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The main aim of this study was to investigate the effects of mate value assessment and mate value discrepancy on perceived marital quality, using an assessment of personal and partner mate value obtained by both partners. The sample included 442 heterosexual couples that have lived together for at least a year. The Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) was used to investigate the effects of personal and partner mate value assessment on the evaluation of marital quality. In addition, two interaction effects were added to the model to examine the effect of mate value discrepancy on perceived marital quality. The APIM model showed significant actor and partner effects of the partner's mate value assessment on the evaluation of both husbands' and wives' marital quality. The model also showed a significant effect of personal mate value assessed by wives on husbands' marital quality assessment. However, the current evidence does not confirm the assumption of a possible combination of partners' mate value promoting marital quality above and beyond the contribution of both partners' mate value., Glavni cilj ovog istraživanja bio je istražiti učinke procjene osobne i supružnikove vrijednosti kao partnera i razlike u spomenutim vrijednostima na procjenu kvalitete bračnog odnosa, koristeći se procjenom osobne i supružnikove vrijednosti dobivene od oba partnera. Uzorak istraživanja obuhvaćao je 442 heteroseksualna para, koji su zajedno živjeli najmanje godinu dana. Model međuovisnosti aktora i partnera (APIM) iskorišten je za istraživanje učinaka procjene osobne i supružnikove vrijednosti kao partnera na procjenu kvalitete braka. Osim navedenoga, modelu su dodana dva interakcijska učinka, kako bi se istražio učinak razlike u procjeni osobne i supružnikove vrijednosti kao partnera na procijenjenu kvalitetu braka. APIM model pokazao je značajne aktorske i partnerske učinke procjene supružnikove vrijednosti kao partnera na procijenjenu kvalitetu braka obaju supružnika. Model je pokazao i znatan učinak procjene osobne vrijednosti supruge kao partnerice na suprugovu procjenu kvalitete bračnog odnosa. Međutim, model ne potvrđuje pretpostavku o interakcijskom učinku procjene osobne i supružnikove vrijednosti kao partnera na procjenu kvalitete braka.

The current study examined perceptions regarding marital satisfaction as described by Protestants Haitians Americans and non-Christian Haitian Americans. Participants were selected from married Christian and non-Christian couples that have been married for over five years within the age range of 25-53. The study used the Religion-Adapted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy theory (R-CBT) framework. R-CBT is a well-known theoretical framework that integrates religious interventions in the therapeutic relationship to educate clients about the triangular relationship between thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and cognitive restructuring (de Abreu Costa & Moreira-Almeida, 2022). Religion-Adapted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (R-CBT) incorporates cognitive behavioral therapy methods from the perspective of the clients’ organized system of beliefs. It also integrates practices that connect them with the sacred or God (de Abreu Costa & Moreira-Almeida, 2022; Moreira-Almeida & Koenig, 2006). The researcher used a qualitative descriptive research design because this methodology is used to understand how people make meanings of a given phenomenon or situation. Qualitative descriptive qualitative research design does not conform to a particular research process or procedure, making it possible for the researcher to use different methods in collecting and analyzing data (Patton, 2014). The study findings provided insights into factors influencing marital quality and satisfaction. The study findings also presented limitations, implications for stakeholders, and recommendations for future research.

Statistics have shown that married couples who start watching pornography double their chances of divorcing within two years following the pornography use. Statistics also report that every year for the past decade there have been roughly one million divorces in the United States, and the current divorce rate is 2.9 per population of 1000, with 45 reporting states, including Washington, DC. However, these statistics do not provide a breakdown of how many of these divorces were due to pornography use. Research suggests that the negative relationship between pornography use and marital well-being has grown stronger over time, during a period in which pornography has become both more explicit and more easily available. The main focus of this study is 1) to determine if there is a negative effect when husbands and wives view pornography together as opposed to if they view it individually; 2) to determine if there is a bi-directional effect between pornography use and marital quality, and 3) to test if the negative effect of pornography use on marital quality affects wives as well as husbands. The research design used in this study will be quantitative and the method used to obtain the findings will be a self-reported questionnaire. The questionnaire will be designed to assess marital quality, sexual intimacy, pornography use, and pornography’s effect on both marriage and divorce. Respondents will answer each item on a 5-point Likert scale. Respondents will read the questions and respond to them by themselves and without interference.

This article is an attempt to explore the extreme love for money that disturbs the feelings and emotional attachments of the protagonist in Theodore Dreiser’s The Financier. The desire of Frank Cowperwood for materialistic objects without aesthetic sense covers the whole events of the plot. The violation of religious values, social ethics and norms to become part of the upper class. He always remained busy in money making and business and several times changed houses to well-furnished and decorated houses to show his family a very prosperous and upper-class family. He shifted his family because he did not feel easy with those who were financially weak; they considered themselves as members of the upper class. Frank Cowperwood sacrificed relations; he married Lillian for money, but later on, he got interested in Aileen for money and sacrificed relations with Lillian for Aileen and Money. The whole novel is revolved around the concept of materialism. Values are ignored, Relationships are sacrificed, and the weak position of religion is only to gain financial success. Frank Cowperwood gained financial power, though he violated all social and religious values. The qualitative approach is applied in textual analysis with a Marxist lens for an oriented conclusion. This research is beneficial for literary people to explore the new dimensions of literary pieces.

ObjectivesA burgeoning literature links being married to better cognitive health, but less attention has been paid to how couples view their marital relationships. Couples do not always concur in their assessments, and such discrepancies affect both partners' health. We present a dyadic study on whether and how overall and discrepant views of marital quality predicted (a) dementia onset and (b) changes in older adults' depressive symptoms with spousal dementia.MethodsA pooled sample of couples aged 50+ (dyad N = 3,936) from the Health and Retirement Study rated positive and negative marital quality at baseline (2006/2008). Each participant reported whether they had been told of having dementia and their depressive symptoms once every other year (2006/2008-2014/2016).ResultsCox proportional hazards regression revealed that older adults who rated their marriages either more positively or more negatively than their spouses were more likely to develop dementia. We applied multiphase growth curve modeling to older adults whose spouses developed dementia, finding that those in marriages that were more negative overall reported more depressive symptoms but exhibited a smaller increase in these symptoms in response to spousal dementia.DiscussionThis study adds to the literature by showing how discrepant marital assessments shape cognitive aging and offers new insights into identifying older adults with greater dementia risk. Findings also revealed the impact of overall negative marital quality on older adults' psychological adjustment to spousal dementia, which could inform interventions intended to help couples better cope with early-stage dementia from a relational perspective.

