Relations of Husbands' and Wives' Dysphoria to Marital Conflict Resolution Strategies.

This study investigated relations between spouses' dysphoria and constructive and destructive emotions and tactics displayed by husbands and wives throughout marital conflicts. Behavioral observations were made of 267 couples' interactions during marital conflict resolution tasks. Husbands' and wives' dysphoria levels were related to particular negative marital conflict expressions and the absence of positive strategies, even after taking into account couples' marital satisfaction and their partners' levels of dysphoria. Moreover, in comparison with wives' dysphoria, husbands' dysphoria was associated with more pervasive impairments in couples" conflict strategies evident in multiple contexts of conflict resolution, including discussion of relatively minor sources of disagreement. Implications for the treatment of depressed or maritally discordant couples are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital closeness, functional disability, and adjustment in late life.

Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) posits that emotionally close relationships are increasingly valued as people perceive constraints on time. Based on SST, this study of 1,532 older married persons hypothesized that emotional dimensions of marriage would more strongly predict adjustment at higher levels of functional disability. High levels of marital closeness were negatively associated with depression and anxiety and positively associated with self-esteem. Consistent with predictions derived from SST, marital closeness moderated the negative psychological effects of high levels of functional disability on depression, anxiety, and self-esteem. Results are discussed in the context of SST and traditional stress-buffering models of social support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital conflicts in the home when children are present versus absent.

Characteristics of marital conflict when children (8-16 years) were present versus absent were compared on the basis of 47 mothers' and fathers' reports during a 15-day period. Mothers described 669 incidents of marital conflict, and fathers described 551 incidents. About two thirds of the conflicts occurred in children's absence. Contrary to predictions, conflicts in which children were present were more negative (e.g., more negative emotions, more destructive conflict tactics) and more often about children than were child-absent conflicts. Although parents may attempt to protect children from conflict exposure, children tend to be exposed to a relatively hostile and emotionally negative subset of the marital conflicts that occur in the home. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital conflict and preadolescent behavioral competence: Maternal knowledge as a longitudinal mediator.

The present study considered whether maternal knowledge mediated the relation between overt marital conflict and preadolescent behavioral competence. Four years of self-report data were collected from 133 mothers and their preadolescents, beginning when the preadolescents were in 4th grade. Marital conflict, maternal knowledge, and preadolescent behavioral competence were assessed at all 4 time points in order to apply a stringent methodology for assessing longitudinal mediating patterns. The results indicated that maternal knowledge mediated the relation between marital conflict and preadolescent behavioral competence. Thus, the present study identified one possible process through which marital conflict may affect preadolescent behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Genetic Effects on Women's Positive Mental Health: Do Marital Relationships and Social Support Matter?

Interpersonal relationships are important factors in mental health. A genetically sensitive design was used to examine associations among marital quality, adequacy of social support, and 2 aspects of positive mental health in a sample of 652 Swedish twin women and their families. There were 3 main findings. First, the covariance between relationships and positive mental health was partially accounted for by common genetic variance. Second, nonshared environmental influences played a substantial role in the covariance among the 3 constructs, with evidence for husbands being a source of this influence. Finally, different patterns of associations were found between relationships and 2 aspects of mental health, well-being and global self-worth, which shows how seemingly similar constructs can be differentially associated with relationships. Together, these findings emphasize the importance of genetically informed studies in family research and the role of the environment and interpersonal relationships in promoting and improving mental health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conflict structure moderates associations between cardiovascular reactivity and negative marital interaction.

This study examined the role of marital conflict structure--who desires and requests change versus who responds to the change request--in spouses' cardiovascular responses to marital interactions. Forty-one couples discussed 2 marital topics: one in which the wife desired change in the husband, and one in which the husband desired change in the wife. Cardiovascular responses were assessed at 2-min intervals. Results indicated that marital conflict structure moderates cardiovascular reactivity during negative marital interactions: Husbands and wives whose interactions were characterized by high levels of negative behavior showed the most pronounced diastolic blood pressure reactivity, but only when they were in the role of desiring change in their spouses. Implications for gender differences in marital conflict physiology are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital conflict and support seeking by parents in adolescence: Empirical support for the parentification construct.

