Levels Of Marital Quality Research Articles

The association between marital quality and diabetes mellitus: A systematic review.

Marital relationship and its quality are among the major psychological factors affecting the multiple aspects of a person's health status. Chronic diseases are also among the factors that affect various aspects of the lives of millions of people including their marital quality status. One of the most important underlying chronic diseases is diabetes. Since the correlation between diabetes mellitus and marital quality has been neglected, this systematic review, as the first one, aims to investigate the association between marital quality and diabetes mellitus. A comprehensive search was conducted among three databases (Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science) until September 2021, which resulted in 189 articles. After assessing the studies based on the inclusion criteria, 14 studies were included. The included studies were divided into two general groups. The first group consisted of 3 articles examining the effect of factors related to diabetes on marital quality, and the second group included 11 articles studying the effect of marital quality on diabetes and its factors. In general, the articles investigating the impact of diabetes-related factors on marital quality showed that diabetes has negative impacts on levels of marital quality. Also, the articles investigating the impact of marital quality on diabetes-related factors, showed that higher marital quality is associated with a lower risk of developing diabetes, a better quality of life in patients with diabetes, and better adherence to diabetes care regimen. The results regarding diabetes management were conflicting. Gender was mentioned as an important modulator in some of the investigated relationships. Marital quality remarkably influences diabetes-related factors and is itself affected by the condition resulting from diabetes in individuals with diabetes mellitus. However, further studies are required due to the limited number of studies investigating this correlation.

Linked Lives: Does Disability and Marital Quality Influence Risk of Marital Dissolution among Older Couples?

Using fourteen waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a longitudinal panel survey with respondents in the United States, this research explores whether marital quality—as measured by reports of enjoyment of time together—influences risk of divorce or separation when either spouse acquires basic care disability. Discrete-time event history models with multiple competing events were estimated using multinomial logistic regression. Respondents were followed until they experienced the focal event (i.e., divorce or separation) or right-hand censoring (i.e., a competing event or were still married at the end of observation). Disability among wives was predictive of divorce/separation in the main effects model. Low levels of marital quality (i.e., enjoy time together) were associated with marital dissolution. An interaction between marital quality and disability yielded a significant association among couples where at least one spouse acquired basic care disability. For couples who acquired disability, those who reported low enjoyment were more likely to divorce/separate than those with high enjoyment; however, the group with the highest predicted probability were couples with low enjoyment, but no acquired disability.

Antisocial Traits, Negative Emotionality, and Trajectories of Relationship Quality in Mexican-Origin Couples.

The symptoms of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and broader personality trait domains such as negative emotionality (NEM) may prove detrimental for marital quality. Previous research with European Americans has found that ASPD negatively predicts couple functioning, even when controlling for NEM. The current study extends previous work by testing whether ASPD (as well as a history of early conduct disorder) and NEM are related to marital quality trajectories in a sample of 450 Mexican-origin couples followed over 9 years. Consistent with other studies, there was a slight average decline in relationship quality over the course of the study along with differences between couples in the initial level of relationship quality and rate of change. Results indicated that NEM was a stronger correlate of initial levels of marital quality than ASPD. Findings underscore the relevance of NEM as a personality trait domain relevant for relationships.

Is the Moderating Effect of Social Support on New Korean Mothers' Psychological Distress Contingent on Levels of Marital Quality?

This study examines how levels of marital quality change the effect of social support on postpartum psychological distress among new Korean mothers using the Panel Study on Korean Children (N = 1585). In accord with findings from previous studies, this study shows that low marital quality negatively affects new mothers' mental health, but that social support alleviates psychological distress independent of marital quality. The main finding of this research is that the moderating effect of social support is contingent on levels of marital quality. Aggregated social support moderates the effects of marital quality on new mothers' mental health only when the level of marital quality is low. Furthermore, each dimension of social support (emotional, informational, and instrumental) only has a moderating effect when marital quality is low. The findings highlight the fact that the moderating effect of social support varies with the individual context and so customized social support that fits individual needs matters for the mental health of new mothers.

Assessment of social traits in married couples: Self-reports versus spouse ratings around the interpersonal circumplex.

