Consensus in the Marital Dyad: Couples' Perceptions of Contraception,Communication, and Family Life

Abstract

The present study was based on data collected (separately for husbands and wives) from 365 couples to determine levels of consensus on a series of variables related to the family forming process. Following Scheff (1967), consensus was operationalized as both agreement and coorientation in the marital dyad. The data generally indicated low levels of consensus on such variables as contraceptive efficacy, desired family size, child spacing, unwanted pregnancies, communication with spouse, and levels of alienation. The results are discussed within the framework of family planning and effective fertility control.     

A Test of the Family Stress Model Using a Remarriage Sample

ABSTRACT

The family stress model delineates the connections between economic hardship, economic pressure, marital interactions, marital quality, and, finally, marital instability. This study evaluated the family stress model in a sample of 661 remarried couples using structural equation modeling. The model was evaluated both within and between spouses. Consistent with the family stress model, marital instability and quality were influenced by economic hardship and pressure through decreased spousal warmth and increased spousal hostility. Implications for remarriage education and counseling are discussed.     

Consensus in the marital dyad: couples' perceptions of contraception,communication, and family life

The present study was based on data collected separately for husbands and wives from 365 couples to determine levels of consensus on a series of variables related to the family forming process. Following Scheff (1967), consensus was operationalized as both agreement and coorientation in the marital dyad. The data generally indicated low levels of consensus on such variables as contraceptive efficacy, desired family size, child spacing, unwanted pregnancies, communication with spouse, and levels of alienation. It becomes clear that survey research data collected solely from wives or husbands contain an important source of error - a selective distortion of the facts about family life and fertility behavior in many instances. Disparities in perceptions and world views suggest the importance of treating the couple as a unit in studies of relationships between alienation and fertility behavior. The lack of consensus within the marital dyad may constitute a major obstacle to rational decision making, particularly on sensitive topics and in areas surrounded by high levels of ego involvement. Couples not only disagree but lack awareness of their disagreements. This information suggests that many crucial family events are not planned. It becomes more appropriate to question whether decisions are made at all, and if so, to what extent, under what conditions and by whom.     

“Minutes to Midnight”: Problems and Promises

Abstract

This paper assesses the relative impact of direct and indirect determinants of marital fertility in Pakistan, where the vast majority of women do not use any method of fertility regulation. Data came from the 1990/91 Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey, and models were estimated for women aged 15–49, 15–24, 25–34 and 35–49. The younger cohort may be the vanguard of change; change which may be masked by investigating only the conventional 15–49 age group. Findings indicate that unlike the older cohorts, the younger cohort does not have negative and significant relationships between education, employment and fertility; and, that the current use of family planning is positive and significant with fertility for the 35–49 cohort only. These findings suggest that there is a threshold or minimum number of children that a woman must produce before determinants such as current use of family planning, education and employment impact fertility.     

The Influence of Perceived Parenting Style and Contraceptive Self-Efficacy on College Student Contraceptive Use

ABSTRACT

Few studies have examined the influence that parenting style has on the contraceptive use of college students. The current study explored the relationships between perceived parenting style, contraceptive attitudes, contraceptive self-efficacy, and contraceptive use in 270 college students. Analyses revealed that perceived parenting style had a relationship with contraceptive attitudes and when combined with contraceptive self-efficacy predicted contraceptive use. Findings suggest that for college students, both internal and external influences on beliefs contribute to contraceptive use and the parent–child relationship remains influential. Further research should explore specific aspects of parent–child communication that increase self-efficacy and subsequent contraceptive use. The implications of current results could inform the delivery of parent education and student sexual health programs.     

