This study was designed to enhance understanding of individuals' and couples' emotional regulation processes, and the psychological mechanisms that connect work and family spheres for men and women. Forty-three couples and their eldest child participated in this study. On three consecutive days the parents completed several measures of work stress…

A total of 48 mother-infant pairs were observed and rated in face-to-face interaction when the infant was 4 months old, and in the Ainsworth Strange Situation when the infant was 12 months old. Mothers' marital satisfaction and social support, and the involvement and support of the child's father, were assessed. The mothers constituted a low…

Finding a qualified marriage and family therapist that the couple or family will be comfortable with requires some effort on the part of the consumer. There are many people out there who advertise themselves as marriage counselors or family therapists but do not have the credentials. The client must shop around, interview prospective therapists,…

Empirical research on behavioral marital therapy (BMT) was reviewed and it was concluded that BMT, with its emphasis on working on a strictly behavioral level with married couples, was an effective form of therapy. Six component analysis studies were then examined which showed a general trend in the studies indicating that strictly behavioral…

Although parenting is seen as one of the major roles most adults undertake in their lives, satisfaction with this role has received relatively little attention in past research. A study was conducted to examine parenting satisfaction as it relates to residence in an urban or rural setting. Urban (N=395) and rural (N=115) parents completed a survey…

A literature study was conducted to highlight the relationship between psychological dysfunction and sexuality within a marital context. The research reviewed suggests that women report more psychological symptoms, in particular depression, than do men. The husband's personality and functioning appeared to determine the level of marital…

The 2-part student workbook for mainstreamed learning and mentally disabled high school students contains 12 units intended to provide supplementary instruction in the Contemporary Parenting Choices Curriculum in the home economics class. This unit, the fifth in the Relationships part of the workbook, focuses on understanding marriage and includes…

While healthy families and minority family systems are two areas of family research currently getting attention, little is known about what various ethnic families consider to be important traits of healthy families. To examine this issue and to assess family strengths and marital and parenting satisfaction for different ethnic samples, parents…

Intended to help speech communication professionals become involved in developing, implementing, and evaluating marital or family enrichment programs, this booklet discusses the theory and practice of using marital enrichment programs to increase family harmony. The first section contains an overview of selected enrichment programs, as well as…

Previous research on physical attractiveness stereotypes about marriage have used stimulus individuals in isolation. To examine these attractiveness stereotypes using couples as targets, 72 college students (36 females, 36 males) rated eight photographs of four male-female couple types. Members of each couple were either matched (attractive…

Although marital dissatisfaction and social contact factors have been related to depression, the impact of these variables on a heterogeneous population is unclear. To determine risk for depression resulting from the absence of social support variables, 267 married adults (131 males, 136 females), with a mean age of 47 years, completed the Marital…

Compared the Marital Interaction Coding System (MICS) and the Communication Skills Test (CST) to determine the similarities and differences in the assessment data obtained from these observational measures. Coded videotaped marital conflict-resolution discussions of married couples with both systems. Husband-wife and distressed and nondistressed…

Outlines a conceptual framework and measurement model of the social cognitive processes underlying marital communication, specifying a two-dimensional configuration consisting of marriage-specific and general social cognitive processes. Studies conducted to develop and validate a measure of conjugal understanding confirm the proposed model.…

Compared the extent to which relative deprivation, based on general social comparisons and perceptions of equity/inequity derived from specific comparisons in an intimate relationship, influenced the psychological well-being of 130 couples in one-job families and 135 couples in two-job families. Relative deprivation and inequity were associated…

Compares two divorce prone men with two marriage phobic men. Marriage phobic men were fearful of getting married and used avoidance as a means of coping. Divorce prone were self-centered, hard driving, and reckless using acting out to manage conflict. Both groups were wary of the opposite sex and needed to be in control of relationships.…