Associations Between Family of Origin Climate,Relationship Self‐Regulation,and Marital Outcomes

Using dyadic data from 961 married couples from the Relationship Evaluation Questionnaire project, the current study explored the direct association between family of origin climate and marital outcomes and the indirect association via relationship self‐regulation (RSR). Results from the actor–partner interdependence model analysis indicated that family of origin climate was positively associated with marital stability directly and indirectly via the effects of RSR and marital satisfaction for both men and women. Results suggest that the experience one has in their family of origin is associated with their marital outcomes through their RSR. Actor–partner direct and indirect effects indicate that spouses' RSR may have important consequences for both partner's evaluation of the marriage. Implications for intervention and future research are discussed.     

Compatibility,Leisure, and Satisfaction in Marital Relationships

This study challenges the prevailing view that marital companionship promotes marital satisfaction. By following a cohort of married couples for over a decade and by incorporating several methodological improvements—such as refining the measurement of marital satisfaction, determining how much spouses enjoy doing the leisure activities they pursue together and apart, and using diary data to portray marital leisure patterns—we found that the association between companionship and satisfaction is less robust than previously believed, and that it depends on how often spouses pursue activities that reflect their own and their partner's leisure preferences. Over time, involvement in leisure liked by husbands but disliked by wives, whether as a couple or by husbands alone, is both a cause and a consequence of wives' dissatisfaction.     

Family‐of‐Origin Experiences and Adjustment in Married Couples

Within this article a model is tested that examines the relationship between married individuals' experiences in their family of origin and patterns of marital adjustment. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling procedures, making the couple the unit of analysis. This allowed for an exploration of how one partner's family‐of‐origin experience and the other partner's family‐of‐origin experience uniquely influence each of the partner's experiences of the marriage. Two aspects of the results stand out. First, both husbands' and wives' family‐of‐origin experiences emerged as significant influences on marital adjustment. Second, the data suggest that wives' experiences within their family of origin are more strongly related to both their own accounts of their marriages and their husbands' accounts of their marriages than are husbands' family‐of‐origin experiences.     

Working Hard and Hardly Working: Domestic Labor and Marital Satisfaction Among Dual‐Earner Couples

This article examines the effect of domestic labor, gender ideology, work status, and economic dependency on marital satisfaction using data obtained from self‐administered questionnaires for 156 dual‐earner couples. Analytic distinctions were drawn among three aspects of domestic labor: household tasks, emotion work, and status enhancement. The effects of each of these elements of the division of domestic labor on marital satisfaction were tested. We also tested the effects of a respondent's satisfaction with the couple's division of domestic labor on marital satisfaction. Finally, we tested the effects of gender ideology, hours spent in paid work each week, and economic dependency on marital satisfaction. For women, satisfaction with the division of household tasks and emotion work and their contributions to household and status‐enhancement tasks were the most significant predictors of marital satisfaction. Satisfaction with the division of labor around both emotion work and housework were significant predictors for men's marital satisfaction. Partner's status‐enhancement work was also predictive for men. Economic dependency, paid work hours, gender ideology, partner's hours spent on housework, contributions to emotion work, and number of children and preschool‐age children had only indirect effects on women's marital satisfaction. For men, hours spent on housework, contributions to emotion work, partner's emotion work, hours spent in the paid labor force, and number of preschool children had an indirect effect on marital satisfaction.     

Effects of Love Styles on Marital Satisfaction in Heterosexual Couples: A Dyadic Approach

The main objective of this study was to test Actor-Partner Interdependence Models (APIM) describing the relationship between wives' and husbands' love styles and marital satisfaction within heterosexual couples (n=146 couples). Love styles (i.e., Eros, Ludus, Storge, Mania, Pragma, Agape) were set out in Lee's theory of love, which defines love as an attitude, meaning a predisposition to think, feel, and behave toward one's partner. Six APIMs representing each love style were tested using a path analysis procedure. Length of marriage and wives' and husbands' depressive moods were entered into the models as control variables. The results revealed that among the love styles, only Eros contributed to marital satisfaction for both men and women. However, our results showed that wives' Eros style had a positive impact on husbands' marital satisfaction, whereas husbands' Eros style did not influence wives' marital satisfaction.     

Partner Appraisal and Marital Satisfaction: The Role of Self‐Esteem and Depression

This study examined whether people are more maritally satisfied when the valence of their partner's view of them is congruent with the valence of their self‐view. In doing so, competing hypotheses derived from self‐verification theory and self‐esteem enhancement theory were examined. Married couples, recruited from the community and mental health facilities, completed measures of marital satisfaction, self‐esteem, depression, and rated their spouse on a wide array of personality traits, both depressionrelated and depressionneutral. Regardless of self‐esteem and depression level, and across trait categories, targets were more maritally satisfied when their partners viewed them positively and less satisfied when their partners viewed them negatively. Thus, findings were inconsistent with self‐verification theory and consistent with a self‐esteem enhancement model.     

