Presents an overview of the published literature delineating variables associated with dual career couples, including the numerous benefits or incentives, common conflicts and stressors, and the personality dynamics shared by these couples. Dysfunctional coping strategies as well as adaptive strategies are also described. (Author)

Proposes a social-psychological model of the dissolution decision in marriage based on prior theoretical formulations. Sequential in character and emphasizing the duality of the marital relationship, the model modifies and refines previous theoretical efforts, and seeks to extend their explanatory power by incorporating various principles of…

Examines whether bereavement is causally related to the high risk of death among the widowed. Reviews the use of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies and shortcomings in the research. Discusses possible alternative explanations for high mortality risk. Suggests continued research in this area. (RC)

Evaluates effectiveness of training in active listening skills. Couples trained in the skills became significantly more accurate in their perceptions of spouses' attitudes and feelings. Results indicate that greater accuracy did not have a significant effect on marital adjustment. (Author)

A review of previous research has failed to demonstrate that a family life-cycle model is a viable theoretical framework for investigating and understanding patterns of change in marital satisfaction or discord in the American family. (Author)

The predominant preference among men and and women is for equal numbers of sons and daughters. Yet agreement between husbands and wives is low. Motivations for preferring equal numbers may differ between the rural and semiurban areas. (Author)

Childless spouses were significantly more liberal toward divorce than were spouses with children, with childless wives being the most liberal of all. Husbands were more influenced by the perceived quality of the marital relationship, in support of cognitive dissonance theory. (Author)

Results suggest that characteristics of the marital lifestyle may impede or facilitate adjustment to marital separation, although salient characteristics may vary for men and women, and change with age. The existence of separate avenues for self-expression constitutes a major resource in coping with the transition to singlehood. (Author)

Although acknowledging stressful aspects of dual-career living, most participants defined their life-style positively. Achieving a balance between the advantages and disadvantages of the lifestyle appears to be the overriding concern of most dual-career couples. (Author)

Choice Awareness is a cognitive-affective-behavioral system that goes beyond both communication training and behavioral bartering approaches to marriage enrichment. Couples explore thoughts, feelings, and actions in their relationships and develop personal power in making choices and in taking responsibility for their own lives. (Author)

Used longitudinal data to examine the relations between husbands' perceived attitudes toward wives' working and early employment attitudes and behaviors of wives. Revisions in husband's perceived attitudes to conform with wives' employment attitudes and behaviors during early years of marriage were found. (Author)

Examined the relation between value system similarity of spouses and marital adjustment. Results indicated that value similarity was only peripherally related to the level of marital adjustment. However, spouse value similarity appeared to have a significant impact upon adjustment in the later years of marriage. (Author)

Discusses implications of recent evidence for genetic influences on personality development and psychopathology. Presents a model of the childhood origins of psychopathology that incorporates genetics and gives special emphasis to the role of parental conflict in the previously neglected middle childhood years. (Author/GC)

This study examines the role of communication regarding sexual topics before, during, and after cancer treatment, including that between patient and health professional. (Author)

Analysis of data on 3,363 American parents from the 1985 National Family Violence Survey found that marital violence is a statistically significant predictor of physical child abuse and the greater the amount of spousal abuse, the greater the probability of physical child abuse. The relationship was stronger for abusing husbands than for abusing…