A century of Chinese developmental psychology

At the turn of last century, psychology, including developmental psychology, was introduced into China. Since then, developmental psychology has always been one of the main branches of Chinese psychology. This paper reviews the progress of Chinese developmental psychology in the last century, with special emphasis on its development during the recent 20 years. The paper consists of three sections. The first is a historical review. The 100 years' history of Chinese developmental psychology has been divided into three phases: first half of the 20th century; the period between 1950s and 1970s after the foundation of the People's Republic of China; and the period from the end of the 1970s up to the present. The authors briefly describe the initiation of Chinese developmental psychology, highlighting the research and related work in the field during the three phases. The second section of the paper introduces the research conducted by Chinese developmental psychologists during the last two decades in the following areas: cognitive development, language development, social development and socialization, the study of gifted children, cross‐cultural studies of child development, the study of only children, and the psychology of ageing. This section is the focus of the paper, because in this period, developmental psychology in China has progressed steadily on a sustained course and entered an unprecedented thriving period along with the State opening‐up policy and structural reformation. The last section is an appraisal of the past and prospects for the future. Here, the authors comment on the characteristics and achievements of Chinese developmental psychology in the 20th century and discuss future directions for its further development in terms of research scope and depth, research methods, indigenization, and application.     

Marital Expectations in Strong African American Marriages

The current exploratory study utilized a family strengths framework to identify marital expectations in 39 strong African American heterosexual marriages. Couples reflected on their marital expectations over their 10 or more years of marriage. Three themes emerged through qualitative analysis and the participants' own words were used in the presentation of the themes. African Americans indicated that there was growth in marital expectations over time, with marital expectations often beginning with unrealistic expectations that grew into more realistic expectations as their marriages progressed. Participants also indicated that core expectations in strong African American marriages included open communication, congruent values, and positive treatment of spouse. Finally, participants explained there is an “I” in marriage as they discussed the importance of autonomy within their marital relationships. Results are discussed in association with existing research and theory.     

Marital interactions and experiences of women living in polygamy: An exploratory study

The study examines interactions and experiences of Bedouin women living in polygamous households in Israel. A mixed-method approach was applied in a two-part study. The quantitative part examined differences in differentiation of self and marital satisfaction between 50 Bedouin women in polygamous marriages and 50 in monogamous marriages. It found that, in polygamous families, women's levels of marital satisfaction were positively related to their I-position and fusion with others and negatively related to emotional cutoff and number of children at home, whereas among monogamous counterparts, marital satisfaction was only negatively associated with emotional cutoff. Surprisingly, fused relationships with the family of origin predicted higher satisfaction only in women in polygamous marriages. The qualitative part, which yielded deeper understanding of the authentic voices and experiences of 18 senior wives, revealed that they had severe emotional and physiological responses to their husbands' marriage to another woman. For most, particularly those who married young, living in a polygamous family adversely affected their marital satisfaction. Interactions ranged from violent relationships, accompanied by jealousy and anger, to respectful and harmonious relations. Along with the challenges, some women, especially the educated, chose proactive ways of coping. Educated women also preferred cohabitation with the other wife.     

Marital satisfaction in covenant versus standard marriages: Is there a difference?

After the rapid increase of the American divorce rate in the late 20th century, one of the most conspicuous efforts of the marriage movement in the 1990s that was used to increase marital stability was the legislation of the covenant marriage license, a more restricted marriage license issued in three different states of the U.S. To investigate the marital life of newlywed covenant versus standard couples, a large-scale 5-year couple study was conducted between 1998 and 2003 in Louisiana. The present study uses this large-sample, multiple-wave, multiple-group dyadic dataset to examine differences in co-development and divorce rates in 297 covenant and 380 standard mixed-sex couples using a multiple group growth curve modeling and survival analysis. We examined differences in marital trajectories between covenant and standard couples as well as between husbands and wives in each marital group. The results show (1) that the couples in both groups experienced, on average, declines in marital satisfaction, and such a decline was slower in covenant husbands than their wives as well as those in standard marriages, and (2) that co-development in marital satisfaction was more prominent in standard marriages than in covenant marriages, meaning standard couple's marital satisfaction declined at a more similar rate than that of covenant couples. We provide possible explanations and discuss practical implications.     

