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Following from an adapted family stress model (FSM), we used two-wave, secondary data from the Building Strong Families project, focusing on 4,424 primarily lower-income, unmarried couples expecting their first child together. We used cross-lagged analyses to test the directionality of the associations among financial difficulties, depressive symptoms, destructive interparental conflict, and coparenting alliance for both fathers and mothers when children were 15 and 36 months old. Two of the three hypotheses provided support for the FSM. First, destructive conflict predicted coparenting alliance (but not the reverse). Specifically, higher destructive conflict at 15 months for both fathers and mothers predicted lower coparenting alliance at 36 months for both fathers and mothers. Second, depressive symptoms predicted destructive conflict (but not the reverse). Specifically, fathers' (but not mothers') higher depressive symptoms at 15 months predicted both their own and mothers' higher destructive conflict at 36 months. Contrary to predictions, financial difficulties did not predict depressive symptoms; instead, we found support for the reverse: For mothers only, higher depressive symptoms at 15 months predicted higher financial difficulties at 36 months. Collectively, the results support the use of the FSM to understand the directionality of associations among key risk factors, especially depressive symptoms and destructive conflict, for primarily lower-income, unmarried couples expecting their first child together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercultural romantic relationships and multicultural families have increased in the United States and worldwide. Researchers have found that intercultural couples report high rates of conflict and relationship instability, which may be partly explained by differences between partners in relationship goals (e.g., how much intimacy is desired and how to approach conflict). Using data from 40 intercultural couples (N = 80), we test whether greater similarity in relationship goals between romantic partners is related to greater perceived partner responsiveness and, thereby, greater relationship quality. By means of Bayesian analyses, our results suggest that similarity of relationship goals is associated with both perceived responsiveness and relationship quality, but without evidence of mediation. Our results show that cultural similarities and differences exist in relationship goals in intercultural couples, and they are connected to relationship functioning. This information can be used to assist clinicians in understanding the interpersonal processes that make-up healthy relationship functioning in intercultural couples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercultural romantic relationships have increased worldwide. Yet, there is a lack of empirical knowledge about intercultural couples. The studies that do suggest that intercultural couples have higher rates of conflict and long‐term instability, but most studies have measured intercultural couples using categorical responses of race/ethnicity, which limits theoretical insight to the interpersonal characteristics that make up high‐quality intimate relationships. This review integrates findings from several research fields into a new model, called the culturally based romantic relationship (CBR2) model, to understand how similarities/differences in within‐person emotional processes and relationship norms relate to between‐person emotional functioning, and in turn relationship quality. Theoretical models of this nature are essential because they can impact therapy and counseling programs developed for diverse groups of people, but also advance research fields that are related to culture, emotions, and interpersonal relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional gender ideology, which refers to individuals' expectations for the gendered segregation between work and family responsibilities, is a well-documented predictor for marital quality. Using three annual-wave, dyadic data from 240 Chinese dual-earner heterosexual couples surveyed during the early years of their marriage, we (a) examined how husbands' and wives' endorsement of traditional gender ideology interact with each other to predict marital quality and (b) tested work-to-family and family-to-work conflict as potential mediators to delineate the mechanisms via which traditional gender ideology shapes marital quality. We found that, among couples in which wives endorsed weaker traditional gender ideology at Wave 1, husbands' stronger endorsement of traditional gender ideology at Wave 1 predicted lower levels of husbands' marital quality at Wave 3 via higher levels of husbands' family-to-work conflict at Wave 2. Further, husbands' stronger endorsement of traditional gender ideology at Wave 1 predicted higher levels of their own work-to-family conflict at Wave 2 and their wives' family-to-work conflict at Wave 2. Our findings highlight the importance of considering the discrepancy between two partners' endorsements of traditional gender ideology in practice work to promote marital well-being. Furthermore, our findings suggest the necessity of promoting husbands' endorsement of less traditional gender ideology for improving marital well-being in contemporary Chinese society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use the gender relations perspective from feminist theorizing to investigate how gender and daily emotion work predict daily relationship quality in 74 couples (148 individuals in dating, cohabiting, or married relationships) primarily from the southwest U.S. Emotion work is characterized by activities that enhance others' emotional well-being. We examined emotion work two ways: trait (individuals' average levels) and state (individuals' daily fluctuations). We examined actor and partner effects of emotion work and tested for gender differences. As outcome variables, we included six types of daily relationship quality: love, commitment, satisfaction, closeness, ambivalence, and conflict. This approach allowed us to predict three aspects of relationship quality: average levels, daily fluctuations, and volatility (overall daily variability across a week). Three patterns emerged. First, emotion work predicted relationship quality in this diverse set of couples. Second, gender differences were minimal for fixed effects: Trait and state emotion work predicted higher average scores on, and positive daily increases in, individuals' own positive relationship quality and lower average ambivalence. Third, gender differences were more robust for volatility: For partner effects, having a partner who reported higher average emotion work predicted lower volatility in love, satisfaction, and closeness for women versus greater volatility in love and commitment for men. Neither gender nor emotion work predicted average levels, daily fluctuations, or volatility in conflict. We discuss implications and future directions pertaining to the unique role of gender in understanding the associations between daily emotion work and volatility in daily relationship quality for relational partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we tested the association between identity formation and intimacy formation in a diverse sample of pregnant cohabitating couples (N = 127 individuals). Using S. K. Whitbourne's identity process theory, we examined how identity style (balanced, accommodative, assimilative) is associated with various aspects of relationship quality. As hypothesized, a balanced identity style (ability to maintain self-stability while retaining flexibility) is associated with positive relationship quality (higher relational maintenance), whereas an accommodative identity style (reliance on external sources of authority for inner guidance) is associated with negative relationship quality (lower commitment, lower satisfaction, lower love, higher conflict, higher ambivalence). Consistent with E. H. Erikson's theory of psychosocial development, individuals high on accommodative identity style report difficulty negotiating many aspects of their romantic relationship, a pattern that may serve to exacerbate the stress typically associated with the transition to parenthood for cohabiting couples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]