Marital satisfaction and communication behaviors during sexual and nonsexual conflict discussions in newlywed couples: a pilot study

The way couples communicate during conflict discussions has been found to be a reliable predictor of marital satisfaction. However, in previous research, there has been little experimental control over the selection of topics. The present study examined, in a sample of 15 newlywed couples, whether affective displays during the discussion of a sexual and a nonsexual conflict topic differentially predict current marital satisfaction. Communication behaviors were coded using an adaptation of the Specific Affect Coding System, resulting in composite "negative behavior" and "positive behavior" categories. Data were analyzed using multilevel modeling. Negative behaviors displayed during the nonsexual conflict discussions were not significantly related to concurrent self-reported relationship satisfaction. In contrast, for wives, negative behaviors displayed during the discussion of a sexual problem were significantly related to lower levels of relationship satisfaction. For the sexual and nonsexual conflict discussions, positive behaviors were positively associated with relationship satisfaction, although this effect did not reach statistical significance. Overall, the authors' findings emphasize the importance of incorporating sexual variables in the study of marriage. Furthermore, their study represents an important step in recognizing that marital research benefits from an examination of specific topics of conflict as a factor to consider in studies of marital functioning.     

Avoidance and Attacking Conflict‐Resolution Strategies Among Married Couples: Relations to Depressive Symptoms and Marital Satisfaction*

This study examined the relation of depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction to conflict‐resolution strategies (avoidance and attacking) in a sample of 40 married couples. Using hierarchical regression analyses, models were tested wherein avoidance and attacking scores were regressed on husbands' and wives' depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction scores. Depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction were powerful predictors of conflict‐resolution strategies; however, different predictors were noted for avoidance and attacking conflict‐resolution strategies. Gender differences were also revealed.     

Conflict management style and marital satisfaction

The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is one conflict management style that correlated more significantly with marital satisfaction than any other. In addition, spousal satisfaction with how marital conflict is managed was also examined, as were gender differences. Fifty-seven couples who had been married for at least 10 years took part in the study. Results showed that the collaborative conflict management style has the highest correlation with both marital satisfaction and spousal satisfaction with conflict management in the marriage. In contrast, where one or both of the spouses used the competitive conflict management style, the lowest marital satisfaction was reported. The results were also interpreted in terms of cultural and gender differences.     

How Religiosity Helps Couples Prevent,Resolve, and Overcome Marital Conflict*

Abstract: This study reports on in‐depth interviews with 57 highly religious, middle‐aged married couples representing the major Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) residing in New England and Northern California. The study uses grounded theory methods to create themes and a model describing the ways that religiosity influences marital conflict. Couples reported that religiosity affects the conflict in their marriage at three phases of the conflict process: (a) problem prevention, (b) conflict resolution, and (c) relationship reconciliation. Practitioners may assist religious couples that are struggling with marital conflict by encouraging them to look to religious beliefs and practices.     

心理干预对石化城市中青年夫妇婚姻质量、家庭功能的影响分析

目的：探讨心理干预对石化城市中青年夫妇婚姻质量、家庭功能的影响效果。方法：随机选取2012年7月-2013年2月在独山子文馨心理咨询中心寻求婚姻辅导并愿意接受调查的56对中青年夫妇作为研究对象。所有受试对象均接受为期6个月的心理干预，并于干预前和干预后分别作婚姻质量问卷（Olson）、家庭功能评定量表（FAD）调查。结果：干预前后结果对比分析显示：在婚姻质量方面，Enrich总分、婚姻满意度、夫妻交流、解决冲突方式的分值比较差异均有统计学意义（P〈0.05）；在家庭功能方面，沟通、情感反应、情感介入、总功能分值比较差异均有统计学意义（P〈0.05）。结论：系统化心理干预可有效提高石化城市中青年夫妇婚姻质量及家庭功能状况，值得推广应用。     

Marital relationships and conflict resolution skills of bulimics

Twelve bulimic couples were compared to 14 maritally distressed couples and 15 normal control couples on measures of relationship satisfaction, conflict resolution styles, and beliefs about intimate relationships. Bulimics reported global relationship dissatisfaction with their marriages similar to that felt by women seeking marital therapy. Bulimics were also similar to females in distressed marriages in their reported use of few problem-solving skills and withdrawal from conflict. Bulimics and maritally distressed females subscribed to the dysfunctional belief that “partners cannot change.” These results provide support for the contention that bulimics experience dissatisfaction with their interpersonal relationships and that this dissatisfaction is accompanied by self-reported deficiencies in conflict resolution skills.     

