Discusses intimacy as a multidimensional concept with particular attention paid to love and sexuality among older women. Women's life satisfaction and psychological well-being were related to their satisfaction with their intimate relationship. Passionate and companionate love as well as sexual satisfaction were related to contentment with…

Analyzed whether the relative attainments of spouses at one point in time are associated with divorce, leaving the labor force, moving to a lower status job, and/or moving to a traditional job. Findings emphasized the importance of wife's employment in a nontraditional job as a predictor of change. (Author/RC)

Examined the discriminant validity, criterion-related validity, and between-spouse agreement for a marital intake interview as a function of interview method and valence of interview items. Results suggested a high degree of discriminant validity, higher interspouse correlations during joint interviews, and higher indices of criterion related…

Describes development and validation of an inventory measuring five dysfunctional relationship beliefs. This Relationship Belief Inventory (RBI) was administered to couples along with measures of marital functioning and a questionnaire assessing irrational beliefs about self. Results demonstrated internal consistency, convergent validity, and…

Evaluated the dyadic adjustment scale by reconsidering the factor structure of the scale and its subscales using a maximum likelihood, confirmatory factor-analysis procedure. Studied a new sample from the same geographical area. High reliability was confirmed for the overall scale. (Author)

Investigated patterns of conflict style and conflict outcome as associated with degree of marital satisfaction. Young married couples (N=244) responded to a questionnaire. Found four types of conflict resolution patterns. Data analysis indicated that marital satisfaction was most highly related to intimacy and aggression. (RC)

Implementing behavioral marital therapy is discussed with emphasis on techniques of problem solving, communications training, behavioral contracting, and homework assignments. The therapist's intervention style and the aspects of treatment which aid in generalization and maintenance of therapeutic gains are also described, and a typical treatment…

Examined the specific sources of stress among 122 recently transferred executives and their spouses. Results indicated differences among husbands and wives and various stressors related to mobility. Discusses ways in which families, communities and corporations may facilitate adaption and coping. (Author/RC)

Investigated the relation between the understanding of desires for change and marital satisfaction. Subjects consisted of two samples, 77 married couples and 75 cohabiting and married couples. In both samples, the discrepancy index indicated that understanding was significantly positively correlated with marital satisfaction. (Author)

Compared the effectiveness of Relationship Enhancement and Gestalt Relationship Facilitation. Results indicated couples (N=36) in both groups made significant gains, but Relationship Enhancement participants achieved greater gains in communication, relationship satisfaction, and ability to handle problems. (Author/JAC)

Examines the use of the often quoted remarriage studies done in the 1950s and found that extreme caution should be used in presentations where redivorce is discussed. The traditional family form may not be in as much of a decline as some report. (Author)

Examined the relationship between self-reported happiness and psychological well-being in marriage using survey data. Data from an Australian sample shows a relationship between features of marital type, reported happiness, and measured distress for wives. Supports Bernard's description but not her explanation. (RC)

A nonrandom sample of 86 cases of Israeli separation and divorce cases was compared with a Canadian sample (N=369). Sex-role conflicts were more frequent in Israel, as were violence in separation and divorce. (Author)

Discussed methodological errors in child and marital treatment research. Made suggestions to avoid such errors. Areas covered are selection of subjects and therapists, scope and source of dependent measures, treatment specification and experimental design. Errors include unsubstantiated diagnoses; client labels; restricted outcome criteria; and…

Supported the hypotheses that blaming one's spouse for marital problems is negatively associated with marital satisfaction and perceived personal control over conflicts is positively associated with marital satisfaction. The wife's satisfaction was found to be related to her perception of both husband's and wife's contributions. (Author)