This study tests status inconsistency theory by examining the associations between wives' and husbands' relative statuses--that is, earnings, work-time, occupational, and educational inconsistencies--and marital quality and global happiness. The author asks three questions: (a) Is status inconsistency associated with marital quality and overall…

Longitudinal data from 293 Dutch couples were used to examine the association between conflict frequency and relationship quality across the transition to parenthood, which is known as one of the most challenging events in the early stages of marriage. More frequent conflict during pregnancy was related to lower levels of relationship quality…

Previous research suggests that the quality of parents' relationships can influence their children's adjustment, but most studies have focused on the negative effects of marital conflict for children in White middle-class families. The current study focuses on the potential benefits of positive marital quality for children in working-class first…

The topic of conjugal quality provides an empirical illustration of the relevance of the configurational perspective on families. On the basis of a longitudinal sample of 1,534 couples living in Switzerland drawn from the study "Social Stratification, Cohesion and Conflict in Contemporary Families," we show that various types of…

Few programs to enhance fathers' engagement with children have been systematically evaluated, especially for low-income minority populations. In this study, 289 couples from primarily low-income Mexican American and European American families were randomly assigned to one of three conditions and followed for 18 months: 16-week groups for fathers,…

Self-representations of 1st-, 3rd-, and 5th-graders' social and academic competence were examined in relation to children's personal (grade/age); family (attachment to parents, marital conflict, anxiety related to conflict); and school (teacher appraisals) contexts. Children who reported higher levels of security of attachment to parents and lower…

The present study compared Muslim-Arab women in Israel who initiated divorce (n=45) with those who stayed in stressful marital relationships (n=46). Based on an ecological approach and using a cross-sectional design, we explored the differences between the two groups with regard to the following variables: personal resources (education, paid…

Evidence has emerged for emotional security as an explanatory variable linking marital conflict to children's adjustment. Further evidence suggests parental psychopathology is a key factor in child development. To advance understanding of the pathways by which these family risk factors impact children's development, the mediational role of…

The Positive and Negative Quality in Marriage Scale (F. D. Fincham & K. J. Linfield, 1997) is a self-report measure that separately assesses positive and negative dimensions of relationship quality. Fincham and Linfield found that ratings of positive and negative marital quality accounted for unique variance in maladaptive attributions and…

This paper analyzes the relationship between a woman's intrahousehold bargaining position and her welfare within marriage using household data from rural China. Simultaneity problems are overcome by using dowry to proxy for bargaining position. Omitted variable bias is addressed by using grain shocks in the year preceding marriage as an instrument…

This study focuses on the factors underlying differences in relationship quality between interethnic and same-ethnic couples. Using the National Survey of Families and Households and the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we examine relationship satisfaction, interpartner conflict and subjective assessments of relationship instability in…

Qualitative and quantitative research has suggested that married couples handle the increasing demands of intensive parenting norms and work expectations by reducing spousal time (e.g., the time that spouses spend alone with each other). Using nationally representative time-diary data, this study examined whether married individuals with children…

Participants included 202 newlywed couples who reported retrospectively about child maltreatment experiences (sexual abuse, physical abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect) and whose marital functioning was assessed 3 times over a 2-year period. Decreased marital satisfaction at T1 was predicted by childhood physical abuse, psychological abuse,…

Parents of 50 4th grade girls reported on their marital relationships and then, two years later, rated their daughters' pubertal development. Fathers' ratings of marital dissatisfaction, mothers' ratings of less emotional support from husbands, and both parents' ratings of aversive marital conflict were correlated with more advanced pubertal…

Past research has consistently documented the positive relationship between a transition to marriage and psychological well-being. In this study, we separate the depressed from the nondepressed to assess whether the benefits marriage has for psychological well-being depend on premarital depression. We also examine whether the effect of marital…