PREDICTING MARITAL SUCCESS WITH PREPARE: A PREDICTIVE VALIDITY STUDY

In order to determine the predictive validity of the premarital inventory PREPARE, this study assessed the utility of PREPARE inpredicting marital success. A 3-year follow-up study was conducted with 164 couples who took PREPARE during their engagement. As hypothesized, it was found that satisfied couples scored significantly higher on the inventory than dissatisfied couples, divorced couples, and couples who cancelled their marriage. It was also hypothesized and found that dissatisfied married couples did not differ significantly from couples who cancelled their marriage or those who divorced. Using discriminant analysis, it was found that the PREPARE scores from 3 months before marriage could predict with 80–90% accuracy which couples were separated and divorced from those that were happily married. These findings not only demonstrate the predictive validity of PREPARE, but its potential utility in identifying high-risk couples who could benefit from more intensive premarital counseling.     

PREDICTING DIVORCE AT MARITAL THERAPY INTAKE: WIVES' DISTRESS AND THE MARITAL STATUS INVENTORY*

The Marital Status Inventory (MSI), a measure of divorce potential was given to couples in six independent samples. Scores from the five clinical sites and one marital enrichment sample (N = 241 couples) were used to provide adequate reliability, discriminant validity and predictive validity data. Compound probability for the five clinical sites supports the contention that, overall, wives' are more distressed than their husbands. The MSI was also able to identify couples who later divorced. However, the Guttman properties of the MSI, previously identified, were not replicated. Clinical implications of the higher wives' scores for prediction of divorce and marital therapy are discussed.     

Enrich marital inventory: a discriminant validity and cross-validation assessment

To assess the validity and clinical utility of the marital inventory ENRICH, a discriminant validity study was conducted using a national sample of 5039 married couples. The sample was randomly split in order to form a cross-validation group. ENRICH is a multidimensional scale and two types of analysis were conducted to assess the value of these various scales. Results from discriminant analysis indicated that using either the individual scores or couples' scores, happily married couples could be discriminated from unhappily married couples with 85–95% accuracy. These results were cross-validated with a second sample. Using regression analysis, it was clearly demonstrated that background factors account for little of the variance in discriminating happy from unhappily married couples compared to their relationship dynamics, i.e., scale scores. All ENRICH scales except equalitarian roles proved significant, indicating the validity of a multidimensional inventory.     

Antecedents and consequences of negative marital stressors

Many couples seeking therapy report the occurrence of severe, negative marital stressors (e.g., infidelity, threats of marital dissolution). In addition, existing research has demonstrated that these marital stressors precipitate Major Depressive Episodes and psychological symptoms. This longitudinal study examines the antecedents and consequences of negative marital stressors to help clinicians and researchers develop interventions that might prevent these stressors and their outcomes. Forty-one women completed a semistructured interview and measures of marital discord and depressive symptoms within one month after experiencing a marital stressor (baseline) and at a 16-month follow up. The results indicate that baseline marital discorded contributes to the occurrence of additional marital stressors during the follow-up period. Although baseline depressive symptoms do not predict additional marital stressors, depressive symptoms along with marital discord predict future depressive symptoms. Finally, baseline marital discord and additional marital stressors contribute to future marital dissolution. Clinical and research implications are discussed.     

Gender Dynamics Predict Changes in Marital Love Among African American Couples

This study examined the implications of gender attitudes and spouses' divisions of household labor, time with children, and parental knowledge for their trajectories of love in a sample of 146 African American couples. Multilevel modeling in the context of an accelerated longitudinal design accommodated 3 annual waves of data. The results revealed that traditionality in husbands' gender attitudes was linked to lower levels of love. Furthermore, divisions of household labor and parental knowledge moderated changes in love such that couples with more egalitarian divisions exhibited higher and more stable patterns of love, whereas more traditional couples exhibited significant declines in love over time. Finally, greater similarity between spouses' time with their children was linked to higher levels of marital love. The authors highlight the implications of gender dynamics for marital harmony among African American couples and discuss ways that this work may be applied and extended in practice and future research.     

REFOCUSING FROM CHILD TO MARITAL PROBLEMS USING THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT GAME

Couples experiencing marital distress often request treatment for child behavior problems. These families have been found to respond poorly to behavioral parent-training programs and to reject offers of marital therapy. The Marriage Contract Game (MCG) structures and teaches problem-solving and communication skills; the game can be used to improve the skills of distressed couples and to refocus their attention away from their children and toward their own marriages. A multiple-baseline design was applied to four distressed couples who requested treatment for a target child. Results showed that game play improved couple's problem-solving and positive feeling statements in home discussions of problems, parents' ratings of target children's problems, and, in three cases, couples' perceptions of the difficulty of resolving their problems. Therapists untrained in behavioral methods were able to use the game with success and comfort. While four sessions of the MCG were not sufficient treatment for this population, intervention improved couples' skills and shifted their focus away from child problems and toward their own.     