Family- versus couple-initiated marriages in Turkey: Similarities and differences over the family life cycle

The present study aimed to investigate marital relationships of the Urban Turkish family. Questionnaires were given to both members of 430 couples at various stages of the marriage cycle. Information concerning demographic characteristics, spousal feelings, marital functioning, including division of labour and satisfaction with division of labour, decision-making, and conflict; and relationships with social network, including feelings for families of origin and frequency of interaction with families was obtained. Results revealed that in comparison to family-initiated marriages, couple-initiated marriages were more emotionally involving, less enmeshed with families, more egalitarian, and involved fewer conflicts. However, over successive stages of the marital cycle, conflict declined in family-initiated marriages and division of labour became less equalitarian in couple-initiated marriages. No differences between the two types of marriage emerged with respect to decision-making and conflict management style. Wives were reportedly more influential with respect to decisions concerning families and children than their husbands in both types of marriage. Couples at later stages of the marital cycle reported lower emotional involvement and less equalitarian division of labour. Relationships between educational level and various marital measures were also obtained. The results are discussed in relation to the possibly different marital schema entertained by men and women within the modernising context of Turkey and with respect to possibly different effects of modernization on different aspects of marraige.     

夫妻问题解决和社会支持、依恋安全性与婚姻质量的关系

以41对新婚夫妻为研究对象,采用观察法与问卷法相结合的方式,对夫妻冲突和支持、依恋安全性和婚姻质量之间的相互机制进行探索。结果显示：（1）妻子的婚姻质量更受到问题解决情境中（而不是社会支持）夫妻的积极行为（而不是消极行为）的影响;丈夫的婚姻质量更受到社会支持情境（而不是问题解决）中夫妻的消极行为（而不是积极行为）的影响;（2）妻子的依恋安全性显著预测妻子的婚姻质量,但丈夫的依恋安全性不能显著预测丈夫的婚姻质量;（3）妻子的依恋安全性在丈夫和妻子的问题解决积极行为对妻子婚姻质量的影响中起完全中介作用,而丈夫的依恋安全性在夫妻问题解决、社会支持行为与丈夫婚姻质量的关系之间不起作用。     

The Role of Nonperformance Factors on Job-Related Relocation Opportunities: A Field Study and Laboratory Experiment

Two studies examined the role of employee gender, marital type (single-earner, dual-earner), and parental status in understanding differential access to job opportunities requiring relocation, as well as possible perceptual processes underlying these effects. A large-scale field study (Study 1) found that married women and employees in dual-earner marriages were provided fewer relocation offers than married men and those in single-earner marriages. A laboratory experiment (Study 2) extended Study 1 by examining the perceptual process by which these nonperformance factors affected relocation opportunities. Again, married women and employees in dual-earner marriages received lower recommendation ratings for jobs requiring relocation compared to married men and single-earners, respectively. Further, decision-makers' perceptions of an applicant's willingness to relocate, family resistance to moving, and ease of adjustment to a geographic move partially mediated the relationship between these nonperformance factors and relocation opportunities. Implications for research and applied practice are discussed.     

Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Sytems

The Circumplex Model focuses on the three central dimensions of marital and family systems: cohesion, flexibility and communication. The major hypothesis of the Circumplex Model is that balanced couple and family systems tend to be more functional compared to unbalanced systems. In over 250 studies using the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales (FACES), a linear self-report measure, strong support has been found for this hypothesis. In several studies using the Clinical Rating Scale (CRS), a curvilinear observational measure, the hypothesis was also supported. These two assessment tools, the FACES and the CRS, are designed for research, clinical assessment and treatment planning with couples and families.     

Marital conflict and preadolescent behavioral competence: maternal knowledge as a longitudinal mediator.

