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With a sample of 120 Mexican immigrant couples, this study tested an estimated actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) to examine the associations between spouses' perceptions of marital quality (i.e., marital warmth and marital negativity), spousal incongruence in familism values, and spouses' coparenting satisfaction. The model simultaneously explored the moderating effects of spouses' incongruence in familism values to ascertain the extent to which the within-couple match between spouses' cultural values impacted the association between spouses' marital quality and coparenting satisfaction. Significant and positive actor effects from marital warmth to coparenting satisfaction were found. A significant interaction qualified the actor effect for wives. Spouses' incongruence in familism values moderated the association between wives' marital warmth and their coparenting satisfaction in such a way that the link was stronger for couples with low spousal incongruence in familism values (i.e., couples in which spouses were in close agreement on familism values). Marital negativity and incongruence in familism values were not significantly related to spouses' coparenting satisfaction. Findings underscore the link between spouses' marital warmth and their coparenting satisfaction and suggest that effective coparenting is nested within the context of a warm and supportive marital relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Affection plays a crucial role in romantic relationships, as individuals exchange affection with each other to build and maintain relationships. This study applied affection exchange theory (AET) to examine affection exchange patterns within marital dyads, employing couple‐centered approaches. The aim was to identify different types of couple affection exchange profiles based on both partners' affection given and received. The sample consisted of 668 Chinese heterosexual couples. Additionally, this study explored the association between couple affection exchange profiles and marital quality. Through latent profile analysis, three distinct profiles were identified: reserved (47.1%), invisible (10.5%), and highly affectionate (42.4%). Further between‐profile comparisons regarding marital quality indicated that couples in the highly affectionate profile report the most satisfying marriages, whereas the invisible profile represents the least desirable outcome. The findings highlight the diverse nature of couple affection exchange and offer valuable insights for couple therapy interventions focused on affection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the relationships among fertility stress, dyadic coping and marital quality in couples undergoing in vitro fertilization‐embryo transfer (IVF‐ET). Couples receiving IVF‐ET treatment at the clinic of the reproductive medicine centre of a hospital in China from February 2023 to October 2023 were selected by convenience sampling. A general information questionnaire, the Infertility Fertility Stress Scale (COMP‐FPSS‐SF), the dyadic coping inventory, and the marital adjustment test were used to evaluate the results. AMOS24.0 software was used to construct an actor‐partner interdependence model that extended to mediation to analyze the relationships among couples' fertility stress, dyadic coping, and marital quality. The fertility stress level of IVF‐ET wives was significantly higher than that of their husbands (p < 0.05). Wives' levels of dyadic coping and marital quality were significantly lower than those of husbands (p < 0.05). Fertility stress, dyadic coping, and marital quality were positively correlated between IVF‐ET couples (p < 0.01). In terms of the actor effect, the fertility stress of IVF‐ET couples had a significant impact on their marital quality through their dyadic coping (β = −0.188, p < 0.05; β = −0.109, p < 0.05). In terms of partner effects, wives' fertility stress significantly affected their husbands' marital quality through their own or their husbands' dyadic coping (β = −0.055, p < 0.01; β = 0.157, p < 0.01). Dyadic coping mediates the relationship between fertility stress and marital quality in IVF‐ET couples. Nurses can use husbands and wives as central individuals and dyadic coping as the starting point to formulate intervention measures to reduce fertility stress and improve marital quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores whether marital quality mediates the effects of a parenting intervention on preschoolers' conduct problems and effortful control. Using data from 209 children in a two‐wave randomized controlled trial of the Hitkashrut program, participants were assigned to either a 14‐session co‐parent training group or a minimal intervention control group. Intent‐to‐treat analysis revealed that improvements in marital quality significantly mediated the intervention's impact on both conduct problems and effortful control. An alternative model, which hypothesized that changes in child behavior would lead to improvements in marital quality, was not supported, reinforcing the importance of targeting marital dynamics to achieve better child outcomes. These findings highlight the potential of marital‐focused strategies within parenting interventions to foster healthier family environments and improve long‐term developmental trajectories in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preschoolers’ prosocial behaviours support healthy interpersonal relationships as a component of their social adjustment process. Although several studies have found links between parental marital characteristics and preschoolers’ prosocial behaviours, these conclusions were divisive. Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted to clarify the inconsistencies in the research on these relationships and to examine the moderating effects underlying these discrepancies. A total of 37 effect sizes were extracted from the 31 included articles, with 14,374 sample sizes. The meta-analysis revealed a low positive link between parental positive marital quality and prosocial behaviours of preschool children, as well as a low negative correlation between negative marital quality and such behaviours. Additionally, the study explores the moderating effects of factors such as children’s age, gender, cultural background, informant type, study design, and publication year. Finally, the study limitations were discussed, along with the aspirations for theoretical contributions, future research, and implications for parenting practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present study was to predict the propensity for marital infidelity in relation to the consumption of pornographic material on the Internet, with marital quality serving as a mediator. The statistical population for this descriptive study utilizing path analysis comprised all married individuals residing in Isfahan in 2021. 