In the past two decades, several fertility variables have been shown to have an effect on marital stability: presence or absence of children, child spacing, birth timing, and total number of children. This paper studies the effect on marital stability of the planning of fertility. (Author)

Explores the relationship between divorce and suicide through a multiple regression analysis. Results indicate that the incidence of divorce is closely associated with the rate of suicide even after controls for the influence of the effects of age composition, race, the rate of interstate migration, and income. (Author/BEF)

Describes transitions over 5 years among community-dwelling elderly spouses into and within caregiving roles and associated health outcomes. The trajectory of health outcomes associated with caregiving was generally downward. Those who transitioned to heavy caregiving had more symptoms of depression, and poorer self-reported health and health…

Suggests that the increasing prevalence of the two-career couple on university campuses should be viewed as an exhilarating challenge rather than an unmanageable mess of contending views. (RS)

Presents case study which highlights attendant cognitive changes that occur in Alzheimer's patient, presenting caregiver with challenges to couple's sexual functioning. Describes man who reported erectile dysfunction directly stemming from stressful changes that had occurred in his relationship to his wife who had Alzheimer's disease. General…

Examines literature on marital therapy and spouse involvement as treatments for major psychopathology, focusing on depression, agoraphobia, and alcoholism. For each disorder, examines relation between marital dynamics and disorder and discusses empirical efforts to evaluate impact of marital therapy or spouse involvement on disorder. Summarizes…

Examines how couples' discussions of troublesome problems reveal hidden agendas (issues not directly discussed or explored). Finds disgust and contempt are at the core of both love and respect agendas for husbands and wives. Finds that wives' more than husbands' hidden agendas are directly predictive of how negatively they argue at home. (SR)

Surveyed over 200 married adults from 20 major religious denominations concerning influence of religious belief and practice on family satisfaction. Most reported that religion was helpful to family life. Those who reported more social support and divine intervention reported higher levels of family satisfaction. (Author/NB)

Contrasted predictors of depression among 101 men and 214 women providing care to spouses suffering from Alzheimer's Disease using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies (CES-D) Depression Index. Results indicated that caregiving wives were more depressed and more burdened than were caregiving husbands. (Author/BHK)

Surveyed married women obtaining abortions to examine assumptions concerning spousal notification held by federal courts. Results suggest that the assumption that notification and discussion promote marital harmony is plausible for only circumscribed subset of women whose marriages are already harmonious. (Author/NB)

Conducted interviews with spouses to obtain data on those people considered significant (psychological networks). Telephone interviews with same spouses identified people with whom they interacted frequently (interactive networks). Comparisons of network types revealed minimal overlap; approximately 25 percent of network members were included in…

Examined causal dynamics of stress contagion across work and home domains in married couples. Results revealed that husbands were more likely than wives to bring home stresses into workplace. Stress contagion from work to home was evident for both husbands and wives. Contagion of work stress into home appeared to set into motion process of dyadic…

Examined relationship of discrepancy between couple's actual level of intimacy and desired level of intimacy and marital adjustment using data from 185 randomly selected couples. Results revealed that discrepancy between actual and desired intimacy of husbands and wives was highly predictive of marital adjustment. Couples with low intimacy scores…

A study looked at the psychological characteristics of members of the Ohio Young Farmers' Association and the Ohio Young Farmers' Wives Association and their perceptions of the effectiveness of the associations. The 240 responses provided demographic evidence that the clientele of these organizations is changing. (JOW)

Examined female's adjustment (N=25) to a partner's spinal cord injury (SCI) as a function of time since injury. Found that spouse adjustment to the effects of living with a partner who had a SCI was a highly stressful process with major medical and psychosocial consequences. (Author/ABL)