Family members do work to meet people's emotional needs, improve their well-being, and maintain harmony. When emotional work is shared equally, both men and women have access to emotional resources in the family. However, like housework and child care, the distribution of emotional work is gendered. This study examines the psychological health…

Couple cooperation is hypothesized to be essential in the resolution of interpersonal marital problems. Data from a sample of newlywed couples support this hypothesis as well as the validity of our measure of cooperation. We then test a model stipulating marital satisfaction and trust as antecedent conditions leading to cooperative problem solving…

Widely varying reports on the effects of divorce on children have created considerable confusion among therapists. Most traditionally trained secular marriage therapists view their position as that of an impartial mediator with emphasis on the well being of the individual. It has been generally accepted that the religious marital therapists are…

The conflict in research that exists between the relationship of marital adjustment and sibling constellation is examined here. The belief that the combination of birth order and gender (sibling constellation) is important, is not only a part of folk wisdom but it is a continuing point of view in the literature of marital and family therapy. Data…

A survey was conducted in Massachusetts to determine the effect of some welfare policy changes among families who receive public assistance and have experienced domestic violence. Interviews were conducted with a representative sample of 734 Massachusetts women who received welfare between January and June 1996. The survey found that one-fifth of…

According to social-psychological theory, violent acts in a marital relationship can be understood by examining environmental stressors and violent acts spouses experienced as children. Because there is a great variety in the type and frequency of abuse suffered by battered women, it is important to examine abuse type and abuse frequency…

Recently, research has been conducted using an interactional understanding of depression, which views depression as a disorder exacerbated by a pathogenic social system. The interaction between intimate social partners seems especially relevant. Couples (N=26) participated in a study of depressed out-patients and their spouses and a matched…

Although some people fantasize about their spouse's possible death, the literature contains no reports of research on widowhood fantasies. The incidence, characteristics, and possible function of these fantasies were examined in individual interviews with 28 divorced and married men and women. Interview data were analyzed by calculating chi-square…

In Nigeria, various forms of polygamy and monogamy are practiced; however, monogamy is more or less practiced by many Christians and a greater percentage of younger men. A survey of marital success and failure was conducted with samples of Nigerian Diploma students and selected educated community members. Subjects completed two instruments, the…

Studies have shown that sociopaths and alcoholics tend to come from similar social backgrounds and that they share several characteristics. To investigate the relationship between alcoholism and character disorder syndrome in adult males, 20 males who had a history of alcohol problems and displayed characteristics of character disorder were…

Based on previous research on cohabitation and Levinger's model of marital cohesiveness and dissolution, the hypothesis that a higher level of violence exists in ongoing marriages than in ongoing cohabitating relationships was investigated. Data from a national sample of 2,143 adults did not support this hypothesis. Instead the reverse was found,…

Behavioral and perceptual differences among maritally distressed and nondistressed husbands and wives were investigated. Distressed couples beginning marital therapy and nondistressed couples solicited through community newspapers comprised the criterion groups which were matched for major demographic variables. Couples first enacted and then…

The purpose of this paper is to describe the differences found between males and females in factors alleviating (or not alleviating) the stresses and problems that many times accompany divorce. The data were collected by administering a questionnaire to Parents Without Partners chapters in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area and the…

Investigated the association between levels of marital conflict and the self-esteem of children and adolescents. Results indicated the negative effects of conflict tended to be strongest when children's relationships were poor with both parents. However, for young females, conflict was also negatively related to self-esteem when relationships with…

Characteristics of the family environments of mildly retarded, moderately retarded, and severely retarded children (total N=157) were compared. The impact of the retarded child on family adjustment was greatest for families with severely retarded children, but no differences were observed in the impact of the child on marital adjustment.…