WHO'S DRAGGING THEIR FEET? HUSBANDS AND WIVES SEEKING MARITAL THERAPY

Despite its demonstrated efficacy, marital therapy's impact has been limited by couples' general reluctance to seek help until their problems become severe. To understand this delay, 147 married couples (294 individuals) in the process of seeking marital therapy were surveyed. Using multilevel confirmatory factor analysis, three relatively independent steps (problem recognition, treatment consideration, and treatment seeking) were identified. On average, wives were rated as completing all three steps before their husbands. Gender-role orientation, demographics, relationship satisfaction, and specific relationship problems (especially husbands' dissatisfaction with sex) were also predictive of the steps toward therapy. Implications for marital therapy are discussed.     

Dyadic Playfulness Differences Between Sexual and Marital Therapy Couples

Thirty-three clinical couples (17 sex therapy and 16 marital therapy) and fifty non-clinical couples were examined for potential differences in relationship playfulness utilizing the Couples Play Questionnaire. For clinical couples, Spanier's Dyadic Adjustment Scale, and Edmond's Marital Conventionalization Scale scores were also comparcd. Both sex therapy and marital therapy couples were found to be deficient in play compared to non-clinical couples, while marital therapy couples were found to be most deficient. Greater marital conventionalization scores were found for sex therapy couples suggesting that they favorably distort their self-assessmcnts. Results suggest that sex therapy couples may be the more inflexible of the three sample groups and may need therapeutic assistance with general relationship play as well as sexual play.     

MORNING AND NIGHT COUPLES: THE EFFECT OF WAKE AND SLEEP PATTERNS ON MARITAL ADJUSTMENT*

This study explored the effects of spouses' wake and sleep patterns on marital adjustment. A total of 150 couples from three states completed questions on wake/sleep patterns, marital interaction, marital adjustment, and problem solving. Couples whose wake and sleep patterns were mismatched (e.g., an evening person married to a morning person) reported significantly less marital adjustment, more marital conflict, less time spent in serious conversation, less time spent in shared activities and less frequent sexual intercourse than matched couples. Contrary to expectations for matched couples, night couples did not report more involvement in extra-familial social activities than morning couples. Morning couples engaged in sexual intercourse more frequently in the morning than night couples; night couples had sex more often in the evening than morning couples. There were no significant differences in the intercourse rates for morning couples and night couples. Compared to matched couples, mismatched couples with high marital adjustment reported more flexibility and adaptability in their marital problem solving. The implications of these findings for premarital counseling and marital therapy are discussed.     

Household Income and Trajectories of Marital Satisfaction in Early Marriage

Are the marriages of lower income couples less satisfying than the marriages of more affluent couples? To address this question, we compared trajectories of marital satisfaction among couples with a wide range of household incomes. The marital satisfaction of 862 Black, White, and Latino newlywed spouses (N = 431 couples) was assessed five times, each 9 months apart, during the first 4 years of marriage. Lower income couples did not have less satisfying marriages on average, nor did their satisfaction decline more steeply on average. They did, however, experience (a) significantly greater fluctuations in marital satisfaction across assessments and (b) significantly more variability between husbands and wives. If efforts to support the marriages of low‐income couples are to address the unique characteristics of their marital development, these findings suggest that efforts to stabilize their marriages may be more effective than efforts to improve their satisfaction alone.     

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.     

Marital Enqing and Depression in Taiwanese Couples: The Mediating Role of Active and Passive Sacrifice

Using social exchange and identity theory, the authors examined the association between marital enqing and depression in 372 Taiwanese couples, and the mediating effects of active and passive sacrifice on that association. Marital enqing is a unique form of affection toward the partner in Taiwanese couples. Data was analyzed by using the actor-partner interdependence model to test for actor and partner effects among study variables. Results indicated that husbands, who reported more marital enqing, tended to have lower levels of depression. Partner effects revealed that couples’ marital enqing decreased their spouse’s depressive symptoms. Husbands’ sacrifice behaviors mediated the association between his marital enqing and depression. However, Taiwanese wives’ sacrifice behavior did not mediate the association between her marital enqing and depression. Chinese cultural principles indeed impacted how couples in Taiwan conceptualized marital affection differently from couples in western cultures, and it provided insights into its relationships with couples’ sacrifices and relational and individual wellbeing.     

Correlates and Comparisons of Marital Duration of Black and White Couples in California, 1966-1976

A two percent random sample of California's population of couples filing for divorce/dissolution from 1966/1976 was examined with reference to comparison of black and white couples vis à vis trends in marital duration to separation and various correlates of marital duration to separation. We found that black couples as compared with white couples evidenced declining duration over the 11-year period and showed that social class as indicated by occupation would not explain differences in duration between black and white couples; education showed no sizable differences between black and white couples. We suggest that conservative Protestant values and membership may be of heuristic significance in addressing the concerns expressed by current scholars in regard to the fortunes and future of the stability of the black family in America.     

