This study examined the relation between early family relationship patterns and adolescents' regulation of negative affect; attunement to their partners' affect; and capacity to balance their needs with those of their partner during conflict. A total of 27 college women completed measures pertaining to their relationship with their parents and…

The relationship between the degree of marital adjustment and the emotional adjustment of the children within the family is widely accepted as is the corollary belief that the marital relationship determines the child's adjustment. A sample of 69 married couples with children was used to examine the interrelationships among several measures of…

Examined husbands' and wives' perceptions of parents' relationships with shared and unshared children, and spousal differences in these perceptions, in first married and remarried families. Found significant differences in parental relations with "his,""hers," and "their" children, and in parental perceptions of these…

Surveys some of the representative literature reflecting attitudes and practices imposed on women addicts or female members of drug/alcohol abusing family systems. Explanations based on a study of healthy family systems are given with interpretations anchored in cultural rather than sexist phenomena. (Author)

Reviews the literature on the role of family distress in the treatment of children's behavior disorders. Describes a system for integrating marital- and child-focused treatments and makes suggestions for improving the design of studies assessing the impact of contextual factors on parent-child interaction. (FMW)

The concepts of moral reasoning developed by Lawrence Kohlberg can be applied to the analysis of communication in intimate relationships in an attempt to deal with the high rate of marital dissolution. Kohlberg has identified three levels of moral reasoning: (1) preconventional, in which a person reasons in terms of punishment, reward, or exchange…

When the husband's loss of job necessitates the wife's taking on the role of main family provider, this can be a major trauma for the whole family. This article examines ways in which the family counselor can help is resolving the crisis. (NG)

The problem of wives who are abused and brutalized by their husbands have been largely ignored. This article demonstrates the isolation of the battered wife as a result of society's failure to assist her and proposes strategies for dealing with wife abuse. (Author)

Summarizes the main theoretical frameworks attempting to explain the causal mechanisms connecting marital conflict to child adjustment. Outlines the implications of accumulated gender-related research findings for each theoretical framework. Argues that gender may be a moderator of many of the mechanisms outlined in existing theoretical frameworks…

The links among marital relations and children's representations were examined. Forty-seven children between the ages of 5 and 8 completed the Family Stories Task (FAST) to obtain their narrative representations of family relations and performed a variation of a puppet procedure (Mize & Ladd, 1988) to assess children's dispositions towards peer…

The rationale, background, and nature of family enrichment programs is explained. These structured, skill training approaches for couples and families consist of six lessons with four to six exercises per lesson. They are extremely structured to the point that instructions to trainers are given verbatim. Trainers can modify these instructions and…

This case study of families of normal private preparatory school students and families of substance abusing/mood disordered students examines the relationship between substance abuse and mood disorders and the following factors: parental marital discord, degree of family satisfaction, and family problem-solving styles. Results showed that all…

Proposes a theoretical framework of sibling conflict that includes temperamental characteristics of the siblings, the parent-sibling relationship, and the interaction between these factors. Continuing research validates this framework. (BJV)

This study examines changes in parents' marriages following older-child adoption, using in-depth interviews with seven couples prior to and following placement. The interviews indicated that parents' experiences followed similar patterns. Children's acting-out behavior and their ability to exploit parents' vulnerabilities placed stress on the…

Based on interviews with hundreds of remarried men and women, this guide to stepparenting realistically acknowledges the fears, doubts, and difficulties that affect the stepparenting situation, and offers practical help and insight into the many accompanying challenges and rewards. Following an introduction that acknowledges how few role-models…