Previous literature has examined the link between overt marital conflict and physical health and found that negative interactions in marriage may lead to poorer health. Moreover, recent studies have identified relational aggression as a type of covert marital conflict. However, none have tested for effects of relational aggression on physical health in marriage. The purpose of this research is to further study this type of conflict by examining longitudinal dyadic data to determine how subtle, indirect marital conflict like relational aggression affects the health of spouses. Data from 316 couples, from the first two waves of the BYU Flourishing Families Project, were examined using structural equation modeling. The main finding of this study was that wives who withdraw support and affection from their husbands may experience poorer health a year later. This partner affect was not found to be true for husbands. Clinical implications are discussed, as well as recommendations for future research.

From a family systems theoretical view, this paper uses both variable-oriented and person-oriented research approaches to examine parental marriage as a dynamic, interdependent system, and extends the literature by examining parental marriage across a 15 year time span. Employing latent growth curve analysis of 490 mother-father dyads from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, this study considers multiple aspects of the relationship husbands and wives have together as spouses (emotional intimacy), parents (ideas about discipline and a child-centered vs. adult-centered orientation to childrearing), coparents (agreement regarding parenting beliefs and discipline), and household managers (agreement on the division of household and childcare tasks), exploring these associations from one month post-partum to when the child is 15 years old. Second, using latent class growth analysis, this study explores how these factors come together in different relationship classes to form distinct typologies of change for these stably partnered parents. In general mothers and fathers show similar trends in emotional intimacy over time—with decline during the early years after child birth followed by a modest increase through first grade and then relative stabilization until age 15. They also report similar levels of authoritative discipline strategies and adult-centered parenting beliefs. On average mothers are responsible for approximately twice the amount of family work than are fathers. The latent class growth analysis revealed four distinct classes. The most significant differences between classes were in level of emotional intimacy and family work responsibility. Balancing of the instrumental and relational aspects of family life is posited as an explanation of between class differences.

This study examined the relationship between marital conflict, parenting, and adolescent prosocial behavior. Parents and one target child from two-parent families (n = 330) responded to questionnaires regarding levels of marital conflict, parenting behaviors, and child prosocial behavior. Using structural equation modeling, results indicated that one dimension of parenting, warmth and connection, mediated the relationship between marital conflict and child prosocial behavior. Group comparisons did not find significant gender differences. The significance on parent-child connection is discussed along with clinical implications.

Although adult attachment has been the focus of a great deal of relationship research, few studies have attempted to examine how adult attachment style may be related to relationship initiation. This study investigates how adult attachment is associated with dating processes and patterns in a sample (N = 587) of college students at a private religious university. Results indicate that attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance are related to a pattern of being mostly dateless in a twenty-five week period. Furthermore, attachment avoidance but not anxiety is related to having fewer relationships in the period. Along with attachment avoidance and anxiety, being less attractive was also predictive of being mostly dateless in the measured period, as was being female. Physical attractiveness is the strongest predictor of having dates, as well as having relationships, but is not predictive of relationship length.

Marital discord contributes to the development and continuation of depression and to the recurrence of depressive episodes for those in troubled relationships. Early research suggests that family therapy may reduce the severity and frequency of depressive episodes through modification of family interactional patterns. This would result in a reduction in the cost of treating depression. This study summarizes the literature linking family dynamics with depression. Then,using a sample taken from a large health maintenance organization, data was statistically analyzed to measure the effectiveness of both individual and family therapy as delivered by different types of mental health professionals. Results indicated that family therapy was both effective and cost-effective in the treatment of depression.

This project asks families what mealtime together means to them. The topic of family mealtime appears comparatively infrequently in academic literature, and any meaning that families associate with mealtime has seldom been studied directly. This particular research investigates meanings of the understudied mealtime event by interviewing three or four generations of family members from five different families. Attention is paid to emerging standards of rigor for qualitative research, namely applicability through the selection of families who have a history of practicing a family mealtime tradition, truth value in faithfully representing the interviewees perceptions, and auditability by including detail of the research process. Findings are consistent with the available literature, with survey results, and with folk wisdom. Here are the major findings: As anticipated, the interview families report a decline in meals eaten together. Not anticipated was one important reason for the decline, namely, family adherence to the notion that the individual's freedom to choose takes precedence over the group interest when there is conflict at mealtime. Even so, interviewees affirm their determination to maintain a strong mealtime tradition. Families intend to show love through meal preparation, they value working together, the believe in the spiritual importance of family life, they want to protect the mealtime from outside intrusion, and they like being able to talk about whatever is important to each of them. Mealtime is a time of connection and bonding. Families enjoy being all together as a family. They miss getting together regularly for whatever reasons. And they particularly value their Sunday dinner time. All ages unanimously advise others to adopt a family mealtime tradition. The core assertion is that the family mealtime plays a major role in constructing the family unit.

