Examined the relationship between family headship and stress. Data from the Michigan Panel Study of Income Dynamics conclude that single female heads with children experience more stress than their married male counterparts. Higher incidence of major life events experienced by female heads is primarily a function of marital disruption. (Author/JAC)

Examined the effects of family form and process on 314 college students. Findings indicated that parental childrearing roles were perceived more positively by those from intact, and death (of father) nonremarried families than those from divorced, remarried families. Perceived family happiness did not impact significantly. (Author/JAC)

Presents an integrative interpersonal-intrapsychic model of dysfunctional marital conflict. Reviews research support for the model. Discusses the therapeutic applications of the model and illustrates with a clinical example. (Author)

Interviewed married couples (N=30) concerning strategies each spouse used to resolve conflicts. Findings show that husbands win most conflicts regardless of the strategies they or their wives employ. Suggests general background factors of the marriage shape outcomes but the process by which they are translated into outcomes is unclear. (Author)

Examined the relationship between spouses' (N=58) attributional styles for marital problems and their negative social reinforcement in a laboratory interaction procedure. Results indicated wives who attributed other couples' marital problems to undesirable personality traits or negative attitudes were more likely to verbally criticize their…

Discusses ways people cope with extramarital relationships of their spouses. Results found avoidance was significantly more common among women, especially among women with a low self-esteem. Both avoidance and reappraisal correlated positively with neuroticism. Communication occurred more often among people with high marital satisfaction. (Author)

Notes a pattern in marital therapy wherein losses are not mourned or shared; instead one spouse uses the other for externalization of internal conflict. Explains how loss tends to be experienced as disenchantment with the spouse. Describes the conjoint format that can facilitate mourning and the sharing of losses. (Author)

The author examines seven myths, such as: divorce is preferable to an unhappy home; children anticipate divorce; turmoil ends with separation; and divorce damages children. She concludes that divorce initiates a prolonged and often difficult transition for children, which may benefit or harm them depending on how parents handle it. (SJL)

There was no statistically significant difference in the marital adjustment of abusive v nonabusive parents. Both groups appear to have only mildly distressed marital relationships. The results for the couples with parent-child problems were similar to those of the original Weiss and Cerreto study (1980). (Author)

Rape is a crisis shared by the victim and her family. The family's reaction is influenced by cultural views such as viewing rape as sex rather than violence. Adaptive responses can be supported by open expression, education, and family, as well as individual counseling. (JAC)

Behavioral Marital Therapy (BMT) is clinically useful because it includes elaborating procedures, modifying the spouse's self-defeating cognitions, and moving toward early intervention and prevention. Each article in this issue of American Journal of Family Therapy focuses on innovations in BMT, either in research or practice. (Author/NRB)

Single parent families are misrepresented to the general public and to themselves. Issues change focus if one views single parenthood as a normal and permanent feature of our social landscape. (Author/EB)

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)