A Component Analysis of Marriage Enrichment: Information and Treatment Modality

Two primary components were identified in marriage enrichment programs: information about marital life (or none) and discussion among married couples (or none). Student couples (N = 36) volunteered for a marriage enrichment program and were assigned to one of four conditions: (1) assessment only, (2) information only (received by couples), (3) an unstructured discussion group, and (4) a structured group with both information and group discussion. Information had little apparent effect on couples, but discussion in groups improved couples' marriage satisfaction and their sexual and intellectual intimacy throughout the study relative to couples not receiving group discussion. Improvement was thought to be due to the group discussion heightening couples' attention to how they use their time as a couple.     

Depression und Paarbeziehung

The close relationship between depressive disorders and couple relationships has been well proved empirically.Conflicts and problems within the couples'relationship can be a significant trigger for depression. In additition, the quality of the relationship is often markedly impaired by depressive disorders, in many cases far beyond the depressive phase.The couples'relationship also influences significantly the course of depressions, especially when the disorders are not yet chronic.The link between depression and couples'relationship seems to be stronger and more evident for women than for men. Furthermore there seem to be patterns of interaction in couples with a depressed partner, which differ from those in healthy or other clinical comparison groups or distressed couples without depression.These patterns need further exploration with regard to different subgroups of depressed patients and phases of depression.Couples' therapy has been proved to be effective in the treatment of depression on the symptomatic and on the relationship level.Conjoint assessment and counselling sessions with depressed patients and their partners should be conducted regularly.For patients suffering from an ‘anaclitic’,‘sociotropc’form of depression couples' therapy in a more narrow sense is usually indicated. In the treatment of depressives of the ‘autonomous’ ‘introjective’ type partners should be included into treatment for the assessment and the working through of specific conflicts concerning the relationship.     

Self-esteem agreement in the marital relationship.

With the use of the circular-causal model of relationship development, this study examined the convergence of the self-esteem of marriage partners over four martial life stages. Three hundred thirty-six married couples in the United States were randomly selected and divided into four life stage groups: younger couples with a child (or children) under age 6; couples with children in school; empty nest couples, in which the wife is in the age range of 45-59 years; and retired couples. Measures of a partner's self-esteem and his or her evaluation of the spouse's self-esteem were taken. The findings demonstrated a convergence of the partners' self-esteem across life stages.     

The Dyadic Relationships Test: Creation and Validation of a Model-Derived,Visual-Verbal Instrument to Evaluate Couples Part I of II

Abstract

In Part I of this article, background and rationale for the construction of a Selfhood model-derived visual-verbal Dyadic Relationships Test (DRT) is presented. Results from studies covering its reliability and verification of its psychometric properties are presented. Construct validity was evaluated through research with competing theoretical models. In Part II, results from studies are reported through discriminant and concurrent validity analyses in adoptive and traditional couples. A revision evaluated its construct validity with measures of negotiation, intimacy, and communication, and through relational and emotional life at different stages of the life cycle, including empty nest and retirement. Results from these studies tend to support the psychometric properties of this instrument and, indirectly, the validity of the Selfhood model underlying its construction.     

The areas of change questionnaire: A cross-cultural comparison of israeli and american distressed and nondistressed couples

Abstract

This study examines Israeli couples' presenting complaints about their relationship, their perceptions of one another's complaints and perceptual accuracy between actual and perceived complaints, using the Areas of Change Questionnaire (ACQ). Samples were obtained of both distressed and nondistressed couples. Each sample met stringent criteria for categorization as distressed and nondistressed. Normative data for both samples are examined and areas of similarities and differences are discussed. The instrument is found to discriminate distressed and nondistressed Israeli couples. Results are compared with a previous study of American distressed and nondistressed couples. The American finding that women desire more change in marriage is not replicated in the Israeli sample, nor the American finding that distress and stage in the life cycle are related. However, there is an indication in both samples that men, compared to women, perceive more requests for change. Men in both cultures also feel more change is asked of them than they themselves ask in return.     