Assessing the role of relationship conflict in sexual dysfunction

Relationship conflict has long been thought to cause, maintain, and influence the therapeutic outcome of sexual problems in the absence of a physical cause. The results of conflict can influence partners' relationship satisfaction, and relationship satisfaction can influence sexual satisfaction. General relationship deficiencies, such as unresolved conflict, undermine the mutual acceptance that is important to healthy sexual functioning. The purpose of this article is to summarize some of the basic empirical findings of studies of conflict patterns in relationships and their role in sex dysfunction and to suggest a model for assessing relationship conflict as a feature of sexual dysfunction. Results from several studies indicate that couples with sexual problems may have conflict-management issues and employ distinct conflict-resolution styles compared to satisfied couples. Dysfunctional conflict resolution may be a cause or result of some sexual problems, whereas constructive interaction concerning conflict can add to emotional and sexual intimacy in a couple's relationship. These patterns warrant systematic attention in assessment and intervention in sex therapy.     

Marital and sexual satisfaction in Chinese families: exploring the moderating effects

This study examines the relationship between marital satisfaction and sexual satisfaction in Chinese families. Hierarchical multiple regression using data from the 1993 China Housing Survey indicates that, when controlling for the other variables, sexual satisfaction has considerable impact on marital satisfaction. We also found that the effects of sexual satisfaction on marital satisfaction are moderated by gender and education. The study suggests that marriage counseling, with an emphasis on promoting awareness of sexual quality, would be helpful in addressing marital problems in Chinese families.     

Longitudinal Associations Among Relationship Satisfaction,Sexual Satisfaction,and Frequency of Sex in Early Marriage

The current research used two 8-wave longitudinal studies spanning the first 4–5 years of 207 marriages to examine the potential bidirectional associations among marital satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, and frequency of sex. All three variables declined over time, though the rate of decline in each variable became increasingly less steep. Controlling for these changes, own marital and sexual satisfaction were bidirectionally positively associated with one another; higher levels of marital satisfaction at one wave of assessment predicted more positive changes in sexual satisfaction from that assessment to the next and higher levels of sexual satisfaction at one wave of assessment predicted more positive changes in marital satisfaction from that assessment to the next. Likewise, own sexual satisfaction and frequency of sex were bidirectionally positively associated with one another. Additionally, partner sexual satisfaction positively predicted changes in frequency of sex and own sexual satisfaction among husbands, yet partner marital satisfaction negatively predicted changes in both frequency of sex and own sexual satisfaction. Controlling these associations, marital satisfaction did not directly predict changes in frequency of sex or vice versa. Only the association between partner sexual satisfaction and changes in own sexual satisfaction varied across men and women and none of the key effects varied across the studies. These findings suggest that sexual and relationship satisfaction are intricately intertwined and thus that interventions to treat and prevent marital distress may benefit by targeting the sexual relationship and interventions to treat and prevent sexual distress in marriage may benefit by targeting the marital relationship.     

Shared Religious Beliefs,Prayer, and Forgiveness as Predictors of Marital Satisfaction

Results of numerous studies have demonstrated a positive relation between religiosity and marital well‐being. In this study, the authors examined direct effects on marital satisfaction of religious homogamy, prayer for spousal well‐being, and forgiveness. They also examined the degree to which religiosity buffered against risks to marital well‐being. The results indicated significant positive linear relations between each indicator of religiosity and marital satisfaction. Furthermore, religiosity moderated, or buffered against, the negative effects of risk factors; specifically, religious homogamy buffered against previous divorce; prayer buffered against having a high‐stress marriage; and spousal forgiveness buffered against cohabitation before marriage, previous divorce, and stressful marriage.     

