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)     

Developmental family processes and interparental conflict: Patterns of microlevel influences.

Although there are frequent calls for the study of effects of children on families and mutual influence processes within families, little empirical progress has been made. We address these questions at the level of microprocesses during marital conflict, including children's influence on marital conflict and parents' influence on each other. Participants were 111 cohabiting couples with a child (55 male, 56 female) age 8–16 years. Data were drawn from parents' diary reports of interparental conflict over 15 days and were analyzed with dynamic systems modeling tools. Child emotions and behavior during conflicts were associated with interparental positivity, negativity, and resolution at the end of the same conflicts. For example, children's agentic behavior was associated with more marital conflict resolution, whereas child negativity was linked with more marital negativity. Regarding parents' influence on each other, among the findings, husbands' and wives' influence on themselves from one conflict to the next was indicated, and total number of conflicts predicted greater influence of wives' positivity on husbands' positivity. Contributions of these findings to the understanding of developmental family processes are discussed, including implications for advanced understanding of interrelations between child and adult functioning and development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Gender and conflict structure in marital interaction: A replication and extension.

29 married couples engaged in 2 videotaped discussions: 1 in which the husband requested a change in the wife and 1 in which the wife requested a change in the husband. Conflict behavior was assessed by self-report and observer ratings. Neither conflict structure (who requested the change) nor gender was associated with the positivity or negativity of spouses' behavior. During discussions of husbands' issues, wives and husbands did not differ in demand/withdraw behavior, whereas when discussing wives' issues, wives were more demanding and husbands were more withdrawing. Husband-demand/wife-withdraw interaction predicted an increase in wives' satisfaction 1 yr later, whereas wife-demand/husband-withdraw interaction predicted a decline in wives' satisfaction 1 yr later. These results replicate and extend those of an earlier study (A. Christensen and C. L. Heavey; see record 1991-01045-001). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal linkages between wives' pursuit and husbands' withdrawal during marital conflict

This study examined the association between wives' pursuit and husbands' withdrawal during marital conflict discussions, and the affects associated with these behaviors. Ten distressed and 10 nondistressed couples completed a videotaped interaction in which the wives requested changes in husbands' behaviors. Results showed sequential dependencies between wives' pursuit and husbands' withdrawal, but distressed couples, as compared to nondistressed couples, did not engage in stronger pursuit/withdrawal patterns. Distressed husbands showed the highest proportions of anxious affects. The findings are discussed with reference to the affective context of the pursuit/withdrawal pattern.     

Predicting marital dissolution: A 5-year prospective longitudinal study of newlywed couples.

Examined how well marital dissolution was predicted by husbands' and wives' personal demographic scores, couple demographic scores, husbands' and wives' individual-differences scores, husbands' and wives' interdependence scores, and the size of the discrepancy between spouses' individual-differences scores as well as their interdependence scores. Over 5 annual assessments, 222 newlywed couples remained together and 64 dissolved their marriages. Variables from each of the 4 sets of scores reliably discriminated between stable and unstable couples. For a subsample of couples on whom multiple assessments were available, husbands and wives who would dissolve their marriage showed a greater decline in interdependence scores and had greater increases in discrepancies on interdependence variables than did husbands and wives from stable couples who were assessed at comparable times. Marital dissolution is discussed in terms of interrelated distal and proximal risk factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Husbands' and wives' alcohol use disorders and marital interactions as longitudinal predictors of marital adjustment.

In this longitudinal study, the relationships among wives' and husbands' lifetime alcoholism status, marital behaviors, and marital adjustment were tested. Participants were 105 couples from the Michigan Longitudinal Study (MLS), an ongoing multimethod investigation of substance use in a community-based sample of alcoholics, nonalcoholics, and their families. At baseline (T1), husbands and wives completed a series of diagnostic measures, and lifetime diagnosis of alcohol use disorder (AUD, as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed.), was assessed. Couples completed a problem-solving marital interaction task 3 years later at T2, which was coded for the ratio of positive to negative behaviors. Couples also completed a measure of marital adjustment at T4 (9 years after T1 and 6 years after T2). Results showed that husbands' lifetime AUD predicted lower levels of their wife's positive marital behaviors 3 years later but was not related to their own or their wife's marital adjustment 9 years from baseline. By contrast, wives' lifetime AUD had direct negative associations with their own and their husband's marital satisfaction 9 years later, and wives' marital behaviors during the problem-solving task predicted their own and their husband's marital satisfaction 6 years later. Findings indicate that marital adjustment in alcoholic couples may be driven more by the wives' than the husbands' AUD and marital behavior. Implications for intervention with alcoholic couples were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceiving unfairness in the family: Cause or consequence of marital distress?

