Sought to establish if frequent participation in leisure activities helped widows and widowers adapt to widowhood and maintain lower stress levels. Sixty recently bereaved widows (n=43) and widowers (n=17) who were living in an Australian city were selected for the study. No significant differences were found in age, gender, income, or type of…

Couples with school-age children with mental retardation completed self-report and observational measures of marriage, the parenting alliance, and parenting attitudes and behaviors at two periods. Findings indicated significant effects of marital quality on changes in self-reports of perceived parenting competence, and in observed negative…

Emotion work refers to efforts made to enhance emotional well being and provide emotional support in a relationship. Data were collected from 63 couples seeking therapy to determine the relation between emotion work balance and relationship satisfaction. Results indicate both men and women are most satisfied with their relationship when levels of…

Purpose: We examine 6-month effects of the Environmental Skill-Building Program on caregiver well-being and care recipient functioning and whether effects vary by caregiver gender, race (White or non-White), and relationship (spouse or nonspouse). Design and Methods: We enrolled 255 family caregivers of community-residing persons with Alzheimer's…

Stress process theory is applied to examine lack of supplemental private health insurance as a risk factor for depressive symptomatology among older married couples covered by Medicare. Dyadic data from 130 African-American couples and 1,429 White couples in the 1993 Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest-Old Survey were analyzed using…

This study investigated psychosocial factors thought to be associated with perceived stress over the course of infertility treatment. The research was based on secondary analysis of data from the Study of Marriage, Family, and Life Quality with a sample of 128 people who completed an infertility-related stress instrument at all three measurement…

In this low-income Turkish sample, parents reported on father and mother division of childcare labor and satisfaction with division. Regardless of whether they were rearing typical or atypical children, mothers reported a higher level of involvement than fathers in every domain of childcare. In general, both mothers and fathers reported slight…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to inform the ongoing quest for efficacious treatment of domestically violent women by (a) describing their representation in cases of intimate partner homicide over the period of 1985-1999 in Houston, Texas, and (b) by utilizing a measure known as the spousal sex ratio of killing (SROK), determining…

In this article, I examine the distribution of time pressure associated with the roles of marital partner and parent using data from a telephone survey. Results of an analysis of open-ended responses indicate that less than a quarter of respondents are satisfied with the time they spend with their children and spouses. Women are more likely to…

Empirical findings have supported an inverse relationship between closeness to extended family and friends versus spouse. The three foregoing interpersonal relationships in terms of affective quality, direction and dominance were investigated, using an objective test as well as the TAT. Bellak (1986) considered that the strength of the TAT lies in…

In an effort to help practitioners deal with the great volume of current literature in the field of marriage and family therapy, this compilation attempts to present clinically relevant material in a user-friendly format. Topics selected for inclusion are believed to be up-to-date, informative, and clinically meaningful--as well as theoretically…

Following a brief review of literature on marital and family treatment for alcohol problems, this paper describes two types of marital therapy frequently used with alcoholics and presents a brief overview of results from a study in progress comparing the two modalities. Behavioral marital therapy uses communication skills training, contracting,…

The rapid increase in the number of families with two wage-earners has contributed significantly to changes in family structure and function in the past three decades; a current belief holds that wives who share the income-earner role have a right to expect more assistance from their husbands with such family tasks as meal preparations, cleaning,…

The process of selecting college presidents is discussed. It is suggested that the selection is affected by the conflict between privacy and publicity, a balance that differs among different kinds of institutions: a relatively closed search because of religious affiliation or dogma for a private college versus the requirements established for…

A fundamental issue in research on violence between couples who are dating or married is the question of when abuse begins in the relationship. A study was conducted to examine the relationship between gender, level of emotional commitment, and the use of conflict tactics in couples whose levels of emotional commitment ranged from "casual…