Adult attachment,sexual satisfaction,and relationship satisfaction: A study of married couples

The goal of this research was to extend prior work on adult attachment and sexuality, which has tended to focus on samples of adolescents and undergraduate students. A Canadian sample of 116 married couples aged 21–75 years completed self‐report measures of adult attachment, marital, and sexual satisfaction. Results revealed that participants with higher levels of anxiety and avoidance reported lower levels of sexual satisfaction at the individual level. Individuals with more avoidant spouses also reported lower levels of sexual satisfaction. Furthermore, the relationship between sexual and marital satisfaction was stronger for more anxiously attached individuals and those with more anxiously attached spouses. These results suggest that attachment is linked in theoretically predictable ways to marital and sexual satisfaction.     

Family of Origin Predictors of Marital Outcomes Among Coptic Orthodox Christian Egyptian-American Couples

Despite the importance of family within the Coptic community, the extant literature on Coptic family relationships is remarkably limited. The purpose of this study was to explore parental marital quality and family of origin (FOO) quality as predictors of marital satisfaction and marital stability among Coptic Orthodox Christian Egyptian-American couples. Self-report survey data from 255 married Coptic couples living in the United States were analyzed using an actor-partner interdependence model. Results indicated husband FOO quality predicted both marital satisfaction (β =.51, SE?=?.18, p?=?.005) and marital stability (β?=?.51, SE?=?.22, p?=?.022) among Coptic husbands but not among Coptic wives. Results further indicated wife parental marital quality, wife FOO quality, and husband parental marital quality were not predictive of marital satisfaction or marital stability among Coptic husbands or wives. Clinical implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Couples’ Communication as a Predictor of Marital Satisfaction Among Selected Filipino Couples

This study investigated the relation between couples’ communication and marital satisfaction and the possible predictive influence of communication on the marital satisfaction among selected couples of Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. The study was conducted among 82 married couples, and the results showed a significantly positive relationship between couples’ communication and marital satisfaction. Relational Communication Scale and Primary Communication Inventory were used to measure the couples’ communication, while Dyadic Adjustment Scale and Locke–Wallace Marital Adjustment Test were used to measure the marital satisfaction among the couples. A regression analysis of the data significantly showed that 90.4% of variance in marital satisfaction can be accounted for by couples’ communication. The results carry clear and meaningful implications for the role of couples’ communication in building and maintaining happy and satisfying marital relationship. This correlational and predictive study was undertaken to explore the need as well as the scope of a couples’ communication program for enhancing marital satisfaction.     

Religiosity, Marital Satisfaction and Child Rearing

The following research sought to examine the relationship between an individual’s performance of religious duties and its impact upon his or her level of marital satisfaction and children supervision. Findings in this connection can help strengthen families. Six hundred and sixty heterosexual couples from Tehran were studied using multistage cluster sampling. Information regarding religious duties and marital satisfaction was collected using the researcher’s prepared questionnaire, and ENRICH marital satisfaction scale. The results showed that heterosexual couples who observe religious beliefs and perform religious duties (like participation in religious rituals and ceremonies) have a higher rate of marital satisfaction, and have suitable children supervision. Thus, there is a significant correlation between performing religious duties and marital satisfaction. Considering the relation between performing religious duties and nine subscales of marital satisfaction and children supervision questionnaire, Communication Parenting and Religious Orientation account for the highest rate of performing religious duties, and Sexual Relationship accounts for the lowest rate of performing religious duties. Thus, with the increase in religiosity and performance of religious duties, marital satisfaction rate will increase, and vice versa. However, those who perform religious duties have suitable children supervision, so they have good relationship with their family. It can be concluded that religiosity develops the grounds for marital commitment and child-rearing.     

La relation entre les conflits conjugaux,la satisfaction conjugale des mères et la qualité de la communication mère‐adolescente

A sample comprising 41 couples and their adolescent daughters participated in a study on the association between marital conflicts and mother‐daughter communication. Observational measurements and questionnaires were used to evaluate the level of the quality of communication between the couple, the marital satisfaction of the parents and the quality of the communication between mother and adolescent daughters. The results show that: (a) conflicts observed between the parents are positively associated with the level of confrontation observed between the mother and the daughter and (b) the marital satisfaction of the mothers plays a mediatory role between the conflicts in the couple and the level of mother‐daughter confrontation. The marital satisfaction of the mothers would be the link in the process of propagation of the affects and the negative behaviour of the couple and the mother‐adolescent daughter relationship.     

