Suchergebnisse

Intro -- Contents -- List of Figures -- Acknowledgments -- 1. The Continuing Transformation of Marriage in America -- 2. Stability and Change in Marital Quality -- 3. Rising Individualism and Demographic Change -- 4. Who Benefited from the Rise of Dual-Earner Marriage- and Who Did Not? -- 5. Changing Gender Relations in Marriage -- 6. Social Integration, Religion, and Attitudes toward Lifelong Marriage -- 7. How Our Most Important Relationships Are Changing -- 8. Implications for Theory, Future Research, and Social Policy -- Appendix 1: Study Methodology -- Appendix 2: Tables -- References -- Index.

Building Strong Families programs provide relationship education and other support services to unmarried couples with young children. This study used data from the 15‐month Building Strong Families evaluation to test the hypothesis that the degree of social and economic disadvantage moderates the effects of program participation. To test this hypothesis, the author constructed a disadvantage index based on 11 known social and economic correlates of poor relationship quality and instability. Disadvantage and treatment did not interact significantly in predicting relationship stability but did interact significantly in predicting relationship quality among couples that stayed together. The negative association between disadvantage and relationship quality was weaker in the treatment group than in the control group.

How have recent changes in U.S. family structure affected the cognitive, social, and emotional well-being of the nation's children? Paul Amato examines the effects of family formation on children and evaluates whether current marriage-promotion programs are likely to meet children's needs.

Although Judith Wallerstein's research on children with divorced parents has been influential, many quantitative family scholars have criticized her methods and conclusions. Wallerstein claims that children with divorced parents often reach adulthood as psychologically troubled individuals who find it difficult to maintain stable and satisfying relationships with others. Consistent with Wallerstein's claims, quantitative research suggests that parental divorce increases the risk of experiencing psychological problems, having a discordant marriage, seeing one's own marriage end in divorce, and having weak ties to parents (especially fathers) in adulthood. The accumulated evidence, however, reveals that the estimated effects of divorce are not as strong as Wallerstein appears to claim. I provide examples from the Marital Instability Over the Life Course study to illustrate the magnitude of divorce effects. I conclude with a call for a rapprochement between Wallerstein and her critics.

Divorced individuals in India and the United States experience similar problems with economic adequacy, social support, and psychological well-being. Furthermore, the predictors of divorce adjustment are similar in both societies. However, Indian women experience more problems than Indian men; they also appear to suffer more hardship than American women. Three factors are responsible for this pattern: Indian women's economic dependence on men, Indian cultural beliefs about women and marriage, and the patriarchal organization of the Indian joint family.

Adult respondents who experienced parental divorce or death as children were compared with respondents who grew up in continuously intact families on two measures of self-concept: self-esteem and sense of power. No differences in self-esteem were observed across the three groups. Respondents who experienced parental divorce scored significantly lower on sense of power than did respondents from intact families. However, this difference was no longer significant when controls were introduced for respondents' education. Further analysis indicated that low educational attainment largely mediated the relationship between parental divorce during childhood and low sense of power as an adult.

Children in two age groups, middle childhood and adolescence, were asked to describe how they felt when their parents separated. Although most children reported negative feelings, others reported neutral or positive feelings. Mothers' reports of their children's reactions also revealed a good deal of diversity. When asked to describe how they felt at the time of the interview, most children claimed to have accepted the situation. However, a small group of children, mainly of primary school age, reported continuing distress.