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 80(3) of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (see record 2007-17568-001). The key coefficients on the diagonal paths were incorrect. The corrected figures in their entirety appear in the erratum.] This research tests a model suggesting that marital distress leads individuals to scrutinize of what is given and received in the relationship. This scrutiny elicits perceptions of unfairness that maintain or exacerbate marital distress. In a 3-panel longitudinal study tracking married couples across the transition to parenthood, both wives' and husbands' reports of marital conflict and wives' marital dissatisfaction at Time 1 positively predicted perceived unfairness of the allocation of household tasks at Time 2, controlling for earlier perceptions of unfairness. In addition, there was evidence of perceived unfairness of division of labor at Time 2 predicting marital conflict and marital dissatisfaction for wives at Time 3, controlling for earlier conflict and dissatisfaction. This model of relationship distress and perceptions of unfairness is contrasted with prior interpretations of links between perceived injustice and distress in relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotion regulation and intimate partner violence in newlyweds.

Is the inability to regulate negative emotions a risk factor for intimate partner violence (IPV)? To address this question, the authors asked 72 newlywed couples to report their levels of negative affect every day for 7 days and examined whether variability in those reports was associated with the IPV self-reported to have been perpetrated over the previous year. Although main effects of variability in both husbands' and wives' negative affect did not reach statistical significance, variability in husbands' negative affect significantly interacted with wives' reports of IPV to account for husbands' IPV, even after overall levels of husbands' negative affect, marital satisfaction, and chronic stress were controlled. Specifically, whereas variability in negative affect was unrelated to IPV among husbands with wives who reported no IPV, such variability was positively associated with the IPV perpetrated by husbands with wives who also reported having perpetrated IPV during the previous year. Although preliminary, these results support theories suggesting that the ability to regulate negative emotions may help intimates avoid perpetrating IPV, particularly when faced with a partner's IPV perpetration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Wives' employment and husbands' attitudes toward work and life.

Previous research has established that wives' employment has a positive association with the mental health of wives but a negative association with the mental health of husbands. The present study investigated the connections between wives' employment and husbands' work life, using data from the 1977 Quality of Employment Survey on 208 couples in which both husband and wife worked and 408 couples in which only the husband worked. Data indicate that wives' employment had nonspurious negative associations with husbands' job and life satisfaction. Husbands of working wives felt less adequate as family breadwinners than did husbands of housewives, and this appeared to account for their lower levels of job and life satisfaction. Findings suggest that the occupational domain is particularly important to understanding the negative relations between wives' employment and husbands' job and life satisfaction. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Perceiving unfairness in the family: Cause or consequence of marital distress?": Correction to Grote and Clark (2001).

Reports an error in "Perceiving unfairness in the family: Cause or consequence of marital distress" by Nancy K. Grote and Margaret S. Clark (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2001[Feb], Vol 80[2], 281-293). The key coefficients on the diagonal paths were incorrect. The corrected figures in their entirety appear in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2001-16163-008.) This research tests a model suggesting that marital distress leads individuals to scrutinize of what is given and received in the relationship. This scrutiny elicits perceptions of unfairness that maintain or exacerbate marital distress. In a 3-panel longitudinal study tracking married couples across the transition to parenthood, both wives' and husbands' reports of marital conflict and wives' marital dissatisfaction at Time 1 positively predicted perceived unfairness of the allocation of household tasks at Time 2, controlling for earlier perceptions of unfairness. In addition, there was evidence of perceived unfairness of division of labor at Time 2 predicting marital conflict and marital dissatisfaction for wives at Time 3, controlling for earlier conflict and dissatisfaction. This model of relationship distress and perceptions of unfairness is contrasted with prior interpretations of links between perceived injustice and distress in relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Financial problems and health complaints among farm couples: Results of a 10-year follow-up study.

Over a 10-year period, this survey study of 91 Dutch dairy farm couples investigated both causal and reversed causal relationships between couples' financial problems and husbands' and wives' mental and physical health complaints, as well as crossover effects of mental and physical health complaints between spouses. These relationships were tested simultaneously using structural equation modeling analyses. Results showed that financial problems were not predictive of health complaints for either spouse but that husbands' health complaints did predict both couples' financial problems and wives' health complaints 10 years later. These findings emphasize the importance of mental and physical health as resources for both the business and the family. For wives, these effects were not found, which may reflect the different positions of husbands and wives at the farm and, hence, the different ways they allocate their resources. (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)     

Linkages between spouses' psychological distress and marital conflict in the home.