Child marriage and relationship quality in Ethiopia

Child marriage is prevalent in Africa, with almost 40% of girls being married before age 18. Although child marriage is linked to a range of adverse outcomes, including intimate partner violence, little is known about the quality of these marriages in terms of the levels of communication, trust, equality, intimacy, conflict, marital satisfaction or happiness. We used both quantitative and qualitative data to examine how exact age at first marriage influenced multiple domains of relationship quality in Ethiopia. Our analysis was based on household survey data from 3396 currently married or recently divorced women aged 18–45, 32 in-depth interviews and 8 participatory focus groups in two regions. The regression results show a strong negative effect of marriage at or before age 12 on relationship quality across multiple domains. The qualitative data suggest a more pervasive effect on marital quality, with the lack of ability to choose whom they married and reduced agency emerging as particularly important factors influencing marital quality. This relationship may be direct or indirect, potentially mediated by factors such as intimate partner violence. Interventions intending to mitigate the effects of child marriage should include components that aim to improve the quality of spousal relationships, particularly in terms of communication and negotiation skills.     

Sanctification of Marriage and General Religiousness as Buffers of the Effects of Marital Inequity

Theory suggests that relationship inequity will be associated with less marital and personal distress among the more religious, and that this interaction effect will be stronger for women than men. Data are from 178 married couples experiencing the third trimester of pregnancy of their first biological child. Five outcome variables were assessed for each spouse: marital satisfaction, love, marital conflict, depression, and anxiety. Consistent with equity theory, perceived relative advantage was related in a non-monotonic fashion to all outcomes, with increasing advantage predicting better outcomes up to the equity point, but worse outcomes afterwards. Sanctification of marriage appeared to be a more important moderator of inequity effects than general religiousness. In particular, relative advantage had weaker effects among higher sanctifiers. The influence of relative advantage was also conditioned by gender. Wives' psychological well-being appeared to be more adversely affected than men's due to considering oneself overbenefited in the relationship. Moreover, the interaction between sanctification and relative advantage was somewhat stronger for wives.     

Wives’ Domain‐Specific “Marriage Work” with Friends and Spouses: Links to Marital Quality*

This study examined the friendship experiences of 52 wives and mothers, with particular attention given to wives’ marriage work (discussions about concerns and problems in the marriage) in 10 domains with friends and spouses. A series of within‐subjects repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) indicated that in all but two domains, wives were equally likely to talk to their spouses and their close friends about marital concerns. A series of hierarchical regression analyses tested whether women's marriage work with their spouses moderated the link between marriage work with friends and reports of marital quality. Support for moderation was found for reports of conflict or negativity and satisfaction. Implications for family practitioners and programming are discussed.     

Marital change during the transition to parenthood and security of infant-parent attachment

To extend research on the characteristics and determinants of marital change during the transition to parenthood to include the consequences of such change, the security of infant-parent attachment was examined. The subject pool for this study consisted of 64 caucasian families participating in the 2nd cohort of the Pennsylvania Infant and Family Development Project. Data concerning infant and family development were gathered at several points in time, beginning during the last trimester of pregnancy and continuing througgh the infant's 1st year of life. Groups were formed on the basis of attachment security at 1-year and compared in terms of marital change displayed by mothers and fathers. Mothers of insecure infants experienced significantly greater declines in positive marital activities and sentiments and greater increases in negative marital activities and sentiments than did mothers of secure 1-year olds, and this difference emerged between 3 and 9 months postpartum. Even before babies were born, mothers of secure and insecure infants differed in their marital appraisal. Specifically, mothers of secure infants tended to base their prenatal marital satisfaction appraisals more on positive than negative aspects of the marriage whereas the reverse was true of mothers of insecure infants. It seems that important differences characterize the marriages of mothers of secure and insecure babies; the tendency of mothers of secure babies to base their overall marital satisfaction on the positive aspects of the marriage more than the negative aspects may enable them to look beyond the negative marital events that invariably accompany the transition to parenthood. No relationship between marital change and attachment was discerned for husbands. Marital change may be more pronounced for wives than husbands during the transition to parenthood, and the marriage may not exert the same influence on the infant's relationship with the father as it does on the infant-mother relationship.     