Equity and marital satisfaction over the family life cycle

Marital satisfaction and perceptions of global marital equity were assessed in a sample of 373 Australian husbands and wives drawn from four phases of the family life cycle: preparenthood, childrearing, launching, and the empty nest. For wives only, satisfaction levels across successive phases described the U-shaped curve predicted from previous research. Sex differences emerged in perceptions of marital equity: During childrearing and the empty nest, more wives than husbands experienced equity; and in all phases except preparenthood, inequitable marriages were more likely to produce overbenefit for husbands and underbenefit for wives. For the sample as a whole, and for the preparenthood and childrearing groups individually, marital satisfaction was predicted both by the relative level of benefit a respondent gained from marriage, and by how closely the balance of exchange in the marriage matched strict equity. During launching, however, relative benefit eclipsed strict adherence to the rule of equity as a predictor of satisfaction, whereas during the empty nest phase, strict equity eclipsed relative benefit. Possible explanations for these life-cycle variations are discussed.     

Capitalization in distressed couples: A pilot study and outline for future research

Capitalization—seeking “support” when good things happen—is linked to healthy couple functioning but has never been studied in distressed couples. We examined whether perceptions of capitalization and traditional social support related to couples' satisfaction prior to, and following, couples' therapy at a Veteran Affairs Medical Center. Perceptions of capitalization and traditional social support were associated yet distinct. Not all distressed couples had poor perceptions of support, and greater perceived support related to greater satisfaction at treatment entry. Relationship satisfaction was higher posttreatment for individuals whose partners reported providing them with greater capitalization support prior to treatment. We focus our discussion on the development of systematic research to investigate how capitalization may promote adaptive processes in vulnerable couples.     

Effect of Gender and Life-Stage on Love Styles in the Indian Context

This study examined how love styles evolve over a period of time and if gender shapes the use of love styles. The sample comprised 120 people (60 males and 60 females): 20 couples in a dating relationship, 20 couples married for less than 2 years (childless) and 20 couples married for more than 15 years (with children). The sample consisted of Indian population and only those married couples were selected who had married out of ‘love’. Results indicated significant differences across life stages for Eros, decreasing progressively with life stages. No other love style differed significantly across life styles. Gender differences were found on Pragma and Mania, with females using both Pragma and Mania more than males, in line with the evolutionary perspective.     

Couples' evaluations of fatherhood in different stages of the family life cycle

Fathers' and mothers' views on mothers' satisfaction with paternal behaviour as well as the respective processes of origination were studied in 393 cohabiting couples from three different stages of the family life cycle. Data on paternal competence and the couples' relationship characteristics were included as predictors in multiple regression analyses, and the stages of the family life cycle were taken into account with multigroup regression analyses. Results showed that the mothers were more satisfied with paternal behaviour than the fathers thought the mothers were. Moreover, mothers were satisfied when the fathers were willing to spend time with the child, whereas fathers thought that their partners were satisfied when they were able to establish and maintain a relationship with the child. Couple relationship satisfaction had a consistent impact on fathers' views, whereas it was not relevant to mothers' views unless the oldest child had reached adolescence.     

Transition novelty moderates daters' cortisol responses when talking about marriage

Nonmarital couples' salivary cortisol responses during a likelihood of marriage discussion were assessed. Sixty‐eight couple members (34 couples) in the United States independently indicated the extent to which they had experience thinking about and talking about marriage to their current partners (i.e., marriage novelty). Couples subsequently jointly graphed their chance of marriage to each other over the course of their relationship histories. Increased levels of marriage novelty predicted heightened cortisol reactivity to the joint discussion relative to cortisol responses of couple members for whom the idea of marriage was less novel. These results highlight the impact simply discussing transitions can have on individuals' physiological responses, and add to the expanding literature concerning the link between nonmarital romances and biological outcomes.     

Through the Lenses of Gender, Race, and Class: Students’ Perceptions of Childless/Childfree Individuals and Couples

Earlier research has documented negative perceptions of childless couples, particularly the voluntarily childfree, among college students. In this project we used hypothetical vignettes to assess variations in students’ (N?=?478) perceptions of childless couples related to the couple’s race, occupations of husband and wife, and assumed reasons for childlessness. Perceptions were strongly influenced by occupational status and gender, but we found few race differences. Neither infertility nor chosen childlessness was rated negatively, but couples were rated more positively if they were perceived as temporarily rather than permanently childless. Our findings suggest that delayed parenthood is regarded as normative and that students have few negative biases regarding infertility or chosen childlessness. Perceptions were strongly conditioned by economic and employment considerations, which reflect current concerns about balancing work and family trajectories.     

