We analyze the causal impact of an increase in the risk of marital dissolution on the saving behavior of married couples. We use the legalization of divorce in Ireland in 1996 as an exogenous shock to the risk of divorce. We propose several comparison groups (unaffected by the law change) that allow us to use a difference-in-differences approach.…

Using a multistate sample of marriages that took place in the 1990s, this study examined associations between premarital cohabitation history and marital quality in first (N = 437) and second marriages (N = 200) and marital instability in first marriages (intact N = 521, divorced N = 124). For first marriages, cohabiting with the spouse without…

This study examined multiple dimensions of religious involvement and the risk of divorce among a nationwide sample of 2,979 first-time married couples. Multivariate proportional hazards modeling was used to analyze two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households. Results indicated that although each partner's religious attendance bore…

This report examines whether the presence of children in marriage differentially influences the risk of wives or husbands initiating separation. The analytic sample consists of 9,118 first marriages from the Households, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey (2001). Using event history and competing risks analysis, I find weak evidence…

We used data from Waves 1 and 2 of the National Survey of Families and Households to study high- and low-distress marriages that end in divorce. A cluster analysis of 509 couples who divorced between waves revealed that about half were in high-distress relationships and the rest in low-distress relationships. These 2 groups were not artifacts of…

Using 3 subsamples of remarried respondents (n=1,583, 971, and 926) in the first wave of the National Survey of Families and Households, this study investigates how different types of cohabitation, especially postdivorce cohabitation, affect the timing and quality of remarriage in the United States. Ordinary Least Squares regression analysis…

Describes common characteristics of 13 cases in which one marital partner initiated therapy because the other partner was undecided about continuing their marriage. Initiating clients wanted their marriages to continue even if they were unrewarding and saw themselves as helpless victims. Clients who could turn their attention from the ambivalent…

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…

Examined four models of ways premarital cohabitation may affect marital quality using interview data from a national probability sample of 2,033 married persons. Found cohabitation was negatively related to marital interaction and positively related to marital disagreement, proneness to divorce, and the probability of divorce in nonminority…

Tested Lewis and Spanier's theory of marital quality and marital stability using a sample of 131 married and 166 divorced social survey respondents. Examined the relationship between the quality and stability of their marriages and assessed the influence of alternative attractions and external pressures to remain married. (JAC)

Traces history of construct known as "permanent availability,""universal availability," and "permanence/pragmatism." Connects latter with emerging research tradition labeled "causes and consequences of divorce." Based on data collected from college students, constructed an index of permanence/pragmatism in close relationship. (Author)

We draw on three waves of the Fragile Families Study (N = 2,249) to examine family stability among a recent birth cohort of children. We find that children born to cohabiting versus married parents have over five times the risk of experiencing their parents' separation. This difference in union stability is greatest for White children, as compared…

Numerous studies have asserted the prevalence of marital conflict among families of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but evidence is surprisingly less convincing regarding whether parents of youths with ADHD are more at risk for divorce than are parents of children without ADHD. Using survival analyses, the authors…

Examines hypothesized consumption and finance-handling differences between couples who subsequently become divorced or remained happily married. Happily married couples were found to practice role specialization, with greater influence of the wife and less husband dominance in family finance handling, and greater joint and wife influence in…

Examined data from 419 parents and their adult children to assess impact of parental marital quality and divorce while child is residing with parents on parent-child relations 12 years later. Low marital quality and divorce appeared to have independent effects on adult child-parent relations. Fathers' relationships suffered more than mothers';…