The present study considered whether maternal knowledge mediated the relation between overt marital conflict and preadolescent behavioral competence. Four years of self-report data were collected from 133 mothers and their preadolescents, beginning when the preadolescents were in 4th grade. Marital conflict, maternal knowledge, and preadolescent behavioral competence were assessed at all 4 time points in order to apply a stringent methodology for assessing longitudinal mediating patterns. The results indicated that maternal knowledge mediated the relation between marital conflict and preadolescent behavioral competence. Thus, the present study identified one possible process through which marital conflict may affect preadolescent behavior.     

The Meta Marriage: Links Between Older Couples' Relationship Narratives and Marital Satisfaction

Drawing upon a relatively understudied population and a unique observational task, the current study sought to examine how older couples' interactional behaviors during a relationship narrative task were associated with marital satisfaction over time. Using observational data from a sample of 64 older, higher‐functioning married couples, we analyzed a series of Actor–Partner Independence Models (APIM) to explore how couples' interactional behaviors during a relationship narrative task were associated with spouses' marital satisfaction both concurrently and one year later. Analyses revealed that spouses' behaviors (e.g., expressions of positive affect, negative affect, communication skills, engagement) were associated with their self‐reported marital satisfaction both at the time of the narrative and with changes in marital satisfaction. We found particularly robust evidence for the role of husbands' negative affect during the narrative task in predicting changes in both spouses' marital satisfaction over time. Our results indicate that researchers and clinicians should carefully consider the influence of development on the associations between spouses' behaviors and marital satisfaction. Further, those seeking to improve marriages in later life may need to consider the meaningful role that gender appears to play in shaping the marital experiences of older couples.     

African American marriage in the 20th century

It is not possible to understand African American marriages fully without attention to the social, economic, racial, and historical factors that have stressed male-female relationships beyond those stresses experienced by majority couples. I propose that the societal projection process (Bowen, 1978) has entrapped African Americans in ways that have continually and severely strained their marital and couple relationships. These experiences, and the ways in which African Americans have responded to them, have created a vulnerability that is compounded by societal shifts and changes, and is manifest in the precipitous decline of marriages at a rate higher than that found in all other racial groups in the U.S. I will examine the state of African American marriages in this cultural context, with specific attention to the effects of the unequal sex ratio, socioeconomic conditions, and overstressed male-female relationships. I will then discuss implications and offer suggestions for therapists who work with this population.     

The Beavers Systems Model of Family Functioning

Family competence and family style are the two main dimensions of the Beavers Systems Model of Family Functioning. The competence dimension ranges from optimal through adequate, midrange and borderline to severely dysfunctional. The style dimension ranges from centripetal to centrifugal. When the two dimensions are combined, they diagramatically define nine distinct family groupings, three of which are relatively functional and six of which are thought to be sufficiently problematic to require clinical intervention. A family's status on the competence and style dimensions may be established with the Beavers interactional scales. The self-report family inventory may be used to evaluate family members' perceptions of their status on the competence dimension. The reliability and validity of the self-report instrument and observational rating scales have been documented in over thirty papers and books published by the Beavers research team since 1970. The model has proved useful in training, research and clinical work.     

Self-report schedules for use in assessing the marital adjustment of abusive and nonabusive parents

Abstract

Abusive parents and nonabusive parents were compared on three self-report behavioral marital questionnaires. The questionnaires—the Marital Status Inventory, the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test, and the Areas of Change Questionnaire—have been used in pre-post evaluations of treatment and in the discrimination of distressed from nondistressed marriages. The results indicated that both groups reported having only mildly distressed marital relationships. The report presents initial normative data on the questionnaires for abusive parents and nonabusive parents who were seeking help with child management problems.     