Objectives: Although physical activity is linked to multiple health outcomes, a majority of Americans do not meet physical activity guidelines, often with precipitous declines among older adults. Marital quality is a less-explored, but important, factor that may influence physical activity, as spouses often influence each other’s health behaviors. Methods: We use nationally representative panel data to investigate whether positive and negative dimensions of marital quality influence physical activity, and whether age and gender moderate these relationships. Results: We find that both marital support and strain are related to higher odds of more frequent active exercise and walking, pointing to the complex influence of marital quality. Marital support became increasingly important to higher levels of walking frequency as men aged. Discussion: This study provides new information on the ways in which both positive and negative dimensions of marital quality may contribute to trajectories of physical activity across the life course.

Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology, Recent research has highlighted the importance of understanding the effects of work on individual and relational well-being. This has been especially pertinent within the clergy population, given their unique work roles in navigating a relatively fluid and ambiguous work context. In a sample of Chinese American clergy, I first explored the effects of strain-based work-family conflict on marital quality, as defined in this study by marital conflict. Second, I examined three coping strategies (self-compassion, daily spiritual experience, and mindfulness) as potential protective factors and how they might moderate the negative impact of work-family conflict. Finally, I examined how these relations may vary based on differing levels of interdependent self-construal. The current study indicated that higher endorsement of strain-based work-family conflict was positively associated with marital conflict, which suggests a negative effect on marital quality. There were no significant main effects observed for the three coping strategies on marital conflict, nor were there any significant moderating effects found for the three coping strategies between work-family conflict and marital conflict. Lastly, interactions between the three coping strategies and differing levels of interdependent construal were found to significantly impact the relations between work-family conflict and marital conflict.

Given the importance of coparenting in children's development, examining antecedents of coparenting quality is imperative. However, existing research has primarily focused on Western contexts. Using data collected from 714 Chinese families with preschool-aged children, the current study examined the associations between child temperament and coparenting quality. We further explored the potential moderating role of marital quality in such associations. The results showed that a child's negative affect was negatively related, while child effortful control was positively related, to mother-perceived coparental support (i.e., fathers’ contributions to coparenting). However, child temperament was not associated with father-perceived coparental support (i.e., mothers’ contributions to coparenting). Marital quality did not moderate the relationships between child temperament and coparenting, whereas marital satisfaction was positively linked to coparenting quality for both fathers and mothers. The findings revealed that the relationships among child temperament, marital quality, and coparenting could vary by parent gender in the Chinese context. For both mothers and fathers, improving marital satisfaction may be the key to ensuring higher quality coparenting. It is especially important to support fathers with temperamentally difficult children to improve their coparenting quality.

Objective To determine whether the harmful effects of abandonment schema on marital quality can be attributed to low trait emotional intelligence in a sample of Iranian couples. Background Research has demonstrated that maladaptive schemas are related to various indicators of marital quality; however, little is known about the mechanisms underlying these relationships. In this study, we use maladaptive schema theory to propose that the harmful effects of abandonment schema on marital quality can be attributed to low trait emotional intelligence. Method Data were collected from a sample of 123 married couples from Iran. Participants completed a series of questionnaires designed to measure maladaptive schemas, trait emotional intelligence, and marital quality. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the hypothesized indirect effect. Results Results indicate that abandonment schema is negatively associated with several indicators of marital quality via the mediating effects of trait emotional intelligence. Conclusion We conclude that trait emotional intelligence can account for the negative relationships between abandonment schema and spousal ratings of marital satisfaction, communication satisfaction, and conflict resolution satisfaction in a sample of Iranian couples. Implications Couple therapists should consider emotion‐focused techniques when treating couples where one or both partners present with abandonment schema.

One of the most frequently reported changes across the transition to parenthood is a decline in marital quality after the birth of a first baby. Experiences in the family of origin may influence the trajectory of marital quality. Our study aimed to investigate the impact of recollections of family-of-origin marriage on marital quality (self-reports and clinical evaluation) from pregnancy to 1 year after the birth of a first child. A total of 62 first-time parents completed questionnaires (self-reported marital satisfaction) and clinical interviews (clinical evaluation of couples' dialogue quality). Although self-reported marital satisfaction and observed dialogue quality were highly associated, only self-reported marital satisfaction declined from pregnancy to 1 year after birth. This decrease was partly due to very high marital satisfaction during pregnancy. Different trajectories for self-reported marital satisfaction and observed dialogue quality were found for participants with recollections of low-, average-, and high-quality family-of-origin marriage. A structural equation model showed that participants who recollected a negative quality in their parents' relationship reported more negative changes in the quality of their own marriages. There seems to be an intergenerational transmission of marital quality that comes to light when couples are challenged by the birth and rearing of a baby.

This study of 80 expectant first-time parents investigated the associations among marital quality, parental psychiatric disorders, and parents’capacity to form triadic relationships (Triadic Capacity). The results suggest that marital quality as well as maternal and paternal psychopathology affect child and family development as early as pregnancy, when parents prepare themselves to integrate the future child into their relational world.

The current studies aimed, firstly, at exploring the relationship between the level of religiosity and marital outcomes, in terms of relationship quality and couple generativity; secondly, at gaining insight into which strategies the couples use to ensure their marital quality/couple generativity, and understanding if religious practices have a positive influence on the development of such strategies. The studies focused on a specific aspect of religiosity, that is the active involvement in a Catholic association, and compared couples with a high level of religious involvement (HRI) belonging to a Catholic international association (New Families) and couples with a low level of religious involvement (LRI). Study 1 (N = 194) adopted a quantitative approach and analyzed data from questionnaires administered in two phases. Study 2 (N = 32) adopted a qualitative approach (grounded theory) and analyzed data from semi-structured interviews. Results of Study 1 showed that HRI men scored higher in relationship quality and couple generativity than LRI men, while HRI women scored higher in couple generativity than LRI women. In Study 2, no differences were found between HRI and LRI couples with respect to the factors that ensure marital quality and generativity (care of the relationship, dialogue, sharing, maintenance of the centrality of the relationship), but HRI and LRI couples used different strategies to achieve these goals.

