Evaluated the effect of previous marital history, particularly the husband's marriage order, on the stability of first and second marriages of White and Black women. The most important predictor of the instability of first marriages of women are the previous divorces of husbands. (Author)

Examined the relationship between depression and marital disruption in 637 Anglos and 551 Mexican Americans. Results indicated increased symptoms associated with divorce in Anglos and separation in Mexican Americans. Low educational attainment was the most consistent predictor of depression for all ethnic samples. Appendix includes the Depression…

Sex differences are investigated in the use of sexual aggression in the dating relationships of single adult heterosexuals (N=380 males, 241 females; mean age 22.5). This study replicates and extends previous work by simultaneously testing the predictive ability of variables from three domains: social-environment, relational-environment, and…

Explores the effects of family structure during the teenage years on the likelihood of marriage later using data from two national longitudinal surveys of young people. Results indicated that childhood family patterns do influence later family formation. Sons and daughters and Blacks and Whites are affected somewhat differently. (JAC)

Rated 15 sources of satisfaction and 15 sources of conflict for nine relationships of adults (N=52). Results showed three clear satisfaction factors (instrumental reward, emotional support, shared interests) and two conflict factors (emotional conflict, criticism). Shared interests seemed to be a universal satisfaction source. (WAS)

Examined the amount of time women (N=199) took to progress from making a decision to divorce to the filing of a petition for divorce. Results indicated a wide time range, with age at marriage, number of years married, and who had been most in favor of divorce making independent and significant contributions to the prediction. (Author/BL)

Used data from two National Surveys of Family Growth (N=14,000) to estimate the fertility of married couples by religious group. Results are presented in terms of religious and racial differences, controlling for age, education and residence, and indicate that religious affiliation continues to be an indispensable datum. (JAC)

Determined if factors descriptive of work-family role integration would be more predictive of rural employed mothers' life satisfaction than that of urban employed mothers (N=237). Results supported the greater importance of variables descriptive of work-family role integration in predicting the life satisfaction of rural employed mothers.…

Examines the age-at-marriage/marital instability relationship in a national sample (N=1,715). Results suggested that the relationship could be largely explained by inadequate role performance, though the specific inadequacies in performance differed somewhat for the early and later marrieds. (NRB)

Tested causal models predicting unmarried adolescent pregnancy using data from 2,158 young adults. Among the males, having a girlfriend become pregnant is associated with school difficulties, low parental socioeconomic status, and high popularity. Among females, pregnancy risk is related to race, low socioeconomic status, father absence, number of…

Presents data on adoption and characteristics of women who adopt based on a national sample of 8,611 women in 1976. Results showed over half the women who were married, over age 30, had never borne a child, and were sterile for noncontraceptive reasons had adopted. (JAC)

Presents data on adoption, adopted children, and children placed for adoption by women 15-44 years of age. Results suggest that the downward trend in the annual number of adoptions observed from 1970 through 1975 has leveled off. Racial, educational, and socioeconomic differences in placement and adoption are discussed. (Author/BL)

Investigated interrelationships between perceived causes of divorce in a sample of 275 males and 336 females. Seven dimensions of divorce, underlying 18 possible contributing causes, were revealed. Significant differences were found between the sexes both in frequencies with which causes were identified and in composition of the seven factors.…

Used data from three generations to examine the association of intimacy to aid and contact in mother-daughter relationships. Results showed aid and contact were not predictive of intimacy. In the younger pairs, the connection between intimacy and contact between visiting and telephoning was conditional on geographical distance. (JAC)

Presents a model of extramarital sexual permissiveness, focusing on several aspects of the marital dyad and dyadic independence. While autonomy of heterosexual interaction, the comparison level of alternatives, and marital satisfaction each play some role in accounting for permissive attitudes, the strongest predictor is the diffuseness of…