Economic Pressure and Children's Psychological Functioning

We examined the mediating role of family dynamics (marital quality, parental depression) in the link between economic pressure and child psychological functioning using the data from the National Survey of Family and Households (NSFH). From the initial multiethnic probability sample, we used a subsample of 2998 parents with a focal child 5 to 17 years of age. We used structural equation modeling using AMOS 4.0 to test the model. The results indicated support for associations among economic pressure, marital quality, parental depression, parenting strategies and children outcomes. Economic pressure was associated with lower marital quality and higher depression. Higher conflict and psychological distress was associated with frequent use of harsh discipline techniques and lower psychological functioning in children.     

Mothers' and Fathers' Psychological Symptoms and Marital Functioning: Examination of Direct and Interactive Links with Child Adjustment

A community sample of 51 mother-father dyads with a school-age child rated marital functioning, parental psychological symptoms, and children's adjustment problems. Parents with more psychological symptoms reported lower marital satisfaction levels. Mothers' and fathers' marital functioning and symptomatology individually related to children's adjustment in the expected directions. In addition, interaction tests revealed that, for mothers but not fathers, the combination of poorer marital functioning and higher levels of psychological symptoms amplified the negative effects on children's adjustment problems. These findings support the hypothesis that parental psychopathology and marital adjustment together affect children's functioning in an interactive way, underscoring the need to consider multiple family influences in studies of child development.     

Financial satisfaction and financial stressors in marital satisfaction

Using a sample of 310 married respondents from one U.S. Midwestern state, a test was conducted to examine the association of financial satisfaction and financial stressors in a spouse's decision to stay married to the same person or leave the relationship. The role of demographic and socioeconomic variables, religiosity, psychological constructs, financial satisfaction, and financial stressors as factors influencing marital satisfaction was tested. Financial stressors were measured using a list of financial stressors adapted from the literature. Financial satisfaction was measured with a one-item scale. The Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale was used as a validation tool to assess whether individuals would marry or not marry again. Religiosity and financial satisfaction were positively associated with marital satisfaction. A negative interaction between financial satisfaction and financial stressors was also noted. Findings suggest that respondents who are financially satisfied tend to be more stable in their marriages.     

Testing crossover effects in an actor–partner interdependence model among Chinese dual‐earner couples

The purpose of the present study is to examine the crossover effects from one partner's work–family interface (work–family conflict [WFC] and work–family enrichment [WFE]) to the other partner's four outcomes (psychological strain, life satisfaction, marital satisfaction and job satisfaction) in a sample of Chinese dual‐earner couples. Married couples (N = 361) completed a battery of questionnaires, including the work–family interface scale, the psychological strain scale, the life, marital, as well as job satisfaction scale. Results from the actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) analyses showed that wives' WFE was negatively associated with husbands' psychological strain, and positively associated with husbands' life, marital and job satisfaction. Furthermore, husbands' WFC was negatively related to wives' marital satisfaction, whereas husbands' WFE was positively related to wives' marital satisfaction. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed, and future research directions were provided.     

Attachment, Marital Satisfaction, and Divorce During the First Fifteen Years of Parenthood

This study examines two overlapping longitudinal samples of U.S. couples with children, covering a period of 15 years after the first child's birth. The first sample extended from the pregnancy with a first child until that child was 5.5 years old; the second from ages 4.5 to 14.5. Growth curve analyses revealed that marital satisfaction declined over 15 years for both husbands and wives. Attachment security measured in the second sample was associated with greater marital satisfaction, but did not buffer against declines in marital satisfaction over time. Husbands' lower initial level of marital satisfaction measured around the first child's transition to school was the only significant predictor of marital dissolution. The discussion emphasizes theoretical and practical implications of these findings.     

