Traditionally, research findings on family problem solving have been based on observational data from vignettes provided by the researcher. To examine problem solving in couple relationships from a participatory perspective, 27 married couples discussed a mutually relevant domestic problem, while being videotaped. Subsequently, each partner…

Alcohol consumption is often associated with aggressive behaviors. This study compared the contexts and reasons for drinking of maritally violent men (N=44) and three maritally nonviolent comparison groups: happily married men (N=54), unhappily married men (N=41), and men who had been convicted of a violent offense, but who did not beat their…

The role of the spouse in both the etiology and the maintenance of alcoholism has been focussed on by theoreticians of various persuasions, including psychoanalytic, behavioral, sociological and family systems. These models, focussing on individual and interactional components of alcoholism, have generated a variety of treatment interventions…

Proposes an approach that incorporates the traditional provision of concrete services and addresses the powerful emotional ties that keep many women from effecting a lasting separation from their abusive partners. Focuses on helping battered women identify and mourn the losses accompanying separation. (Author/ABB)

Examined the role of physical attractiveness in marriage. Showed that the decreases in physical appearance normally associated with aging affected husbands' responses to their wives more than wives' to their husbands. Husband's sexual interest, happiness in the sexual relationship, and, to a lesser extent, unfaithfulness were affected. (Author/ABB)

Used the Marital Satisfaction Inventory to measure effects of the 12-hour Couple Communication Program, a highly structured workshop designed to teach couples new ways of communicating more effectively. Pre- and post-test results from six couples revealed significant changes in the couples' problem-solving communication after participation in the…

Surveyed dual-employed couple to explore causes of satisfaction with and arguments over division of household labor. Found husbands more satisfied with equitable division; wives more satisfied with division favoring them. Wives were more content if husbands shared women's traditional chores. Spouses disagreed about how often they argued over…

Examined variations in experience of burden among men and women married to formerly hospitalized psychiatric patients. Substantial proportion of individuals found living with previously hospitalized spouse burdensome. Experience of burden was not simply function of patient's behavioral problems as indexed by measure of symptomatology; psychosocial…

Examined relationship among four types of leisure-activity patterns and marital satisfaction of 318 married persons, and at five marital career stages and at high and low levels of stress. Results indicated direction and strength of relationship between leisure and marital satisfaction were contingent upon perceived communication during leisure…

This study investigated the effect across the family life cycle of previously identified influences on the marital adjustment of 492 married couples from six states. Although gender income level were not significant factors, educational level and employment of wives were. (JOW)

Data from questionnaires completed by and interviews with faculty spouses are analyzed to study how moves for a husband's job or lack of geographic mobility for a wife's own employment may affect women's careers. Women with advanced degrees and greater career commitment are found to experience greater geographic constraint. (Author/CH)

Conducted interviews with 2,020 community-dwelling elderly persons in Boston regarding their experience of physical violence, verbal aggression, and neglect. Prevalence rate of overall maltreatment was 32 elderly persons per 1,000. Spouses were found to be most likely abusers, and similar numbers of men and women were victims, although women…

Tested Bott's (1957) hypothesis that the connectedness of social networks to which spouses belong influences the segregation of marital-role activities. Results from 100 Puerto Rican migrant spouse pairs and 100 pairs of their adult married children failed to confirm Bott's hypothesis. Network characteristics appeared to be influenced by sex;…

Examined satisfaction expressed by 158 Southern Black husbands regarding life in their families. Modal response was that their family life was "good." Most closely associated with family life satisfaction was adjusted family income, followed by health. Education was significantly related in bivariate relationship, but not in the multiple…

Studied married couples' allocation of tasks within the household and found that role specialization existed in accordance with traditional sex role norms. Found that wives' self-esteem was not significant, but that the number of hours they were employed, their sex role orientation, and the attitudes of their significant others were significantly…