Interpersonal and economic resources and marital quality

This article examines the impact of interpersonal and economic resources in the context of marital interaction. The Foa and Foa (1973) typology of resources is used to conceptualize how interpersonal and economic resources are interrelated. It is proposed in this article that marital quality is, in part, dependent upon both spouses having access to a variety of types of resources. Implications are drawn for how the changing context of economic issues influences marital quality as we approach the end of the century.The author would like to express appreciation to Anna L. Cole, M.S., who is a Marriage and Family Therapist in Private Practice, for making comments and suggestions on this paper, and to the Department of Human Development and the Family and Consumer Sciences Research Institute for support. Family and Consumer Sciences Institute Journal Paper Number 554.Dr. Cole received his Ph.D. in sociology from Iowa State University. His current research interests include marital quality, family wellness, and marital and family enrichment.     

Testosterone,testosterone therapy and prostate cancer

Abstract

With prostate cancer not observed in eunuchs and total androgen suppression by castration an effective first-line treatment for advanced prostate cancer, the dramatic regression seen in tumour symptoms after castration, lead to the theory that high levels of circulating androgens were a risk factor for prostate cancer. This theory however, ignored the effects testosterone variations within a physiologic range could have on early tumour events and since the early 2000s, clinical evidence discounting testosterone as a linear mechanistic cause of prostate cancer growth mounted, with alternative mechanistic hypotheses such as the saturation model being proposed. Together with a growing understanding of the negative health effects and decreased quality of life in men with testosterone deficiency or hypogonadism, a paradigm shift away from testosterone as a prostate cancer inducer occurred allowing clinicians to use testosterone therapy as potential treatment for men with difficult and symptomatic hypogonadism that had been previously treated for prostate cancer. In this review we contextualise the idea of testosterone as a risk factor for prostate cancer inducement and compile the most current literature with regards to the influence of testosterone and testosterone therapy in prostate cancer.     

Implications of work and community resources and demands for marital quality

Based on a resources and demands approach, this study explores the effects of time in paid work, level of community participation, and work and community subjective resources and demands on three components of marital quality: activities with spouse, marital disagreements, and marital happiness. The analysis is based on data from 1,033 married dual-earner parents with a child aged 10-17 interviewed for the 1992-1994 US National Survey of Families and Households. The results indicate that fathers with the lowest levels of paid work hours and participation in community-professional organizations have the highest level of activities with spouses. A similar result is found for mothers with the lowest levels of participation in religious organizations and organized youth activities. Mothers' and fathers' community satisfaction is positively associated with two components of marital quality, whereas negative work spillover and economic strain show negative relationships with all three components. The paper is a first step in understanding the combined effects of work and community resources and demands on marital quality. Basée sur une approche de ressources et d'exigences, cette étude analyse les effets du temps sur le travail rémunéré, le niveau de participation à la communauté et les ressources subjectives du travail et de la communauté et des exigences sur trois composantes de la fonction conjugale: les activités avec le conjoint, les désagréments conjugaux et le bonheur conjugal. L'analyse se base sur les données de 1,033 parents mariés tous deux exerçant une profession et ayant un enfant entre 10 et 17 ans, interrogés pour l'étude Nationale des Familles et des Foyers aux états-Unis pour la période 1992-1994. Les résultats indiquent que les pères avec les niveaux les plus bas d'heures de travail rémunérés et de participation aux organisations de la communauté professionnelles ont le niveau le plus élevé d'activités avec leurs épouses. Un résultat similaire a été trouvé pour les mères ayant les niveaux les plus bas de participation à des organisations religieuses et des activités de jeunesse organisées. La satisfaction communautaire des mères et des pères est positivement associée aux deux composantes de la fonction conjugale, alors que les retombées d'un emploi négatif et la crise économique montrent les relations négatives avec toutes les trois composantes. Le document est un premier pas dans la compréhension des effets combinés du travail et des ressources et des exigences de la communauté sur la fonction conjugale.     

Satisfaction and role quality perceptions of farm women employed off the farm

The purpose of the study is to examine the relationships among perceptions of role quality on the farm and in the family, perceived financial need to work off the farm, and satisfaction with the balance of time away from and with family members for 187 employed farm women. Role quality perception variables measure the gap farm women experienced between actual and ideal farm and family roles. The perceived financial need to work is considered a constraint to satisfaction and an influence on role quality. OLS regression is the primary data-analysis technique. Employed farm women with large households are less satisfied with the balance of time away from and with family members. Those employed farm women who perceived a larger gap between their actual and ideal family roles are less satisfied with the balance between time away from and with family members.Her research interests include family decision making, labor force participation of women, and standards and levels of living.Her research interests are family work and environmental values in family decision making.     

