Second marriages are known to be more fragile than first marriages. To better understand the factors that contribute to this fragility, this qualitative study compared stepfamilies that stayed together with those that separated by collecting interview data from one adult in each of the former (n = 31) and latter (n = 26) stepfamilies. Data were…

The literature on interracial families has examined social stigmas attached to interracial relationships but has not thoroughly documented whether crossing racial boundaries increases the risk of divorce. Using the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (Cycle VI), we compare the likelihood of divorce for interracial couples to that of same-race…

Guided by a family stress perspective, we examined the hypothesis that discussing money would be associated with the handling of marital conflict in the home. Analyses were based on dyadic hierarchical linear modeling of 100 husbands' and 100 wives' diary reports of 748 conflict instances. Contrary to findings from previous laboratory-based…

This study examined the role of mother-adolescent emotional reciprocity in connections between marital conflict and adolescent aggression with peers. Data were collected from a racially diverse community sample of 268 adolescents and their mothers. Adolescents reported on parents' marital conflict, and mother-adolescent positive and negative…

Drawing on longitudinal, qualitative interviews with parents in the Fragile Families Study, this paper examines the narrative frames through which partners in stable and unstable unions viewed tensions over economic issues, domestic responsibilities, personal problems, communication, trust, and their family and social networks. These interviews…

We examine the effects of subjective and organizational religious participation on marital stability over time for urban Black American couples and White American couples who participated in a longitudinal project. Our findings indicated that the role religiosity plays in the stability of marriage over time varied by gender and race. Black…

Using grounded theory methods, we examined coparenting relationships for 25 divorced mothers who experienced violence during their marriages. How well former husbands were able to differentiate, or keep separate, their parental and spousal roles emerged as central to coparenting dynamics and was partly related to type of marital violence. Linking…

Bivariate analyses showed that continuously married urban African American, non-Hispanic White, and Hispanic fathers and mothers reporting greater marital support and less relational control experienced a decrease in depressive symptoms. Multiple regression showed a stronger association between concurrent marital support and decreased depressive…

Driven by theory and extant research on the communication of emotions within the family, the current investigation examined marital quality and parents' emotional expressiveness as determinants of coparenting in a sample of 57 couples with young children. Specifically, mothers' and fathers' expressiveness was examined as moderators of the…

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…

We describe a distress prevention training program for couples and three empirical studies that support its effectiveness. The program, Couples Coping Enhancement Training (CCET), is based both upon stress and coping theory and research on couples. In addition to traditional elements of couples programs (e.g., communication and problem-solving…

Professionals generally believe that couples who choose to attend marriage education programs are not as distressed as are clinical couples and that distressed couples are not good candidates for marriage education. We examined these assumptions in 129 married couples who enrolled in a PAIRS, Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills…

Premarital cohabitation has consistently been found to be associated with increased risk for divorce and marital distress in the United States. Two explanations for this "cohabitation effect" are discussed: selection and experience. We present an empirically based view of how the experience of cohabitation may increase risk for…

Although Judith Wallerstein's research on children with divorced parents has been influential, many quantitative family scholars have criticized her methods and conclusions. This article provides examples from the Marital Instability Over the Life Course study to illustrate the magnitude of divorce effects and concludes with a call for a…

Describes Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP), empirically based intervention program to prevent marital distress and divorce. Presents results of longitudinal studies indicating PREP's short and long-term effectiveness. Discusses clinical implications, current dissemination efforts in United States and Europe, and future…