Attempted to replicate study which proved predictive validity of premarital inventory PREPARE. Conducted longitudinal study with couples (N=179) who took PREPARE. Found PREPARE predicted with about 80 percent accuracy couples who got divorced from those that were happily married. Claims premarital counseling could potentially help high-risk…

Analyzed 1968 mortality data and comparable 1970 census data for women. Found that women married to younger men tended to live longer than expected while women married to older men tended to die sooner than expected. Two possible explanations are considered: mortality outcomes are predetermined by mate selection, or psychological, social, and/or…

Compared 10 compulsive eaters and their spouses with 10 compulsive drinkers and their spouses. Interview data revealed pattern suggesting that couples were often unable to process feelings and resolve conflicts. For subject, couple relationship seemed to affect and perpetuate compulsive behavior. Results point to need to redefine construct of…

Used Double ABCX model of family stress and adaptation to identify factors that are associated with successful adaptation to frequent involuntary relocation among 212 clergy families. Wives reported significantly higher stress, more negative perceptions of their most recent relocation, lower coping resources, and lower well-being that did clergy…

Discusses conceptual model highlighting renegotiation of relationships and redefinition of boundaries in divorced family system. Considers issues of intimacy and power boundary redefinition between parents and children and between former spouses regarding grief and self-efficacy. Suggests boundaries should be formal, distant, and rigid. (CRR)

Examined social supports and bereavement of spouses of elderly suicide and natural deaths. Suicide survivors received significantly less emotional support for their feelings of depression and grief than natural death survivors, and they did not confide in persons in their network any more than nonbereaved controls did. Women reported receiving…

Compared stress and coping levels of 108 older adults who recently lost their spouses with expectations of stress and coping reported by 85 matched nonbereaved controls. Although bereaved reported moderately high stress levels over two years, their stress scores were lower and coping scores higher than what nonbereaved anticipated their levels…

Presents two cases chosen to draw attention to marital and developmental dynamics of suicidal behavior. Both case vignettes are based on individual interviews with suicidal persons and their spouses during the suicidal person's psychiatric hospitalization, and both include observations of the marital interaction. Case vignettes are followed by…

Asserts that inadequate attention has been given to incorporating family members in career counseling setting with adult clients. Explores a career counseling paradigm that takes into account the couple dynamics active in the adult's career choice process. Unique elements of the conjoint model, such as couple career assessment, along with…

Sixty marital dyads completed Dyadic Adjustment Scale and participated in problem discussions while using communication box. Intent ratings of distressed wives were significantly more negative than those provided by distressed husbands or by nondistressed wives. Distressed wives predicted that impact of their messages would be more negative than…

Forty-eight married couples completed Snyder's Marital Satisfaction Inventory and were categorized with Bem Sex-Role Inventory as androgynous, gender role congruent, gender role incongruent, or undifferentiated. Found that androgynous couples featured more wives who were dissatisfied regarding child issues. Conceptualized results in terms of…

Examined data on frequency with which relationship conflict is experienced in specific content areas and relationship satisfaction for both partners of 75 gay, 51 lesbian, and 108 heterosexual couples who lived together without children. Couple scores fell into six clusters that represented areas of conflict regarding power, social issues,…

Predictors of increases in marital distress in the first 3 years of marriage were identified for 310 couples. Predictors for wives were low income, living with stepchildren, many rewards, few costs, and high emotional investment. Predictors for husbands were few months of living together. For both husbands and wives, few years of education and not…

Used data from 1988 National Survey of Families and Households to examine effects of husbands' and wives' employment and marriage characteristics on their respective perceptions of marital quality. Occupational factors had only minimal effect on both husbands' and wives' perceptions of marital quality. Husbands and wives were both affected by…

Examined conversations in which spouses (n=709) debrief one another about what happened during the day. Found positive association between amount of time spouses reported debriefing and their relational satisfaction. Occupational status was linked to debriefing time and, for wives, perceived discrepancies in spouses' talk time also emerged as…