360 married individuals were selected using an online sampling method and completed questionnaires assessing their propensity for infidelity (TIQ), the quality of their relationships (RDAS), and their exposure to Internet pornography (CPU). The findings indicated that pornography significantly and positively predicted propensity for infidelity, whereas marital quality significantly and negatively predicted the same. The data collected from the questionnaires was analyzed utilizing the path analysis method and the SPSS-26 and Amus-24 software programs. Additionally, path analysis revealed that the quality of marital relations significantly mediates the connection between pornography and marital infidelity. Based on the research findings, it appears that problematic Internet usage, particularly the consumption of explicit sexual content, may incite couples to engage in extramarital affairs. Furthermore, in cases where marital relationships are of poor quality, pornographic viewing appears to exacerbate the propensity for extramarital relationships.

Background: According to previous studies, the health of the family of origin and the spouse's perceived responsiveness are among the relevant and influencing variables on marital quality. The role of the aforementioned variables on the marital quality of couples has been studied, but there is a research gap regarding the mediating role of the spouse's perceived responsiveness in the relationship between the health of the family of origin and marital quality. Aims: The present study was conducted with the purpose of investigating the mediating role of spouse's perceived responsiveness in the relationship between the health of the family of origin and marital quality. Method: The research method was descriptive-correlation and structural equation modeling. The statistical population included all married women who referred to counseling centers in 2022 in Tehran city, and 397 of them were selected by convenience sampling method. To collect data, Family–Of-Origin (Hovestadt et al., 1985), Marital Quality Scale (Busby et al., 1995) and Perceived Partner Responsiveness Scales (Reis et al., 2017) were used. Structural equation modeling and SPSS22 and Amos22 software were used for data analysis. Results: Structural equation modeling showed that the health of the Family of origin has a significant effect on women's marital quality both directly and indirectly (through perceived responsiveness) (p

The current study aims to examine the factors that facilitate or act as barriers to the marital relationships of parents of children with ASD. In total, 150 parents of children with ASD participated in this study. An online qualitative survey tool was utilized to collect data, which were subsequently subjected to thematic analysis. Through qualitative analysis, three major themes emerged: (1) Psychological and Emotional Experiences, (2) Sense of Partnership, and (3) The Rich get Richer, including sub-themes such as formal support systems, a strong marital relationship prior to ASD diagnosis, and limited family resources. The findings suggest that elements of the marital relationship can serve as valuable resources for parents of children with ASD in coping with the challenges of parenthood. Conversely, the study highlights certain factors that act as barriers to the marital relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Present study intended to explore the role of relationship maintenance behavior on marital quality. Moreover, present study aimed to investigate the moderating role of trust and mediating role of perceived partner responsiveness on the study variables. Through purposive sampling, 592 married individuals both men and women participated in the study. The key instruments utilized in the study were relationship Maintenance Behavior Measure by Stafford and Canary (1991), Trust in Close Relationship Scale (Remple et al., 1985), Perceived Partner Responsiveness Scale (PPRS) developed by Reis et al. (2011), Norton's Quality of Marriage Index (QMI; Norton, 1983). Correlation analysis was carried out to measure the relationship among studied variable. Moderation was used to examine the moderating role of trust on the studied variables as well as mediation analysis was performed to examine whether perceived partner responsiveness mediates the relationship of studied variables. Study findings revealed a significant positive correlation between relationship maintenance behaviors and marital quality which suggests that higher levels of relationship maintenance behavior are associated with higher marital quality. Moderation analysis revealed that trust did not moderate the relationship between relationship maintenance behavior and marital quality. Mediation analysis showed indirect effect of relationship maintenance behavior on marital quality through perceived partner responsiveness. Present study highlighted the role of perceived partner responsiveness in dyadic relationships and makes key recommendations for family counselors working with clients in troubled marriages for improving clients' marital quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Abstract Background Researchers have demonstrated that various measurement concepts and dimensions depend on context and timing. Objectives The current study aimed to determine the psychometric properties of the Javanese couples’ marital quality scale based on validity and reliability Methods In total 840 participants or 420 marital dyad from Java, Indonesia, were involved in this study. The psychometrics properties scale was analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, convergent and discriminant analysis, and composite reliability. Results The exploratory factor analysis found relationship quality to consist of support, physical proximity, warmth, communication, acceptance and respect, role sharing, and responsibility factors. Well-being quality consists of happiness, harmony, and problem-solving. The fit of the measurement model was obtained using confirmatory factor analysis. The fit model was also found in the husband’s and wife’s groups, with no differences between them. The high correlations between wife-husband factors also proved the validity based on convergent and discriminant evidence. The reliability coefficient was high for each dimension and construct. Discussion This analysis shows that the marital quality scale developed has information on psychometric properties that can be useful for researchers and the practicians using the marital quality instrument of Javanese couples in particular.

