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.

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.

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The parenting literature predominately focuses on individual or family level factors that influence parenting behaviors. The field can benefit from focusing on factors outside the family that influence family roles and behavior. Utilizing a symbolic interactionist and gender perspective, this study examined how perceptions of work spill over into the family roles. More specifically, this study focused on how perceived work factors influence marital conflict and subsequently parental engagement. I specifically examined these perceptions in a sample of parents that frequently travel overnight for work. Traveling for work has become very common in the workplace, yet it is understudied in the research. I aimed to answer the following research questions: a) Are there differences among mothers and fathers who travel for work in their reports of work overload, effort recovery, job satisfaction, marital conflict and parental engagement? b) Do perceived work factors predict parental engagement over and above parent gender and marital conflict? c) Do perceived work factors predict marital conflict, which in turn predicts parental engagement? I used data from a larger multi-method project that examined the influence of travel on work, health, and families. Data were collected using questionnaires. I used traveler reports of their work and family roles, as I was interested in their perceptions of their roles. Results suggested that work factors predicted a significant amount of variance over and above marital conflict and parent gender. The mediation model suggested that job satisfaction, but not work overload or effort recovery, had a significant direct effect on parental engagement. Marital conflict did not mediate the relation between perceived work factors and parental engagement. The results suggest that the parenting field should look beyond the marital dyad when examining factors that influence parenting behaviors, as marital conflict did not assist in explaining parental engagement. Clinicians and practitioners should also focus on factors outside the family (i.e., the work environment) and the influence these factors have on parenting. Workplaces and employers should focus on increasing their employees' job satisfaction in order to enhance parenting behaviors. Limitations and future directions for research are also discussed. / Master of Science

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Thesis (PhD (Social Work))—University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / It is generally accepted that the inability to consummate a marriage causes couples great distress, and can finally lead to divorce. Limited research has been done on the unconsummated marriage in South Africa. International studies have pointed out that the unconsummated marriage is a reality and a prevalent problem. While medical and therapeutic intervention is available, many people still suffer in silence and feel embarrassed about their condition. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the emotional and psycho-social experiences and perceptions of the couple in an unconsummated marriage. In order to achieve this goal, the objectives of the study were to explore the experiences of the couple in an unconsummated marriage in order to obtain the couple’s perception of their marriage; to present a literature overview on the subject of marriage within the context of the family life cycle; to describe the nature and causes of an unconsummated marriage; to critically describe approaches and models that may be used for the assessment of an unconsummated marriage; and to reflect on the implications of the emotional and psycho-social experiences and perceptions of the couple in an unconsummated marriage within a postmodern systemic framework. The purpose of the literature study was to provide a context for the research study. The researcher conducted an extensive literature review in order to establish and refine the research subject and to guide the empirical study. An exploratory study was executed and the purposive non-probability sampling method utilised. The sample for this study was obtained from Intercare Medical Centre, Johannesburg and The Square Medical Centre, Umhlanga between April 2004 and November 2004. Ten couples that have not consummated their marriage were included in the sample. An interview schedule with open-ended questions was used to conduct joint interviews with the couples. The empirical study enabled the researcher to draw certain conclusions. The main conclusion was that males and females in an unconsummated marriage experience and perceive control-related problems; negative feelings towards their own and their partner’s body; a fear of engaging in an intimate relationship and other phobias; a feeling of sin and moral dilemma; feelings of guilt and shame; the manifestation of depression and apathetic attitudes; personal distress and psychological problems; a feeling of serious regret and sadness; self-blame, self-destructive behaviour, mutilation and suicidal thoughts and episodes; and lastly, a lack of information on how to be sexually intimate with a partner. A number of recommendations flowed from the findings. The main recommendation was that healthcare professionals such as social workers should be better educated about the phenomenon of the unconsummated marriage in order to make a correct diagnosis and deliver high quality medical and therapeutic intervention.