Marital Satisfaction and Quality of Father–Child Interactions: The Moderating Role of Child Gender

The authors aimed to investigate the prospective links between normative variation in fathers’ marital satisfaction and the observed quality of father–toddler interactions, as well as the moderating role of child gender in these associations. Sixty-three fathers reported on their marital satisfaction when their children were 15 months of age, and were observed interacting with their child at 18 months. The results suggested that marital satisfaction was positively associated with the quality of father–son interactions, while no relations emerged among fathers of girls. These findings reiterate the importance of marital relationships for the quality of fathers’ parenting, while reaffirming previous suggestions that the role of child gender in the marriage-parenting connections requires further investigation.     

依恋内部工作模型与老年人婚姻满意度的关系：基于夫妻成对数据的分析

依恋内部工作模型反映了个体在关系中对自我和他人的认知,虽然有很多研究证实了依恋风格与关系质量存在紧密关联,但自我和他人两个工作模型是否在预测关系质量上存在差异性尚未得到明确回答。本研究以老年群体为研究对象,直接考察自我模型与他人模型分别以怎样的方式预测婚姻满意度。研究使用问卷法对112对老年夫妻的内部工作模型、夫妻依恋取向、婚姻满意度等进行了测量,采用中介模型、交叉互倚模型以及方差分析分别从被试个体、夫妻主客体效应、以及夫妻匹配模式三个分析视角考察了依恋的两种内部工作模型与婚姻满意度的关联性。结果发现,相比他人模型,老年人自我模型与婚姻满意度的关联更为密切,且可以通过夫妻依恋双维度对其产生影响。但同时也发现,老年人依恋的内部工作模型与婚姻满意度的关联受到夫妻角色差异的影响：对于丈夫而言,自我模型与婚姻满意度的关联更为紧密,这可能与中国传统文化中的男性主导地位有关;而对于妻子而言,他人模型与婚姻满意度的关系更为紧密,这可能与女性在社会互动中更倾向于关系导向有关,也可能是传统文化中的“夫为妻纲”对老年女性的影响使然。     

Commitment to family roles: effects on managers' attitudes and performance

The authors tested the premise that family role commitment (i.e., marital role commitment, parental role commitment) has simultaneous negative and positive effects on managers' (N = 346) life satisfaction, career satisfaction, and performance through family-to-work interference and enhancement. The authors also explored whether psychological strain mediates the effects of interference and enhancement on outcomes. The authors expected family role commitment to reduce the favorability of outcomes by increasing interference. To the contrary, they found that neither marital nor parental role commitment was associated with increased interference. The authors expected family role commitment to improve outcomes by increasing enhancement. As expected, marital role commitment was associated with increased enhancement, which, in turn, seemed to reduce strain and strengthen outcomes. Parental role commitment was also associated with increased enhancement. However, parental role commitment had direct positive effects on outcomes that were more substantial than its indirect effects through enhancement. Overall, marital and parental role commitment had more benefits than costs.     

Pronouns in marital interaction

Recent studies in social psychology have found that the frequency of certain words in people's speech and writing is related to psychological aspects of their personal health. We investigated whether counts of "self" and "other" pronouns used by 59 couples engaged in a problem-solving discussion were related to indices of marital health. One spouse in each couple had a diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder or panic disorder with agoraphobia; 50% of the patients and 40% of their spouses reported marital dissatisfaction. Regardless of patients' diagnostic status, spouses who used more second-person pronouns were more negative during interactions, whereas those who used more first-person plural pronouns produced more positive problem solutions, even when negative behavior was statistically controlled. Moreover, use of first-person singular pronouns was positively associated with marital satisfaction. These findings suggest that pronouns used by spouses during conflict-resolution discussions provide insight into the quality of their interactions and marriages.     

Direct and indirect pathways between adult attachment style and marital satisfaction

We explored direct, mediated, and moderated associations between adult attachment style and marital satisfaction using a community‐based sample of 73 married women. Continuous ratings of secure, avoidant, and ambivalent attachment styles were related to levels of marital satisfaction. However, psychological distress mediated the association between secure attachment and marital satisfaction, and social support mediated the relation between avoidant attachment and marital satisfaction. In addition, psychological distress moderated the relation between both secure and avoidant attachment styles and marital satisfaction.     

