This qualitative study examined the nature of partnerships among 28 rural low-income mothers who experienced partnership transitions across three waves of annual interviews. Guided by "lens of uncertainty" and "boundary ambiguity theory," the authors specifically explored (a) how low-income mothers in rural communities experience partnership…

Theory suggests that relationship inequity will be associated with less marital and personal distress among the more religious, and that this interaction effect will be stronger for women than men. Data are from 178 married couples experiencing the third trimester of pregnancy of their first biological child. Five outcome variables were assessed…

The question of how to best measure family processes so that longitudinal experiences within the family are accurately captured has become an important issue for family scholars. Using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 2,158), this article focuses on the association between trajectories of perceived supportiveness from biological…

In a sample of 55 dual-earner families with children aged 8 to 14 in which the mothers are registered nurses regularly working either day shifts (typically 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) or evening shifts (typically 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.), we estimated the within-couple relationship between the wife's work variables (i.e., work shift, work hours, and…

This research examines trends in a broad set of reproductive and marital behaviors in Ghana, focusing on religious group differences. These comparisons provide evidence of how family trends are constrained by religious identity in a less developed country. Three waves of the Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys are used to track trends in the age…

This study extends previous research by Dilworth by examining antecedents of both positive and negative family-to-work spillover--a long-neglected area of research. It also uses an extended definition of domestic labor that includes emotion work and status enhancement. Using data from a random sample of dual-earner couples, the study found gender…

Several scholars have noted that community resources might facilitate or hinder employees' ability to meet their many work and family demands, thereby affecting their psychological well-being. However, this is the first study to estimate these relationships using a newly developed quantitative measure of community resource fit that assesses the…

This study uses data from the Norwegian NorLAG study (N = 2,455) to examine differences in relationship quality and psychological well-being between middle-aged cohabitors and married persons. The authors question whether previous results linking cohabitation as compared with marriage to lower well-being will replicate in Norway, where…

Using a national sample of Americans, compared effects of marital and parental status on three domains of well-being (marital quality, parental satisfaction, and global life satisfaction) by examining three types of parents: first-married biological parents, remarried biological parents, and stepparents. First-married biological parents reported…

Examined structure of submarine officer career to describe extent to which wives' attitudes and behavior conform and extent to which wives are satisfied with their role. Findings from 81 Navy wives showed that wives with traditional attitudes were more involved in and more satisfied with Navy life. Less traditional wives evaluated their…

Used 2 subjective measures (life satisfaction and subjective health assessments) and 2 objective measures (actual health problems and number of consultations with physicians in past year) to measure well-being in 11,131 Canadians. Findings suggest that, overall, single persons are healthier than married and that causal hypothesis is supported only…

The present study examined the midlife outcomes of 548 adults who became parents before the age of 20. Participants were from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) and were followed prospectively from age 18 until age 53. Their life-course development was compared to sample members who gave birth at the mean age for the WLS. Midlife outcomes were…

Compared the extent to which relative deprivation, based on general social comparisons and perceptions of equity/inequity derived from specific comparisons in an intimate relationship, influenced the psychological well-being of 130 couples in one-job families and 135 couples in two-job families. Relative deprivation and inequity were associated…

Used data from national survey to examine effect of children on parents' well-being. In general, parents scored better than nonparents on measures of life meaning, while measures of affective well-being and satisfaction were more strongly influenced by context of parenting. Marital status appeared to be particularly important determinant of effect…

This longitudinal study examines the relationships between perceived family functioning and adolescent psychological well-being and problem behavior in Chinese adolescents with economic disadvantage (N = 199). Results showed that perceived family functioning was concurrently related to measures of adolescent psychological well-being (existential…