (1) couples received counseling one hour per week for an indefinite time period; (2) couples were seen two hours biweekly for five visits. Couples receiving biweekly counseling reported more satisfaction and optimism and tended to be more committed to the counseling relationship. (DS)

Demonstrates that levels of illegitimacy are related to costs of illegitimacy. Illegitimacy is strongly associated with the opportunity structure for women. When marriage is a relatively temporary guarantee of support, incentives to marital childbearing are less. This is supported by consistently positive association between marital and nonmarital…

Studies involving couples focused on the development of a Marital Satisfaction Inventory (MSI). Correlational analyses confirm that measures of communication are the best single predictors of global marital satisfaction. Profile analyses demonstrate the ability of the MSI to discriminate between couples in therapy and a matched control group.…

Examines the relationship between the quality of marital interaction, both as perceived by spouses and as reported by outside observers, and marital instability and divorce in long-time married couples (n=436). Finds that hostility and marital warmth were fairly accurate predictors of which couples would divorce or be extremely stable or unstable.…

A survey of 1,452 undergraduate students was used to examine the long-term psychological impact of witnessing interparental physical aggression during childhood. The 203 students who reported witnessing at least one such incident reported higher levels of current psychological distress. Negative effects increased when a parent of the same sex was…

Whether partners provide congruent reports about abuse in their relationship was studied with 360 couples. Findings suggest that reports of abuse can be aggregated to form internally consistent scales that show strong interpartner agreement, and that either abuser or victim reports are suitable for research use. (SLD)

Examined negative affect among 349 adults. Indices of salient social support and salient interpersonal stress irrespective of source were related to level of negative affective symptoms. Marital relationship was most frequently named source of support, but coworkers were named equally often as source of interpersonal stress. Marital satisfaction…