The effects of baby bath and massage by fathers on the family system: The sunraysia australia intervention project

Instruction in baby massage and the Burleigh Relaxation Bath technique was given to one-half of our sample of 32 couples who had just had their first child. This brief intervention, given at 4 weeks post-partum, led to beneficial behavioural and psychological effects for the family system when assessed at 12 weeks postpartum. Depression and marital satisfaction were assessed with mothers and fathers at 4 weeks and 12 weeks after the birth of their child, and self-esteem was measured at 12 weeks only. The mothers and fathers who were shown baby bathing and massage techniques showed higher degrees of marital satisfaction and self-esteem, as well as lower levels of depression at 12 weeks post-partum, than parents who did not receive instruction. It seems likely that brief interventions which educate new parents concerning functional techniques of baby care may favourably affect their feelings of competence and be of benefit to the entire family system.     

Functional impairment, marital quality, and patient psychological distress as predictors of psychological distress among cancer patients' spouses.

This study investigated contextual determinants of psychological distress among 197 spouses of cancer patients. It was hypothesized that higher levels of patient functional impairment would lead to greater patient distress. Patient distress, in turn, would lead to lower spouse marital satisfaction and ultimately to higher spouse distress. Spouses completed measures of distress and marital quality at three time points. Cancer patients rated their functional impairment and psychological distress at the same time points. Results indicated that at all time points, greater patient impairment was associated with higher levels of patient distress, which, in turn, was related to lower marital satisfaction. However, marital quality was related to spouse distress at only 1 time point, but spouse distress was directly associated with patient distress at each time point. Implications for cancer patients and spouses are discussed.     

Dual trajectories of maternal parenting stress and marital intimacy during toddlerhood

Parenting stress disrupts both parenting and child adjustment. Marital intimacy is often conceptualized as a source of support that may reduce parenting stress. We examined the association between mothers' trajectories of parenting stress and marital intimacy when their children were 15–36 month old. We also explored whether maternal depressive symptoms at 15 months accounted for individual differences concurrently or in the trajectories of parenting stress and marital intimacy. Mothers' marital intimacy was negatively associated with their concurrent levels of parenting stress and declines in parenting stress over time. Depressive symptoms were associated with 15‐month parenting stress and marital intimacy. Overall, intimacy within the marriage appears to be a resource that reduces mothers' parenting stress during the toddler years     

Mother's marital satisfaction associated with the quality of mother‐father‐child triadic interaction

Low marital satisfaction has been shown to be a risk factor for early parenthood and parent‐child relationship problems (Erel & Burman, 1995 ; McHale, 1995 ). The aim of this study was to assess how parental reports of marital satisfaction related to family alliance and coordination in the observed triadic interaction. The study group included 120 families. Marital satisfaction was evaluated during pregnancy, at 4 months, and at 18 months using the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS; Busby, Christensen, Crane & Larsson, 1995 ) for both parents. Mother‐father‐child interaction was analyzed in the Lausanne Triadic Play setting and coded using the Family Alliance Assessment Scale (Favez, Lavanchy Scaiola, Tissot, Darwiche & Frascarolo, 2011 ) when the child reached 18 months of age. The mother's higher marital satisfaction at every measuring point was associated with a cooperative family alliance and/or higher family coordination at 18 months. The father's experience of marital satisfaction was not related to family interaction at any assessment point. Our study suggests that a mother's experience of lower marital satisfaction during pregnancy may be an early sign of later problems in family relationships.     

NUMBER AND QUALITY OF ROLES

We used longitudinal personality data to test whether number and quality of roles were associated with health and self-enhancement in 100 privileged midlife women. Number of roles (from the set of partner, parent, and worker) was not related to autonomy, individuality, and complexity, as had been hypothesized, but to respect for norms, being well-organized considering oneselt like other people. Through women with one role were lower in well-being than women with more than one, hierarchical multiple regression showed no advantage to number of roles after psychological health at age 21 was taken in to account. However, quality of role, as assessed by marital satisfaction and status level in work, was associated with contentment and effective functioning, respectively, even after antecedent psychological functioning was taken into account. Particular roles were associated with particular advantages. The enhancement model of the accumulation of roles is compared with Erikson's theory of the development of personality.     