Reply to Sloan [on proxies for birth control

Sloan (1984) argues that annual changes in marital fertility of Swedish wives aged 35-39 between 1911 and 1974 is not a result of annual changes in the use of birth control, but is due to changes in health conditions that increase or decrease marital fertility. As evidence of the lack of effect of contraceptive practice on fertility Sloan cites a study published in 1916 whose author concluded that contraceptive use or nonuse had no effect on family size. Sloan is unaware of the shroud of ignorance that blinded such research in the distant past. There was no accepted methodology to determine contraceptive effectiveness until the 1930s, and scientists did not know key elemental facts about human reproduction. For example, the relationship of ovulation to the risk of pregnancy was unknown in 1916, and was to remain a mystery for more than a decade thereafter. Sloan's "declining health" explanation of low fertility in the West is merely a variant of an older attempt to explain low fertility as a result of high protein intake. Sloan's view that modern couples do not contracept to reach a desired family size and that changes in family size preference will not affect birth control practice among older (or younger it appears as well) couples seems to us to be an idiosyncratic view at best and directly opposed by all survey research. Couples do contracept most effectively when they are trying to prevent an additional birth. The view that failure of some Western couples to reproductively compensate for their child deaths as explained by poor reproductive health seems to assume that couples in non-Western population do so compensate, but this is wrong. The idea that such bereaved couples should have another child is so insensitive to tragedy as to defy further reply. Sloan's acceptance and use of reports that some couples say they wanted more children than they had ignores massive research findings of unwanted fertility among couples in populations with long histories of birth control practice. Further, it is difficult to have much faith in such responses since about 1/2 the couples in the Whelpton el al. study cited by Sloan also said they were fecund. These responses mean that couples may say that they want more than they actually had, but they deliberately did not have such a large and "ideal" family size because of other factors not considered by Sloan. Since it appears that Sloan was unable to find another authority, he cites a 3 page comment of his own in support of the hypothesis of deteriorating environment. He does not actually empirically link age patterns of chronic disease with fecundity loss; his view also ignores research indicating improved health conditions, at least among US women, after the mid-1930s that increased fecundity and then fertility. Thus, his argument that factors other than voluntary birth control could explain annual change in Swedish marital fertility among older couples is unsupported by empirical evidence. His remarks are also irrelevant to the use made in the author's article concerning marital fertility rates as a proxy for the use of annual birth control change among younger unmarried women. The marital rate varies, as does the illegitimacy rate. Annual increases in marital fertility are related to annual increases in illegitimacy; annual declines in marital rates to annual declines in illegitimacy. Sloan's hypothetical trends in fecundity have no bearing on our empirical study of annual change in Swedish illegitimacy rates. Finally, Sloan's claim that social demographers do not view a changing environment as problematic is unsupported and unjustified.     

Marital Status,Spousal Characteristics,and the Use of Preventive Care

In this article, we investigated the effects of marriage and spousal characteristics on the use of preventive care. We accounted for the endogeneity of marriage by combining propensity score estimation techniques with marriage transitions observed in longitudinal data. Results indicated that marriage increases the probability of dental check-ups and physical examinations for both sexes and mammograms and Pap smears for women. Next, we examined whether spousal characteristics affect the use of preventive care. Spousal education, income, health conditions, and preferences for risk and health care all affected use of preventive care in expected directions. Taken together, we conclude that marriage increases the use of preventive care; however, the net marital effect masks a heterogeneity that results from the characteristics of the spouse an individual marries.     

The Role of Cohabitation in Asset and Debt Accumulation During Marriage

Research has found that married individuals who cohabited only once before marriage with their future spouse (i.e., “spousal cohabiters”) have a distinctive financial advantage: they accumulate more wealth over time than individuals who married without ever cohabiting (i.e., “directly married”). Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and growth curve models, the present study attempts to identify the source of spousal cohabiters’ wealth advantage. We find that marriage is associated with gains for financial and nonfinancial wealth, increasing home equity, and decreasing debt over time. Spousal cohabiters begin marriage with more debt than the directly married. Conditional on education, income, and other key factors, spousal cohabiters pay down their debt faster and generate greater home equity over time thereby accumulating more wealth than the directly married. This pattern of financial behavior among spousal cohabiters explains some, but not all, of their financial advantage over married persons who never cohabited prior to marrying. Given the increasing prevalence of cohabitation among young adults, these results offer important insights into the long-term economic outcomes associated with premarital cohabitation.     

Effects of Religiosity,Forgiveness, and Spousal Empathy on Marital Adjustment

This study focused on married couples in a region of the United States that previous research has identified as having high rates of both religiosity and divorce. As a result, this study was designed to examine the effects of religiosity, forgiveness, and spousal empathy on marital adjustment. To investigate these constructs, married couples in this region were recruited (n?=?829) to participate in a cross-sectional, self-report telephone survey. Results indicate that religious service attendance and spousal empathy have direct positive effects on marital adjustment in European American married men; while religious service attendance, forgiveness, and spousal empathy have direct positive effects on marital adjustment in European American married women. Among African-American participants, only spousal empathy had a direct effect on marital adjustment for both men and women. Finally, spousal empathy moderated the association between previous marriage and current marital adjustment among European American married women.     

Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Contraceptive Users in Ghana

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the social and demographic characteristics of contraceptive users in Ghana, using the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) data (1993). Analysis has revealed that contraceptive use among women is quite low. Women's age, marital status, educational level, and place of residence are some of the factors that relate significantly to contraceptive use. The reasons most frequently cited for non-use of a modern birth control method are the desire to have children, lack of knowledge, and health concerns. The data show little motivation among women to practice family planning. Suggestions for effective family planning are provided.     