Background: Infertility is a stressful situation that can lead to negative emotions such as depression. In particular, women undergoing artificial insemination by donor (AID). The quality of marriage is one of the important influencing factors of infertility treatment. This study aimed to evaluate marital quality and depression among women undergoing AID due to male irreversible azoospermia. Methods: A hospital-based cohort study was conducted at Women’ s Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine from July 2016 to December 2016, with a total of 128 participants enrolled. The marital quality and mental health were measured with the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) and the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), respectively. Results: A DAS score of ≤107, indicating poor marriage quality, was found in 40.6% of the women surveyed. These women had lower education levels and higher SDS scores. Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis showed a significant correlation between the DAS score and factors such as the duration of marriage, education level, remarriage, and SDS score. Six years after undergoing AID, the SDS score of women remained steady (26.41 ± 4.27 at the year of AID, and 26.52 ± 6.48 for the 6-year follow-up). DAS was statistically lower at the 6-year follow-up (106.19 ± 20.17) compared to that at the AID year (114.49 ± 17.65). Unexpectedly, pregnancy was not shown to improve marital quality. Conclusions: The study’s findings suggest that women undergoing AID experience poor marital quality and exhibit high levels of depression. After a 6-year follow-up, the marital adjustment for the women worsens following AID treatment. Additionally, this trend does not appear to be influenced by whether the couple bears and raises a child conceived through AID.

The present longitudinal study investigates the development of both positive and negative personal traits (i.e., self-esteem and neuroticism, respectively) among newlywed couples. The aim is to identify distinct joint trajectories of self-esteem and neuroticism and then compare marital quality across different trajectory classes. A sample of 268 Chinese newlyweds completed self-esteem, neuroticism, and marital quality questionnaires at three time points. Dyadic Latent Class Growth Analyses were used to examine the joint trajectory of self-esteem and neuroticism. The study identified three trajectory groups: the adaptive couples group (c1), the stable couples and husbands more adaptive than wives group (c2), and the stable husbands and wives more adaptive than husbands group (c3). The adaptive couples group had the highest level of initial marital quality. The two other groups, characterized by initial differences between partners in self-esteem and neuroticism, had relatively lower baseline marital quality. In comparison, wives in the c3 group initially displayed higher levels of marital quality than those in the c2 group. This research improves our understanding of personal development in couples and sheds light on the complex associations between personal and relational development in the context of marriage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This quasi-experimental study investigated the effects of a telehealth Marriage Checkup on improvement of marital quality among 98 newly married couples. We assigned couples to either an intervention) telehealth Marriage Checkup program (or a control group.The participants completed the Quality of Marriage Index (QMI), and the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) at baseline, post-intervention, and three-month follow-up. The telehealth Marriage Checkup significantly increased marital satisfaction and this effect persisted at the three-month follow-up. Our study demonstrates the importance of early preventive interventions for enhancing and maintaining marital satisfaction in the initial stages of marriage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored interpersonal sensitivity and peer relationships as mechanisms in the parental marital quality and adolescents' online social addiction. Participants were 914 Chinese middle school students (females = 53.39%; mean age = 13.95, SD = 1.89 years). They completed measures of the Marital Adjustment Test, the Interpersonal Relationship Sensitivity Subscale of SCL-90, the Peer Relationships Scale for Children and Adolescents, and the Online Interpersonal Relationship Addiction Scale. Path analysis results showed that higher parental marital quality was associated with lower adolescents' risk for online social addiction. Interpersonal sensitivity played a partial mediating role in the relationship between adolescents' parental marital quality and online social addiction, to explain only some of the adolescents' online social addiction. Peer relationships had a moderating effect on the relationship between adolescents' parental marital quality and online social addiction so that as peer relationships improved, parental marital quality effects on adolescents' online social addiction declined. These findings are consistent with social compensation theory and contribute to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that shape adolescent Internet addiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Military