Personality traits predict the quality of intimate relationships, and as a result can be useful additions to assessments of couple functioning. For traits involving social behavior, the affiliation (i.e., warmth, friendliness vs. hostility, quarrelsomeness) and control (i.e., dominance vs. deference, submissiveness) dimensions of the interpersonal circumplex (IPC) are an alternative to the 5-factor model traits of agreeableness and extraversion, given that they may provide a more specific and relevant description of social behavior in the context of couple functioning. The couple context creates an opportunity to supplement commonly used self-reports with informant ratings. Although substantial correlations between self-reports and partner ratings of personality are well-documented, differences between these assessment modalities in levels of affiliation and control have not been examined previously. The present study of 301 middle-aged and older couples addressed this issue by comparing self-reports and spouse ratings, using parallel forms of a measure of the interpersonal circumplex derived from the NEO (Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness) PI-R (Personality Inventory-Revised). Participants reported lower trait dominance relative to spouses' ratings, and less trait hostility. For dominance, this discrepancy was evident at all levels of marital quality, but for hostility it was particularly apparent among couples reporting low marital quality. The tendency to self-report less dominance relative to ratings by spouses was stronger among women than men. These discrepancies may be important in couple assessment and intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record

The longitudinal role of breastfeeding in mothers' and fathers' relationship quality trajectories.

Guided by a family systems perspective, this study investigated whether breastfeeding plays a role in the quality of the mother-father intimate relationship over the course of child development. Using a prospective, longitudinal design, and data drawn from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n=986 couples), the present study examined the predictive role of breastfeeding in the first 3 years of life (for up to 4 months and for 5 months or longer, relative to never breastfeeding) in maternal and paternal trajectories of intimate relationship quality. The outcome variable of interest was emotional intimacy, rated by mothers and fathers when children were 54 months of age, in grades 1, 3, 5, and 6, and 15 years of age. Multivariate hierarchical linear modeling, which appropriately handled dyadic data and accounted for effects of demographic covariates and earlier relationship quality, indicated that breastfeeding uniquely predicted increases in mothers' (but not fathers') marital quality levels over time. There was no difference in the strength of the positive associations for shorter versus longer breastfeeding duration. The findings suggest that improved intimate relationship quality may be another psychosocial benefit experienced by breastfeeding mothers. The findings underscore the importance of considering breastfeeding in the context of intimate relationships and may be of interest to women weighing the decision to breastfeed, their partners, and healthcare providers.

The Effect of Security‐Related Stress on Dyadic Closeness Among Jews and Arabs in Israel: A Daily Diary Study

An important aspect of Israeli life is its continuous state of conflict with the neighboring Palestinian people and Arab countries. Given that security-related stress is so intensely experienced by all Israeli residents, we examined the effects of daily fluctuations in security-related stress on dyadic closeness among Jewish and Arab couples. Time sampling approach was used to study repeated sequences of associations between stress and dyadic closeness. Data were collected from 188 Jewish and 93 Arab couples by means of daily diaries. Hierarchical multivariate linear modeling was used to analyze the data. The findings indicate that stress results in increasing distance between intimate partners, but the effect varies with the level of marital quality and socioethnic affiliation.

The Effects of Similarity Versus Dissimilarity of Spouses' Traumatic Childhood Events on Psychological Well-Being and Marital Quality

This study compared spouses who had experienced similar versus different childhood trauma in terms of post-traumatic symptomatology, psychological symptoms of distress, and marital quality. The sample comprised two groups: Holocaust child survivors who were sexually abused during the Holocaust and are married to Holocaust child survivors ( n = 44) who were also sexually abused, and adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse married to nonsurvivors of sexual abuse ( n = 43). All participants were administered the post-traumatic stress disorder, Symptom Checklist 90-Revised, and Enrich Scale for Marital Quality questionnaires. The results revealed that compared with survivors married to partners with different past traumatic experiences, survivors who shared similar past traumatic experiences with their spouses had higher levels of PTSD, anxiety, depression, somatization, phobic-anxiety, and hostility but also expressed greater levels of marital quality.

Marital and Cohabiting Relationships of Adult Children of Alcoholics

The popular press has disseminated widely the idea that adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) have relational deficiencies. This literature has been challenged due to its reliance on clinical samples; however, evidence of no difference between ACOAs and non-ACOAs has come from studies of college students. The National Survey of Families and Households is used to examine the effect of growing up in an alcoholic family on adult marital and cohabiting relationships. In support of the deficit model, results reveal that ACOAs are less likely to marry and have lower levels of marital quality and stability than non-ACOAs. Additional ACOA deficiencies that serve to mediate these relationships are also identified. However, while ACOAs commonly are profiled as women exhibiting excessive dependency, results reveal effects for men and women and evidence for relational patterns characterized by distance rather than overinvolvement. Research using more representative samples is needed to dispel misleading stereotypes.

