Presents the results of seven studies that focused on the link between emotional intelligence and interpersonal relations. Tests emotional intelligence with empathy and self-monitoring, social skills, cooperation, relations with others, and marital satisfaction. Explores preference for emotionally intelligent partners in the final study. Includes…

Four dimensions of marital well-being--happiness, equity, competence, and control--emerged in a factor analysis of 12 items asking 199 Black and 174 White newlywed couples to evaluate their overall marital quality. Dimensions were related to respondents' gender, cohabitation history, education, and income, differentially for Blacks and Whites. (TE)

Offers an overview of couples' complaint behavior by describing complaint types, response types, complaint-response sequencing, and the environment in which such complaining occurs. Examines differences in reported complaint behavior between males and females and between satisfied and dissatisfied couples. (RAE)

Investigated the interactions of married couples at play with infant sons and daughters. Found that maritally distressed parents of boys more commonly displayed hostile-competitive coparenting behavior, whereas distressed parents of girls were more likely to show discrepant levels of parenting involvement. Findings also indicate the importance of…

Describes investigation exploring parent-child love attitude similarity among young adult children and parents by assessing demographics, love attitudes, parent-child relationship quality, children's self-disclosure, and parental relationship satisfaction. Results indicate considerable love attitude similarity between marital partners but not…

This study of 23 2-parent families with a preschooler who had a disability and 24 comparison families found no significant differences between the 2 groups of fathers on measures of paternal involvement, marital stress, and functioning styles within the family. No significant differences were found in paternal involvement as a function of the…

Discusses students' decisions to marry. Breaks down students' reasons for marriage into basic considerations: emotional, social-psychological, moral-ethical, and materialistic. Relates marital harmony to motives of the couple in marrying and circumstances promoting the marriage. Concludes that marriage should be preceded by an appropriate length…

Examined links between parents' depression, marital quality, and parenting style, and their preschool and early adolescent children's angry, defiant, and acting-out behaviors. Parents' depression was related to the quality of their marital relationship and their parenting style, but not their children's behavior. (BC)

Assessed important factors in marital adjustment of Taiwanese couples (n=56) in America and of Caucasian American couples (n=62). Results indicated American couples engaged in significantly more verbal communication; the presence of children was negatively related to marital adjustment for both groups. (ABL)

Examined the relationship between parenting alliance and child behavior problems with 53 mothers of two- to 15-year-olds at a pediatric outpatient clinic. Found a significant, moderately negative correlation between the Parenting Alliance Inventory (PAI) and the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI), even when controlling for Marital Adjustment…

Examines the linkage between marital quality (marital adjustment and satisfaction) and the parent/child relationship (parent/child relational quality and demand) in 378 married couples over two years. Results show that higher levels of marital quality are concurrently and longitudinally associated with higher levels of parent/child relational…

Investigated links between maternal employment, marital satisfaction, and fathers' parenting during their child's infancy. Found that fathers whose wives worked part time or less were more sensitive and responsive when more involved in caregiving; men whose wives worked full time showed more negative affect and behavior when more involved in child…

Evaluates shared parenting (SP), marital satisfaction, and division of child-care tasks in dual-earner families (N=116). Results show that psychological and relational SP dimensions predicted marital satisfaction, parental competence, and closeness to their children, but division of child-care tasks did not. Findings are interpreted to highlight…

Reviews and gives an overview of counseling techniques covering 10 topic areas related to marriage and family functioning that are used in assessment and diagnosis. Examines assessment and its relationship to diagnosis, with special reference to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual series. (JPS)

A case study of Relationship Enhancement (RE) therapy with a couple, in which the woman was identified as having vaginismus, is presented including excerpts of transcripts from the therapy sessions. RE's effectiveness at improving communication skills and providing structure in which the couple could discuss the intimate issues affecting the…