Born Without a Silver Spoon: Race,Wealth, and Unintended Childbearing

The United States has a surprisingly high rate of unintended fertility, particularly among women of color. Although studies have examined socioeconomic correlates of unintended fertility, the role of economic resources remains unclear. Wealth may provide an important context for whether a birth was intended or unintended. Moreover, staggering racial wealth disparities may contribute to racial/ethnic patterns of unintended childbearing. This study examines the linkages between wealth and unintended first births, drawing on data from the NLSY79 (N?=?1508). Results suggest that net wealth is negatively related to the probability of having an unintended first birth, controlling for a host of sociodemographic characteristics. We also use decomposition analysis to quantify wealth’s contribution to racial/ethnic disparities in unintended childbearing. Second only to marital status, differences in net wealth account for 9–17% of racial/ethnic disparities in unintended childbearing. Our results suggest that wealth is a significant and heretofore overlooked correlate of unintended childbearing.     

Community and individual acceptance: family planning services in the Sudan

The Sudan Community-Based Health Project, initiated by the University of Khartoum in cooperation with the Ministry of Health in 1980, sought to test the proposition that government-trained village midwives could provide maternal-child health and birth spacing services in addition to their ongoing obstetrical duties. The project area encompassed 92,000 people in 93 villages. The 120 midwives serving the project area received training in 4 interventions -- oral rehydration therapy, maternal and child nutrition, immunization, and birth spacing -- and introduced these services by means of 3 rounds of household visits over a 5-month period. Comparison of pre- and post-intervention survey data indicates that village midwives can indeed be used successfully to promote not only contraceptive use, but also health attitudes and practices that are positively associated with fertility regulation. Between the 2 surveys, the percentage of women who ever used contraception increased from 22% to 28%, while the percentage of current users rose from 10% to 13%. Parity was significantly related to current use; each child born multiplied the likelihood of contraceptive acceptance (by a factor of 0.76 in the post-intervention sample). Maternal education was the socioeconomic variable that most enhanced receptivity to contraceptive acceptance after the project's interventions. In terms of community-level variables, village location along the Nile and proximity to a paved road were significant correlates of contraceptive use. When variables related to the project itself were analyzed, women with vaccinated children were found to be twice as likely to contracept as those with nonvaccinated children and women who believed breast feeding should be continued during diarrhea episodes were 1.5 times more likely to use birth spacing than those who did not. Although midwives did not specifically emphasize contraceptive use, it appears women who were encouraged by midwives to take positive steps in the area of child health were also likely to become more innovative in terms of fertility regulation.     

Gender and marital satisfaction early in marriage: A growth curve approach

The purpose of this study is to assess differences between husbands and wives (N= 526 couples at the first assessment) on (a) growth curves over the first 4 years of marriage for psychological distress, marriage‐specific appraisals, spousal interactions, social support, and marital satisfaction; (b) the strength of intraspouse links and cross‐spouse links involving the initial assessment of the first four variables and the growth curve for marital satisfaction; and (c) differences between spouses headed for divorce versus spouses in stable marriages on the growth curves for all five variables. On the basis of evidence that interspouse differences were largely nonsignificant, there was little support for the view that there are his and her versions of the processes that affect marital outcomes.     

Determinants of individual fertility and contraceptive use: a review and synthesis of the literature

This discussion, which reviews the fertility determinants literature from a sociopsychological or individual perspective, summarizes literature addressing the determinants of individual fertility, i.e., an individual's decision to use or not use an effective contraceptive method. Complete or definite answers about fertility determinants do not exist, but enough is known to provide an overview. From the 259 articles, monographs, and books examined and classified, 6 main classes of determinants were formed and analyzed: demographic; sociopsychological; experiential or behavioral; informational, including knowledge about reproduction and birth control; husband and wife interaction; and environmental. Gaps in the existing literature about these determinants are identified and a sociopsychological model integrating existing knowledge is proposed. In general, the following groups of individuals have relatively high fertility and/or relatively low or ineffective contraceptive use: low socioeconomic status, adolescents and people aged 40 and older, Catholics and highly religious, rural, many siblings, unemployed women or working women who do not attach great importance to their careers; and ethnic minorities. Sociopsychological determinants of fertility and contraceptive use have been classified into 2 groups: personality traits and values and attitudes. In general, the evidence linking values and attitudes to fertility-related behavior is stronger than personality traits, but some promising work in the personality area is being conducted. In general an early age at 1st marriage related to higher fertility, and duration of marriage positively associated with fertility as is a younger age at 1st birth. In general, there is a positive correlation between contraceptive knowledge and contraceptive behavior. Certain aspects of the husband/wife relationship, including the allocation of roles and responsibilities between husband and wife and the scope and frequency of their communication--are related to their fertility and contraceptive use. The extent to which family planning programs contribute to fertility decline, over and above the effects due to modernization and development, remains unanswered empirically. The following gaps in the literature were observed: the need for more research on the role of the male partner in determining fertility and contraceptive use, the experiential or behavioral determinants of fertility and contraceptive use, employment history, environmental aspects, and integration of the area into theoretical framework(s) capable of empirical verification.     

