Clarifies the models of marital quality and marital stability proposed by Spanier and Lewis (1979, 1980) and by Thomas and Kleber (1981). Explains how both models are valid under different conditions but do not represent irreconcilable views of the marital relationship. (Author/NRB)

Describes a study to determine if the Areas of Change Questionnaire (AC) items represent commonly occurring problems seen by marital therapists and identified by Geiss and O'Leary (1981). Results suggest that AC Questionnaire, containing 13 of Geiss and O'Leary's 29 marital problem categories, is limited in the range of clinical marital problems…

Examined effects of marital disruption on children's behavior. Disruption was associated with a higher incidence of several behavior problems, negative effects being greatest with multiple marital transitions. The negative effects are lower if the child lives with the same-sex parent following divorce or maintains a good relationship with one or…

Investigated antecedents of marital infidelity for individuals (N=59) involved with coworkers or others. Data suggested that persons involved with coworkers had more satisfying marriages and scored higher on the Compatibility Index than those involved with others. The number of liaisons was not correlated with age or age at marriage. (JAC)

In 50 behavior problem children it was found that marital discord, as predicted, was most strongly related to conduct problems in boys, boys and girls perceived parental marital discord with equal and moderate accuracy, and children's feelings of nonacceptance were not significantly related to ratings of marital discord. (Author)

Tested the hypothesis that distressed spouses are more reactive to immediate events than nondistressed couples. Couples recorded positive, negative and neutral events and satisfaction levels. Distressed couples reported lower rates of positive behavior and that marital satisfaction depended more on frequency of recent positive or negative events.…

Cohort analysis was used to compare changes in the prevalence of marital instability among Mexican American women with those observed among Black and Anglo women in the southwestern United States. Recent (1960-70) trends were found to be toward increased divergence in levels of marital instability among these three groups. (Author/GC)

In the past two decades, several fertility variables have been shown to have an effect on marital stability: presence or absence of children, child spacing, birth timing, and total number of children. This paper studies the effect on marital stability of the planning of fertility. (Author)

Although Judith Wallerstein's research on children with divorced parents has been influential, many quantitative family scholars have criticized her methods and conclusions. This article provides examples from the Marital Instability Over the Life Course study to illustrate the magnitude of divorce effects and concludes with a call for a…

Surveyed married women obtaining abortions to examine assumptions concerning spousal notification held by federal courts. Results suggest that the assumption that notification and discussion promote marital harmony is plausible for only circumscribed subset of women whose marriages are already harmonious. (Author/NB)

Examined four models of ways premarital cohabitation may affect marital quality using interview data from a national probability sample of 2,033 married persons. Found cohabitation was negatively related to marital interaction and positively related to marital disagreement, proneness to divorce, and the probability of divorce in nonminority…

A study of 3,284 married women hypothesizes that nontraditional working women are more likely to experience marital disruption than traditional working women. Number of hours of paid employment per week was negatively related to marital stability for women holding nontraditional gender ideologies but not for women with traditional views. (JPS)

Describes Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP), empirically based intervention program to prevent marital distress and divorce. Presents results of longitudinal studies indicating PREP's short and long-term effectiveness. Discusses clinical implications, current dissemination efforts in United States and Europe, and future…

Investigated relationship between cohabitation and subsequent marital dissolution among 3,300 adults in United States. Consistent with results for Sweden, found that cohabitation in United States was associated with greater hazard of dissolution even after counting time spent in unmarried cohabitation as part of marital duration. (Author/NB)

Discusses outcome and process research on couple therapy and integrates articles in journal's special section on couples and couples therapy into the discussion. Discussion of strengths and weaknesses of various designs concludes that within-model comparisons have been more productive in producing knowledge than between-model comparisons. Includes…