For centuries, factors influencing marital quality have always been the basic theme among researchers and academicians. As early years of marriage is said to be the most crucial time in married life, various internal and external factors have been seriously debated to ensure the quality of the marriage. Extensive studies have highlighted the importance of gender roles and communication in determining marital quality among newly-weds. This research however, highlighted on the impacts of these two variables on marital quality and focuses only on female newly-weds. Data were gathered from 288 Muslim women who have been married less than 2 years at the time of data collection. Self-administered questionnaires which governs “Dyadic Adjustment Scale”, “Gender Role Attitude Scale”, and the communication sub-scale of “The Three Couple Scale PREPARED/ENRICH: Marital Satisfaction, Communication and Conflict Resolution” were used in order to measure marital quality, gender role and marital communication among the respondents. Results from this study indicate that gender role and marital communication were significantly related with marital quality. In addition, marital communication is the strongest predictor of marital quality among the female newly-weds. In sum, effective communication is an essential tool to ensure the success of intimate relationship such as marriage.

Various research had highlighted that marital quality are going downward trajectories and early years of marriage has been highlighted as the most crucial stage in marriage life. For years, factors influencing marital quality has always been the basic interest among family researchers and academicians and they have listed out various factors that may influence marital quality. Nevertheless, less research has focused on the combination of financial stress, adult attachment, religiosity and marital communication in predicting marital quality among Muslim newlyweds. Thus, guided by Vulnerability Stress Adaptation Model (VSA) this current study aims to examine the role of marital communication as mediator for the relationships between financial stress, adult attachment, religiosity and marital quality. Data were gathered from 549 Muslim who were married less than 2 years at the time of data collection . This study was part of the Exploratory Research Grant Scheme (ERGS) research entitled “Exploring Marital Quality in the First Year of Married Life: Risk and Protective Factors for Marital Instability” funded by Ministry of Education. This research utilized correlational research design and sample of the study were recruited using convenience and snowball sampling technique. Data were collected using five validated and reliable instruments to measure financial stress, adult attachment, religiosity, marital communication and marial quality. Instruments used in this study were InCharge Financial Distress/Financial Well-Being Scale, Adult Attachment Scale, Intrinsic Religious Motivation Scale, Dyadic Adjustment Scale, and The Three Couple Scale PREPARED/ENRICH: Marital Satisfaction, Communication and Conflict Resolution. All instruments were translated into Malay and data were analyzed using descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analyses. Results of Pearson correlations showed that income, educational backgroud, financial stress, adult attachment, religiosity and marital c

A significant body of research has established an association between maternal depressive symptoms and parenting. The current study tested the possible moderating role of marital quality and child negative emotionality (NE) from 9 to 27 months among a sample (n = 561) of adopted children and their mothers. Although the data revealed direct associations between depressive symptoms, marital quality, child NE, and parenting behavior, moderation was not evident with the exception of two marginal trends. We found no evidence that marital quality moderated the association between maternal depressive symptoms and warm parenting and only weak evidence that marital quality moderated the association between depressive symptoms and harsh parenting. Similarly, we found no evidence that child NE moderated the association between maternal depressive symptoms and warm parenting and only weak evidence that child NE moderated the association between depressive symptoms and harsh parenting. The direction of effects for marginal moderated trends was unexpected and counter to our hypotheses. Theoretical relevance and implications for clinical practice are discussed.

Relative to other men, Latino immigrant men are disproportionately likely to experience challenging working conditions, including too many or too few hours, discrimination, and job (in)security. Previous research suggests that work contexts (particularly husbands’) may affect interactions between family members, which in turn, spill over into family functioning. The present study examined the patterning of 118 Mexican husbands’ self-reported workplace characteristics (i.e., job security, workplace discrimination, and work hours) and links with husbands’ and wives’ marital warmth and negativity. First, using a 2-step cluster analysis, we identified 3 work context groups: (1) Moderately Secure, Overtime, Minimally Discriminatory Workplaces, (2) Highly Secure, Full-Time, Moderately Discriminatory Workplaces, and (3) Minimally Secure, Full-Time, Highly Discriminatory Workplaces. Second, using mixed-model ANCOVAs, we found (a) a main effect for work context on marital warmth, indicating that husbands in Group 2 reported more marital warmth than husbands in Group 3, and (b) a spouse-by-group interaction showing that whereas Group 2 husbands expressed more warmth relative to their wives, Group 3 husbands expressed less warmth relative to their wives. No significant effects were found for spouses’ marital negativity. Taken together, the same job opportunities that motivate low-wage Mexican-origin workers to migrate to the United States may also strain their close relationships. Researchers and practitioners should address links between work contexts and family well-being in other Latina/o samples and explore in greater depth how work characteristics that would otherwise serve to buffer and protect family functioning may have hidden costs for couple and family functioning.

Although habitual use of suppression has been consistently linked to adverse consequences for overall social functioning, little is known about the implications of using this emotion regulation strategy in the context of romantic relationships. The current longitudinal study tests whether husbands’ and wives’ habitual use of suppression, as well as couple similarity in the use of this strategy, influence marital quality over the first couple of years of marriage. A total of 229 newlywed couples reported their habitual use of suppression and perceived marital quality at two time points, 5 months and 2 years after marriage. Results showed that husbands’ habitual use of suppression was the most consistent predictor of (lower) marital quality over time. Couples showed significant levels of similarity in suppression at the initial assessment, consistent with positive assortment, and this similarity was a significant predictor of higher marital quality as reported by wives regardless of overall levels of suppression use. These findings suggest that husbands’ use of suppression is more harmful for marital satisfaction than wives’ use and wives are more sensitive to their partners’ use of suppression as well as to couple similarity.

Studies about money and conjugal quality indicate this is a complex relation, not always explicit, but inherent to current conjugal relationships. is study of narrative literature review aims to investigate relations between management and meaning of money and marital quality in the rst phase of the family life cycle. e literature points to correlations between these three aspects and proves that the way the couple handles money interferes with the degree of their marital quality. e article initially approaches the couple’s characteristics in the rst familylife cycle, and later, it presents aspects regard- ing conjugal quality. Lastly, it approaches the meaning and handling of money by couples in the rst phase of the family life cycle and possible relations with conjugal quality.