Coping with Age‐related Threats to Role Identity: Older Couples and the Management of Household Money

As more couples live together into old age, difficult decisions have to be made about money matters, including the financing of late‐life care. This paper analyses in‐depth qualitative data from six older heterosexual couples, part of a wider study concerning money management in later life. Research when these cohorts were younger found that the organisation of money management within households was specialised and highly gendered, leading to substantive imbalances of power and access to financial resources, while also being core to the formation and maintenance of gendered role identities and couple identities. We find in this study that if a partner's ability to fulfil a money management role identity is threatened by later‐life issues such as poor health and cognitive decline, the other partner may try to protect that aspect of the spouse's role identity, using various covert strategies. This might be done to shore up the spouse's self‐esteem in the face of such age‐related threats to role identity, to ‘keep up appearances’ to the outside world or to maintain their identity as a couple at a time of life when there may be multiple difficulties to deal with. These findings have implications for practice and policy in the realm of money and identity management in later life. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Couples' Perceptions of Each Other's Daily Affect: Empathic Accuracy,Assumed Similarity,and Indirect Accuracy

This study examined couples' perceptions of each other's daily affect, using a daily diary methodology. Specifically, we tested the extent to which couples accurately inferred how their partner was feeling (empathic accuracy) and the extent to which spouses used their own feelings as a gauge for how their partner was feeling (assumed similarity). We also tested for indirect accuracy in couples' perceptions; that is, that assumed similarity in the context of actual similarity leads to empathic accuracy. Participants were 51 couples who completed daily diaries for seven consecutive nights. Results based on the Actor‐Partner Interdependence Model indicated that couples showed both empathic accuracy and assumed similarity in their perception of their partner's positive affect; however, they used assumed similarity in rating their partner's hard negative (anger, hostility) and soft negative (sadness, fear) affect. Furthermore, tests of indirect accuracy found that wives were indirectly accurate in perceiving their husbands' positive affect and both husbands and wives were indirectly accurate in perceiving each other's hard negative affect because they were biased. Complementing laboratory studies, the present study highlights that examining couples' perceptions of each other's feelings in contexts of daily life, and differentiating positive and negative emotions, can further our understanding of the role of emotions for healthy relationship functioning.     

Attachment style,communication patterns,and satisfaction across the life cycle of marriage

Questionnaire measures of attachment, communication patterns, and relationship satisfaction were administered to 361 married couples, sampled across the life cycle of marriage. Individuals who were secure in attachment (defined in terms of comfort with closeness and low anxiety over relationships) tended to be paired with secure spouses. Security of attachment was associated with one's own relationship satisfaction, although husbands' satisfaction was related primarily to the anxiety dimension. The most consistent effect of partners' attachment was an inverse relationship between wives' anxiety and husbands' satisfaction. The negative effect of wives' anxiety on perceived relationship satisfaction (for both partners) was evident primarily for couples in which husbands were uncomfortable with closeness. The association between attachment dimensions and relationship satisfaction was largely mediated by communication patterns for wives, but only partially mediated by communication patterns for husbands; for both husbands and wives, a measure of mutually constructive communication emerged as the strongest correlate of satisfaction. These findings were generally consistent across the life cycle of marriage, and they are important in clarifying the nature of the link between attachment and satisfaction in a broad sample.     

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.     

Therapists' Perspectives on Working with Interracial Couples

SUMMARY

This paper is based on interviews with seven marriage and family therapists (AAMFT Clinical Members) on their experiences of providing therapy to interracial couples in the course of their private practices. The interviews were conducted by the author as part of a masters thesis project. Interracial couples may frequently present for therapy with a variety of generic couples' issues and concerns. However, therapists often find that underlying these more generic concerns are issues related to the ethnic, racial, and cultural differences that the partners bring to the relationship. This paper focuses on the historical context of intermarriage, specific concerns and issues that interracial couples experience in their relationships, and on the experiences of therapists providing therapeutic services to this diverse and challenging client population.     