Parentification, a parent-child dynamic wherein children come to provide ongoing emotional support for their parents, has been documented extensively in the clinical literature; however, it rarely has been studied systematically. Using a community sample of 83 couples and their adolescent children (mean age = 15.26 years; 52% male, 48% female), the authors linked adolescent self-report of parentification to specific youth and adult behaviors using multiple methods and examined its associations with youth adjustment problems. The parentification measure demonstrated strong internal consistency and 1-year stability. Parentification was associated with marital conflict, youth perceptions of threat, low warmth in the parent-child relationship, and the tendency for youths to intervene in marital conflict. Links were also found with youth reports of internalizing and externalizing behavior and poorer competency in close friendships. These findings thus support the parentification construct and provide evidence that parentification may contribute to poor youth outcomes by burdening children with developmentally inappropriate responsibilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluative pressure in mothers: Effects of situation, maternal, and child characteristics on autonomy supportive versus controlling behavior.

This study examined the effects of situational pressure and maternal characteristics (social contingent self-worth, controlling parenting attitudes) on mothers' autonomy support versus control in the social domain. Sixty 4th-grade children and their mothers worked on a laboratory task in preparation for meeting new children, with mothers in either an evaluation (mothers told their child would be evaluated by other children) or no-evaluation (no mention of evaluation) condition. Mothers in the evaluation condition spent more time giving answers to their children. Mothers with controlling parenting attitudes exhibited more controlling behavior. Further, mothers with high social contingent self-worth in the evaluation condition were most controlling. Results suggest the importance of interactions between situations and maternal characteristics in determining levels of mothers' autonomy support versus control and have implications for helping parents support children's autonomy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting Change in Adolescent Adjustment From Change in Marital Problems.

The present prospective, longitudinal study of 451 adolescents and their parents extends earlier research by investigating whether change in marital problems predicts change in adolescent adjustment, after controlling for other marital problems and socioeconomic status. Latent growth curves over a period of 5 years were used, and the results revealed that in general, increases or decreases in marital distress and conflict predicted corresponding increases or decreases in adolescent adjustment problems over time. In addition, the analyses suggested that increases in marital distress are as harmful for adolescent adjustment as increases in marital conflict. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital problem-solving behavior in depression and marital distress.

The present study examined the effects of depression and marital distress on behavior during a marital problem-solving interaction. A complete factorial design combined the presence or absence of a depressed wife with the presence or absence of marital distress, to produce four groups of participant couples. An increase in depressive behavior was the sole unique contribution of a depressed wife, occurring regardless of the level of marital distress. Increased aggressive behavior and decreased facilitative behavior were found to characterize the interactions of maritally distressed couples and were not influenced by depression. Resolution-oriented behavior remained unchanged as a result of either depression or marital distress. The results indicate that marital distress, in addition to depression, should be considered as a source of dysfunctional behavior in marital interactions involving depressed individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal Mediators in the Intergenerational Transmission of Marital Dysfunction.

Intergenerational transmission of marital functioning was examined in a sample of 60 newlywed couples by collecting (a) retrospective reports of conflict and divorce in spouses' families of origin, (b) data on demographic variables and interactional processes likely to increase risk for adverse marital outcomes, and (c) couples' actual 4-year marital outcomes. The association between wives' parental divorce and marital outcome was mediated by their verbal and physical aggression. The association between negativity in husbands' family of origin and marital outcome was mediated by dyadic expressions of negative affect. Demographic variables did not operate as mediators. Negative interpersonal processes appear to be a vehicle by which experiences in the family of origin are carried forward into the next generation of relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychopathology and Marital Satisfaction: The Importance of Evaluating Both Partners.