separation is a well‐documented vulnerability point for service members, yet little is known regarding how children fare across this transition. The current study examined 909 military‐connected children from the Millennium Cohort Family Study (Wave 1 Mage = 3.88 years, SD =.095) across a 3‐year period to explore whether separation predicted child externalizing symptoms over and above Wave 1 externalizing levels, by comparing separated versus not separated military families over time. We also explored if non‐military spouse employment, financial stress, marital quality, or parenting alliance moderated the relation of separation with child externalizing. Data were collected via a parent‐reported online questionnaire and administrative military records. Results showed that separation was unrelated to externalizing. However, moderation analyses suggested that for those who separated, non‐military spouses' employment prior to separation was related to less externalizing, whereas the parenting alliance was related to less externalizing only for families who remained in the military. Recommendations include assistance with spouse employment prior to military separation and parenting support throughout military service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compassion is an inherently interpersonal emotion that motivates caretaking behavior. Yet, couples' expressions of compassion have been largely overlooked by researchers. We capitalized on a unique archive of naturalistic recordings to assess the frequency with which married couples (N = 30) verbally expressed compassion to one another in daily life and tested associations with partners' ratings of marital quality, depression, and neuroticism. A keyword search of hundreds of hours of recordings flagged potential expressions; human coders examined the interpersonal context in each instance to identify the cases that were actual expressions of compassion. The data showed that verbal expressions of compassion were common: Couples were observed offering compassion on average twice per hour. Actor–partner interdependence models (APIMs) tested how the rate at which compassion was expressed to a spouse was linked to the partners' reports of marital quality, depression, and neuroticism. There was evidence for a hypothesized partner effect: husbands offered more compassion to wives who reported more depressive symptoms. An unexpected pattern emerged indicating that husbands' personal distress was associated with more frequent compassion expressions. In particular, husbands who perceived their marriages as lower quality and husbands who reported more neuroticism offered more compassion. Our findings highlight the distinction between the internal emotional experience versus verbal expressions of compassion and suggest that some partner compassion behaviors may reflect hypervigilance and compulsive caretaking triggered by distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This study aims to explore the differences in psychological flexibility, psychological capital and the perception of marital quality between parents of children with and without autism and to examine whether psychological capital could serve as a moderator of the association between psychological flexibility and the perception of marital quality. One‐hundred fifty parents of children with autism and 192 parents of children without autism completed an online survey. Parents of children with autism had lower psychological flexibility and psychological capital than the comparison group. The levels of psychological flexibility and psychological capital were also found to be significantly and positively correlated with the perception of marital quality of parents in both groups. Amongst parents of children with autism, hope significantly moderated the association between psychological flexibility and the perception of marriage quality. Hope buffers the relationship between psychological flexibility and the perception of marital quality amongst parents of children with autism. Designing unique, specific and tailored therapeutic interventions for parents of children with autism is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have shown that psychopathy, one of the Dark Triad personality traits, is associated with relationship dissatisfaction. However, the similarity of psychopathy among romantic couples remains uncertain with regard to relationship outcomes. This study examined the effect of the perceptual similarity of psychopathy on marital quality in a sample of 245 heterosexual married couples, using intraclass correlation coefficients as the method for assessing couples' similarity. This study also explored the possible mediating role of couple communication based on the Actor–Partner Interdependence model. The results reveal that husbands' self‐rating and wives' partner‐rating of psychopathy showed negative effects on marital quality, whereas wives' perceptual similarity of psychopathy exerted both actor and partner effects on marital quality via couple communication. The current study enriches the theoretical framework of personality and relationship outcomes and emphasizes the importance of communication in a close relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]