The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions and provide insight into meanings and factors that contribute to healthy committed marriages among African American heterosexual married couples. This study explored the experiences of couples who had been married for 25 years and longer. This qualitative study was conducted using a…

This study was aimed at identifying factors that determine the psychosocial effects severity of child sexual abuse. Data were collected from 318 female children in Ethiopia using the Children's Impact of Traumatic Events Scale-Revised and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The results revealed that respondents who survived rape and child…

The positive link between marriage and physical and psychological well-being is well established, but whether marriage is associated with social well-being is not. Using nationally representative data from the MIDUS study (N = 3,032), the present study examines the degree to which there are marital status differences in perceived social…

A long-standing debate questions whether homemakers or working wives are happier. Drawing on cross-national data for 28 countries, this research uses multi-level models to provide fresh evidence on this controversy. All things considered, homemakers are slightly happier than wives who work fulltime, but they have no advantage over part-time…

A study of 320 women, ages 21 to 69, explored the relations among relationship status, subjective age, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. Women in married or partnered relationships had higher levels of life satisfaction than did single women. Women in their 30s and 40s had significantly lower levels of life satisfaction than did other age…

This qualitative research study examined the "lived experiences" of learning identity during work transitions among three women (ages 35 to 55) who were not previously married. The research question was how do particular mid-life women who engage in a work transition re-construct the meaning of (or make sense of) their identity? Primary research…

The present study investigated the association of mothers' marriage and changes in young adolescents' cognitive and socioemotional development and changes in family processes. Analyses employed longitudinal data from the "Three-City Study" to track maternal partnerships for 860 low-income adolescents (10-14 years-old in Wave 1) across a…

The authors investigate the direction of the relationship between marital happiness and wives' full-time employment using the 1987 to 1988 and 1992 to 1994 waves of the National Survey of Families and Households. First, the authors predict change in wives' employment between the two waves using marital happiness and other Time 1 characteristics.…

The hypothetical constructs of attraction and barrier forces, as well as contrasting alternative attractions are used to organize the research literature on the determinants of marital stability and dissolution. (Author/AM)

the findings indicated that (1) physical and psychlogical health are associated with marital happiness regardless of marital history, and (2) at the same time, divorce and remarriage tend to "select" the healthier members of the unhappy married population. (Author)

In this study, Weiss's (1973) theorizing about the sources of emotional and social loneliness is elaborated - with notions about the asymmetric gratifications derived from marriage, about the conflicting loyalties that result from remarriage, and about selection into marriage - in order to reach an understanding of gender differences in…

The goal of this study was to track and compare the paths along which young adults arrange and time the entries and exits from marital and cohabiting unions. The focus was on the incidence, durations, and outcomes of dimensions that embrace residential separation. Results show that union trajectories are dynamic and involve a heterogeneous and…

Examines association between intimate premarital relationships and subsequent marital dissolution. Results suggest neither premarital sex nor premarital cohabitation by itself indicate either preexisting characteristics or subsequent relationship environments that weaken marriages. Findings are consistent with the notion that premarital sex and…

Research on the relationship between cohabitation and mental health tends to ignore social psychological factors that help explain mental health differences between the married and the unmarried, including coping resources and perceived relationship quality. In this paper I draw on social psychological theory and research to clarify differences in…