Systemic family therapy can be manualized: research process and findings

Determining the efficacy of therapeutic interventions is becoming an increasing political and ethical necessity. Comparative therapeutic outcome trials are most powerful when there is a precise specification, or manualization, of the forms that therapies took. Manuals have begun to be developed for structural/behavioural family therapy and couple therapy. The development of these manuals is often reliant on experts' self-report, rather than a systematic analysis of the therapeutic process as it happens. This can limit their validity and applicability to standard clinical practice. In addition, no manuals exist which reflect less structured forms of family therapy aimed at incorporating systemic, postmodern and narrative frameworks. The feasibility of producing a workable manual that reflects the fluidity of such practices has been questioned.
A research project to systematically create and test such a manual is reported. Multiple data sources and research methods, primarily qualitative, were applied to generate a rich specification of the therapy. In reporting these results the contents of various aspects of the final manual are indicated. Procedures to ensure that the prescribed practice is consistent with a widely used approach to systemic family therapy are also described.
The manual will be an important tool for outcome research and therapeutic practice. The account of the research process should be helpful to researchers engaged in constructing a manual for other models of family therapy based on a rigorous analysis of actual practice. The manual itself is available for use by outcome researchers who wish to evaluate this widely used form of systemic family therapy.     

Marital satisfaction across the transition to parenthood.

The purpose of the present study was to discriminate between the 2 dominant perspectives governing research on the nature of marital change over the transition to parenthood. Progress can be made in understanding this transition by recognizing the role of uncontrolled sources of variability in research designs, defining and using control groups, and timing of data collection around the child's arrival, and the authors conducted a study incorporating these methodological refinements. Growth curve analyses were conducted on marital satisfaction data collected twice before and twice after the birth of the 1st child and at corresponding points for voluntarily childless couples (N = 156 couples). Spouses who were more satisfied prior to pregnancy had children relatively early in marriage, and parents experienced greater declines in marital satisfaction compared to nonparents. Couples with planned pregnancies had higher prepregnancy satisfaction scores, and planning slowed husbands' (but not wives') postpartum declines. In sum, parenthood hastens marital decline--even among relatively satisfied couples who select themselves into this transition--but planning status and prepregnancy marital satisfaction generally protect marriages from these declines.     

Marriage Satisfaction and Wellness in India and the United States: A Preliminary Comparison of Arranged Marriages and Marriages of Choice

Forty‐five individuals (22 couples and 1 widowed person) living in arranged marriages in India completed questionnaires measuring marital satisfaction and wellness. The data were compared with existing data on individuals in the United States living in marriages of choice. Differences were found in importance of marital characteristics, but no differences in satisfaction were found. Differences were also found in 9 of 19 wellness scales between the 2 groups. Implications for further research are considered.     

Marital enqing: an examination of its relationship to spousal contributions, sacrifices, and family stress in Chinese marriages

The purpose of this study was to extend understanding of Chinese couples' enqing, a culturally specific component of marital affection that involves the expression of feelings of gratitude and admiration toward one's spouse. In this study, the authors examined family stress, spousal contributions, and sacrifices to study their possible effects on enqing in Chinese marriages. Participants were 455 married people living in northern Taiwan. Overall, the results highlighted the importance of spousal contributions and sacrifices in the development of marital enqing. Additionally, the results indicated that family stress moderated the spousal economic contribution--enqing relationship and the spousal sacrifices--enqing relationship for wives, but not for husbands.     

Marital conflict, family processes, and boys' externalizing behavior in Hispanic American and European American families

Used self-report and observational measures to explore associations among marital conflict, triadic family processes, and child adjustment in Hispanic American, European American, and biethnic families. One hundred and thirteen families with a 7- to 11-year-old son participated. More similarities than differences were found between European American and Hispanic American families. A hierarchical parenting style was associated with externalizing behaviors for European American and biethnic families but not for Hispanic American families. Marital conflict and disengaged family alliances were associated with child externalizing behavior for all ethnic groups. Ethnicity was not found to moderate the relation between marital conflict and family functioning, and greater levels of marital conflict were associated with disengaged family interactions and also with lax or inconsistent parenting. Implications for understanding cross-ethnic issues in family systems and child adjustment are discussed.