Marital and Family Psychology: Burning Issues.

The article discusses critical issues facing the field of marital and family psychology. The author comments that the manner through which couples handle their differences affects marital outcomes more than do differences between two couples. The development of programs that prevent family and marital conflicts are discussed. Several factors affecting longitudinal studies on the prediction of divorce and marital distress are discussed, including recruitment and section of subjects and the use of repetitive measures of marital and family functioning.