This meta-analysis reviewed 126 published empirical articles over the past 50 years describing associations between marital relationship quality and physical health in more than 72,000 individuals. Health outcomes included clinical endpoints (objective assessments of function, disease severity, and mortality; subjective health assessments) and surrogate endpoints (biological markers that substitute for clinical endpoints, such as blood pressure). Biological mediators included cardiovascular reactivity and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity. Greater marital quality was related to better health, with mean effect sizes from r = .07 to .21, including lower risk of mortality (r = .11) and lower cardiovascular reactivity during marital conflict (r = -.13), but not daily cortisol slopes or cortisol reactivity during conflict. The small effect sizes were similar in magnitude to previously found associations between health behaviors (e.g., diet) and health outcomes. Effect sizes for a small subset of clinical outcomes were susceptible to publication bias. In some studies, effect sizes remained significant after accounting for confounds such as age and socioeconomic status. Studies with a higher proportion of women in the sample demonstrated larger effect sizes, but we found little evidence for gender differences in studies that explicitly tested gender moderation, with the exception of surrogate endpoint studies. Our conclusions are limited by small numbers of studies for specific health outcomes, unexplained heterogeneity, and designs that limit causal inferences. These findings highlight the need to explicitly test affective, health behavior, and biological mechanisms in future research, and focus on moderating factors that may alter the relationship between marital quality and health.

Being in a happy marriage is related to better psychological and physical health. This paper describes current approaches to conceptualizing and measuring marital quality and physical health, and results from a recent meta-analysis examining associations between marital quality and physical health outcomes. To illustrate the practical significance of these findings, this paper also illustrates how the magnitude of the marital quality - physical health association is similar in size to associations between health behaviors (diet, physical activity) and health outcomes, and briefly reviews the state of the science regarding plausible biobehavioral pathways that explain how marital functioning influences health. After describing the current state of research on factors that might modify the association between marital quality and health, particularly individual differences and gender, the paper concludes with implications of the past 50 years of research on marital quality and health for marriage in the 21st century.

Being in a happy marriage is related to better psychological and physical health. This paper describes current approaches to conceptualizing and measuring marital quality and physical health, and results from a recent meta-analysis examining associations between marital quality and physical health outcomes. To illustrate the practical significance of these findings, this paper also illustrates how the magnitude of the marital quality - physical health association is similar in size to associations between health behaviors (diet, physical activity) and health outcomes, and briefly reviews the state of the science regarding plausible biobehavioral pathways that explain how marital functioning influences health. After describing the current state of research on factors that might modify the association between marital quality and health, particularly individual differences and gender, the paper concludes with implications of the past 50 years of research on marital quality and health for marriage in the 21st century.

Marital life has always been the influence on the quality of life when the factors satisfying the same are to be considered. Various impacting factors are analysed to their relevance when it comes to the marital life quality as a basis and factor for the overall life quality and satisfaction of the life. This paper analyses the relevance and vitality of the marital quality.

Adolescent problem drinking is a big problem in the Netherlands. To prevent this problem, interventions should be focused on the factors that may predict this behavior. Marital quality is an important factor in the family system that influences different behavioral outcomes of children. In the current study, we test if marital quality predicts adolescent problem drinking, and if the specific parenting practice, psychological control, is a mediator of this relation. To answer this question, we used data of three waves from the longitudinal study 'Family and Health' (Harakeh, Engels, de Vries, & Scholte, 2005). Participants in this study were 415 two-parent families with two adolescent children, from which we used the data of mother, father and the youngest child. Marital quality was not found to predict adolescent problem drinking. This result suggest the suggested mediation model is not present. However, it was found that psychological control predicts adolescent problem drinking. Implications for future research are being discussed.

Society imposes different roles on women and men in the family and the society, concerning their gender. “Gender Role Concept” is very important in terms of the fact that it is related all parts of life of individuals, behaviors, perceptions and attitudes of men and women (Çelik, 2008). In this perspective, gender roles, which affect individuals’ lives, cannot be isolated from the factors which affect marriage. In this context, the reflections of gender roles on marriage and also the effects of marriage, which is one of most important decisions of individuals, on quality of life were explored. For this purpose, the relationships between these three concepts were discussed. This research was a study of the relational model. The universe of this study included married individuals living in the province of Bayburt and Erzurum, and 639 individuals were participated to the research which was voluntary basis. The data were collected by using the “Marital Life Scale”, “Gender Roles Attitudes Scale” and “Life Satisfaction Scale”. These analyses were made on the data obtained from the study; t-test for independent groups, regression and correlation. According to study a positive and significant relationship was found between the marital quality, gender roles and the life satisfaction. There was found a significant differentiation; between the quality of the marriage and having children or family intervention; between the attitudes towards gender roles and gender, spouse’s employment status or having children; between the life satisfaction and gender or spouse’s employment status., La sociedad impone diferentes roles sociales a las mujeres y hombres en el seno familiar respecto a su género. El concepto de “roles de género” es muy importante dado que se relaciona con todas las partes de la vida, conductas, percepciones y actitudes de hombres y mujeres . En esta perspectiva, los roles de género, los cuales afectan a la vida de las personas, no pueden ser aislados de los factores que afectan el matrimonio. En este contexto, este artículo explora la reflexión sobre los roles de género en el matrimonio, como una de las decisiones más importantes de la persona, y también los efectos del matrimonio sobre la calidad de vida. Para este objetivo, las relaciones entre estos tres conceptos fueron discutidos. y se presenta un modelo relacional. En este estudio participaron voluntariamente 639 individuos casados que vivían en la provincial de Bayburt y Erzurum. Los datos fueron recogidos a través de la escala de vida marital, la escala de actitudes hacia los roles de género, y la escala de satisfacción con la vida. Para el análisis de los datos se realizaron pruebas t para grupos independientes, análisis de regresión y correlaciones. Los resultados indicaron una relación significativa y positiva entre la calidad marital, los roles de género y la satisfacción con la vida. Una diferencia significativa fue encontrada entre la calidad marital de acuerdo al criterio tener hijos y la intervención familiar, las actitudes hacia los roles de género basado en el género, el estatus del trabajo del cónyuge, tener hijos y la satisfacción con la vida basado en el género y el estatus laboral del cónyuge.

This cross-sectional study aims to examine the relationships between personal factors, personality and marital adjustment among individuals who have been married no longer than 24 months at the time of the study. A total of 549 respondents were recruited as respondents. A set of translated and pilot tested instruments were used in the self-administered questionnaire. Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Spanier, 1979), and Goldberg's Unipolar Big Five Markers (Saucier, 1994) were used to measure marital quality, and personality respectively. The findings revealed that 36.2% of the respondents reported low level of marital quality. While more than half of the respondents have average level of agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness and extraversion, more than onefourth of them reported low and very low level in the traits. Family income and educational background were found to be significantly related with marital quality. Multiple Regression Analysis indicated that conscientiousness and emotional stability significantly predicted a total of 22% variance of marital quality of the respondents. Apparently, newly-married individuals who have higher conscientiousness and more stable emotionally tend to have better marital adjustment. It can be implied that the role of personality that relates with one being attentive and caring, and emotionally stable is crucial in ensuring the adjustment process of the individuals at the early stage of marriage.

