Predicted spousal physical aggression at 30 months after marriage for 393 young couples. Prerelationship predictor variables were history of violence in family of origin, aggression against others during childhood and adolescence, and personality characteristics. Relationship predictor variables were marital discord and spouse-specific…

Reviews research on marital communication conducted during the 1980s. Notes increasing emphasis on attempting to identify factors that mediate relation between marital communication and satisfaction. Sees development of sophisticated technological and statistical procedures in 1980s enabling researchers to use multiple methods and obtain different…

Evaluated marital fairness, or subjective balance between spouses' gains and losses, by surveying 134 married Australians representing 5 family life cycle phases. Findings showed husbands felt more equitably treated both initially and after children's departure than during phases with children in home, wives showed little variation with phase, and…

Compared cognitive-behavioral therapy (CT), behavioral marital therapy (BMT), and combination of two therapies in alleviation of wives' depression and enhancement of marital satisfaction. Found BMT less effective than CT for depression in maritally nondistressed couples. For maritally distressed couples, two treatments were equally effective.…

Examined couples' response to marital therapy at termination and 4 years posttreatment for 55 couples receiving either behavioral or insight-oriented marital therapy. Couples were more likely to be divorced or maritally distressed four years posttreatment if intake measures reflected high levels of negative marital affect, poor problem-solving…

Investigated effects of behavioral couple therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and their combination on female depression 6 and 12 months after therapy ended. Relapse rates did not discriminate between treatments at any follow-up point. Reductions in husband and wife dysphoria and increases in wife facilitative behavior during therapy predicted…

Disputes Jacobson's characterizations (1991) of behavioral marital therapy (BMT) and insight-oriented marital therapy (IOMT) delivered in Snyder, Wills, and Grady-Fletcher's (1991) comparative treatment study. Presents data showing that treatments were as effective or more so than previously published marital therapy outcome studies. Suggests that…

Reports on measures of marital success based both on rates of divorce and separation and on the quality of intact marriages constructed from U.S. national survey data gathered over the 15-year period from 1973 to 1988. Concludes that the probability of ever-married persons attaining and maintaining marital success dropped in the past few years.…

Describes homosexual male counselor's experiences as marriage, family, and child counselor. Claims, because of counselor's comfort and openness to alternative roles, parenting situations, and identities, client couples are freed to dialogue about making role changes. Concludes homophobia often obscures valuable contributions homosexual men and…

Reviews ethnicity in the family therapy training literature, concluding that the literature on training for a multiethnic perspective in marital and family therapy is limited, conflicting, and not empirically based. Describes an original exercise that teaches counselors-in-training the significance of ethnicity to family functioning. (Author/NB)

Summarizes outcome research from 1986 to 1995 relating to the efficacy of specific modalities of marriage and family therapy in treating certain disorders, and updates the chart originally introduced by Gurman, Kniskern, and Pinsof. Implications for clinical practice and research are discussed. (Author/MKA)

Explores intimacy enhancement through a psychoeducational method, the Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills (PAIRS) Program. Participants were more distressed and less intimate than general population. Clients' perceptions of intimacy and what maintains intimacy were measured. Findings suggest a multifaceted view of intimacy.…

Interviews Berenson on his distinctive approach to therapy with families and couples affected by addiction and provides references. Considers background and theoretical influences, and changes over time. Discusses the use of "phasing," collaboration with Twelve Step programs, and integration of a spiritual perspective into family and…

Investigates the extent to which marital partners are different or similar in their ways of enacting the therapeutic or supportive role. Results, based on interviews with 298 couples and on longitudinal data, indicate that, contrary to earlier studies, that while wives "overbenefit" in the exchange of conjugal supports, husbands more…

The association between interparental conflict and problem behaviors (internalized vs. externalized) of children is examined. Youth perceptions of three interparental conflict variables are studied: parents' frequency of disagreement, parents' use of an overt conflict style, and parents' covert conflict style. Individual and socioeconomic…