Within‐ and Between‐Family Associations of Marital Functioning and Child Well‐being

This study clarifies within‐family and between‐family links between marital functioning and child well‐being. Expanding on existing prospective research, this study tests whether changes in parents' marital functioning are associated with corresponding changes in their children's well‐being, independent from associations that exist when comparing different families. Participants (N = 1,033) were members of married, opposite‐sex couples with children who participated in five waves of a larger study of marriage in the U.S. Army. Spouses' constructive communication, verbal conflict, and marital satisfaction each showed between‐family associations with parent‐reported child internalizing and externalizing problems. In contrast, within‐family associations were significant only for parents' communication behaviors. That is, parents who reported lower levels of marital satisfaction also reported lower child well‐being, whereas change in parents' communication was associated with change in child well‐being over time. Isolating within‐family effects is important for understanding marital and child functioning and for identifying potential targets for effective intervention.     

Psychotherapeutic Considerations for Working with Betrayed Spouses: A Four‐task Recovery Model

The treatment of infidelity is one of the most challenging and misunderstood aspects of marital therapy, with therapists frequently making treatment decisions based on faulty assumptions. By too quickly trying to ‘fix’ the marriage or by assuming that the betrayed spouse contributed to the unfaithful partner's infidelity, the therapeutic process can inadvertently re‐traumatise an already emotionally fragile client, while not addressing his or her emotional needs. This paper addresses therapeutic considerations for working with the betrayed partner, and provides practical guidelines for addressing the psychological and emotional needs of a betrayed client. A grounded theory model of the recovery path for betrayed partners is presented, as well as suggestions for further research.     

The Role of Attachment Behaviors in the Link between Relationship Satisfaction and Depression in Clinical Couples: Implications for Clinical Practice

Using dyadic, clinical data from 104 couples in committed relationships, the purpose of this study was to determine whether relationship satisfaction was associated with depression through perceived partner attachment behaviors—accessibility, responsiveness, and engagement—for both men and women. We found that one's satisfaction in the relationship was the lens through which they viewed their partner's attachment behaviors and—women's relationship satisfaction was the lens through which her male partner viewed her attachment behaviors. Finally, women's relationship satisfaction is associated with both individuals' depression through her perceived partner's accessibility, responsiveness, and engagement. The findings from this study are important because they provide clinically relevant and mutable constructs in which clinicians can intervene at an attachment level in distressed marriages with depressed partners.     

Happy Marriage,Happy Life? Marital Quality and Subjective Well‐being in Later Life

The authors examined associations between marital quality and both general life satisfaction and experienced (momentary) well‐being among older husbands and wives, the relative importance of own versus spouse's marital appraisals for well‐being, and the extent to which the association between own marital appraisals and well‐being is moderated by spouse's appraisals. Data are from the 2009 Disability and Use of Time daily diary supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (N = 722). One's own marital satisfaction is a sizable and significant correlate of life satisfaction and momentary happiness; associations do not differ significantly by gender. The authors did not find a significant association between spouse's marital appraisals and own well‐being. However, the association between husband's marital quality and life satisfaction is buoyed when his wife also reports a happy marriage, yet flattened when his wife reports low marital quality. Implications for understanding marital dynamics and well‐being in later life are discussed.     

Marital Quality and Spouses' Marriage Work With Close Friends and Each Other

Through in‐home interviews with 142 married couples, we explored how husbands' and wives' marriage work with close friends and one another was linked to their perceptions of marital quality. Results showed that husbands engaged in more marriage work with their wives than with close friends, whereas wives engaged in similar levels of marriage work with their close friends and husbands. For wives, marriage work with their spouses was found to moderate the relationship between marital quality and marriage work with friends. At low levels of marriage work with their spouses, wives' marriage work with friends was negatively related to their reports of marital love and positively related to reports of ineffective arguing. In contrast, at high levels of marriage work with their husbands, no significant relationship was found between wives' marriage work with friends and marital quality for wives. Findings underscore the role of spouses' friendships and suggest that the strength of spouses' ties to one another is linked to the social context they and their close friends create.     

Research on the Nature and Determinants of Marital Satisfaction: A Decade in Review

Scientific study of marital satisfaction attracted widespread attention in the 1990s from scholars representing diverse orientations and goals. This article highlights key conceptual and empirical advances that have emerged in the past decade, with particular emphasis on (a) interpersonal processes that operate within marriage, including cognition, affect, physiology, behavioral patterning, social support, and violence; (b) the milieus within which marriages operate, including microcontexts (e.g., the presence of children, life stressors and transitions) and macrocontexts (e.g., economic factors, perceived mate availability); and (c) the conceptualization and measurement of marital satisfaction, including 2‐dimensional, trajectory‐based, and social‐cognitive approaches. Notwithstanding the continued need for theoretical progress in understanding the nature and determinants of marital satisfaction, we conclude by calling for more large‐scale longitudinal research that links marital processes with sociocultural contexts, for more disconfirmatory than confirmatory research, and for research that directly guides preventive, clinical, and policy‐level interventions.     

