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Humans are inexorably driven to search for order and meaning in their own and others' lives; accounts are a major avenue for sociologists to depict and understand the ways in which individuals experience and identify with that meaning and their social world. The accounts concept has a solid foundation and history in early sociological analysis and research. The current work on accounts focuses on "story-like" interpretations or explanations and their functions and consequences to a social actor's life. The concept is useful for gaining insight into the human experience and arriving at meanings or culturally embedded normative explanations. This concept deserves greater explicit attention in sociology and is in need of further theoretical development and stimulation. I argue that sociologists should embrace the concept of accounts; the foundation is set for a resurgence of work on accounts in sociology.

Using a longitudinal sample of 373 Black and White newlyweds from the Early Years of Marriage Study, we examined the effects of premarital parenthood on meanings of marriage and the consequent effects of these meanings on the risk of divorce by the 4th year of the couples' marriages. Results indicated that premarital parents were significantly more likely than nonparent couples to mention practical advantages of marriage in year 1 (e.g., financial security, having a home, spouse is/will be a good parent). Results of Cox regressions indicated that for premarital parents, perceiving practical advantages of marriage in year 1 reduced their risk of divorce by 85%. Results are discussed in terms of the adjusting family‐life‐education and treatment needs of premarital parents compared with nonparent couples and the consequences for their marital stability.

Abstract: We examine the effects of subjective and organizational religious participation on marital stability over time for urban Black American couples and White American couples who participated in a longitudinal project. Our findings indicated that the role religiosity plays in the stability of marriage over time varied by gender and race. Black husbands and wives reported that religion was more important to them and that they attended religious services more frequently than White husbands and wives. Greater service attendance was predictive of decreased odds of divorce, only when reported by wives. Interaction effects revealed that the effect was more notable among White wives. Practitioners should consider the diversity between and within couples and the sociohistorical contexts in which marriages are embedded.

This article uses a panel study of children and mothers to examine how parents and children conceptualize, perceive, and report on their relationships with each other during the children's transition to adulthood years. The article provides strong support for the reliability and validity of reports of parent-child relationships. The article documents generally positive and supportive relationships between parents and children, more positive relationships with mothers than with fathers, and an improvement in relationships as children mature from age 18 to 23. Further, parent-child relationships are perceived differently by parents and children in that there is not just one perception of the relationship between child and parent, but a relationship as perceived by the child and a relationship as perceived by the parent.

Spouses' emotional ties to family early in marriage are linked to marital outcomes, but little is known about how these ties affect marital stability and whether these effects vary by race and gender. The present study examines the links between emotional ties to family of origin and in‐laws in the first year of marriage and marital stability over the first 16 years of marriage. Data were collected as part of a longitudinal study following Black American (n = 199) and White American (n = 174) married couples. Analyses revealed that perceptions of closeness to in‐laws early in marriage were associated with odds of divorce over time, but the results varied by race and gender. Findings are discussed in terms of couples' ties to family early in marriage and the role that in‐law bonds play for marital stability. We also offer insights for practitioners who provide premarital and marital education and counseling services to couples.

Abstract: According to The Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment, and Adaptation, certain family strengths can promote positive outcomes for children undergoing adverse or stressful circumstances. We proposed that chief among these potential strengths are high quality parent‐child relationships. Data from self‐report questionnaires from 190 long‐term survivors (3+ years posttreatment) of childhood cancer were analyzed. The findings indicated that survivors who report better relationships with their mothers and fathers consistently report a higher quality of life, especially in the psychological domain. Although survivors reported better relationships with their mothers than with their fathers, father‐child relations were associated more highly with survivors' reports of selective quality of life scales. Important implications for family therapists and practitioners are discussed, especially those that employ a growth or resilience approach.

AbstractGuided by stress process perspectives, this study conceptualizes marital conflict as a multidimensional stressor to assess how three aspects of conflict—frequency of disagreements, breadth of disagreements, and cumulative disagreements—impact subjective health. Longitudinal data of married couples spanning 16 years (n = 373 couples) were analyzed using multilevel modeling. For husbands, more frequent disagreements than usual within a given year were associated with poorer subjective health. For wives, the greater cumulative effects of disagreements over 16 years were harmful for subjective health. We discuss how gendered self‐representations and relationship power issues help explain the findings. This research demonstrated the importance of examining multiple aspects of marital conflict to reveal that their subjective health consequences function differently for wives and husbands.