With a sample of 120 Mexican-origin couples, we examined the extent to which wives’ marriage work (i.e., discussions about marital concerns) with husband and marriage work with friend moderated associations between wives’ acculturative stress and spouses’ marital satisfaction and marital negativity. Results from a series of multiple regression analyses showed that wives’ marriage work with husbands (a) served to protect husbands’ marital quality from wives’ acculturative stress and (b) was linked with greater marital satisfaction for wives. These findings represent an important first step in understanding the sociocultural factors that compromise and protect marital quality for couples of Mexican origin as they navigate the challenges of adapting to life in the United States.

Purpose: Marital conflict and/or marital breakdown are known pathways to the onset of depression. Few studies however have examined the possibility that depression can lead to a decrease in marital quality and an increase in marital breakdown. Depression may be an important pathway to a decline in martial quality. Methods: A birth cohort study with women (mothers) recruited early in pregnancy and followed for 21 years. Using repeated measures analysis for four waves of data collection we use GEE to examine the extent to which symptoms of depression predict subsequent poor martial quality in women and poor marital quality predicts subsequent depression. Results: A bidirectional association between poor marital quality and depression is observed. After removing those who had pre-existing poor marital quality we note that depression predicts subsequent poor martial quality. Similarly, we note that poor marital quality predicts subsequent depression. These associations are all statistically significant and of a similar magnitude. Conclusion: Over the maternal reproductive life course there is a long-term trajectory of reduced marital quality and increased depression. Maternal depression is as likely to lead to a decline in marital quality as poor martial quality is likely to lead to increased levels of depression. There may be a need to develop intervention programmes to reduce this long-term pattern of change. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

This research was conducted on 340 full-time employed marital couples representing a proportional quota sample of inhabitants that live in Zagreb and its metropolitan area. The aim was to test the effect of stress on marital quality when mediated by three variables. Three models were created using mediator variables: Perception of negative spillover from work in the first model, Marital strain in the second model and Depression in the third model. Structural equation modeling (SEM) ML Robust was used to test the effect of work stress. Results show that work stress decreases marital quality via mediator variables in both marital partners. Although all three models fit the data, the explanatory power of the models was different. The model in which Marital strain was the mediator variable turned out to be the best in terms of explanatory power, explaining 26% of wives' and 17% of husbands' variance of the variable Marital quality. The obtained results are discussed and suggestions for further research of the topic are suggested., Provedeno je istraživanje na 340 zaposlenih bračnih parova koji predstavljaju proporcionalni kvotni uzorak zaposlenih za Grad Zagreb i Zagrebačku županiju. Cilj je istraživanja bio provjeriti posredno djelovanje doživljaja radnoga stresa na kvalitetu braka bračnih partnera. Konstruirana su tri teoretska modela. U prvom je modelu posrednička varijabla bila percepcija negativnoga prijenosa iz rada, u drugom doživljaj bračnoga stresa, a u trećem depresija. Za provjeru posrednoga djelovanja radnoga stresa na kvalitetu braka primijenjeno je modeliranje strukturalnim jednadžbama, i to ML ROBUST. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da radni stres posredno djeluje na kvalitetu braka. Za sva tri modela dobiveni su rezultati koji pokazuju da postoji slaganje između svakoga modela i podataka, ali se snaga modela bitno razlikuje. Najsnažniji se pokazao model u kojem je posrednička varijabla bila bračni stres. Tim je modelom objašnjeno 26% varijance varijable kvalitete braka žena i 17% varijance kvalitete braka muževa. U radu se raspravljaju dobiveni rezultati i upućuje kamo i u kojem smjeru trebaju ubuduće ići istraživanja ovoga problema.

Over 1 million people are admitted into the United States each year with the status of legal permanent residents. Brazilian immigrants in the US are a relatively small population; however, their numbers are growing to approximately 800,000 to 1 million. Among immigrant couples, partners may acculturate using different attitudes and at different paces. Also, acculturation involves changes in many domains, including the perceptions of fairness in the division of family labor, which may have implications for marital quality. The current study aimed to evaluate the relationships among acculturation, sense of fairness of the division of family labor, and marital quality among Brazilian immigrants in the US. An additional purpose of this study was to address this growing and yet under studied population. Results suggest that there is a significant relationship between sense of fairness of the division of family labor and marital quality among Brazilian immigrant married women, in that perceptions of unfairness in the division of labor contribute to decrease marital quality. However, the associations involving acculturation were not confirmed. There are two possible explanations for these non-significant findings. First, it is possible that Brazilian women are more similar to their American counterparts in regards to sense of fairness than previously thought. Therefore, being more or less acculturated would not be predictive of sense of fairness among this particular sample. Second, the findings of the current study also point to the need to look more closely at the instrumentation used to measure acculturation, to review its concept and indicators. It is recommended that instruments measuring acculturation among Brazilian immigrants should be specifically designed to address the uniqueness of this specific population. In addition, acculturation measure should be updated to assess the possibility that remote acculturation may occur by mean of mass communication between geo