Marital Role Ideals and Perception of Marital Role Behavior in Distressed and Non Distressed Couples

Eighty non-patient couples, 50 couples seeking sex therapy, and 50 couples seeking marital therapy, were asked to report on whom they felt should and who actually does assume responsibility in eight major marital role areas. When the degree of individual “role strain”, that is, the discrepancy between role ideals and role behavior was examined, the marital therapy patients were found to be experiencing the most role strain. Husband-wife discrepancies with respect to who does have the various role assignments were found to be higher in the marital therapy couples. These data are interpreted in terms of their implications for diagnosis and treatment of sexually and maritally distressed couples.     

Racial/Ethnic Intermarried Couples and Marital Interaction: Marital Issues and Problem Solving

Abstract

Throughout history interracial/interethnic marriages have been considered an extreme deviation from the marital norm and thus inappropriate by the standards of mainstream society and minority communities. Even today, societal views of intermarried couples often remain negative in nature. This negative perception is frequently sustained by the assumption that intermarried couples experience race / ethnic-based differences in social, moral, and living standards that result in marriages that are fraught with conflict and instability. The mate selection literature however, would suggest that intermarried couples are not socially deficient, but are similar to those who marry within their racial / ethnic group. This research is intended to fill a gap in the literature by exploring the interpersonal, interactive aspects of interracial/interethnic marriages. In particular, this study evaluates intermarried couples as they interact during videotaped sessions of cooperative problem solving to determine if they are similar to, or distinct from, intramarried couples. Data from two aspects of the marital interaction are presented: the types of marital problems encountered and the manner in which couples attempt to resolve these issues. Findings show that while race/ethnicity did not emerge as an issue for intermarried couples, they were confronting different marital issues than intramarried couples. In addition, intermarrieds often employ different interactional styles than intramarrieds when dealing with their marital issues.     

Marital Conflict Resolution and Marital Affection in Chinese Marriage: Integrating Variable-Centered and Person-Centered Approaches

Abstract

To examine how couple interactions shape changes in marital affection during the early years of marriage, we used two-wave, dyadic data from 268 Chinese couples and integrated variable-centered (i.e., the actor-partner interdependence model; APIM) and person-centered analytic approaches (i.e., the latent profile analysis; LPA). Employing variable-centered analyses, we found that husbands’ stalemate and verbal aggression as well as wives’ collaboration and avoidance were particularly predictive of changes in marital affection. Using person-centered analyses, we found that (1) three groups of couples can be identified based on husbands’ and wives’ marital conflict resolution strategies (i.e., Collaborative Couples, Aggressive Wife-Defensive Husband Couples, and Defensive Couples); and (2) the changes of marital affection varied systematically across these groups. Variable-centered and person-centered approaches each generate unique insights above and beyond each other when considering marital phenomena. Integrating the two approaches can depict a more complete and nuanced picture of the association between marital conflict resolution and marital affection.     

Therapist Ratings of Frequency and Severity of Marital Problems: Implications for Research*

In order to ascertain fruitful directions for marital therapy research, practicing marital therapists were asked to provide information regarding the clinical relevance of potential research topics. A structured questionnaire was mailed to 250 members of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. Therapists treating at least five couples were asked to rate the frequency, severity, and treatment difficulty for 29 problems commonly experienced by distressed couples. Therapists' responses indicated the clinical relevance of a number of potential directions for research. Communication and alcoholism were most strongly endorsed as priority areas for future marital therapy research.     

MARITAL RELATIONSHIPS OF ALCOHOLIC,CONFLICTED, AND NONCONFLICTED COUPLES*

Twenty-six couples with alcoholic husbands, and 26 maritally conflicted and 26 nonconflicted couples without alcohol problems were compared. As predicted, the alcoholic and maritally conflicted couples did not differ, and both groups of problem couples showed greater relationship distress than nonconflicted couples on measures of marital stability, change desired, and positive communication behaviors. Contrary to predictions, alcoholic couples were not unique with respect to struggles for control, a pattern of wife dominance, a responsibility-avoiding style of communication by the alcoholic husband, or impaired perceptual accuracy. Unexpectedly, alcoholic husbands reported less marital unhappiness than both their wives and maritally conflicted husbands on most of the self-report marital satisfaction measures.     

“It's About Us”: Marital Adjustment and Marital Adaptation in Couples Who Adopt Children From the Child Welfare System

This article examines, using grounded theory methodology, the marital relationships of couples who adopted children from the child welfare system. Twenty-two spouses in four focus groups reported initial marital adjustment that featured husbands' support of their wives' initiation of adoption and management of child needs. About one half of these couples also developed time together and mutual influence to achieve a state of marital adaptation characterized by deeper intimate connection. Professionals are encouraged to understand the potential course of development of these marital relationships and to integrate attention to marital development into service throughout the entire adoption process.