The present study examined the role that relational expectations play in determining marital satisfaction and in discriminating between married couple types. The discrepancy between one's expectations for his or her spouse's relational behavior and one's perceptions of his or her spouse's actual behavior significantly predicted marital satisfaction. In addition, this expectation/perception discrepancy was revealed to be a stronger predictor of marital satisfaction than agreement between spouses on relational expectations. There were few differences in relational expectations when compared across couple type, however when compared across individual marital type significant or near significant differences were displayed for the relational dimensions of intimacy, receptivity, mutual respect and frustration. A global measure of marital satisfaction was developed and the usefulness of this instrument is discussed.

M.A. / Primary malignant brain tumours (PMBTs) are devastating diagnoses that result in the swift deterioration of neurological functioning. The life expectancy of the patient from the time of diagnosis is between three and 12 months. This illness trajectory is characterised by loss of functional abilities such as walking, talking and writing; increasing cognitive impairments such as loss of executive functioning, speech difficulties and problems with comprehension; and the presence of neuropsychiatric symptoms such as depression, anxiety, apathy and aggression. Since treatment is primarily palliative rather than curative, family members and specifically spouses are required to care for PMBT patients in the home setting. The daily challenges of caring for a spouse with a PMBT have a significant impact on the emotional functioning of the caregiver. Although other studies have examined the experiences of various family members of PMBT patients, this research is the first phenomenological study, which investigates the emotional experiences in particular, with a focus on female spouses of PMBT patients. Other studies have also failed to describe the experience of caregivers throughout the entire course of the illness trajectory, that is, from pre-diagnostic symptoms, until the time of death. Therefore, this study attempts to enter the life-world of female spouses of PMBT patients in order to describe their emotional experiences from the time that prediagnostic symptoms manifested, throughout the disease trajectory, and until the death of the patient. A descriptive phenomenological method of enquiry was chosen to achieve this end. Three female spouses of PMBT patients were sourced and interviewed for the purposes of this study. Their husbands had passed away from a PMBT approximately three years prior. Open-ended interviews were conducted in order to elicit their emotional experiences during their husbands’ illness trajectory. The interviews were transcribed verbatim with the inclusion of non-verbal cues where relevant. This data was then analysed using a sequential phenomenological approach. Common themes were integrated to form the essential structure of a female spouse’s emotional experience of her husband’s PMBT illness. These themes were also discussed in conjunction with the literature review to support their validity. The themes that emerged fell within four distinct time periods. The period before diagnosis, at diagnosis, during the course of the illness and at the time of death. Themes that emerged during the research interview were found to be pertinent and were also discussed.