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.…

Comparison of 69 neglectful mothers with a demographically comparable sample of 138 non-neglectful mothers found that neglectful mothers exchanged fewer resources with both their partners and mothers, were more likely to state that their mothers had few positive characteristics, had known their partners for less time, and were less likely to be…

Examined cognitive and emotional reactions to family discussions as experienced by 8- to 11-year-old sons (n=35) and their mothers from homes with physically aggressive (PA), verbally aggressive (VA), and low-conflict (LC) marital relationships. Sons of PA couples demonstrated more self-interference, self-distraction, and arousal and less…

Notes when long-standing marriage suddenly becomes conflictual, one precipitant can be the recent death of parent on one of partners. Claims main goal of therapy is to facilitate bereaved partner's mourning and choosing an effective therapeutic method depends on couple's capacity for mutual empathy and support and their need for insight.…

Presents a method of working with both parents and the child that provides supportive therapy for the child while intervening with the parents to provide developmental information, identify marital issues the child might be mirroring, offer benign interpretations of the child's difficulties to counter often-held anxious views of the problem, and…

Couples whose early wounds cause narcissistic and borderline defenses may benefit from treatment with a psychodynamically oriented couples therapist. This article presents a treatment method that helps partners become attuned to each other's underlying injuries and vulnerabilities. The goal is to rebuild damaged structures of the self and to…

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),…

Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were used to investigate the effects of parental separation on adolescent delinquency and depression. Parent-adolescent relationship prior to marital dissolution moderated the effects of parental separation on adolescent delinquency. Opposite-sex parents had a significant influence on…

Men's violence against mothers and children as a context of separation significantly increases the immediate and longer-term parenting needs of affected children, according to a South Australian study of single mothers' transition and adaptation to living in a single parent household. Qualitative research interviews with 18 separated mothers who…

This study examined family stressors among 3-year-old children who were classified as hyperactive (HYP), hyperactive and oppositional defiant (HYP/OD), and non-problem based on mothers' reports of behavior. Children with HYP/OD were found to experience higher levels of family stressors than non-problem children on almost every family stressor…

Despite the increasing incidence of infidelity, little empirical evidence is available to guide the efforts of marriage and family therapists in this area. This study examines how gender, participant training, and follow-up mitigating information relate to perceptions of individuals in couple relationships presenting for therapy with a history of…

Finding a qualified marriage and family therapist that the couple or family will be comfortable with requires some effort on the part of the consumer. There are many people out there who advertise themselves as marriage counselors or family therapists but do not have the credentials. The client must shop around, interview prospective therapists,…

Although few people bring their psychological problems to mental health professionals, research in the area of 'natural' help is rudimentary. To investigate the process and effectiveness of natural professional groups in helping individuals experiencing marital disruption, 42 helpers (14 mental health professionals, 14 divorce lawyers, and 14…

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).…