Surveyed 426 children from intact, divorced, and reconstituted families, who responded to the Personal Attribute Inventory for Children to evaluate their families and themselves. Results showed a significant association between children's self-concepts and both their family structure and family concepts. (JAC)

Approximately 8.9 percent of Canadian families can be classified as one-parent families. Two reports, published in 1971 review the problems of Canadian one-parent families, and make recommendations which will affect the lives of these families. The major findings and recommendations of the two studies are reported in this paper. (Author)

Many who do marriage counseling are unaware of the vast amount of test materials which are available to them or of those tests which might well aid them and their clients in the process of counseling. Some widely used tests in marriage, family, and premarital counseling are discussed, and resources are listed. (Author)

Discusses conventional treatment of family harmony and conflict in a consensus-equilibrium framework, suggests as more fruitful approach view of family as a system in conflict. Briefly outlines premises underlying such a frame of reference and explores its implications for study of family. Revision of paper presented at Ohio Valley Sociological…

Three main dimensions of marital maladjustments are: (1) dominance-submission power struggle; (2) the alienation pole of an affection-alienation dimension; and (3) the avoidance pole of an intimacy-avoidance dimension. Applications of the findings for counseling and training of counselors are indicated. (CJ)

Describes the development of a scale specifically designed to measure marital instability among intact couples. Data from a telephone survey of 2,034 married men and women showed the Marital Instability Index to be a reliable and valid indicator. An abbreviated form of the index is presented. (Author/JAC)

Uses the Transitionally Unintegrated-Externally Open family system type to address the multiple factors that may enhance or reduce the vulnerability of adolescent marriages. Identifies facilitating and constraining factors on the development of marital system autonomy and competence at the individual, marital, familial, and extra-familial levels.…

Compared personality characteristics of couples in alcoholic and nonalcoholic marriages. Couples in which one spouse was alcoholic showed fewer personality interrelationships than nonalcoholic couples, raising questions about the hypothesis that alcoholic marriage partners complement each other. Alcoholic and nonalcoholic males differed…

Surveyed 575 newly married couples in 1972 and 425 divorced couples in 1975 to examine risk factors leading to divorce in Estonia, USSR. Found risk factors included an unstable parental home, unsuitable age at marriage, and duration of courtship. Incompatibility of value orientation and role expectation were other factors. (JAC)

Describes an exercise designed to help individuals and couples explore their attitudes toward extramarital relations, and analyze its causes and consequences. Presents several potential issues which typically develop. Provides guidelines for using the exercise. (RC)

Applied a behavioral model of marriage to premarital couples to assess predictive validity of an exchange measure. Results provide evidence that unrewarding communication patterns precede development of relationship distress. Implications for the behavioral model of marriage and development of programs designed to prevent marital distress are…

Found that: (1) male refugees married in Cuba and females married in the U.S. after the revolution have stable marriages; and (2) nearness of residence to culture of origin or to kin and extent of assimilation are insignificant predictors of marital instability. Notes the relative modernity of Cuban marriages in the U.S. (Author/GC)

Demonstrated the effect of a contingency contracting treatment package for treating a distressed couple. A multi-method assessment package was used. The treatment package was responsible for producing behavior change and changes in levels of satisfaction. Multi-assessments provided the therapist with concrete data on a couple's progress in…