Multiplicity Within and Between: Addressing Multiple Roles Through Role Profiles in Couples

The purpose of this study is to test the validity of a personality assessment, Role Profiles, by exploring the relationship between role balance and individual well-being and the relationship between couples’ role profiles similarity and their marital satisfaction. Twenty couples were recruited and completed the assessments. This study partially supported Role Profiles’ validity and the findings were consistent with previous studies: individuals with higher role confusion were more likely to report lower self-esteem, and couples who shared many identical roles in their roles profiles were more likely to report higher marital satisfaction. The utility of Role Profiles as a clinical assessment in couples therapy is discussed.     

The relationship between family‐of‐origin experiences and sexual satisfaction in married couples

This study examined the relationship between perceptions of family‐of‐origin experiences, sexual satisfaction and marital quality. The sample consisted of 3953 married couples who responded to the relationship evaluation. The results showed that more positive overall family‐of‐origin experiences and parent–child relationships were related to higher sexual satisfaction. Overall, family‐of‐origin experiences and parent–child relationships were predictive of higher sexual satisfaction; however, that relationship was significantly mediated by marital quality. There was a strong positive relationship between marital quality and sexual satisfaction. No major gender differences emerged from the findings. The results suggest that family‐of‐origin experiences play a key role in the sexual satisfaction of married couples, especially when mediated by marital quality, and should be considered in treatment, education and research.     

Spouse-aided versus individual therapy in persisting psychiatric disorders: a systematic comparison

Fifty-three married patients with a wide range of severe, persisting psychiatric disorders were randomly allocated to a form of couples therapy (spouse-aided therapy) or to individual therapy. Both were outpatient, goal-oriented therapies, with an overall mean duration of 9.5 hours. Before, during, immediately after, and three months after therapy, patients and spouses completed ratings of target and personal problems, sexual activity and attitudes, psychological symptoms, and marital satisfaction. Ratings were also conducted by independent assessors. Spouse-aided therapy proved superior to individual therapy at a statistically significant level on most outcome measures, with clinically worthwhile improvements in symptoms, problems, and marital satisfaction in both partners. Individual therapy was followed by improvement in some symptoms, but marital dissatisfaction increased and both partners were more depressed at three months follow-up than before treatment.     

Non-Violent Communication and Marital Relationship: Efficacy of ‘Emotion-Focused Couples’ Communication Program Among Filipino Couples

Non-Violent Communication (NVC), developed by Dr. Marshall B. Rosenberg, fosters intra- and interpersonal relationship through empathetic and compassionate communication. It has been used and proven effective in a variety of settings like schools, health care centers, jails, and in restorative and rehabilitative institutions. However, the use of NVC in the field of marital relationship is found to be relatively few. The present study aimed at investigating the efficacy of the intervention program, Emotion-Focused Couples’ Communication Program (EFCCP) in a Filipino setting. EFCCP which is an intervention program developed by the researchers based on the constructs of NVC has already been proven to be effective in a previous study involving couples in an Indian setting. This present study was undertaken to investigate the efficacy of the program’s shortened version in the Filipino setting and to test whether the program is culturally suited for Filipino married couples. Relational Communication Scale and Locke–Wallace Marital Adjustment Test were used to measure the level of communication and marital satisfaction among the couples. The EFCCP-Shortened Version was administered to a group of 12 couples for a period of 3 weeks, and the results revealed a significant difference in the level of couples’ communication and marital satisfaction among the participants. These results provided ample indications to the efficacy of the EFCCP-Shortened Version in enhancing communication and enriching marriage quality among couples across diverse settings.     

