The effects of early relational antecedents and other factors on the parental sensitivity of mothers and fathers

This study examines the effect of early relational antecedents (ERA, i.e. the quality of parenting parents recalled receiving as children), parenting stress, marital stress, socio‐economic factors and children's characteristics (gender and disability condition) on the parental sensitivity of mothers and fathers. The sample consisted of 116 mothers and 84 fathers of 117 eighteen month old children drawn from a larger longitudinal study on the adaptation of parents to a child with a disability. Thirty‐four children were diagnosed with Down syndrome (DS), 51 with a cleft lip and/or palate (CLP), and 32 were non‐disabled children. Multiple regression analyses reveal that mothers' sensitivity is best predicted by her level of education and family income, whereas fathers' sensitivity is best predicted by their ERA, marital stress, family income and the child's disability condition. Mothers with more education and a greater family income displayed a greater sensitivity to their children, as did fathers who perceive less marital stress, those with a greater family income and those who perceived their parents as less controlling. Also, fathers of children with DS displayed less sensitivity for their children than fathers of children with CLP or fathers of non‐disabled children. These results concord with many studies about the importance of socio‐economic factors, ERA, marital stress, parent's gender and children's factors in the understanding of parental sensitivity. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

父母婚姻冲突与初中生学业倦怠的关系:共同教养的中介作用

本研究基于家庭系统论的溢出假说,以376名初中生作为被试,采用父母婚姻冲突问卷、学业倦怠问卷和父母共同教养问卷,探讨父母婚姻冲突、父母共同教养对初中生学业倦怠的影响及其作用机制。研究结果发现：（1）父母婚姻冲突中的冲突频率、冲突强度因子与学业倦怠呈显著正相关,不支持型父母共同教养与学业倦怠呈显著正相关,支持型父母共同教养与学业倦怠呈显著负相关;父母婚姻冲突与不支持型父母共同教养呈显著正相关,婚姻冲突较高的父母在共同教养中表现出更多不支持的教养行为;（2）不支持型父母共同教养作为单独变量在父母婚姻冲突与学业倦怠之间起完全中介作用。     

Marital Status,Home Environments,and Family Strain: Complex Effects on Preschool Children's School Readiness Skills

The current study examined the complex associations among marital status, home environments, and family strain (i.e. income, maternal depressive symptoms, social support, and parenting stress), as they predict preschool children's pre‐academic and social skills at 36 and 54 months. Findings from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 897) showed that the home learning environment, which was significantly lower among single‐parent families, worked as a mediator to explain the relationship between single‐parent families and children's pre‐academic skills at 36 and 54 months. Additionally, parenting stress, which was significantly higher among single‐parent families, worked as a mediator to explain the relationship between single status and the home learning environment. Finally, moderation analyses showed that family income is important for improving the home social environment, and the home social environment is strongly associated with children's social skills in single‐parent families, but not in cohabiting families. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Deleterious Effects of Stress on Time Spent Together and Parents' Relationship Satisfaction

Data from 90 German committed heterosexual couples who had a least one child were used to examine the associations between chronic minor external stress, quantity and quality of time spent together as a couple, and partners' relationship satisfaction. Using an extended version of the Actor Partner Interdependence Model, the authors found significant negative indirect effects from mothers' chronic minor external stress via quality, but not quantity, of shared time to both parents' reported relationship satisfaction. Mothers' chronic minor external stress was associated with fewer reported quality time activities, which were also associated with lower reports of relationship satisfaction for both mothers and fathers. The authors did not find indirect effects for fathers' chronic minor external stress. Overall, the frequency of quality time activities may be more important for mothers, as it explained 25% of variance in their relationship satisfaction, compared with 15% in fathers' relationship satisfaction. Implications for relationship researchers and clinicians are discussed.     

Giotto in Padua: A New Geography of the Human Soul

In the Arena Chapel in Padua, Giotto painted seven allegorical representations of virtues and seven allegorical representations of vices. This article probes the sources for the list of virtues and the list of vices. The ensemble of virtues can be located in St. Thomas Aquinas; the ensemble of the vices, however, is original. The result is a new account of vices that displaces the odler account of the “seven deadly sins.”     

老年人夫妻依恋问卷的编制

为编制适用于老年人的夫妻依恋测量问卷,将18份常用的成人依恋问卷的题目作为最初的项目来源,经过预试初步筛选得到85个项目。对434名60～88岁的社区老年人进行施测,并对施测结果进行项目分析和探索性因素分析,初步形成《老年人夫妻依恋问卷》。该问卷包含18个项目,分属于安全、焦虑和拒绝三个维度。该问卷具有良好的信度和效度,可用于测量城市社区老年人的夫妻依恋状况。运用《老年人夫妻依恋问卷》对样本的依恋模式进行考察,发现老年人夫妻依恋模式的分布特点表现为:安全型依恋模式的人数比例最高,其次是焦虑型依恋,最少是拒绝型依恋。     

Epigenetic Model of Marital Expectations

The Epigenetic model of understanding marital expectations of Bhatti focuses on the domains of (a) expectations from the partner, (b) expectations from marriage, (c) expectations of and from the partner’s family of origin, (d) expectations of the institution of marriage, and (e) the concept of an “ideal partner,” and helps in understanding how martial expectations are influenced by various factors in the person’s life. The underlying assumption is that the spouses enter the marriage with expectations (on all the above mentioned domains), which are facts and exist at a conscious level in the social reality. These indicators further evolve, refine, and change across the span of the marriage. This model has formed the framework for marital therapy and other interventions. This paper highlights the application of this model in marital therapy with couples with marital dysfunction.     

Adult Survivors of Child Abuse: An Application of John Gottman’s Sound Marital House Theory

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between child abuse and dysfunctional adult relationship patterns. John Gottman’s Sound Marital House Theory describes different dysfunctional adult relationship patterns including Negative Sentiment Override (NSO), Flooding, and the Distance and Isolation Cascade. In the present study, data analysis indicated that child abuse predicts the experiencing of NSO, NSO predicts the experiencing of flooding, and flooding predicts the experiencing of the distance and isolation cascade. Analysis showed that a subscale of child abuse, negative home environment predicts NSO, flooding, and the distance and isolation cascade.     

Perceptions of married life among single never‐married,single ever‐married,and married adults

With the increasing prevalence of single adults in the United States, perceptions of marriage as the relationship “gold standard” may be diminishing. In this study (N = 6,576), we explored perceptions of married life in three subgroups of participants: Those who have never married, ever married, and currently married. Across subgroups, most did not perceive married life more positively than single life in external/tangible domains (e.g., more friends), but did in emotional experiences and frame of mind (e.g., contentment). These findings suggest conceptualizations of marriage may be changing to be less positive or less discrepant from conceptualizations of single life. However, these findings also suggest that people continue to view marital relationships as a positive source of emotional experience and support.