The problem of this study was to investigate the relationship between attitudes of love and marital adjustment through seven stages of the marital life cycle. The purpose of the investigation was to determine the changes which occur in attitude toward love and marital adjustment through the marital life cycle. The average number of subjects in each of the seven marital groups was 16, for a total of 114 couples or 228 subjects. All subjects were volunteers from three North Texas church populations. Test data for each of the seven marital groups consisted of husbands" and wives' scores on the Marital Adjustment Test and the Love Attitudes Inventory.

An individual's perceptions of various aspects of one's romantic relationship (irrespective of whether or not the perceptions align with reality) often play a critical role in romantic relationship satisfaction. Research has demonstrated that the accuracy of an individual's perception of his or her partner is generally positively related to the individual's romantic relationship satisfaction. However, when perceiving negative or conflictual messages from a partner, an individual's accuracy of perception is negatively associated with his or her romantic relationship satisfaction. Researchers have suggested that poor accuracy in perceiving negative messages might diffuse the negative intention in a way that is less impactful to the relationship. The present study was designed to investigate accuracy in the perception of sexual topics, specifically masturbatory habits. A sample of 93 married couples (186 individuals) responded to questions about (a) their own masturbatory behaviors and (b) their perception of their partners' masturbatory behaviors to determine the accuracy of each partner's perception of his or her partner. The association between accuracy and romantic and sexual relationship satisfaction was explored, along with one potential moderating variable: attitudes toward masturbation. Perceived reason for masturbating, perceived target of arousal during masturbation, and partner's actual reason for masturbating all positively predicted an individual's relationship satisfaction. Partner's actual openness about masturbatory behaviors moderated the association between accuracy of partner perception of openness about masturbation and both relationship and sexual satisfaction. When partners were more open about masturbation, accuracy was a stronger positive predictor of relationship and sexual satisfaction than when partners were less open about masturbation. Results, limitations, areas for future research, and clinical implications are discussed.

The theory of formal operations as a final stage of adult development has come under criticism for various reasons, primarily the overemphasis on logical thought processes which are based on invariant and absolute rules within a closed system. Everyday problems, in contrast, are typically "open-ended" and are defined by the context in which they are embedded. The purpose of this study was to investigate cognitive behaviors that occurred between two individuals as they cooperatively worked together to solve logical problems. Of interest were the effects of marital adjustment on cognitive performance, the relation between social behaviors, marital adjustment, and cognition, and the influence of familiar versus a stranger dyadic problem-solving setting on cognitive behaviors. It was hypothesized that well adjusted married and stranger dyads would not only demonstrate mastery of problem-solving tasks at the formal operational level, but would also demonstrate more relativistic and/or dialectical problem solving, and more facilitative social behaviors, than poorly adjusted married and stranger dyads. Forty couples between the ages of 35 and 50, who had been married between five and thirty years, were prescreened for verbal intelligence and marital adjustment. They were then randomly assigned to participate in one of four dyadic settings, that is, maritally well versus poorly adjusted couples solving problems in either married or unmarried/stranger dyads. Dyads were administered five formal operational problems. Two of the five were formal logical, or mathematical in nature, while three problems contained both mathematical and interpersonal, or social elements. Each dyad was videotaped during the problem-solving process, beginning with the instructions. Participant averaged about 1 hour and 15 minutes to complete five problems. Analyses of variance were performed on marital adjustment and dyadic setting as related to formal and relativistic cognitions. There were no marital adjustment or dyadic setting differences in overall ability to use formal operations. However, maritally well adjusted stranger and married dyads evidenced significantly more relativistic cognitions, particularly on problems involving a social/everyday element, than poorly adjusted married and stranger dyads. These differences also held constant across each of three increasingly complex levels of relativistic behaviors. Multivariate analyses were performed on four separate social behavior scales as related to formal and relativistic cognitions, as well as marital adjustment and dyadic setting groups. Again, formal operations did not distinguish between the differing social behaviors; however, the social behavior scales, particularly avoidant versus cooperative behaviors, were strongly related to marital adjustment and relativistic thinking.

This investigation seeks to determine the correlations among the three factors of self-esteem, marital communication and marital adjustment to determine if these factors are evidenced similarly in the marital system, and to determine if their relationships are consistent among a wide range of marriages. In addition, several demographic variables are isolated in order to determine their influence on the three factors under investigation. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that marital adjustment is dependent on married individuals' level of self-esteem and the ability to communicate effectively. It was also concluded that when there is a high level of either self-esteem, marital communiation, or marital adjustment, the other factors will also be at a high level. In addition, the consistency of the relationships among marital adjustment, marital communication, and self-esteem apparently transcend demographic factors.

