This study produces a grounded theory of how 20 predominantly White, well-educated women experienced sharing physical custody of their children with their former partners after divorce or separation. Three patterns of coparenting were identified in the data: "continuously contentious", "always amicable", and "bad to better". Five negative factors…

Globalization has increased the occurrence of "international marriages" due to expanded marriage markets resulting from increased travel and communication avenues. Although Eastern Europe is one of the top three regions of origin for marriage migrants, little is known about who chooses this type of marriage arrangement. This study…

This prospective, intergenerational study (N = 181) considered how parent (G1, Generation 1) and child (G2, Generation 2) relationship quality during adolescence and adulthood is associated with G1's level of involvement with their 3- to 4-year-old grandchildren (G3, Generation 3). Path model analyses indicated different patterns of results for…

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…

Research on parental monitoring of children's media use suggests parents can reduce the negative effects of media exposure on children, although this research is rarely conducted with elementary school children and leaves open questions about whether parents or children are better reporters. Participants were 1,323 children, their parents, and…

Predictors of two types of cohabitation dissolution, dissolution with a continued romantic relationship and without (i.e., breakup), were examined using data from mothers cohabiting at the time of a nonmarital birth in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 1,624). Life tables indicated 64% of unions dissolved within 5 years; of…

Guided by a life course perspective, this study investigated the contemporaneous and longitudinal relationships between marital status and depressive symptoms for men and women, and examined if age moderates these relationships. Data came from 9,507 individuals who responded to the first two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households.…

Framed by equity theory, fairness beliefs regarding child support modification to account for the financial impact of remarriage and subsequent childbirth were assessed. Based on a random sample of 407 Kentucky residents using a multiple segment factorial vignette approach, modification was supported by 57% of respondents following remarriage, but…

Using field-based observations and standardized measures of the home environment and child development, the authors followed 59 rural Jamaican women and their offspring from birth to age 5. The findings suggest that conjugal multiplicity, a female reproductive pattern characterized by multiple unions, maternal unmarried status, and absent father,…

To study changes in nonresident father contact since the 1970s, we pooled data from 4 national surveys: the National Survey of Children (1976), the National Survey of Families and Households (1987 - 1988), the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1996), and the National Survey of America's Families (2002). On the basis of mothers' reports,…

Although disadvantaged women are the targets of marriage programs, little attention has been paid to women's marriage constraints and their views of marriage. Drawing on an exchange framework and using qualitative data collected from single women participating in a marriage initiative, we introduce the concept of marriageable women--the notion…

This study was a secondary data analysis of a midlife adults' (40 - 69 years) survey. The sample (N = 3,501) was recruited via telephone and completed an American Association for Retired Persons survey via the Internet. This study explored how sexual attitudes and demographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, prior marital status) were…

This study examines work and family characteristics and depressive symptomatology among over 700 working mothers of infants. Working mothers in poorer quality jobs, as well as working mothers who were single or whose infant's health was poorer than that of other infants, reported greater depressive symptomatology. The effect of job quality on…

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…

Parenting confidence can be undermined by the presence of frequent or persistent health problems, particularly for people living in rural communities that have limited access to adequate health care. However, little is known about how minor health problems in the family impact parenting. The current study examined single and coresident mothers'…