Testosterone and men's quality of life

As the worldwide population ages, the emphasis on having a reasonable quality of life in old-age is increasing. In men, age-associated testosterone decline is one of the major factors that reduce quality of life. In patients and the physicians treating them, decreased energy levels and impairments to sex-life are perceived as the most important effects of hypogonadism. Two quality of life scales, the Aging Males' Symptoms (AMS) and the Age-Related Hormone Deficiency-Dependent Quality of Life (A-RHDQoL) scales, have recently been developed to specifically assess this patient population, and the A-RHDQoL found that memory, energy and physical capabilities, and sex-life were the factors most adversely affected by low testosterone levels. Unfortunately, there are limited data on the effects of testosterone on the quality of life of men with hypogonadism, but the information that exists suggests that testosterone can improve the quality of life significantly (to the same level as men with normal testosterone levels) and the more severe the symptoms before treatment, the greater the benefits of testosterone replacement. These promising early results need to be confirmed in more detailed quality of life studies.     

Social change,premarital nonfamily experiences,and marital dynamics

We investigate the effects of nonfamily experiences on marital relationships in a setting characterized by high levels of arranged marriage until recently. Drawing on theoretical frameworks for the study of families and social change, we argue that the expansion of opportunities for nonfamily experiences will increase the likelihood of marital relationships based on an emotional bond between husbands and wives. Using data from 3,724 individuals in rural Nepal, we find consistent effects of educational experiences across multiple dimensions of marriage. These effects point toward the spread of education as a stimulus to marriages characterized by higher levels of love and discussions between spouses, and lower levels of conflict and spouse abuse. Results suggest that studies of marital dynamics in non‐Western settings provide a fruitful avenue for new research on marriage.     

Marital Quality Assessment: Reviewing the Concept,Instruments, and Methods

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate which instruments have been used in marital quality research since 2005, and the concepts underlying each measure. We conducted a literature review in the following databases: PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science, and BVS. The review included 91 studies investigating 21 instruments. Half of the scales were multidimensional, but the most used instruments were unidimensional, except for the DAS. Most measures had exploratory evidence of construct validity and did not provide a definition of the construct under evaluation. Theoretical development is needed to address the problem of largely subjective, empirically based measures. We suggest network models can help to develop new measures and to provide a fresh understanding of the construct and the dynamics of marital relations.     

The Effects of Children, Dual Earner Status, Sex Role Traditionalism, and Marital Structure on Marital Happiness Over Time

In this study, the link between marital happiness and the advent of children is demonstrated, accounting for dual earner status, sex role traditionalism, and marital structure. A subset of 1,275 respondents from a longitudinal data set (Marital Instability Over the Life Course: A Three Wave Panel Study, 1980–1988) whom remained married through the 3 waves was used to compare the level of marital happiness of respondents who added children between waves to those who did not. Although the addition of children negatively affected marital structure and thus indirectly lowered marital happiness, results showed children also had positive counterbalancing direct effects. Dual-earner status, income, and sex role nontraditionalism were shown to mitigate the negative effects of children on marital happiness.     

Testosterone deficiency and the metabolic syndrome

Evidence is presented to link components of the metabolic syndrome to testosterone deficiency and obesity. Testosterone deficiency in hypogonadism or testosterone deprivation in normo-gonadotropic men increases fat mass as well as fasting insulin levels. Testosterone supplementation (TS) in a dose dependent manner, increase lean body mass (LBM), reduces fat mass, body mass index (BMI) and waist hip ratio in both young and elderly hypogonadal men. A negative association between T and insulin resistance as well as impaired glucose intolerance has been demonstrated and in type 2 diabetic men TS improves metabolic parameters. TS improves most components of the metabolic syndrome and also reduces inflammatory cytokines.     

Marital Quality,Context, and Interaction: A Comparison of Those Currently Receiving Government Assistance with Those Who Are Not

In this study the marital quality of respondents who were currently receiving government assistance was compared with those who were not. Contextual variables (e.g., gender, age, age at first marriage, religiosity, education, etc.) and interactional variables (i.e., escalating negativity, criticism, negative interpretation, withdrawal) were measured as potential correlates with marital quality. Results indicated that those who received government assistance differed significantly from those who did not on all six indicators of marital quality that were measured and on 8 of 11 contextual variables measured. Findings from this study will help policymakers, therapists, and other helping professionals gain an increased awareness of the needs of these two distinct populations and how to target educational programs to best address those needs.     

Changes in Korean Immigrants' Gender Role and Social Status,and Their Marital Conflicts

Based on survey and ethnographic research conducted in New York, this paper shows how the discrepancy between Korean immigrant women's increased economic role and persistence of their husbands' traditional patriarchal ideology causes marital conflicts and tensions. While only a small proportion of married women participate in the labor force in South Korea, the vast majority of Korean immigrant wives work outside the home, most working long hours. Parallel to the increase in Korean women's economic role, their husbands' provider role and social status have significantly weakened with immigration. Despite Korean women's increase in their economic role, most Korean husbands have not modified a rigid form of patriarchal ideology brought from Korea because they are socially segregated from the mainstream society. A big clash between Korean women's active economic role and their husbands' traditional patriarchal attitudes causes serious marital conflicts in many Korean immigrant families. In addition, Korean partners' (particularly husbands') frustrations over their downward social mobility, the long hours spent together in the family store, and their midlife crisis are additional causes of marital conflicts. Other contemporary immigrant groups, mostly from non-European, Third World countries, seem to encounter lower, but similar marital conflicts caused by sudden changes in women's gender role.     