Despite evidence for the efficacy of interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) for depression, there remains little understanding of its specific change-promoting ingredients. This study aimed to establish candidate change mechanisms by identifying whether patients’ interpersonal (theory-specific) and cognitive (theory-nonspecific) characteristics change in an adaptive direction during IPT, and whether such changes differentially relate to depression reduction and improvement in global functioning. The four interpersonal variables and one cognitive variable measured all changed significantly in an adaptive direction, with medium to large effect sizes. Reduced interpersonal problems were marginally associated with self-reported depression reduction (β = 2.846, p = .062), and greater satisfaction with social support was marginally associated with depression reduction (β = -1.423, p = .081). Unexpectedly, reduced romantic relationship adjustment was related to depression reduction (β = 2.028, p = .008 for self-rated depression and β = 1.474, p = .022 for clinician-rated depression), and increased attachment avoidance was marginally related to better clinician-rated global functioning (β = 1.501, p = .09). Thus, theory-relevant interpersonal variables emerged as candidate change mechanisms, and the findings are discussed with respect to their research and practice implications.

This qualitative study was designed to produce a theoretical model to illustrate marital adjustment as a husband becomes a bishop (a lay-clergy position) in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Individual interviews were conducted with the husband and wife of six married couples wherein the husband was currently serving as a bishop. Grounded theory methods and elements of phenomenological research were used to collect and analyze the data. The model presented depicts the adjustment process that begins with the marital relationship prior to the husband becoming an LDS bishop. The husband then becomes an LDS bishop and begins to perform the duties and responsibilities of his new lay-clergy position. Consistent with systemic thinking, the husband's acceptance of the position of bishop affects the husband and the wife individually in turn affecting the marital relationship. The mutual influences between the husband and wife as individuals and the marital relationship constantly change both in flow and direction. The effects of the calling included both points of satisfaction and points of dissatisfaction/disconnect or a parallel set of experiences both for the individual and for the marital relationship. The parallel set of experiences and the resulting effects of the husband's service as an LDS bishop on the marital relationship produce a dialectical tension between covenants or promises that both the husband and the wife have previously made. One covenant is to serve God by sacrificing to build His kingdom on earth through service to others and the other covenant is to have a strong marriage. Adjustment strategies which included both individual and couple strategies were identified. Several themes identified in this study are consistent with existing empirical and theoretical literature. However, new themes were identified including the husband experiencing increased empathy towards his wife, wives feeling "left behind" spiritually, the challenge of negotiating issues of confidentiality, the influence of family of origin and current stressors on the adjustment process, and couples seeking support from those in positions of higher authority.

The current study investigated the relationship between raising multiple children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and martial adjustment and whether perceived social support moderates this relationship. The sample (n = 115) consisted of 77 parents of a single child diagnosed with an ASD and 44 parents of 2 or more children diagnosed with an ASD. There was no significant difference in martial adjustment between the parents of single versus multiple children with ASDs and no significant relationship between number of children with an ASD within a family and marital adjustment. Although the main hypotheses were not supported, data from experimental questions indicated that a majority of participants believed their marriage was affected by their child's ASD diagnosis and most rated this effect negatively. Further, for parents of multiple children with ASDs, the rating of degree of impact upon their marital relationship after the first diagnosis was significantly positively related to their marital impact rating following the second diagnosis, suggesting that parents who view the effects of the first diagnosis as negative are likely to view the effects of the second diagnosis negatively as well. Since there was no a significant relationship between number of children with and ASD and marital adjustment, social support was not tested as a moderator. However, there was a significant positive relationship between dyadic adjustment and perceived social support. Further research examining the effects of parenting multiple children with ASDs is warranted.

A career with Extension can be very rewarding, but also very demanding, as employees have to balance job stress and time demands with family goals and demands. The very nature of Extension work brings some tension between the job and family, and employees need to be equipped to make decisions about personal and work time. If the Extension System is to be a leader of positive change for individuals, families and communities, its employees must be able to find that balance. Previous research with 4-H agents has identified 23 job responsibilities that were stressors, with some studies showing a direct relationship between Extension work and family problems. To build on these studies and establish the current situation among Extension agents with 4-H responsibilities in the Southern Region, this correlational study examined the relationships and differences between job characteristics and marital satisfaction, how agent characteristics directed those relationships, and what coping mechanisms agents used to ameliorate negative workamily interactions. The study instrument utilized the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test (LWMAT) to arrive at a global score that represented the distress level of the relationship for each agent. Demographic information and work-related information was also gathered from the agent responses to the instrument, and then used to develop relationships among variables. The findings of the study were that agents experience the stressors in similar ways and amounts, but their perceptions of those stressors and how they affect marital satisfaction differ. The group experiencing the stressors to the most detrimental level was the members of the “Sandwich Generation,” which include employees aged 35-54, and who find their careers sandwiched between raising children and caring for aging parents. They, along with other agents, need to employ numerous strategies to cope with the stresses they experience, including prioritizing, planning, and building a strong social support system as the top strategies.

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