Examined the impact of support systems on post-divorce family functioning. Results suggest that families under extreme stress need to be provided with relatively high levels of support or their dissatisfaction with support systems will appear in harsher and more restrictive relationships with children. (Author)

Reciprocity counseling is a rapid reinforcement-based procedure developed for teaching marriage partners how to increase their individual happiness within their marital relationship. The major obstacle to implementing reciprocity techniques is convincing the partners to engage in the procedures, even if they feel these procedures appear contrived…

Examined how spousal behaviors related to global and daily marital satisfaction. Eighty-two couples completed daily checklists of spousal behaviors for seven days using an individualized or a standardized assessment method. Daily behavioral event measures were significantly related to global and daily measures of marital satisfaction,…

Compared psychological well-being of men and women before and after marital separation with that of control group who remained married during same period. Prior to separation, men and women in disrupted group had lower psychological well-being scores than controls. Scores of separated women, but not men, declined even further after separation.…

Used data from the 1975-76 Jamaica Fertility Study to examine relationship between fertility and the following transitions in sexual relationship: (1) from visiting to common-law; (2) from visiting to marriage; and (3) from visiting to termination of partnership. Results indicated that childbirth reduced the probability of all three transitions.…

Hypothesizes that traumatization underlies the difficulties many children experience from witnessing their parents' marital violence/spousal abuse, and argues that intervention should be designed to counteract post-traumatic disorders. A case study highlights this discussion. (BB)

For 471 adult children of persons in a longitudinal study of marital instability, the long-term consequences of parental divorce depended upon level of parental conflict prior to separation. Adult offspring who had experienced high levels of parental conflict followed by divorce had levels of psychological and marital well-being as high as…

Compared posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) prevalence rates among battered women and nonbattered, maritally distressed women. Battered women exhibited significantly higher rates of PTSD than the maritally distressed women. Women with PTSD were more likely than non-PTSD women to have experienced self-reported childhood sexual abuse and numerous…

Focuses on the narrative activity between parents and children to coconstruct both the meaning of a spousal narrative dispute as speech event and what it meant that such an episode had been videotaped. The family members codrafted a revised account of their story realm that seems to minimize chaos and maximize order and emphasize that "father…

The welfare of children in Lagos, Nigeria, after marital disruption was assessed using 1,000 social welfare case records. Findings include: single custody was commonly practiced; few of the women remarried; and many of the biological fathers were not responsible for the maintenance of their children, and the few that were defaulted regularly.…

Examined several hypotheses concerning heavy drinking and marital violence. Subjects, 320 married and cohabiting men who participated in a nationally representative study of alcohol consumption, completed scales assessing hostility, self-consciousness, marital satisfaction, and the Alcohol Dependence Scale. Results indicated that alcohol use was…

Interviewed and physically assessed 102 married men in an attempt to develop a biopsychosocial model of male domestic violence. Used Tobit analysis to identify significant predictors. Analyzed separately, each domain was significantly related to male domestic violence. When considered together, only the biological and social domains yielded…

Describes group counseling program at large tertiary care teaching hospital aimed at recently separated men. Notes clinical experiences that challenge widely held beliefs regarding men's help-seeking behavior and capacity for emotional relatedness. Describes experiences of clinic founders as front-line mental health counselors in addressing…

Estimated odds of mild and severe husband-to-wife physical aggression in 11,870 white men. Being younger, having lower income, and having alcohol problem significantly increased odds of either mild or severe physical aggression. Drug problem uniquely increased risk of severe physical aggression. Marital discord and depression further increased…

Expresses concern over increasing number of divorces in Soviet Union. Offers reasons gleaned from survey research. Concludes that one of reasons for fragility of marriage today is misunderstanding of true meaning of family and inability to protect values. Warns that young people are being prepared only for work to the detriment of their health and…