Socioemotional behavior and satisfaction in marital relationships: a longitudinal study.

The interplay between 3 types of socioemotional behavior (affection, sexual interest, and negativity) and marital satisfaction was studied using data from newly married couples followed over 2 years. Affection and negativity (but not sexual interest) were consistently associated cross-sectionally with marital satisfaction. Longitudinal analyses revealed a gender-differentiated pattern suggesting a more complex relationship between satisfaction and marital behavior than previously shown. Negativity, regardless of whether it was expressed by the husband or the wife, was associated with declines in wives' (but not husbands') satisfaction. Wives of husbands who were relatively negative early in marriage became more negative themselves. Wives who were relatively less satisfied early in marriage (but not husbands) were married to spouses who became more negative with time.     

Religious Homogamy and Marital Satisfaction in South Korea: Exploring Variations across Religious Groups

This study examines whether and how the association between religious homogamy (i.e., whether spouses have the same religious affiliation) and marital satisfaction varies across religious affiliations by utilizing a unique context that four large religious groups (i.e., Buddhists, Protestants, Catholics, and religious nones) coexist in South Korea. Our results show that while religious homogamy has a positive relationship with marital satisfaction among Protestants and Catholics, there is no such association among Buddhists. This study also reveals that higher levels of religious attendance intensify the positive relationship between religious homogamy and marital satisfaction only among Protestants. Moreover, religious heterogamy is positively associated with marital relationships among religious nones compared to religious homogamy. However, this pattern held only for religious nones who married Buddhists or Catholics. We discuss the implications of our findings for research on religion and marriage from cross-cultural perspectives.     

Everything Here is Fine: Protective Buffering by Military Spouses During a Deployment

To minimize potential distractions for deployed military service members (SMs), some nondeployed romantic partners have reported engaging in protective buffering, or intentionally withholding information or concerns to protect their deployed partner. This study assessed the associations of protective buffering and psychological distress and marital satisfaction for military couples during and after deployment. Additionally, the study explored whether protective buffering was related to SM reports of being distracted during deployment by family matters. A total of 54 couples provided data before, during, and after an Army deployment. In multilevel models, higher protective buffering by partners was associated with higher psychological distress and lower marital satisfaction for both SMs and partners during, but not after, deployment. Additionally, partners reported frequent use of protective buffering during deployment; however, protective buffering was not significantly correlated with family related distraction for SMs during deployment. Limitations and implications of these findings are discussed.     

Understanding intuition and how the mind works

The associations between maternal reports of positive marital quality (i.e., positive emotional expressions, constructive conflict, and mothers’ marital satisfaction) and 3–6-year-olds’ (N = 62) positive peer relations were examined as a function of child temperament and gender. Although a zero-order correlation indicated that marital quality was unrelated to peer relations, a regression analysis indicated that high levels of positive marital quality were associated with more positive peer relations for preschoolers low in effortful control, but not for those high in effortful control. In addition, a moderating effect of gender revealed that the relationship between marital quality and positive peer relations was positive for girls but negative for boys. However, positive emotionality did not moderate the relations among marital quality and peer relations. The present study provides important preliminary findings that highlight the need for further study of the significance of positive marital relations for child development.     

Effects of Concerns About Child Care Among Single, Employed Black Mothers with Preschool Children

This study investigated whether differences in child care arrangements and mothers' attitudes about leaving their child in nonmaternal care were associated with maternal psychological well-being and perceptions of children in a sample of single, employed, low-income, Black mothers who were former welfare recipients. Feelings of discomfort with regard to nonmaternal care were associated with higher levels of maternal depressive symptomatology, which, in turn, predicted more negative perceptions of children. Preference for employment and increased working hours were associated with greater life satisfaction. Maternal education and the gender of the child were important moderating variables. Type of child care arrangement was nonsignificant. Policy implications are discussed.