Objective: this study aimed to analyze changes in woman’s perceived marital quality and intimacy (communication and engagement dimensions) throughout the breast cancer trajectory. We also sought to explore differences between patients and controls on these variables, as well as to investigate the predictive role of initial intimacy and quality of life (QoL) on marital quality 6 months after the treatment’s ending. Methods: the sample comprises of 47 breast cancer patients and 90 community controls. Data from the patients’ group were collected at two time points: following breast surgery (T1) and 6 months after treatments had ended (T2). The perceived marital quality before the disease was also retrospectively assessed. The following measures were used: WHOQOLBREF (psychological and social QoL); PAIR (communication and engagement) and a singleitem to assess perceived marital quality. Results: There was an increase in perceived marital quality from the retrospective assessment to T1, and no differences were found throughout the disease. With respect to intimacy, only communication decreased over time. When compared with controls, patients presented higher scores on communication and engagement dimensions (T1). A higher marital quality at T2 was predicted by a higher initial psychological QoL and higher initial levels of communication. Conclusions: the diagnosis of breast cancer does not appear to be associated with a decline in marital quality. Moreover, our findings highlighted the importance of sharing with a partner the cancer-related information, as well as the importance of maintaining a good psychological QoL at the beginning of the disease., Objetivo: este estudio buscó analizar los cambios en la calidad e intimidad conyugal percibida (comunicación y compromiso) de la mujer, a lo largo de su trayectoria de cáncer de mama. Buscamos también explorar las diferencias entre pacientes y controles en estas variables, e investigar el papel predictivo de la intimidad y calidad de vida (CdV) iniciales en la calidad conyugal seis meses después de finalizado el tratamiento. Métodos: la muestra está formada por 47 pacientes con cáncer de mama 90 mujeres de la comunidad. Los datos del grupo de pacientes se recogieron en dos momentos: post-cirugía de mama (T1) y 6 meses tras la finalización del tratamiento (T2). La calidad conyugal percibida antes de la enfermedad fue también evaluada retrospectivamente. Fueron utilizados los instrumentos: WHOQOL BREF (CdV psicológica y social); PAIR (comunicación y compromiso) y en un solo ítem para evaluar la calidad conyugal percibida. Resultados: se observó un aumento de la calidad conyugal percibida en la evaluación retrospectiva respecto a T1, no habiendo sido encontradas diferencias a lo largo de la enfermedad. Respecto a la intimidad, tan solo la comunicación disminuyó a lo largo del tiempo. Al comparar con el grupo control, las pacientes presentaron puntuaciones superiores en las dimensiones de comunicación y compromiso (T1). Una superior calidad conyugal en T2 fue predicha por una mejor CdV psicológica inicial y por niveles iniciales más elevados de comunicación. Conclusiones: el diagnóstico de cáncer de mama parece no estar asociado a una disminución de la calidad conyugal. Además, nuestros resultados destacaran la importancia de compartir con la pareja la información relacionada con el cáncer, así como la importancia de mantener una buena CdV psicológica en el inicio de la enfermedad.

Based on data from a sample of 120 first-generation Mexican immigrant couples collected at the start of the Great Recession in the United States, this study tested an actor–partner interdependence mediation model (APIMeM) in which spouses’ perceptions of stress related to economic pressure and cultural adaptation were linked to their own and their partners’ reports of marital satisfaction through spouses’ depressive symptoms and marital negativity. As hypothesized, results supported indirect links between economic and cultural adaptation stressors and spouses’ marital negativity and satisfaction: (1) contextual stress was associated with depressive symptoms, (2) depressive symptoms were positively associated with marital negativity for both husbands and wives and negatively associated with marital satisfaction for wives only, and (3) marital negativity was inversely associated with marital satisfaction for both spouses. Two partner effects emerged: (a) husbands’ depressive symptoms were positively associated with wives’ reports of marital negativity and (b) husbands’ marital negativity was inversely related to wives’ marital satisfaction. From these findings, we can infer that the psychological distress that arises for Mexican-origin spouses as they respond to the challenges of making ends meet during difficult economic times while they simultaneously navigate adapting to life in a new country is evidenced in their marital quality. Specifically, this study found that contextual stress external to the marital relationship was transmitted via spouses’ psychological distress and negative marital exchanges to spouses’ marital satisfaction. Wives’ marital satisfaction was shown to be uniquely vulnerable to their own and their husbands’ depressive symptoms and marital negativity.

This study aims to examine factors that may be viewed by Malaysian Muslim married individuals as constructs of marital quality. Factors related with internal-personal domain, inter-personal relationship, religiosity, gender role, and sexuality have been critically weighted in formulating the interview questions. Islamic scholars and academicians were selected for expert interviews, while in-depth face-to-face interviews with married individuals representing various marital stages were conducted to further examine the earlier findings from the expert interviews. Human ecological-life span perspective was used as guiding framework for this study. The findings implied that the concept of marital quality can be of multi-dimensions, in which, religiosity is a core domain. Indicators that were concluded include love, responsibility, harmony, satisfaction, adjustment, happiness, family management, stability, personality and appearance, relationships with family of origin, in-laws, neighbors, and friends). Most respondents agreed that satisfaction in marriage is crucial and this subjective evaluation should cover the multiple domains of married person through-out marital journey.

Married women who work face various challenges in managing both sides of the world. Performing both tasks demand high degree of commitment and the responsibilities that need to be performed may vary across family life cycle. Success in one domain may influence the other. This study examined the relationships between personal factors, job satisfaction and marital quality among respondents from different stages of family life cycle. Participants were 235 married working women from four districts in Selangor, whose husbands residing together with them at the time of the study. Self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The results indicate that there are significant differences in marital quality and job satisfaction between the different stages of life cycle. Women who have more children, older, and have long-term marriage reported lower marital quality. It is also noted that higher educated women tend to have high marital quality while increased in job satisfaction would ensure a better quality marriage among the respondents. Future studies need to consider using longitudinal data to fully understand the impact of job satisfaction on marital quality across the life cycle.

Marital duration has been identified as one of the factors that may influence marital satisfaction. Research on marital quality had become prior concern in the marriage research field. Unfortunately, less research had focus on Muslim couples. The present study aims to explore the marital quality among married Muslims individuals in later years of marriage. One hundred and eighty (n = 180) individuals who have been married for at least 20 years were recruited in this study. Marital quality was assessed using Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Data were gathered in four different districts in Selangor. Results in this study showed that individuals who had been married for at least 20 years tend to have more stable and high marital quality. Score for each subscale were analyzed and further discussed in this article. Future studies using longitudinal approaches are needed in order to better understand the influence of marital duration on marital quality and how marital conflict developed and managed across the years.

Contains fulltext : 77426.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access), The present 3-wave, 3-year longitudinal study examined direct and indirect associations between marital quality, parenting, and adolescent internalizing problems, taking into account bidirectional associations between these concepts. Data were used from 428 Dutch families, consisting of 2 biological parents and 2 adolescents with mean ages of 13.4 and 15.2 years (at Time 1). Results from structural equation modeling analyses showed that low marital quality at Time 1 was directly related to adolescent internalizing problems at Time 2 in oldest siblings. However, support was not found for any indirect associations through parenting or for longitudinal associations from adolescent internalizing problems to parents' marital quality. Results are discussed in terms of implications for understanding the mechanism by which marital quality is related to adolescent internalizing problems.