To elucidate the processes that underlie the established association between psychopathology and marital functioning, researchers have given attention to how symptomatic individuals manage their interpersonal contexts, particularly during the handling of disagreements. In the current study, the authors evaluate the role of marital conflict strategies in relation to wives' and husbands' psychological distress levels. A sample of 100 community-based couples completed assessments of psychological distress and diaries describing marital conflict that occurred at home during a 15-day reporting period. Findings from multilevel modeling of dyadic data revealed associations between both spouses' psychological distress and multiple behavioral and emotional conflict expressions in the home. Psychological symptoms uniquely predicted the occurrence of certain conflict expressions, even when accounting for global negative marital sentiments. The findings encourage subsequent consideration of marital conflict expressions and resolution strategies when studying processes involved in the marriage-psychological adjustment link. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Older women with osteoarthritis and their caregiving husbands: Effects of pain and pain expression on husbands' well-being and support.

Objectives: To examine the moderating effects of wives' pain expression (verbal disclosure, nonverbal behavior) on the relationship between wives' pain and husbands' well-being and support provision. Design: Interviews were conducted with couples at baseline; questionnaires were mailed 6 months later. Setting: All women were patients at a rheumatology clinic. Participants: The sample included older women (n = 101) with a diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA) and their caregiving husbands. Main Outcome Measures: Outcomes were husbands' psychological well-being (depressive symptoms, life satisfaction) and the quality of their support to wives (emotional support, critical attitudes). Results: Verbal and nonverbal expression of OA pain increased the likelihood that women experiencing severe pain would have husbands with poor psychological well-being. Moreover, verbal pain disclosure strengthened the association between the severity of wives' pain and less emotional support from husbands. Conclusions: Findings suggest that wives' verbal and nonverbal communications about their pain, especially about severe pain, have the potential to decrease the psychological well-being and support resources of their caregiving spouses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer and partner drinking and the transition to marriage: A longitudinal examination of selection and influence processes.

This study examined the longitudinal relationships among adult drinking, partner drinking, and peer drinking over the transition to marriage. Newlywed couples were assessed with respect to alcohol involvement, peer drinking, and risk factors and reassessed at their 1st anniversary. Husbands' premarital drinking was predictive of wives' drinking at the 1st anniversary, indicating partner influence. The results did not support a peer-influence hypothesis in that peer drinking at marriage was not predictive of husbands' or wives' drinking at the 1st anniversary. There was evidence, however, for a peer-selection effect, with husbands' premarital drinking predicting peer drinking for both husbands and wives. Wives' premarital drinking was unrelated to the subsequent drinking of their peers or their husbands' peers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of marital role problems and the self-concept on wives' depressed mood.

Evaluated the mutual contribution of role interaction problems and self-concept to the depressed mood of wives in the marital relationship, using a linear recursive model incorporating path analysis and multiple regression. A random sample of married couples was interviewed, including 85 couples that had a child or children younger than 6 yrs old and in which the wife was less than 45 yrs old; 88 couples with a child or children aged 6–18 yrs, the wife being of any age; 81 couples with no children at home and the wife aged 45–59 yrs; and 82 couples with no children at home and the wife older than 60 yrs old. Roles selected to measure interaction problems included cooking, housekeeping, companionship to spouse, and caring for children. Role disagreement, depressed mood, and wives' self-concepts and the actual and perceived appraisals of the husbands for the wives were measured. Results indicate that the path model proposed a causal effect of marital role disagreement and reflected self-concept on wives' depressed mood. The key variable in the model was wives' perceptions of husbands' evaluations, which had a direct effect on wives' mood and mediated much of the effect of role disagreement on wives' depressed mood. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Workload and the trajectory of marital satisfaction in newlyweds: Job satisfaction, gender, and parental status as moderators.

Stress, on average, is bad for relationships. Yet stress at work is not always associated with negative relationship outcomes. The premise of the current study was that associations between workload and trajectories of marital satisfaction depend on circumstances that may constrain or facilitate partners' ability to negotiate their multiple roles. We hypothesized that the covariance between changes in workload and marital satisfaction over time should be moderated by (a) the extent to which spouses like their work, (b) their parental status, and (c) their gender. Analyses drawing upon eight waves of data on workload, work satisfaction, and marital satisfaction from 169 newlywed couples assessed over four years confirmed these predictions. Specifically, across couples, demands at work covaried positively with marital satisfaction for spouses who were more satisfied with their jobs. For nonparent couples, increases in husbands' workload covaried with increases in marital satisfaction for both spouses. For parent couples, however, increases in husbands' workload covaried with declines in marital satisfaction for both spouses. Unexpectedly, for parent couples, increases in wives' workload corresponded with increased marital satisfaction. Finally, consistent with predictions, wives were more affected by their husbands' workload than vice versa. Thus, tension between work and marriage is not inevitable, instead depending on circumstances that facilitate or impair performance in multiple roles. Couples, employers, and practitioners should recognize the role that external circumstances play in determining how work and marital life interact. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)