安徽农村育龄妇女婚姻质量及其与个性的关系

目的:了解安徽农村已婚育龄妇女的婚姻质量,探讨婚姻质量与个性的关系。方法:通过横断面研究方法,采用Olson婚姻质量问卷,结合IPIP-NEO简约版修改形成的成人个性量表,对1380例已婚育龄妇女面访。结果:安徽农村育龄妇女婚姻质量各因子中,性格相容性、夫妻交流、解决冲突的方式、经济安排等4个因子高于美国常模(t=8.123,11.843,8.375,9.749);婚姻质量各因子与外向性,协作性和谨慎性个性呈正相关,与神经质性和开放性个性呈负相关;除了神经质,高中及以上文化组的个性与婚姻质量显示出较少的关联。结论:婚姻质量与人格关系极为密切;文化程度可能是影响性格与婚姻质量关系的因素,但教育难以改变神经质的个性对婚姻质量的负面作用。     

Comarital sexual behavior: Individual and relationship variables

This study contrasted the individual and relationship variables of 35 married couples who engage in comarital sexual behavior with 35 married couples who do not. The couples were matched on age, length of marriage, age difference between partners, marital satisfaction, and socioeconomic status. Each couple was administered a battery of personality and relationship measures. In comparison with control subjects, comarital subjects reported a higher need for social approval and more liberal attitudes toward heterosexual behavior. Comarital subjects also reported greater sexual satisfaction and pleasure from their sexual relationship. Comarital couples resolved conflicts less satisfactorily than the control couples; the comarital couples disagreed and interrupted more often and used problem-solving strategies less successfully. Future research should explore the characteristics of couples who engage in different forms of recreational sexual activities.     

Changes in the marital relationship during the first pregnancy

Some scholars who have studied the impact of the first pregnancy on marital relationships have emphasized the increase in marital strain, while others have emphasized pregnancy's beneficial effects. To clarify the nature of changes in couples’ relationships during the first pregnancy, couples in the first trimester (n = 48) and last trimester (n = 52) were compared on aspects of their relationships that reflected marital strain or strength: conflict, ambivalence, love, maintenance, time together, and marital satisfaction. Results were inconsistent with either an entirely negative or positive view of the effects of pregnancy on marriage. Despite greater discussion of relationship issues and possibly greater conflict, spouses in late pregnancy reported feeling more love. No differences were found in time together or marital satisfaction between the early and late groups. When couples were classified according to gender‐role attitudes, the most traditional couples showed the most negative interaction. The importance of differentiating behavioral from subjective aspects of relationships is stressed.     

Promoting positive well‐being in employed mothers: A pilot study

In this quasi‐experimental pilot study, women who were returning to work within 6 months after the birth of a first baby were assigned to participate in a control group (n = 13) or a six‐session small group intervention (n = 18). The content of the group intervention was developed based on a stress and coping framework (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984).”; The experimental and control groups were surveyed at 2 months after their return to employment and on their baby's first birthday on measures of well‐being in marriage, work, and parenting. Repeated measures analysis of covariance was used to examine differences over time between the experimental and control group with length of maternity leave and number of hours worked as covariates. Participants in the intervention reported increasing levels of marital satisfaction over time, whereas the control group experienced a decline in marital satisfaction over time (p = .04). Implications for practice and research are presented.     

Marital Satisfaction Among African Americans and Black Caribbeans: Findings From the National Survey of American Life

This study examines the correlates of marital satisfaction using data from a national probability sample of African Americans (N = 962) and Black Caribbeans (N = 560). Findings reveal differences between African Americans and Black Caribbeans, and men and women within those groups, in the predictors of marital satisfaction. Black Caribbean women reported overall higher levels of marital satisfaction than African American women. The findings amply demonstrate the significance of ethnic diversity within the Black population in the United States. Difficulties with finances (budgeting, credit issues, and debt management) are one of the key issues that generate conflict in marriages; stress generated as a result of financial problems can lower marital satisfaction. Because these issues are salient for couples at any given time in the family life cycle, counseling at critical points in the marriage (birth of children, launching of children from home, and retirement) may be helpful.     

Marital Satisfaction among Dual‐Earner Couples: Gender Ideologies and Family‐to‐Work Conflict

This study examines whether the gender ideologies of both spouses moderate how family‐to‐work conflict relates to marital satisfaction among dual‐earner couples. The authors address the research questions using data from a random sample of dual‐earner couples from the northern part of a western state (N = 156 couples). Findings indicate that husbands' gender ideologies moderate how husbands' and wives' family‐to‐work conflict relate to husbands' marital satisfaction. Additionally, husbands' gender ideologies moderate how husbands' family‐to‐work conflict relates to wives' marital satisfaction. In contrast, wives' gender ideologies do not appear to moderate how either spouse's family‐to‐work conflict relate to marital satisfaction. The implications of the study for practitioners, including explicitly talking about gender beliefs with clients and the potential promise of feminist‐informed therapy, are discussed.