Compared 92 widows and 400 professionals (clergy, counselors, physicians, funeral directors) regarding perceptions of conjugal bereavement. Professionals saw bereavement as having more negative impact and requiring use of coping skills to greater extent than did widows. Help-seeking behaviors, age at bereavement, and length of bereavement…

Examined effects of husbands' job stressors on emotional health of their wives using interview data from 1,383 married women and panel data from a subset of 92 women who were reinterviewed. Results indicated husbands' stressors were associated with significantly elevated symptom levels in their wives. (Author/ABL)

A survey of extension agents and their spouses (n=127, 83 percent) found that the strongest predictor of job satisfaction was spousal satisfaction. Four-H agents had lower job satisfaction, related to long, irregular working hours. Agents had low extrinsic satisfaction related to recognition, salary, policies, and decision-making power. Spouses…

Examined relationship between wives' (N=147) employment status and their versus their husbands' (N=154) time spent on household tasks. Compared adjusted mean time that women and men spent in specific household tasks. Found employed women spent less time on female-typed tasks than full-time homemakers. Found husbands' total housework time not…

Used national survey data from over 700 respondents to examine how wives' labor force participation affects extent to which families use market economy to provide goods and services traditionally produced by women. Found that full-time working wives were more likely than wives at home to purchase cleaning and meal preparation services. (Author/NB)

Randomly assigned spouse-caregivers of Alzheimer's disease patients to treatment group (individual and family counseling, support group participation, and ad hoc consultation) or control group (only routine support). Treatment group had less than half as many nursing home placements as control group. Placement also was affected by patient's need…

Used 1987-88 National Survey of Families and Households data to examine the prevalence of successful reconciliations among 506 white women. Approximately one-third of women attempting reconciliation were still married more than one year after reconciliation began. Religion had strongest relationship with success of reconciliation, followed by…

Offers a personal narrative on how the author's own poetry helped her cope with the crisis of infertility, serving as a tool for self-discovery and healing. Suggests that specific advantages of poetry writing within the context of psychotherapy include problem solving; expression of feelings; insight; couple communication; and individual and…

Examined personality factors and coping strategies among 50 spouse caregivers of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia. Results showed that personality traits explained 60% of variance in emotion-focused coping, 30% of variance in problem-focused coping, and 15% of variance associated with social support coping.…

Findings from interviews with 586 couples confirmed results of prior research which documented deleterious effects of depression on marriage; they did not support independent effect (either positive or negative) for concordance (when both spouses are depressed) on marital quality. Results provide evidence against general hypothesis that homogamy…

Explores the collaborative learning partnership between science fiction writer Robert Heinlein and his wife Virginia. Shows how Virginia's self-directed learning projects complemented and enabled Robert's writing. (SK)

Examines characteristics of sexual assaults among women (N=1,162) assaulted by strangers, acquaintances known for less than 24 hours, acquaintances known for more than 24 hours, and current or previous husbands or boyfriends. Findings reveal that assaults by husbands or boyfriends were more violent and resulted in more physical trauma to victims.…

Revised estimates of the time married women spent in household work were made using data from the 1920s and 1960s. Results showed an overall decline from 7.35 hours per day in the 1920s to 6.31 hours in 1967-68. Household work by full-time homemakers declined by 7.5% to 6.84 hours per day; employed married women's household work declined to 5.13…

Much of the literature on the effects of conjugal bereavement has focused on the detrimental effects of losing a spouse. Although it is very important to be aware of the emotional, physical, and social problems often associated with bereavement, these difficulties are not universal accompaniments of grief. Accumulating evidence suggests that…

This study examined the friendship experiences of 52 wives and mothers, with particular attention given to wives' marriage work (discussions about concerns and problems in the marriage) in 10 domains with friends and spouses. A series of within-subjects repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) indicated that in all but two domains, wives…