One nationalism and two systems: the parallel regulations of Taiwan's marital immigration policies

By investigating the regulation differentials between Chinese spouses and foreign spouses in Taiwan's marital immigration program, this article shows how a restrictive border policy reflects the characteristics of Taiwan's contemporary nationalism. This article notes that the similarities in language, culture and ethnicity are not key elements in the construction of Taiwan's contemporary nationalism. Instead, the uncertain condition of sovereign identity constitutes the nationalist agenda in Taiwan. Taiwan's nationalism is accordingly contingent upon the discursive externality of a Chinese spouse. The discrimination against Chinese spouses is primarily politically motivated.     

Economic conditions,marital status,and the timing of first births: Results for whites and blacks

Relatively little is known about the effects of aggregate economic conditions on first-birth timing. In this paper, we argue that aggregate economic conditions are important macrolevel forces driving the transition to parenthood. We develop and test a causal model, separately by race, in which economic conditions influence both marital status and first-birth timing. Our results indicate that economic conditions are significant predictors of both outcomes, with economic conditions for females having effects different from those for males. A particularly noteworthy finding is that favorable wage trajectories for females lead to a decreased likelihood of being married and slower birth timing (a finding opposite to that predicted on the basis of opportunity costs). For blacks, the majority of the effects of economic conditions on the transition to parenthood are direct, while for whites a significant proportion of effects are indirect through marital status.     

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.     

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.     

Marital Quality,Socioeconomic Status,and Physical Health

Recent efforts to promote marriage among the socioeconomically disadvantaged are based on the assumption that marriage is equally beneficial for persons with varying levels of socioeconomic status. Using 3 waves of data from a sample of married adults (the National Survey of Families and Households; N = 1,849), the authors evaluated whether the health benefits of marital happiness and the health costs of marital conflict might vary by education and income levels. They found that increases in marital happiness were associated with increases in self‐rated health for individuals with more education. In addition, increases in marital conflict were linked to greater increases in functional impairment for persons with lower income. Although the results were not consistent and effect sizes were modest, the evidence nonetheless tentatively suggests that higher levels of marital happiness may be less beneficial for health and that higher levels of marital conflict may be more detrimental to health among persons with lower socioeconomic status.     

Marital Conflict, Depressive Symptoms, and Functional Impairment

Guided by a stress process perspective, we investigated (a) whether marital conflict might directly lead to changes in depression and functional impairment, (b) whether marital conflict might indirectly lead to changes in functional impairment via depression, and (c) whether marital conflict might indirectly lead to changes in depression via functional impairment. We estimated a latent variable causal model using 3 waves of data from the National Survey of Families and Households (N = 1,832). Results indicated that marital conflict directly led to increases in depression and functional impairment and indirectly led to a rise in depression via functional impairment. Overall, findings suggest marital conflict is a significant risk factor for psychological and physical health among midlife and older adults.     

Marital Status,Marital History,Body Weight,and Obesity

Marital status and marital history are associated with health. Marital history can be represented by the marital trajectory components of timing, transitions, sequence, and duration. We examined whether marital trajectory components add insights beyond marital status in predicting body weight in a retrospective analysis of 3,011 adults. Marital status findings revealed that married men were heavier than separated/divorced men, and never married women were heavier and more often obese than married women. Marital history findings showed that after adjusting for marital status, trajectory measures of age at first marriage, second marriage or second divorce, experiencing widowhood, and duration of separation/divorce were not clearly associated with body weight or obesity. Body weight and obesity appear to be associated with current marital status but not marital history.     

Integrative and Masking Emotion Work: Marital Outcomes Among Dual-Earner Couples

This study redresses a gap in the literature concerning the outcomes of emotion work by exploring how both integrative and masking emotion work relate to marital quality and marital conflict. Using data from a random sample of dual-earner couples in a northeastern city in an upper Midwestern state (n = 99 couples), this study explores the emotion-work performance of each partner. The findings show that men’s integrative emotion work is only significantly associated with men’s marital quality, whereas men’s masking emotion work significantly predicts their partner’s marital quality, men’s marital quality, and men’s marital conflict. Women’s integrative emotion work is significantly associated with women’s marital quality and their partner’s marital conflict, whereas women’s masking emotion work predicts women’s marital quality and marital conflict. Altogether, the findings suggest that considering both masking and integrative emotion work helps gain a fuller understanding of how emotion work shapes marital outcomes.