Statements representing specific communication skills were derived from a review of the literature. Instruments were completed by 111 married couples. Scores on the Marital Adjustment Test were used to identify criterion groups as most satisfied and least satisfied. Findings suggest skills identified may be effective for marriage counselors.…

Two hypotheses related to the conceptualization of marriage as an interaction relationship and marital dysfunction as interpersonal pathology were tested empirically with first-married couples (N=30) asking specifically for marital counseling. Data analysis revealed support for the second but not the first hypothesis. (Author)

For a study of marital togetherness and apartness, the partners in 136 couples completed questionnaires. The role of disrespect, a factor serving as an abrasive in marriage, was investigated. Findings suggest that therapy for couples with a presenting problem of insufficient contact may first have to deal with abrasive factors. (Author)

An instrument labeled the Personal Report of Spouse Communication Apprehension was developed and found to have adequate internal consistency, face validity, and predictive validity. Results of its use indicate that spouse communication apprehension is conceptually and factorially distinct from general communication apprehension. (Author)

Twelve couples in marital counseling were studied during 12 months on the basis of their biorhythms. For each couple a compatibility percentage was obtained. It was found that difficulties in their interaction correlated highly with dissonance in their biorhythms. (Author)

Examines determinants of a first marital disruption between 1968 and 1973 for young women who were married at any point during that interval. Whereas economic factors were found to have some importance, other social and demographic factors appeared to have a more significant independent effect on the probability of disruption. (Author)

Married college students (N=312) living in a university housing complex anonymously returned two completed questionnaires. Most respondents felt their marriages were relatively happy, but more than 10 percent were considering divorce. Husbands and wives agreed that sex and communication, as well as time, were the greatest problems in their…

The proposition that age at first marriage is inversely related to the risk of divorce was examined by means of detailed age-duration-specific divorce rates for California 1969. A strong inverse relationship was found for male ages at marriage 18 through 25 and female ages at marriage 16 through 24. (Author)

This study was designed to analyze the extent to which different observers coded examples of communication positiveness in couple interactions. Husband's communication positiveness, wife's communication positiveness, and relationship adjustment were the multiple targets of observation. The data were collected from 27 couples who sought marital…

It was hypothesized that unhappily married couples would show a deficit in problem solving by indicating significantly more unresolved problems and would indicate less involvement with one another in both elective free-time activities and shared sexuality. All hypotheses were confirmed. (Author)

Subjects were 27 married couples. The purposes of this study were: (a) to implement an interpersonal-skills training paradigm for training married individuals to exhibit increased self-disclosive behavior in their marital relationships; and (b) to determine the efficacy of experiential and modeling procedures in such training. (Author)

This study examines some of the factors that influence divorce rates among the elite of an indigenous African population. The study discusses, on a comparative basis, the considerable disparity in the timing and patterns of divorce between the elite of Lagos and the married population of the United States. (Author)

Examined effects of economic well-being on marital stability using longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience, 1,349 married females interviewed annually over a five year period. Data indicated that income by itself had little effect on marital dissolution. (Author)

To investigate the validity of three methods of dealing with anger--calm, rational discussion, "fair fighting," and sharing of hurt and of fear of hurt--two studies were performed. Results suggest that intimacy may be found in sharing of hurt feelings. (Author)

Men and women were randomly chosen from courthouse divorce files. After initial contact by mail and by phone, those who agreed were mailed questionnaires developed to assess adjustment to divorce and to obtain information about the nature of divorce. Of those sent questionnaires, 44% completed and returned the assessment; the total sample…