An explanatory model of stress and coping among dual-career partners examined the influence of role overload on individual coping strategies and relational coping resources as mediators, using marital quality as the measured outcome. Individual coping strategies included problem-focused and emotion-focused coping. Relational coping resources included maintenance behaviors, cooperative negotiation, and coercive negotiation. Data from a sample of 226 married, dual-career partners were subjected to a path analysis using a series of multiple regressions. Findings generally supported the proposed model. Results suggest that both individual coping strategies and relational coping resources mediated the stressor effects of role overload on marital quality

The objective of this research was to assess the differences and relationships between parents’ marital quality and family environment of two hundred Form 4 delinquent and non-delinquent secondary school students in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A final research model for parents’ marital quality and family environment of students was finally established. Parents’ marital quality was measured by Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Spanier & Lewis, 1976), Family environment of students was assessed by Family Environment Scale (Moos & Moos, 1981, 2002), and behaviour of students (delinquent and non-delinquent acts) was assessed by a set of self-report instrument established by Rozumah, Rumaya, Asnarulkhadi, Amna, Mansur, and Tan (2003). Independent-samples t-tests reported significant differences in the family cohesion, family expressiveness, family conflict, and family achievement orientation of delinquent and non-delinquent students. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient concluded that there were significant positive correlations between parents’ dyadic satisfaction, parents’ marital quality, family cohesion, expressiveness, conflict, relationship dimensions, achievement orientation and active-recreational orientation with students’ behaviour. The final regression model indicated by binary logistic regression analysis showed that the predictor variables which had contributed significantly to the model were firstly, family conflict, followed by family cohesion, family members’ achievement orientation, then parents’ dyadic satisfaction, and lastly family members’ expressiveness. Future studies should focus on parents’ and family communication, conflict resolution, personality, financial management, leisure activities, parenting styles, extended family, and family adaptability. This study reiterated the importance of maintaining positive marital quality in married couples and positive family environment for children’s well-being. Parents must realize that adolesce

This study examines the association between marital quality and personal well-being using meta-analytic techniques. Effects from 93 studies were analyzed. The average weighted effect size r was .37 for cross-sectional and .25 for longitudinal effects. Results indicate that several variables moderate the association between marital quality and personal well-being, including gender, participants’ marital duration, source of measurement, data collection year, and dependent variable. These results suggest that longitudinal effects are more likely to be uncovered when using standard measurement and that future research should use samples homogenous in marital length. The longitudinal finding that the strength of the association is stronger when personal well-being is treated as the dependent variable supports previous theorizing.

This study investigates the impact of non-traditional work schedules on the quality of marriage. Using longitudinal data from the National Survey of Families and Households, models are tested that assess the direct impact of shift work on marital quality, and the effect of shift work on marital quality intervening through marital interaction, job satisfaction, social isolation, and depression. Theoretically these models are testing the assumption that entering into a shift work situation will negatively impact marital quality by creating more social isolation, increased depression, lower job satisfaction, and less marital interaction. The results of this study indicate changing work schedules over time has a significant, albeit small direct effect on marital quality. The results of the intervening model suggest shift work has little impact on those variables thought to interact with shift work to impact marital quality. Most significantly, results from both the direct and intervening models suggest that the presence and age of children has a significant interactive effect on the relationship between shift work and marital quality. Utilizing shift work when there are small children in the home result in increased levels of marital quality while utilizing shift work in the presence of older children result in decreases in marital quality. This study suggests further analysis using longitudinal data is needed to fully understand the impact of shift work on marital quality and that there should be particular focus on the effect of certain life course transitions such as child rearing.

Much of the extant literature on marital quality and health has examined marital quality as a static, global construct, measured at a single assessment. However, marital quality is a dynamic construct that fluctuates over time, particularly in the early years of marriage. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate whether changes in overall marital satisfaction and communal strength are associated with mental and physical health symptoms assessed via the SF-36 in a cohort of newlywed couples (N = 74 couples). Marital measures including marital satisfaction (MS) and communal strength (CS) were collected at baseline (26 days prior to marriage) and approximately 2 years later. The SF-36 was administered 3 years following baseline. Results showed that baseline MS and CS were associated with significantly fewer mental and physical health symptoms (p's < .05). Independent of baseline level, decreases in CS were associated with poorer mental health (B = .06, SE = .03). There were no sex differences in the effects. Controlling for depressive symptoms reduced the effects of baseline MS and CS on mental and physical health to non-significance. However, the effect of change in CS on mental health remained significant after controlling for depressive symptoms (B = .05, SE = .02). The present findings suggest that even in the early stages of marriage, lower initial levels of marital satisfaction and spousal responsiveness to needs (communal strength) as well as changes in communal strength are associated with increased mental and physical health symptoms.

Using data from interviews with 194 midlife couples, we: (i) identified a typology of couple groups based on spouses’ gender-typed attributes; (ii) described couple groups in terms of individual, contextual, and attitudinal characteristics; and (iii) linked couple groups with emotional, cognitive, and behavioral qualities of marriage across 3 years. Four couple types that differed in spouses’ instrumental and expressive attributes were identified and replicated via cluster analysis. Gender-typed wives/extreme gender-typed-husband couples reported significantly lower levels of marital quality across the 3 years. Underscoring the importance of a dyadic approach, the research identifies common couple configurations based on spouses’ gender-typed attributes, identifies couples with lower marital quality, and offers insights into personal-social attributes that may be protective in marriage.

Through in-home interviews with 142 married couples, we explored how husbands' and wives' marriage work with close friends and one another was linked to their perceptions of marital quality. Results showed that husbands engaged in more marriage work with their wives than with close friends, whereas wives engaged in similar levels of marriage work with their close friends and husbands. For wives, marriage work with their spouses was found to moderate the relationship between marital quality and marriage work with friends. At low levels of marriage work with their spouses, wives' marriage work with friends was negatively related to their reports of marital love and positively related to reports of ineffective arguing. In contrast, at high levels of marriage work with their husbands, no significant relationship was found between wives' marriage work with friends and marital quality for wives. Findings underscore the role of spouses' friendships and suggest that the strength of spouses' ties to one another is linked to the social context they and their close friends create.

