Explores how couples cope with marital conflict from the early years of their relationships to the present time. Focuses on conflict management styles from face-to-face confrontation to avoidance, as well as gender and ethnicity influences on styles of coping with conflict. Implications for social work practice are discussed. (Author/MKA)

This article delineates and assesses the evidence for four perspectives that have guided previous research on the relationship between wives economic resources and marital stability. Hypotheses from these perspectives were tested using event history methods and 1980-1997 panel data for 1,704 individuals from the Marital Instability Over the Life…

In this article, the author uses data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth to examine the impact of childhood living arrangements on the characteristics of marriages formed by women between 1970 and 1989.The focus is on sociodemographic characteristics of marriage that may be taken to indicate a heightened risk of marital stress or…

We use data from three waves of the Fragile Families Study (N= 2,111) to examine the prevalence and effects of mothers' partnership changes between birth and age 3 on children's behavior. We find that children born to unmarried and minority parents experience significantly more partnership changes than children born to parents who are married or…

This article investigates the effect of inconsistency between parental marital conflict and disruption on children's health. Inconsistent situations arise when minimal marital conflict precedes disruption or when marital conflict is high but there is no disruption. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, two alternative…

This article discusses how the conditions in Russia are changing the characteristics of rural families, reducing the prevalence of traditional culture, changing the behavior of rural youth, and increasing familial conflict and the incidence of divorce. The deterioration of the social and economic situation that is being experienced today by many…

This study examined the specific relations and processes underlying the association between marital disturbance and child maladjustment. Data were gathered on 51 9- through 12-year-olds, along with their parents, on specific dimensions of marital discord, children's coping responses to conflict, and child adjustment. Parent reports, child reports…

Study of 50 marriage counseling cases of 1970-71 where both partners were under 20 years of age concludes that the vulnerability of early marriages is greatly increased by the failure of communities to provide the basic economic and human supports formerly offered by family networks. (Author)

The author proposes a model format for the initial conjoint marital interview. Implementation of the model is discussed with regard to anxiety reduction, elicitation of pertinent data, diagnosis, treatment plan development, resultant length of therapy, and effectiveness as a teaching-supervising tool. (Author)

Previous research has suggested that similarities and differences in specific personality factors are associated with differences in marital stability. Most findings were based on assessments of personality after marriage, thus confounding the effects of marriage on personality. This study was conducted to examine congruence between spouses'…

This study evaluated whether alcoholics who receive relapse prevention (RP) sessions in the year after a short-term behavioral marital therapy (BMT) do better at long-term follow-up than do those not receiving the additional RP. Sixty couples with an alcoholic husband, after participating in 10 weekly BMT couples group sessions, were assigned…

By making the husband and wife legal adversaries, the traditional divorce process only reinforces and escalates anger and distrust. In contrast, mediation employs principles of cooperation and conflict resolution. A description of family mediation is provided and includes guidelines for deciding issues about money and children. (Author)

By comparing changes in divorce rates of reform states with no-reform states, this study indicates that law changes have had little effect on increases in incidence of divorce in most states. Exceptions, such as California and Florida, should be tested with rival hypotheses pertinent to their special socioeconomic characteristics. (Author)

Used data from probability sample of 10,472 ever-married Canadians to examine effects of premarital cohabitation on later marital stability. Results suggest that premarital cohabitation has a positive effect on staying married. Positive effect remained when length of marriage and age at marriage were controlled. (Author/NB)

Investigates the effects of late marriage on marital instability. Persons married later in life were found to be more heterogeneous in their choice of mate. No support was found for the hypothesis that late marriage may be associated with marital instability because such spouses are "too set in their ways." (Author/ABB)