Understanding characteristics specific to alcoholics' marriages could help therapists to more effectively address the needs of alcoholic clients. To identify some of these characteristics, 26 married couples with an alcoholic husband (ALC) were compared with 26 maritally-conficted (MC) and 26 nonconflicted (NC) couples without alcohol problems.…

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…

Presents two articles which examine the relationship between intimacy and self-disclosure in 10 clinical and 10 nonclinical couples using the Self-Disclosure Coding System (SDCS). Results suggested positive self-statements, time spent talking, and affective manner discriminated between the two groups and were related to intimacy. (JAC)

Examined the negative impact of economic hardship on a spouse's marital instability in White, middle-class couples (N=76). The results indicated economic pressures had an indirect association with married couples' evaluation of the marriage by promoting hostility in marital interactions and curtailing the warm and supportive behaviors spouses…

Provides methodological critique of Jason T. Li and Robert A. Caldwell's article "Magnitude and Directional Effects of Marital Sex Role Incongruence and Marital Adjustment" (Journal of Family Issues 8:97-110). Cites Li and Caldwells' failure to first consider simpler first-order effects of husband/wife sex role preferences and outlines additional…

Defends authors' methodological approach to examining incongruity of marital sex role attitudes and satisfaction in their "Journal of Family Issues" (JFI) article, "Magnitude and Directional Effects of Marital Sex Role Incongruence and Marital Adjustment," from Gary Bowen's critique (JFI l0:416-419). Asserts that methodological approach used,…

Tested hypothesis that spouses' shared leisure time is form of pleasurable interaction that strengthens attachment between them and helps prevent marital dissolution. Empirical tests supported attachment hypothesis and suggest that, because couples with children have less shared leisure time, children can contribute to marital dissolution as well…

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';…

Used data on 1,298 married persons to examine effect of change in health over 3-year period on marital quality. Analysis suggests that decrements in health have adverse influence on marital quality. Changes in financial circumstances, shifts in division of household labor, declines in marital activities, and problematic behavior of afflicted…

Evaluated ability of premarital assessment instrument, PREParation for Marriage (PREP-M) Questionnaire to predict marital satisfaction and stability one year after marriage. Findings suggest that higher premarital PREP-M scores, higher marital satisfaction and stability. Means for most satisfied and stable individuals were usually significantly…

Examined effects of dysphoria on husbands' and wives' later marital adjustment among 264 couples about to marry. Assessed relationship satisfaction and level of dysphoria in both spouses prior to marriage, 6 months after marriage, and 18 months after marriage. Premarital dysphoria was associated with later marital dissatisfaction. Gender…

We used data from the study of Marital Instability Over the Life Course to examine links between divorce in the grandparent generation and outcomes in the grandchild generation (N= 691). Divorce in the first (G1) generation was associated with lower education, more marital discord, weaker ties with mothers, and weaker ties with fathers in the…

We test the so-called escape hypothesis, which argues that for people from a poor marriage, a divorce has a less negative or even a positive effect on well-being. In an analysis of two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households (N = 4,526), we find only limited evidence. When people divorce from a dissatisfactory or unfair marriage,…

Analyzes data on the marital stability of young parents from the 1972 National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. Reports that the birth of the first child strengthens the short-run stability of marriages: disruption rates of 5 to 8 percent were lower than estimated rates had the child not been born. (KH)

Tested the relevance of the personal space concept when applied to marital relationships. Married couples (N=24) completed five questionnaires. Results showed that the personal space concept did apply, i.e., distance between couples increased as marital quality decreased. A stop-distance measure discriminated between distressed and non-distressed…