Somatoform disorder is a prevalent mental health disorder in the United States. This disorder costs the United States one billion dollars annually. Medical providers report somatoform disorder is difficult to treat. Previous studies have shown that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is effective at reducing symptoms of somatoform disorder. Unfortunately, little research has been done on treatment outcomes and cost of somatoform disorder, particularly by profession to reduce health care costs for somatoform patients and providers. Administrative data from CIGNA for 149 somatoform disorder cases were analyzed to determine the cost, number of sessions, dropout rates, and recidivism rates for somatoform disorder. These same variables for somatoform disorder were also analyzed by profession for medical doctors, psychologists, master's nurses, master's social workers, marriage and family therapists, and professional counselors. Descriptive statistics showed that the recidivism rates and number of sessions for somatoform disorder is higher than average. Drop-out rates were consistent with the average. Analyses revealed no significant difference in total cost by profession, but did indicate a significant difference in cost per session for medical doctors. Analyses indicate lower level (M.S.) providers have no significant difference in drop-out rates and recidivism rates compared to higher level (Ph.D.) providers.

The purpose of the current study was to explore the direct and indirect influences of both paternal and maternal anxiety on adolescent self-esteem as mediated by parental criticism and autonomy allowance. Participants included 331 parent-child triads with a child between the ages of 12 and 15 from the Flourishing Families Project. Findings suggested that maternal anxiety had a significant negative influence on adolescent self-esteem while paternal anxiety did not. Also, the influence of maternal anxiety on adolescent self-esteem was carried directly rather than indirectly through autonomy allowance and parental criticism; however, this influence was only significant prior to adolescent gender comparisons. Furthermore, maternal autonomy allowance was positively associated with self-esteem for male adolescents with male self-esteem being more sensitive to maternal autonomy allowance than female self-esteem. In addition, maternal anxiety was associated with an increased use of parental criticism. For fathers, anxiety was associated with restricted autonomy allowance and increased use of parental criticism. Findings may be helpful to both parents and clinicians in identifying how parental anxiety influences parenting and adolescent self-esteem.

The current study examined forgiveness within the parent-adolescent relationship. Theoretical foundations and definitions of forgiveness were examined, after which a relational approach to forgiveness was explored. The direct influences of the quality of mother- and father-child relationships (parent and observed reports) and modeled marital forgiveness on early adolescents' forgiveness toward both mothers and fathers (child report) were examined; the mediating roles of parent forgiveness of child and adolescent social-cognitive skills (empathy and emotional regulation) were also analyzed. Mother, father, and child self-reported questionnaires and in-home observational data were taken from Time 1 and Time 3 (two years later) of the Flourishing Families Project and included reports from 334 two-parent families with an early adolescent child (M age of child at Time 1 = 11.24). Structural equation modeling was utilized to examine relationships between the variables. Mother- and father-child relational variables (both parent self-reports and observed reports at Time 1) were found to be significantly related to mother and father forgiveness of the adolescent child two years later. Interestingly, only mother forgiveness of the child was significantly related to adolescent forgiveness of the mother. Further, father forgiveness of mother (spouse report at Time 1) was directly related to adolescent forgiveness of the father. In addition, direct significant paths from parent-child relational variables to adolescent forgiveness were from the mother's report of connectedness with the child as well as observed reports of father-child connectedness. Significant indirect paths were also found: Observations of warmth within the mother-child dyad influenced adolescent forgiveness toward parents via empathy, while father's report of connectedness influenced adolescent forgiveness via emotional regulation. Finally, empathy and emotional regulation were the most salient direct precursors of adolescent forgiveness of parents. The relevance of modeling for forgiveness research, unique contributions of mothers and fathers, differences by reporter, developmental aspects of forgiveness in adolescence, and the importance of studying forgiveness within the parent-child relationship were discussed.

Research done in the United States has linked household division of labor to marital quality. Research shows that satisfaction with division of labor is associated with greater marital happiness. There is minimal research in other countries on the relationship between division of labor and marital quality. China, with a history of gender inequality and emerging women's rights, makes an ideal setting for examining the relationship between division of labor and marital quality. In addition to measuring the influence of division of labor and satisfaction with division of labor on marital satisfaction, this study includes a scale on childcare related tasks. The data used in this study were collected between 1995 and 2001, from 446 couples, in Beijing and Hangzhou, China. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for dyadic analysis. Results show that traditional division of labor and wives' satisfaction with division of labor positively affect Chinese husbands' marital satisfaction. Contrary to US research, results do not show a statistically significant effect between division of labor and Chinese wives' marital satisfaction. Results also show that higher levels of wives' responsibility for childcare predicts lower levels of marital satisfaction for husbands. Implications for culturally sensitive counseling are discussed.