Using path analysis and hierarchical linear modeling, the authors evaluated the associations between both partners' level of depression and anxiety, as measured by Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) content scales, and both partners' level of marital satisfaction among married couples (N = 774) that participated in the MMPI restandardization study (J. N. Butcher, W. G. Dahlstrom, J. R. Graham, A. Tellegen, & B. Kaemmer, 1989). Results indicated that marital satisfaction was predicted by the person's own level of anxiety and depression (i.e., actor effects) and by his or her spouse's level of depression only (i.e., partner effects). Findings also indicated that (a) there were no significant gender differences in the magnitude of effects, (b) depression effects were significantly stronger than anxiety effects, (c) actor effects were significantly stronger than partner effects, and (d) there were interactions between actor and partner effects for depression only. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Forgiveness and Conflict Resolution in Marriage.

Two studies examined whether forgiveness in married couples is associated with better conflict resolution. Study 1 examined couples in their 3rd year of marriage and identified 2 forgiveness dimensions (retaliation and benevolence). Husbands' retaliatory motivation was a significant predictor of poorer wife-reported conflict resolution, whereas wives' benevolence motivation predicted husbands' reports of better conflict resolution. Examining longer term marriages, Study 2 identified three forgiveness dimensions (retaliation, avoidance and benevolence). Whereas wives' benevolence again predicted better conflict resolution, husbands' avoidance predicted wives' reports of poorer conflict resolution. All findings were independent of both spouses' marital satisfaction. The findings are discussed in terms of the importance of forgiveness for marital conflict and its implications for spouse goals. Future research directions on forgiveness are outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital conflict, maternal and paternal parenting, and child adjustment: A test of mediation and moderation.

Parenting was examined as a mediator of associations between marital and child adjustment, and parent gender was examined as a moderator of associations among marital, parental, and child functioning in 226 families with a school-age child (146 boys). Parenting fully mediated associations between marital conflict and child internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Parent gender did not moderate associations when data from the full sample or families with girls only were evaluated. Parent gender did moderate associations when families with boys were evaluated, with the association between marital conflict and parenting stronger for fathers than mothers. A trend suggested fathers' parenting may be more strongly related to internalizing behavior and mothers' parenting may be more strongly related to externalizing behavior in boys. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital transitions and changes in African American mothers’ depressive symptoms: The buffering role of financial resources.

The effects of changes in marital status on the changes in depressive symptoms of 443 African American mothers from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY) were examined. Results showed that those mothers who exited marriage increased in depressive symptoms relative to continuously married and newly married mothers. Moreover, mothers who entered marriage later experienced the same level of depressive symptoms as continuously married mothers. However, financial resources moderated the effects of marital transitions. Those mothers with more financial resources did not experience an increase in depressive symptoms after divorce, but those with fewer resources experienced a large increase. It was concluded that divorce is a risk factor for mental health concerns among African American mothers, but financial resources serve as a protective factor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital quality moderates genetic and environmental influences on the internalizing spectrum.

Poor marital quality is a reliable correlate of internalizing problems, but the etiology of this association has yet to be examined. Marital distress may exert its influence by acting as a stressor that enables the expression of latent genetic risk for internalizing psychopathology. The authors examined this question using 379 twin pairs, assessed for marital quality, symptoms of major depression (MD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic attacks (PA), and neuroticism (N). A phenotypic factor analysis confirmed that one factor best accounted for the variance shared between MD, GAD, PA, and N. After accounting for genetic influences on the general Internalizing factor, there were residual genetic influences on N but no specific genetic influences on any other individual internalizing syndrome. The authors found overlap between the genetic influences on marital quality and the internalizing spectrum. Finally, biometrical moderation models revealed that genetic effects on the Internalizing factor increased as the marital quality deteriorated (marital quality high: h2 = 0.05; marital quality low: h2 = 0.29), suggesting that those with a genetic predisposition to internalizing syndromes may be more likely to express this predisposition in the context of a dissatisfying marriage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors and pathways from infancy to symptoms of anxiety and depression in early adolescence.