Retirement and marital decision making: Effects on retirement satisfaction

This study explores how partner's employment and preretirement decision‐making structures affect retirement satisfaction, using pooled data from Waves 1 to 4 of the Health and Retirement Surveys. Based on resource theory, the analyses indicate that retired husbands are least satisfied if their wives remain employed and had more say in decisions prior to the husband's retirement. Retired wives are least satisfied if their husbands remain employed and had more say in decisions prior to the wife's retirement. These results suggest that retirement transitions undermine married retirees’ satisfaction if they enhance the other partner's influence in the relationship. More research should address linkages between work and family realms during transitions such as retirement and explore the negotiation processes surrounding such transitions.     

Direct and Indirect Effects of Newlywed Couples' Neuroticism and Stressful Events on Marital Satisfaction Through Mutual Problem Solving

This investigation examined the role of neuroticism, stressful experiences, and mutual problem solving in newlywed couples' marital satisfaction. The vulnerability-stress-adaptation model of marital development was used as the basis of the proposed hypotheses. Dyadic analyses and tests of indirect effects were performed on data from 186 couples in the first 5 years of their marriage. Results indicate that husbands' and wives' work, job–home interference, and family stress were significantly associated with their own lower marital satisfaction. Significant partner effects further indicated that husbands' and wives' family stress was negatively associated with the marital satisfaction of their partner. Additionally, the relationships between (1) neuroticism and marital satisfaction and (2) stressful events and marital satisfaction can be partially explained by mutual problem solving for both husbands and wives. This study emphasizes the important role of problem-solving communication in newlywed couples' experiences of stressful events and marital satisfaction.     

PARENTAL DEATH AS A PRECIPITANT OF MARITAL CONFLICT IN MIDDLE AGE*

When a long-standing marriage suddenly becomes conflictual, one precipitant can be the recent death of the parent of one of the partners. The bereaved spouse can identify with the deceased parent, attacking or withdrawing from his or her partner; or he/she can become irrationally angry because the partner cannot replace an idealized parent. The main goal of therapy is to facilitate the bereaved partner's mourning of the dead parent. Choosing an effective therapeutic method depends on the couple's capacity for mutual empathy and support and their need for insight. Without marital therapy, unrecognized mourning may contribute to the breakdown of long-standing marriages.     

Marital Satisfaction,Family Emotional Expressiveness,Home Learning Environments,and Children's Emergent Literacy

The current study investigates associations among marital satisfaction, family emotional expressiveness, the home learning environment, and preschool‐aged children's emergent literacy skills among 385 Midwestern mothers and their children. Path analyses examined how marital satisfaction related to emotional expressiveness in the home and whether this path was associated with the home learning environment and children's literacy skills. Higher maternal satisfaction was associated with higher levels of positive and lower levels of negative family emotional expressiveness. Additionally, family emotional environments characterized by mothers with higher positive expression were related to better home learning environments, which in turn were associated with higher literacy skills in children. Study findings underscore the importance of marital and family processes when considering young children's academic development.     

Association between Depressive Symptoms,Perceived Partner Emotional Expression,and Marital Quality

Previous studies have explored the direct association between mental health and marital quality; however, the processes moderating that association are not yet well understood. The present study examined associations between depressive symptoms, perceived partner emotional expression, and marital quality among 462 married individuals. Findings suggest that (a) low commitment, low satisfaction, and marital instability may be symptomatic of mental well-being; (b) individuals experiencing depressive symptoms are more inclined to have negative views of their relationships; and (c) perceptions of their partners’ expressions of gratitude and understanding serve as a buffer against the negative association between depressive symptoms and marital quality. Thus, perceptions of positive emotional expressiveness may serve as a resource facilitating marital quality when individuals are experiencing depressive symptoms.     

Changes in Housework After Retirement: A Panel Analysis

Grounded in family systems theory and based on panel data from the National Survey of Families and Households, this study shows that retirees spend more time with housework both in their own and their partner's domain than do continuously employed spouses. Moreover, husbands and wives spend less time with female chores if their partner retires. The data further reveal that the effect of changes in paid labor on housework time is contingent on the other spouse's employment as well as on gender roles and marital dependence. These findings are consistent with assumptions of interdependence among system parts and the hierarchical nature of transformation rules.     

Perfectionism,Coping, and Quality of Intimate Relationships

The present study examined the associations among perfectionism, marital coping, and marital functioning in a community sample of 76 couples. A theoretical model was tested in which maladaptive coping mediates the relationship between trait perfectionism and poorer marital functioning. As predicted, one of the interpersonal dimensions of perfectionism, socially prescribed perfectionism, was associated with maladaptive marital coping and poorer marital adjustment for both the self and the partner, even after controlling for depression and neuroticism. Finally, the use of negative coping strategies mediated the relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and poorer marital functioning for both the self and the partner. Overall, this study highlights the importance of spouse‐specific forms of perfectionism in marital adjustment.