Couple rituals range from everyday activities to once-in-a lifetime events. Weddings are arguably the most elaborate, complex, and rare couple ritual. Few studies have examined the association between wedding rituals and marital outcomes, yet millions of Americans marry and celebrate weddings each year. The purpose of the current study was to examine the associations between wedding ritual enactment, wedding ritual satisfaction, and marital satisfaction and commitment. The wedding rituals examined in the current study were the bridal shower, bachelor/bachelorette party, wedding reception, and honeymoon. It was hypothesized that enactment of a bridal shower, wedding reception, and honeymoon would be positively associated with marital outcomes whereas bachelor/bachelorette party enactment would be negatively associated with marital outcomes. We additionally hypothesized that satisfaction with all wedding rituals would be positively associated with satisfaction and commitment and that wedding ritual conformity would be associated with overall wedding ritual satisfaction. Our exploratory analyses examined unique predictability of wedding ritual enactment and wedding ritual satisfaction on marital outcomes. Results indicated expected and unexpected associations. Three of the predicted wedding rituals, bachelor/bachelorette party, wedding reception, and honeymoon enactment were associated with marital outcomes. Satisfaction with each wedding ritual significantly predicted marital outcomes. Lastly, wedding ritual conformity was found to be negatively associated with wedding ritual satisfaction. In our exploratory analyses, we found that wedding reception enactment was the most significant contributor to satisfaction whereas bachelor/bachelorette party enactment was the most significant contributor to marital commitment. Study limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

The primary objective of this research study was to examine employment and housing problems (stemming from the 2007-2009 Recession) and to see if there was a correlation between those problems and marital satisfaction and/or the perceived likelihood of future separation or divorce. A second purpose for this study was to see if feelings of financial stress (economic pressure) were mainly responsible for the projected drops in marital satisfaction or increases with divorce proneness. A final purpose for this study was to understand how other factors might additionally influence the relationships between recession-related employment problems and housing problems and the marital outcome variables. These factors included gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and existing debt load. This study found that housing-related financial problems were associated with both lower marital satisfaction and a higher perceived likelihood of future separation or divorce. The economic pressure variable provided additional understanding regarding why couples with housing-related financial problems were more likely to have less desirable marital outcomes. Likewise, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and existing debt load also provided some modification of the existing relationships between housing-related financial problems and marital satisfaction and divorce proneness. However, this study did not find an association between employment-related financial problems and marital satisfaction or the perceived likelihood of future separation or divorce.

Aggression in the context of marriage and family is a common and serious issue in therapy with couples and families. While it is known that aggression may be transferred across generations, the exact mechanism for how it is transmitted is not fully understood. This study presents adult attachment style as a moderator through which the relationship between family of origin aggression and marital aggression is developed. The present study examined Relationship Evaluation (RELATE) questionnaire data for 332 individuals. Anxious and avoidant attachment were examined as potential moderators between family of origin (FOO) physical aggression or parental hostile conflict style and marital physical and sexual aggression perpetration and victimization. Results indicate that for men, anxious attachment may be a moderator for FOO physical aggression or hostile conflict and marital sexual aggression perpetration, and that avoidant attachment may be a moderator for FOO hostile conflict and marital sexual aggression perpetration. For men, neither attachment style is a significant moderator in models analyzing FOO physical aggression or hostile conflict and marital outcomes including physical aggression perpetration or victimization, sexual aggression victimization, or hostile conflict. For women, anxious attachment may be a moderator for FOO physical aggression and marital physical aggression perpetration. No other models investigating marital physical aggression perpetration as a dependent variable were significant. For women, neither attachment style is a significant moderator in models analyzing FOO physical aggression or hostile conflict and marital outcomes including physical aggression victimization, sexual aggression victimization, sexual aggression perpetration, or hostile conflict. Future research should investigate adult attachment as a moderator of intergenerational transmission of aggression using larger and more heterogeneous samples with more precise measures of aggression to analyze more specific groups of insecure adults in the context of their partner's attachment style. Limitations and clinical implications of these results for therapists working with couples are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to determine the most important premarital couple protective and risk factors associated with marital relationship quality and stability by utilizing meta-analytic procedures to calculate standardized effect sizes for each factor. Extant research was identified and evaluated using the following inclusionary criteria: the dependent variables had to measure some form of marital quality or stability, the independent variables had to be premarital in nature, the participants had to have married after 1969, and the statistics necessary for the computation of a zero-order correlation effect size had to be available. Meta-analytic procedures were then utilized to code studies meeting inclusionary criteria, aggregate conceptually-comparable variables across included studies, and calculate standardized zero-order correlational effect sizes for each aggregated premarital factor. The predictive magnitude of premarital couple factors associated with subsequent marital outcomes was generally moderate. The results indicated both medium and small effect sizes for the various identified premarital couple predictors of marital relationship quality and instability. Positive premarital factors were generally associated with positive marital outcomes and negative premarital factors were generally associated with negative outcomes. The strongest significant protective and risk factors for marital distress and dissolution were as follows. The protective factors against marital distress included premarital relationship quality (e.g., love, satisfaction, support), premarital relationship stability (e.g., commitment, stability), attitude and value similarity (e.g., autonomy, lifestyle, expectations), positive premarital interactions (e.g., assertiveness, empathy, self-disclosure), religiosity similarity (e.g., religion importance, beliefs, denominational affiliation), and family-of-origin experience similarity factors (e.g., attachment, parent-child relationship, parents' marriage, physical violence). The protective factors against marital dissolution included premarital relationship stability, religiosity similarity, premarital relationship quality, and positive interactions. The risk factors for marital distress included negative premarital interactions (e.g., conflict, criticism, demand-withdraw) and premarital violence (e.g., physical aggression, sexual coercion, violence). The risk factors for marital dissolution included negative interactions and premarital cohabitation with one's spouse. No significant gender differences were identified for any of the premarital predictive factors. Study limitations, implications for future research, and recommendations for educators and clinicians are discussed.