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Workshop Interventions on Contraceptive Use Among First-Year College Students

Summary

This study investigated the impact of interventions designed to affect contraceptive knowledge and attitudes on the intent to use and reported use of contraceptives among 362 first year college students. After completing a pretest questionnaire, students were randomly assigned to a nonintervention control group or one of four workshops utilizing different approaches to education about sexuality and contraceptive use. The posttest results indicated that all four treatment groups increased in contraceptive knowledge relative to the control group. In addition, groups receiving an experientially oriented intervention showed significantly more positive changes in their     

Migration from Latin American countries to the United States: the economic,social and reproductive lives of Hispanic female immigrants, 1980

The authors describe the socioeconomic characteristics and fertility patterns of female immigrants from Latin America to the United States, with a focus on reasons for fertility differentials. "Using the one per cent public use sample from the 1970 and 1980 United States census, we first compare changes in socio economic characteristics from 1970 to 1980, and then examine the determinants of fertility of female immigrants to the United States, aged 16-49, from four Latin American areas or countries of birth.... The findings...suggest that there are direct effects of demographic, assimilation, and socioeconomic variables beyond those mediated by the variables in each of these sets. Further, regardless of the model, the effect of the clusters of demographic characteristics is most apparent. Age categories and marital status are the strongest indexed determinants of immigrant fertility.... The effect of education and employment is strong. Among assimilation variables, duration of residence and language ability are significant determinants of Hispanic immigrant fertility." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)     

Determinants of marital fertility in Pakistan: the impact of education,work and family planning

The relative impact of the indirect and direct determinants of fertility of Pakistani women was assessed using the 1990/91 Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS). A total of 7926 households was selected and 5713 women of reproductive age (15-49 years old) who had at least one birth were interviewed. Several social, economic, and demographic variables were employed to assess the number of children ever born. Ordinary least squares regression was used to estimate four multivariate models of children ever born. The direct and indirect determinants and the control variable of current age were simultaneously entered for each of four models that differed by age: 15-49, 15-24, 25-34, and 35-49 years. There was a 0.5 child difference between children ever born (4.64) and living children (4.11) for the 15-49 age group. This indicates infant and child mortality: 26% of the women experienced at least one child death before the age of 2 years. The oldest group had the lowest percentage ever attending school: 19% vs. 25% and 26% (15-24 and 25-34 age groups, respectively). Education was nonsignificant for the youngest and middle-aged cohorts, but it was negative and significant for the older cohorts. For employment, only the 25-34 age group was negative and significant. Age at marriage and breast feeding were strong and negative for all models. Current use of family planning was positive and significant for the oldest age group and the total. The younger cohorts did not have a negative and significant relationship between education and fertility; and the 15-24 age group living in a major city had significantly higher fertility than their town and village counterparts. The variables that showed differential impact were education, employment, residence, and contraceptive use. Education did not significantly lower fertility for the younger groups, but it did for the older group. Employment significantly lowered fertility for the 25-34 age group. Contraceptive prevalence steadily increased from 7% in the 15-19 age group to nearly 21% in the 35-39 age group.     

Spousal Dissimilarity,Race, and Marital Dissolution

I test the claims that spousal differences in ideational, behavioral, and other traits contribute to elevated rates of marital dissolution among African Americans. Using data from 3 waves of the National Survey of Families and Households (N = 5,424), I find that African American spouses experience high levels of dissimilarity in traits that may produce incompatibility. That dissimilarity can account for part of the difference in marital dissolution risk between African Americans and other groups. African Americans’ higher levels of spousal dissimilarity in certain areas may result from less resolution of spousal differences during initial relationship stages rather than from differences in assortative mating. The results argue for increased focus on how couple‐level factors early in relationships influence racial variation in marital dissolution.     

Temporal dimensions of the fertility transition: an age-period-cohort analysis of frontier fertility

"This paper evaluates age, period, and cohort effects on marital fertility during onset of the Utah fertility transition (1880-1900). Computerized genealogies are used to derive age-period-cohort fertility rates for 49,842 once-married couples. Age, period and cohort effects on marital fertility are then estimated using Johnson's (1985) relational model. Declining marital fertility in Utah is shown to be explained by both lower fertility levels across periods and increasing age-specific limitation across cohorts. Direct cohort effects on fertility are insignificant. These results are consistent with prior research, and the view that fertility levels were adaptive (in part through birth spacing across ages) to immediate contexts of childbearing while age-specific fertility truncation increased across cohorts (in part through the more general diffusion of contraceptive innovations)."