Using data from the NLSY, this study tests the hypothesis that there is a curvilinear relationship between income and two dimensions of marital quality--marital happiness and marital conflict for married mothers. The curvilinear relationship is hypothesized to be strongest at lower income levels. Alternatively, spline analysis explores the possibility of a threshold relationship. Prior research on the relationship between income and marital quality has had inconsistent findings; early research found a significant relationship while later research has generally failed to find a significant relationship. At a theoretical level, there is reason to believe that income and marital quality should be related. The analysis finds a curvilinear relationship between marital quality and family income, a relationship that does not depend on the proportion of income earned by the husband. Reconciling the results from several analytic strategies, it appears that the sharpest improvement in both dimensions of marital quality occurs between incomes of $0 and \$10,000. Failure to include the poorest group may explain why some studies find a weak relationship between income and marital quality.

Provedeno je istraživanje s ciljem da se utvrdi je li broj djece u obitelji prediktor doživljaja bračne kvalitete u bračnih partnera. U istraživanje su uključene dvije nezavisne, pet kontrolnih i jedna zavisna varijabla. Nezavisne varijable istraživanja jesu broj djece u obitelji i spol bračnoga partnera. Kontrolne su varijable trajanje braka, plaća, broj soba u kući ili stanu, ekonomski stres i ekonomiziranje, a zavisna je varijabla bračna kvaliteta. Istraživanje je provedeno na 505 bračnih parova koji predstavljaju reprezentativan uzorak grada Zagreba i Zagrebačke županije s obzirom na naobrazbu muža. Dobiveni rezultati pokazuju da broj djece jest prediktor bračne kvalitete, i to prije i nakon kontrole djelovanja pet kovarijata. Doživljaj najviše bračne kvalitete potvrđen je za skupinu partnera bez djece, a nema značajne razlike između skupine s jednim djetetom i skupine s dvoje i više djece. Potvrđeno je također da spol bračnoga partnera ne djeluje na bračnu kvalitetu ni prije niti nakon provedene kontrole za pet kovarijata., A research was performed with the aim to check whether the number of children in the family could be a predictor of the perception of marital quality of the marital partners. Two independent, five control and one dependent variable were defined. The independent variables were the number of children in the family and gender of marital partner. The control variables were defined as marriage duration, salary, number of rooms in dwelling unit, economic stress and need for economizing. The only dependent variable was defined as marital quality. Five hundred and five marital couples were included, as the sample of the City of Zagreb and Zagreb metropolitan area, representative according to the husband's educational level. The results show the number of children to be a predictor of marital quality both for wives and husbands before and after control for 5 covariates was performed. The highest level of perceived marital quality was obtained in the group without children, and no significant difference was found between the group having one child and the group with two and more children., Vorliegende Studie bringt die Ergebnisse einer Untersuchung, mit der ermittelt werden sollte, ob die Kinderzahl einer Familie als Prädiktor für die von den Ehepartnern subjektiv empfundene Qualität des ehelichen Glückes dienen kann. Die Untersuchung umfasste eine abhängige und zwei unabhängige Variablen sowie fünf Kontrollvariablen. Die unabhängigen Untersuchungsvariablen sind: die Kinderzahl und das Geschlecht des befragten Ehepartners. Die Kontrollvariablen sind: die Dauer der Ehe, das Einkommen, die Größe der Wohnfläche (Anzahl der Zimmer in Wohnung oder Haus), Finanzlage und Sparmaßnahmen; als abhängige Variable wiederum figuriert die Qualität des Ehelebens. An der Untersuchung nahmen 505 Ehepaare teil, die in Bezug auf den Bildungsstand des männlichen Ehepartners eine repräsentative Bevölkerungsgruppe der Stadt und Gespanschaft Zagreb darstellen. Die Resultate ergaben, dass die Kinderzahl der Familie tatsächlich ein Prädiktor für die Qualität des Ehelebens ist, und zwar bevor und nachdem jeweils die Wirksamkeit der fünf Kontrollvariablen überprüft wurde. Das intensivste Erlebnis des ehelichen Glückes bezeugten Ehepaare ohne Kinder, während es keine wesentlichen Unterschiede zwischen Ehepaaren mit einem und solchen mit zwei und mehr Kindern gibt. Es bestätigte sich außerdem, dass das Geschlecht des befragten Ehepartners keinerlei Auswirkung auf die erlebte Qualität der Ehe hat, weder vor noch nach der Prüfung der fünf Kontrollvariablen.

Research in the past decade has centered around questions concerning the impact of cohabitation on marriage. A number of studies confirm that people who cohabit prior to marriage report lower levels of marital quality and experience higher rates of divorce than those who do not cohabit prior to marriage. Researchers have failed to agree, however, on why marriages preceded by cohabitation tend to be less successful. One possibility is that people who cohabit are also the same people who are more likely to divorce (i.e. Selection Hypothesis). It is also possible that the experience of cohabitation increases the risk of divorce, perhaps by causing changes in values and attitudes which are associated with it (i.e. Causation Hypothesis). Determining what causes greater instability of marriages preceded by cohabitation is important for many reasons. Studies show that many cohabitating relationships involve children who may suffer the consequences of family disruption. Policy makers and professionals can benefit from this research as they strive to create family policy which will strengthen marriages and also try to help troubled relationships. Although previous work has examined areas of difference among cohabitors and noncohabitors, we still lack information as to why these differences exist. The purpose of this study is to compare these two explanations for differences in marital quality between those who cohabit and those who do not. Data are taken from the National Survey of Families and Households, a nationally representative survey of adults age 19 and up, in the United States. The sample for the present study includes three-hundred-sixteen respondents age 35 and younger, who were never married and had never cohabited at the time of NSFH1 and who were married, divorced or separated from their first marriage at NSFH2. In this sample, evidence that cohabitation is associated with reduced marital quality is weak to nonexistent. Cohabitation was not a significant predic

Using a sample of 180 dual-earner, nondivorced couples, this study explored how the timing of parenthood and the division of housework are related to husbands' and wives' marital quality during the childrearing years. Hypothesized to be “at risk” for negative marital evaluations were early first-birth couples who divided tasks in a less-traditional manner and delayed first-birth couples who divided tasks in a traditional manner. Analyses revealed that husbands and wives in the “risk” groups evaluated their marriages more negatively, suggesting that congruence between behaviors, background, and attitudes is important for marital quality. In addition, early first-birth couples evaluated their marriages more poorly than did the “on time” or “delayed” couples. Wives' gender-typed attitudes emerged as a significant covariate in the analyses but did not account for the effects of the timing of parenthood and the timing of parenthood × the division of housework interactions.