Trajectories of perceived superiority across the transition to marriage

ABSTRACT

Perceived superiority, the tendency to regard one’s own relationship as better than other people’s relationships, is a key relationship maintenance mechanism. Little is known about whether and how it changes during the transition to marriage, a pivotal moment in most couples’ life cycle. In a longitudinal study following 97 couples for three waves across the transition, men presented stable perceived superiority, whereas women presented a curvilinear change in superiority perceptions, with a substantial increase in perceived superiority between T1 and T2 and a significantly reduced change between T2 and T3. In addition, trajectories differed according to partners’ commitment level. More committed and less committed partners both showed a curvilinear change in perceived superiority, though following different patterns. Results point to the functional value of perceived superiority, which emerges as a strategy aimed at sustaining partners through the challenges deriving from the transition to marriage.     

Female‐demand/male‐withdraw communication in Argentinian couples: A mediating factor between economic strain and relationship distress

Based on a dyadic version of R. D. Conger and colleagues' stress model, this study examined whether the demand/withdraw pattern in couples' communication mediates the association between partners' economic strain and their level of relationship distress. Data were from self‐report questionnaires completed by 144 heterosexual couples seeking psychotherapy at a community clinic in Argentina 3 years after a major national economic crisis. As hypothesized, results from a path model analysis suggested that (a) regardless of provider role, females tended to experience more economic strain than males did; (b) the female‐demand/male‐withdraw pattern, but not the male‐demand/female‐withdraw pattern, mediated the positive association between economic strain and relationship distress; and (c) both partners' levels of relationship distress were affected by both patterns of demand/withdraw communication. Gender differences are discussed based on the gender role expectations in Argentina and the stress coping and demand/withdraw communication literatures. Study limitations and implications of the findings for research, programmatic approaches, and therapeutic interventions for couples under economic stress are considered. This study makes important contributions to our understanding of gender differences and the role of demand/withdraw communication in couples' responses to economic strain.     

Reconciling the Stoic and the Sceptic: Hume on Philosophy as a Way of Life and the Plurality of Happy Lives

On the one hand, Hume accepts the view – which he attributes primarily to Stoicism – that there exists a determinate best and happiest life for human beings, a way of life led by a figure whom Hume calls ‘the true philosopher’. On the other hand, Hume accepts that view – which he attributes to Scepticism – that there exists a vast plurality of good and happy lives, each potentially equally choiceworthy. In this paper, I reconcile Hume's apparently conflicting commitments: I argue that Hume's ‘Sceptical’ pluralism about the character of the happiest life need not conflict with his ‘Stoic’ advocacy of the supreme happiness of the true philosopher, given Hume's flexible understanding of how one might live as a true philosopher.     

Teenagers and illicit drug use—expanding the ‘user vs non-user’ dichotomy

The present study examines proximal and distal factors associated with the use and non-use of illegal substances within a sample of 860 teenagers in North Wales. Arguing that there is predictive utility in expanding the traditional ‘users vs non-users’ design dichotomy, four groups are identified — resistant and vulnerable non-users and experimental and repeated users. ‘Person’ variables (life satisfaction, deviance, hopelessness and drug-related attributions) appeared to primarily differentiate the vulnerable group from their resistant counterparts and identify this, as yet non-using group, with user samples. It is suggested that these variables might represent ‘risk’ factors for illicit substance use and that the group design employed suggests they precede, rather than follow as a consequence of, illicit drug use. Like their resistant counterparts however, the vulnerable group are differentiated from user samples on some lifestyle and context indices. It is argued that these represent ‘protective’ influences in an otherwise at-risk group of non-users. Variables associated with an escalation of illicit drug use are discussed in considering the differences between the experimental and repeated user groups. Apart from the more proximal factor of drug-related attributions, ‘person’ variables appeared less involved here. Repeated users did however, tend to use a greater number of drugs, have a greater proportion of friends who also used illegal substances and significantly fewer had a Welsh cultural identity.