Investigates the effects of individualized relationship assessment and feedback, in relation to simply completing written questionnaires, on the couples' (n=48) satisfaction and commitment. Assessment-feedback couples improved more over time than did written-assessment-only couples. (JPS)

Studied effects of occupational status differences between spouses on the wife's employment and on her occupational achievement in European countries. Results show a tendency toward similarity in occupational status within marriages. Labor force participation of a wife is highest when her potential occupational status equals her husband's…

Discusses divorce among ethnically heterogeneous couples. Uses Australian data from the 1970s to show that divorce risks are consistent with a modified model of behavioral convergence in which divorce rates for mixed marriages are largely a function of revealed group preferences for divorce and convergence between them. A convergence model may…

Explores the applicability of a feminist model for clinical social work with couples and families. Summarizes the feminist critique of traditional family systems theory and explores other areas of concern including family theory and healthy family functioning. (JPS)

After participating in 6 to 10 sex education sessions, six adolescent and adult men with mild mental retardation showed minimal increases in their knowledge of friendship, contraception, pregnancy, sexual interaction, and social skills. Following sex education, negative feelings developed about marriage, having children, and being present during…

An attempt was made to determine the challenges that may be encountered by intermarried couples who worship in a Greek Orthodox Church. Some couples described unresolved disagreements linked to their religious and cultural differences. Clinical implications suggest that intermarried couples' different religious and cultural backgrounds may be…

Examined the impact of job stress and physical exhaustion on the physiological and subjective components of emotional responding during marital interactions between 19 male police officers and their spouses. Findings are indicators of heightened risk for poor marital outcomes and thus document an emotional mechanism by which job stress and…

Patient records (N=667) were reviewed from an eighteen-month period of a private hospital adult addictive disease unit. Thirty-eight percent of admissions were from rural areas; males had a longer duration of use; African-American patients were overrepresented; a larger percentage of males had legal problems; and those from rural areas were more…

Suggests that preventing early childbearing among those who are still young and unmarried is likely to yield significant social benefits, including the restoration of marriage, discussing whether marriage is the solution to the problem of early motherhood. Explains the need for strong efforts to prevent early childbearing, examining teen pregnancy…

Thirty-one couples participated in the Marriage Checkup (MC), a pilot, motivational interviewing intervention for at-risk couples. Marital satisfaction improved significantly from pre- to post-checkup and remained improved at one month follow up. Although not addressing the efficacy of MC, this study supports its validity as an indicative…

This review of methodological, theoretical, and topical trends in family studies research covers changes in definitions of family and in marriage, parent-child relationships, and family social ecology. Issues discussed include marital satisfaction, violence, social construction of gender, family-work relationship, parenting roles, socialization,…

We describe Marriage 101: Building Loving and Lasting Partnerships, an innovative, for-credit undergraduate course at a large, religiously unaffiliated research university. Marriage 101 engages students in the scientific literature and discourse in the psychology and sociology of marriage and marital success. The course has the additional…

Community marriage initiatives (CMIs) are designed to strengthen marriage and increase marital stability by addressing relevant laws, policies, and cultural factors. We examined a specific CMI designed to lower divorce rates by establishing a shared public commitment among clergy to strengthen marriage. A mixed-effects general linear model was…

To test a caregiving model of depression in spouses, 31 married couples completed interview and questionnaire assessments of depressive symptoms and caregiving activities. Spouses living with a partner with depressive symptoms had more symptoms of depression themselves. However, this association was found to be fully mediated by spouses' perceived…

The determinants of expenditures on wedding celebrations by rural Indian families are examined. A status signaling model of wedding celebrations is developed where the size of the celebration signals the quality of the new groom's family and the enhanced social status of the bride's family.