This study examined children's attention biases to negative emotional stimuli as mediators of associations between interparental hostility and children's externalizing symptoms. Participants included 243 children (M[subscript age] = 4.60 years) and their parents and teachers across three annual measurement occasions. Cross-lagged latent change…

This study examined whether children’s difficulties with stage-salient tasks served as an explanatory mechanism in the pathway between their insecurity in the interparental relationship and their disruptive behavior problems. Using a multimethod, multi-informant design, 201 two-year-old children and their mothers participated in 3 annual…

We use data from three waves of the Fragile Families Study (N= 2,111) to examine the prevalence and effects of mothers' partnership changes between birth and age 3 on children's behavior. We find that children born to unmarried and minority parents experience significantly more partnership changes than children born to parents who are married or…

The marital phenomenon known as the Seven Year Itch is discussed as a marital entity and as a manifestation of a stage of individual adult development-the age 30 transition. Characteristics of couples and treatment methods are discussed. Presented at the American Psychiatric Association, Miami Beach, May 9, 1976. (Author)

Most marital difficulties are functions of childhood problems leading to childhood solutions. This paper emphasizes symbiotic aspects to marital problems in terms of the individual's existential position and his racket/racketeering behavior. The goal of treatment is to have the individual utilize resources for himself and negotiate resources for…