The quantity and quality of marital interaction related to marital satisfaction: A behavioral analysis

An assessment instrument is presented for the evaluation of the quantity and quality of dyadic interaction, as well as for the daily recording of behaviors presented and omitted which influence marital satisfaction. Comparison of data from ten happy couples and from ten couples entering therapy indicated two distinct dysfunctional patterns among distressed couples, with significantly different patterns of time-together and positive/negative ratios differentiating the happy versus therapy groups. Independent behavioral recording for 14 consecutive days significantly increased husband-wife agreement on a traditional adjustment questionnaire without significantly increasing or decreasing the level of satisfaction being assessed. There was no difference between groups as to interspousal agreement on amount of time together. However, the happy couples agreed on daily quality ratings of the 72 15-minute segments significantly more often than did the distressed couples. Couples at the extremes of the happy-distressed continuum reported rewarding and punishing, respectively, in response to the partners presence, regardless of behaviors emitted. Midrange happy couples defined "pleasant" as positive behaviors presented; midrange distressed couples defined "pleasant" as negative behaviors omitted. Theoretical and clinical implications of behavioral analysis of sequential patterns are discussed.     

The Impact of PREP Training on Marital Conflicts Reduction: A Randomized Controlled Trial With Iranian Distressed Couples

The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of the Prevention and Relationship Education Program (PREP) training on marital conflict and marital satisfaction among a sample of distressed couples in Iran. The research procedure was experimental with a pretest, posttest, and follow-up design, including a control group. The sample included 76 volunteer couples among a sample of distressed couples who were randomly selected and assigned to the experimental or control group. They completed demographic questions, the Marital Conflicts questionnaire, and a revised Marital Satisfaction Inventory in pretest, posttest and at the 1-year follow-up. Results showed that PREP training effectively led to decreased marital conflict and improvement of marital satisfaction of couples at posttest and at the 1-year follow-up. The result of covariance analysis showed significant differences between the experimental and the control groups' marital conflict and marital satisfaction at posttest and at the 1-year follow-up.     

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 Longitudinal Association of Marital Confidence,Time Spent Together,and Marital Satisfaction

Using three waves of dyadic data collected at 18‐month intervals from a community‐based sample of 610 newly married heterosexual couples (1 220 individuals), we examined the relationship between marital confidence, time spent together, and marital satisfaction using a modified actor‐partner interdependence model. Results indicate that after controlling for marital satisfaction and time spent together at Time 1, marital confidence around the time of marriage was associated with marital satisfaction approximately 3 years later. In addition, marital confidence was associated with how much time husbands and wives spent together at Time 2, which was related to marital satisfaction at Time 3. Tests of the mediating paths from marital confidence to marital satisfaction trended toward significance. The results suggest the importance of assessing for relationship confidence when working with couples in the early stages of their relationship.     

Marital interaction and depression

In this article, patterns of marital interaction as a function of depression and marital satisfaction are examined. The purpose of the study was to separate dysfunctional marital interaction patterns that were unique to depression from those that were associated with marital distress. The presence or absence of a depressed wife was crossed with level of marital satisfaction (distressed or nondistressed) to produce four groups of subject couples. Couples in which the wife was depressed exhibited more depressive behavior than did nondepressed couples, but only during discussion of a high conflict (as opposed to neutral) topic. Sex X Depression Level X Marital Satisfaction interactions were found for aggressive behavior: Depressed women in nondistressed relationships exhibited behavior that was characteristic of maritally distressed couples (high rates of aggression). In contrast, the husbands of these women exhibited behavior that one would expect in happily married couples (low rates of aggression). We failed to replicate previous findings that depressive behavior served a coercive function, although distressed couples, regardless of depression status, exhibited all the usual signs of negative dysfunctional interaction. In general, the findings suggested that marital distress rather than depression per se may be responsible for the dysfunctional interaction patterns frequently observed in depressed couples.     

Predicting Marital Satisfaction From Self,Partner, and Couple Characteristics: Is It Me,You, or Us?

Past research on the link between personal characteristics and marital satisfaction has taken either an individual or a dyadic approach. The individual approach examines how self and/or partner characteristics are associated with satisfaction, whereas the dyadic approach focuses on couple characteristics such as couple similarity. The current research was designed to integrate both approaches. A modified Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (Kashy & Kenny, 2000) was proposed to test simultaneously the contributions of self characteristics, partner characteristics, and two types of couple similarity (level similarity measured by the absolute difference score and shape similarity measured by the profile correlation) in predicting husbands' and wives' marital satisfaction. This model was tested by structural equation modeling in two large, nationally representative, urban samples (N=536 and 537 couples) from China. The results were largely replicated across four personality domains and two value domains, suggesting that all predictors tended to make independent contributions to satisfaction except the absolute difference score.     

