Psychometric properties of the Marital Coping Inventory (MCI) were evaluated by administering it and other measures to 120 newlywed couples, by observing spouses discussing marital problems, and by readministering the inventory to 104 spouses after 6 months. Results clarify coping in marriage. Implications for use of the instrument are discussed.…

Examines the life-course sequencing hypothesis that marriage before military service has a greater disruptive effect on marital stability than marriage during or after military service. Used event-history data from a 13-year panel study of 2,857 white males from Washington State high schools in 1966. Compares Vietnam combat veterans (n=610),…

Recent research investigating the consequences of match-mismatch in cognitive style status for interpersonal attraction in teacher-student, patient-therapist, and other dyads suggests that matched persons are more likely to develop positive feelings toward each other. To assess the impact of cognitive style on the outcomes experienced by married…

This study reports on the development of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, a new measure for assessing the quality of marriage and other similar dyads. This factor analytic study suggests four empirically verified components of dyadic adjustment to be used as subscales (dyadic satisfaction, dyadic cohesion, dyadic consensus and affectional expression).…

The authors present a model which follows the development of a male-female relationship through dating, marriage and divorce. They discuss the factors that cause friction between a husband and wife and offer procedures for coping with such friction. (SE)

Little evidence exists about either the short or long-term effects of coping strategies on the reduction of emotional distress or the lessening of problems. To examine the predictors and effectiveness of four marital coping efforts (negotiation, optimistic comparison, selective ignoring, and resignation), data derived from a panel study of 758…

Questionnaires were completed by 131 married couples to determine the role of dispositional jealousy on marital success. The total jealousy in the marriage was found to be negatively related to several indices of marital success. Further analyses indicated that marital outcomes were negatively associated with the husband's perception of the wife's…

Marital adjustment over the family life cycle is reexamined using data from probability samples of married couples studied in coordinated research projects in three different states--Iowa, Ohio, and Georgia. (Author)

Although research suggests that marital communication is causally related to marital satisfaction, the processes by which marital communication style affects marital relationships have not been identified. These communication styles (conventional, speculative, controlling, contactful) are based on the degrees of self-disclosure and openness to the…

This study found that, prior to beginning school, the typical adult female student at Montclair State College reports moderately positive support from her spouse. However, during the first semester, she encounters mild role conflict and lack of self-confidence in her ability to meet family and academic responsibilities. During her second and third…

A strongly positive opinion of spouse in middle age tends to be associated with social conformity and family integration. Mutually approving couples were more often politically moderate, homogamous in religious background, and had more interpersonal power than their children. They also had more highly integrated family structures with low conflict…

Based on Kelly's theory of Personal Constructs, it was hypothesized that there is a positive relationship between the degree of congruence of spouses Personal Constructs (PCs) and their reported marital success. Twenty-four couples, married from six months to 31 years, volunteered as Ss. To assess PCs, each S was administered a 40-dimension scale…

The discussion includes analyses of the probable causative impact of several types of changes on the stability of marriage: socio-economic variables generally associated with divorce; overall social acceptability of divorce as reflected by lessened negative economic and social sanctions; and the roles of women. (Author/AM)

In order to decrease out-of-wedlock births, government policies should be directed toward helping young couples stay together rather than discouraging marriage and focusing almost exclusively on the young mother and her child. Also discussed are attitudes toward marriage, father's role, stability of early marriages, children, and benefits of…

Contrary to folk belief, children are in themselves no correction for basic flaws in an unsuccessful marriage. Explored are the ways in which specific aspects of marital conflict and pathology can induce specific aberrations in the personality development of the child. (Author/CJ)