Data from a prospective 11-year longitudinal survey were used to identify early predictors and pathways to symptoms of anxiety and depression at 12–13 years of age, and to examine whether there were unique predictors of anxious versus depressive symptoms. Structural equation modeling was used to explore longitudinal relations between contextual (maternal distress, family adversities, and social support) and temperamental (shyness and emotionality) risk factors in their prediction of informant-consistent symptoms of anxiety and depression. The results show that early risk factors can explain 38% of the variance in boys’ covarying symptoms of anxiety and depression in early adolescence, and 25% of variance in girls’ covarying symptoms. Two main pathways were identified. One pathway was through temperament, as nearly all risk factors were partly mediated through child emotionality in midchildhood. Another pathway was through early contextual risk factors, with all direct and indirect contextual impact from before 5 years of age. Family adversity uniquely predicted depressive symptoms. These findings underscore the persisting impact of contextual predictors in families with children less than 5 years of age. The importance of early interventions to prevent adolescent internalizing problems is stressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal predictors of depression trajectories in women with HIV.

This article tests an interpersonal model of depression symptom trajectories tailored to the experiences of women with HIV. Specifically, the authors examined how bereavement, maternal role difficulty, HIV-related social isolation, and partner conflict predicted change in depressive symptoms over 5 years in 761 women with HIV, controlling for sociodemographic and clinical health factors. Of these interpersonal characteristics, partner conflict emerged as a robust predictor of change in depressive symptoms in growth curve and cross-lag models. Results highlight the need for interventions focusing on interpersonal issues, particularly intimate relationships, in women with HIV. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital conflict typology and children's appraisals: The moderating role of family cohesion.

Intense and frequent marital conflict is associated with greater appraisals of threat and self-blame in children, but little else is known about contextual factors that might affect appraisals. Systemic family theories propose that to understand child adaptation, it is necessary to understand the interconnected nature of family subsystem relationships. In a sample of 257 families with 8- to 12-year-old children, this study examined whether a four-level typology of marital conflict management was related to children's perceptions of marital conflict and their appraisals of perceived threat and self-blame. In addition, family cohesion was tested as a moderator of the relationship between marital conflict style and children's appraisals. Observational coding was used to group couples into Harmonious, Disengaged, Conflictual-Expressive, and Conflictual-Hostile groups. Children's report of the intensity, frequency, and degree of resolution of interparental discord corresponded well with observers' ratings. The relationship between marital conflict style and appraisals of threat and self-blame was moderated by family cohesiveness. At high levels of family cohesiveness, no group differences were found for either perceived threat or self-blame, whereas when family cohesiveness was low, threat was higher for the Harmonious and Conflictual-Hostile groups, as compared to the Conflictual-Expressive group, and self-blame was higher for both conflict groups (expressive and hostile), as compared to the Disengaged group. The results provide further evidence of interconnected nature of family subsystem relationships and the importance of distinguishing among different approaches to marital conflict management for understanding the complex and perhaps subtle but meaningful effects different family system factors have on child adaptation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations between spouses' depressive symptoms and marital conflict: A longitudinal investigation of the role of conflict resolution styles.

This study investigated longitudinal relations between spouses' depressive symptoms and styles of conflict resolution displayed by husbands and wives in marital conflict, including angry, depressive, and constructive patterns of expression. Behavioral observations were made from a community sample of 276 couples during marital conflict resolution tasks once a year for 3 years. Couples were observed engaging in a major and minor conflict resolution task. Constructive, angry, and depressive conflict resolution styles were derived from the behavioral observation coding. Couples self-reported on depressive symptoms and marital dissatisfaction. Path analyses provided support for an extension of the marital discord model of depression (Beach, Sandeen, & O'Leary, 1990). Specifically, angry, depressive, and constructive styles of conflict each mediated the link between marital dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms. Significant cross-spouse effects were found. Implications for the treatment of depressed and/or relationally discordant couples are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)