A body of literature has increased our understanding of ethnic identity formation among ethnic minorities, but there remains a dearth of research focused on the ethnic identity formation of biethnic adolescents. Biethnic adolescents are likely to have unique experiences related to ethnicity that significantly alter the course of their ethnic…

Although Judith Wallerstein's research on children with divorced parents has been influential, many quantitative family scholars have criticized her methods and conclusions. This article provides examples from the Marital Instability Over the Life Course study to illustrate the magnitude of divorce effects and concludes with a call for a…

Investigates the likelihood of family reunification across ethnic groups of youth using runaway shelter services nationwide. Youths who reported abuse or neglect by their parental figures or had parent(s) who were unemployed were less likely to reunify following a runaway episode. However, completing youth shelter services markedly increased the…

Reviews research on premarital factors associated with later marital quality and stability in first marriages. Three major categories of factors are described, including background and context, individual traits and behaviors, and couple interactional processes. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal research are summarized. Recommendations for…

Investigates the impact of poor community health and maternal isolation on mothers' active engagement in a home-visiting family support program. Results showed that if the mother was living in a county that displayed poor community health, or if the mother was isolated from immediate family and friendship networks, the likelihood of actively…

Presents findings from the Virginia Longitudinal Study of Divorce and Remarriage (VLSDR) describing diverse patterns of intimate relationships and personal adjustment. Both a conflictual, unsatisfying marriage and a divorce were associated with diminished psychological, social, and physical well-being. Both marital conflict and divorce in the…

Child gender, age, and temperament; parents' personality and education; and coparenting quality in the parents' families of origin were used to predict the quality of coparenting during family interactions. Families with college-educated mothers had high levels of supportive coparenting during family interactions regardless of the quality of…

We evaluated 10 college marriage textbooks for their efficacy in teaching the premarital predictors of marital quality identified in the literature. They also were evaluated on their use of an integrative teaching approach that personalizes the content for readers and assists readers in learning, remembering, and using the information in their own…

The 32-item Attitudes about Romance and Mate Selection Scale (ARMSS) was developed to measure constraining beliefs about mate selection. Results of factor analysis showed few gender differences in the degree to which constraining beliefs about mate selection are held by single young adults. However, significant differences were found when age,…

Reviews human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) behavioral epidemiology pertinent to planning risk reduction interventions and HIV prevention outcome projects that have resulted in objective evidence of risk behavior change. Key prevention issues of which we still have limited knowledge are considered, and potential ways to incorporate improved HIV…