Research is beginning to find a positive and significant relationship between marriage and health. Even though the current literature shows that separation and divorce have strong negative consequences for the mental and physical health of both spouses (Dush & Amato, 2005), the answer to why and how this occurs has yet to be solved. A comprehensive perspective that could greatly benefit the analysis of this connection is the use of social neuroscientific methods in a biopsychosocial model. By including biological factors, social elements, and psychological variables in analyzing marriages, researchers would be able to further understand both the intra- and interpersonal elements of a relationship and their subsequent influence on marital stability. Thus, the purpose of this dissertation was to use social neuroscientific techniques to provide a comprehensive biological, psychological, and social assessments of couples, and compare that comprehension with marital satisfaction. This was accomplished by performing three studies focused on each section of the model: heart and brain reactions for biological, familial influence for social, and personal definition of love for psychological. The sample used for the first study involved 20 married couples that were recruited through flyers on the University’s campus and through announcements on a website (i.e., Craigslist). The participants came into the Family Interaction Resource Lab located on campus and were instructed to engage in a conflict interaction while being connected to a device used to measure heart and brain waves. The sample used for studies two and three included 635 participants that were recruited through mailouts, emails, and recruitment on a website (i.e., Facebook). These participants completed an online questionnaire using Qualtrics software and were all currently married. The insights provided by the results helped to (1) advance current knowledge surrounding interpersonal relationships, (2) elucidate on marital conflict for therapists and educators working with couples, (3) expand upon a rarely used research procedure for analyzing relationships, and (4) build upon the extant literature across numerous disciplines.

This study examined five seminal television series — I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Jeffersons, The Cosby Show, and Home Improvement — for episodes of conflict. Those episodes of conflict were then analyzed through thematic analysis. Using Baxter's (1988) relational dialectical tensions as a theoretical framework, the internal tensions present in romantic relationships (i.e., autonomy v. connection, novelty v. predictability, and openness v. closedness) served as themes to organize the data. After identifying the dialectical tensions present in each of the series, the shows were then compared to determine if a shift had occurred in each of the dialectics over time. / Department of Communication Studies

by Simmy Lai-sim Chu. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-71). / Abstract and questionnaire also in Chinese. / Abstract --- p.ii / Acknowledgement --- p.iii / Table of Contents --- p.iv / List of Tables --- p.vi / List of Appendices --- p.vii / Chapter Chapter I - --- Introduction --- p.1 / Marital conflicts and children's adjustment --- p.1 / Theory linking marital conflicts and children's adjustment --- p.3 / The role of attribution --- p.4 / Factors affecting children's attribution --- p.7 / Moderating effect of parent-child relationship and maternal stress --- p.9 / Purposes of the present study and hypotheses --- p.10 / Chapter Chapter II - --- Method --- p.12 / Participants --- p.12 / Child-completed measures --- p.13 / Mother-completed measures --- p.17 / Procedure --- p.19 / Coding of responses --- p.20 / Chapter Chapter III- --- Results --- p.22 / Exploration of children's and mothers' attribution of marital conflicts --- p.22 / Children's involvement --- p.33 / Factors associated with attribution --- p.34 / Predicting children's adjustment --- p.36 / Relationship between attribution and adjustment --- p.44 / Chapter Chapter IV- --- Discussion --- p.48 / Children's attribution of marital conflicts --- p.48 / Link between marital conflict and children's adjustment --- p.53 / Parent-child relation --- p.56 / Implication in intervention for children exposed to marital conflicts --- p.58 / Limitation and suggestion for further study --- p.59 / References --- p.62 / Appendices --- p.72

Este trabalho objetivou conhecer a visão dos filhos sobre os conflitos conjugais, através da técnica do grupo focal. Participaram 17 estudantes de uma escola pública, que moravam com seus pais, divididos em dois grupos focais, um de 8 crianças (8-9 anos) e outro com 9 adolescentes (12-13 anos). Cada grupo teve um único encontro realizado na escola dos participantes. Os dados de cada grupo foram analisados qualitativamente, em separado. Na perspectiva dos filhos, os conflitos conjugais podem variar desde uma discussão até a agressão física, são recorrentes, versam sobre qualquer assunto, sendo a sua expressão predominantemente negativa. Os filhos parecem empreender esforços para reconhecer a ocorrência dos conflitos e entender suas causas e consequências. Para lidar com os sentimentos negativos despertados pelo conflito, os filhos adotam estratégias variadas, podendo se engajar em comportamentos extremamente destrutivos. No geral, a visão de crianças e adolescentes converge, apresentando algumas diferenças. / This study focused on children’s view of marital conflicts, through focus group technique. Participated 17 public school students, living with their parents. Participants were divided into two focus groups, one of eight children (8-9 years) and another with nine adolescents (12-13 years). Each group had a single meeting at participants’ school. Data from each group were qualitatively analyzed, separately. From the children’s perspective, marital conflicts can range from discussion to physical aggression, are recurrent, deal with any subject, and are predominantly negative in its expression. Children seem to make efforts to recognize the occurrence of conflicts and to understand its causes and consequences. To deal with the negative feelings aroused by the conflict, children adopt various strategies, and may engage in highly destructive behaviors. Overall, children and adolescents’ view converge, with some differences.