Describes and evaluates text focusing on assisting heterosexual couples to improve communication skills. Author perspective is primarily behavioral and cognitive behavioral research and practice. Suggests that material is well presented and ideally suited for beginners whereas solid research base will appeal to professionals. Includes structured…

Used longitudinal design to evaluate association between affective features of premarital communication and postmarital relationship satisfaction. Found disengagement at premarriage negatively associated with marital satisfaction at 18 (n=84) and 30 (n=72) months after marriage. Negativity of premarital affective expression correlated negatively…

Examined average economic status of baby boom cohorts as they approach retirement using data on their life cycle income experience. Findings suggest that baby boomers are likely to enter old age in better economic position than preboom cohorts because of deferred marriages, reduced childbearing, and increased labor force participation of wives…

Examined data from 809 Illinois residents surveyed in 1985. Found marriage had trade-offs for women's sense of control: it increased it by increasing household income, but it decreased it, probably by decreasing autonomy. With household income held constant, nonmarried women had highest sense of control of any group. For men, marriage had less…

Describes how family sculpting, grounded in Experiential Family Counseling, can be used as a training technique in marriage and family counselor training programs. Provides detailed guidelines for conducting family sculpting. A case study is included. (Author/NB)

Compared combined 4-session communication skills training and 8-session Emotionally Focused couples therapy (EFT) to 12 sessions of EFT and to wait-list control. Both treatments achieved superior gains at posttest compared to control group on measures of marital adjustment and target complaint improvement (but not on intimacy and passionate love),…

Coding tasks, a valuable technique for teaching English as a Second Language, are presented that enable students to look at patterns and structures of marital communication as well as objectively evaluate the degree of happiness or distress in the marriage. (seven references) (JL)

Describes the experiences of an academic couple who shared an appointment teaching English at a liberal arts college. Argues that some shared appointments work well and outlines the benefits and drawbacks in the lives of jointly appointed couples. (HB)

Describes the plight of academics' wives, who are held captive to the responsibilities and requirements of their spouse's demanding careers. Outlines the ways that careers in academics remain inequitable for women. (HB)

Examined generalization of behavioral marital therapy (BMT) and enhanced behavioral marital therapy (EBMT), which added cognitive restructuring, affection exploration, and generalization training to BMT. Both techniques were effective in decreasing negative communication behaviors and cognitions across settings for couples (n=26), but there was…

Examined four- and five-year follow-up data from evaluation of effects of Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program, marital distress prevention program which teaches couples effective communication and conflict management skills. At five-year follow-up, intervention, as compared with control, couples had higher levels of positive and lower…

Assessed 60 couples on how resolved they were about the career-versus-family conflict in their lives. High self-esteem and life satisfaction best predicted being resolved about the conflict. The only theme that discriminated between the most and least resolved spouses was "my family comes first." Wives were more rationally resolved about the…

Examined differences in correlation between marital adjustment and child conduct problems in 1,107 dual-parent families. Correlation between parents' reports of marital adjustment and child conduct problems was significantly stronger in families of clinic-referred children compared with families of nonclinic children and in families of lower…

A counselor describes feelings and attitudes of two young adults who see their marital problems as having begun with the birth of their severely disabled child. Counseling led to improved communication, better coping, and shared planning for the future. (DB)

Conducted meta-analysis of 163 randomized trials to examine differences in outcome associated with different theoretical orientations, differences between marital and family therapies versus individual therapies, clinical significance of therapy outcome, differences between marital versus family therapies in both outcomes and problems treated, and…