Bidirectional Associations Between Newlyweds' Marital Satisfaction and Marital Problems over Time

Prevailing views of marital functioning generally adopt the view that marital problems predict decreases in marital satisfaction, but alternative theoretical perspectives raise the possibility that lowered satisfaction can also predict increases in problems. The current study sought to integrate and compare these perspectives by examining the bidirectional cross‐lagged associations between newlyweds' reports of their marital satisfaction and marital problems over the first 4 years of marriage. Using annual assessments from 483 heterosexual newlywed couples, we find evidence for problem‐to‐satisfaction linkages as well as satisfaction‐to‐problem linkages. Satisfaction was a stronger predictor of marital problems early in marriage but not as time passed; by Year 4 only problem‐to‐satisfaction linkages remained significant. These findings are consistent with the idea that couples with more problems go on to report lower levels of satisfaction and couples with lower levels of satisfaction go on to report more marital problems. This dynamic interplay between global judgments about relationship satisfaction and ongoing specific relationship difficulties highlights the value of examining bidirectional effects to better understand marital functioning over time.     

Couples treatment of agoraphobia: changes in marital satisfaction

Six agoraphobic women and their husbands participated in a group therapy program consisting of exposure and cognitive restructuring. The husbands acted as co-therapists. Ratings of marital satisfaction as well as severity of phobia were filled out independently by both clients and their husbands throughout the course of therapy and at follow-up. Two patterns of relationships among marital satisfaction and severity of phobia emerged. For four couples a parallel relationship was observed in that as phobia improved marital satisfaction increased. For two couples the inverse relationship was noted where improvements in phobia were correlated with decreases in marital satisfaction. The importance of the interpersonal context of agoraphobia and implications for treatment are suggested.     

Randomized Controlled Trial of Imago Relationship Therapy: Exploring Statistical and Clinical Significance

For decades, couples around the world have used Imago relationship therapy (IRT) to improve their relationships. While anecdotal success stories abound, no randomized controlled trial of IRT's impact has been accomplished until now. The authors review the results of a randomized controlled trial of distressed, treatment-seeking couples who completed 12 sessions of IRT and the impact their involvement had on their marital satisfaction. Results showed that (a) individuals in the treatment condition experienced statistically significant increases in marital satisfaction, while couples in the control group did not; (b) levels of marital satisfaction did decrease significantly from posttreatment to follow-up but remained significantly higher than at pretreatment; (c) though statistically significant, the improvements experienced by the treatment group were not clinically significant improvements; and (d) while approximately one-third of participants achieved recovery during treatment, at the dyad level, only one couple achieved recovery. Further analysis and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Intelligence and personality in mate choice and marital satisfaction

This research examined how intellectual and personality similarity or complementarity between a couple relates to their marital choice and marital satisfaction. Eighty-one couples were tested using the WAIS-R and the MMPI and the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Scale. As predicted, couples showed significant similarity for some IQ variables. However, the prediction that IQ would have a relationship to marital satisfaction was not borne out. Couples show some significant similarity on some personality variables but for different variables in the 39 Clinic couples and the 42 Non-clinic couples. A strong relationship was found between couples in both samples on the Pd scale. As far as marital satisfaction is concerned, similarity or complementarity in personality variables does not appear.     

Marital satisfaction and topographical assessment of marital interaction: A longitudinal analysis of newlywed couples

Despite numerous tests of social learning hypotheses relating to marriage, important questions remain concerning how best to quantify behavior displayed in marital interaction. In the present study, 60 newlywed couples reported their marital satisfaction, engaged in a 15-minute problem-solving discussion, and reported their marital satisfaction again 6 and 12 months later. The interactions were microanalytically coded, the codes were assigned a numeric value, and each spouse's cumulative point totals were plotted as a function of time in the interaction. This was done separately for all 60 couples. Graphs were divided into groups based on the topography of the graphically represented interactions. These groups differed cross-sectionally and longitudinally in their level of marital satisfaction. Couples tended to have lower satisfaction scores when their initial interactions were characterized with behavioral parity between the spouses at the beginning of a discussion, changing to asymmetrical patterns of behavior later in the conversation. This method was found to be more predictive of marital satisfaction than were standard methods of assessing dyadic interaction (i.e., base rates of behavior and sequential analysis). Implications of these data for understanding how interactions relate to the course of newlywed marriage are discussed.