Modeling the Effects of Expressed Emotion, Psychiatric Symptomology, and Marital Quality Levels on Male and Female Verbal Aggression

Previous research has linked expressed emotion (EE) levels and psychiatric symptomology, whereas other empirical efforts have examined the relationship between EE and marital relationship variables. Still other research has linked psychological conditions with acts of aggression, and the impact of marital issues within this domain of inquiry also has been explored. The study presented here examined the combined effects of EE, marital quality, and psychiatric symptomology on displays of verbal aggression by both relationship partners. Both husbands' and wives' reports of marital quality were predictive of both husbands' and wives' verbal aggression levels; here, reports of lower marital quality were associated with higher levels of verbal aggression. Additionally, husbands' and wives' reports of psychological symptomology in self and partner were important paths to marital quality, as were husbands' and wives' reports of EE levels. Further, some evidence was generated that supports the mediating role of marital quality with regard to EE and psychological symptomology. However, the overall fit indices of the models tested in this empirical effort were modest. Limitations that concern the instruments utilized in the present study are discussed in this regard.

Roles in the Divorce Process

This research note is a postscript to “Roles in the Divorce Process and Identity Strength” (Vannoy, 2000). A sample of 411 divorced Catholic women is analyzed to investigate whether marital quality experienced and perceived relationship intimacy is associated with roles in the divorce process. The roles investigated are those suggested in the Vannoy (1995) paradigm: who is the more nurturing or self-attending partner in the relationship, who first emotionally disengaged from the relationship, who initiated the physical leaving, and who first initiated legal proceedings. Findings indicate that wives who were first to emotionally disengage from the marriage report experiencing significantly less marital quality than those who wished to save their marriages; the other divorce roles did not differentiate level of marital quality. However, wives who are more nurturing and who were the initiator in all three divorce roles perceived less relationship intimacy in their former marriages.

Marital Quality and Physical Illness: A Latent Growth Curve Analysis

K. A. S. WICKRAMA, FREDERICK 0. LORENZ, AND RAND D. CONGER Iowa State University GLEN H. ELDER, JR. University of North Carolina* Using latent growth curves, this study investigates the association between intraindividual changes in marital quality and physical illness for 364 wives and husbands in the rural Midwest. The results reveal that both the initial level of and the change in the marital quality of husbands and wives correlate with the initial level of and the change in physical health, after controlling for the influence of work stress, education, and income. Additional analyses imply that psychological wellbeing and behaviors that are health risks mediate or explain this association. The results provide stronger evidence for the association between marital quality and physical illness for both husbands and wives than has been obtained from cross-sectional studies or from longitudinal studies that have been limited to the investigation of interindividual differences. Key Words: marital quality, physical illness. Previous research demonstrates a significant association between marital roles and physical health (Gove, Hughes, & Style, 1983; Ross, Mirowsky, & Goldsteen, 1990). Few scholars, however, have examined how the degree of marital quality, rather than simply the status of being married, relates to physical well-being (Marcenes & Sheham, 1992). Yet subjective experience in the marital role may be a more powerful predictor of health status than is role occupancy (Barauch & Barnett, 1986). Gove and Umberson (1985), for example, found that intimate relationships are strongly related to overall well-being. Another limitation in previous research is that most of the studies focusing on the association between marital quality and health have examined only mental health (Lorenz, Conger, Montague, & Wickrama, 1993). In this study, we extend earlier research by investigating the correlation of marital quality, as indicated by marital stability, satisfaction, and happiness in the relationship, with physical illness, as reported by 364 wives and husbands who have been married long. In addition to examining the empirical relationship between marital quality and physical health, our study also addresses two important methodological issues largely neglected in previous research. First, earlier studies have focused on the correspondence between the levels of marital quality and physical health. We were able to locate only one study that has examined the relationship between interindividual changes in marital quality and changes in physical health (Booth & Johnson, 1994). No research in this area has investigated individual differences in intraindividual change in marriage and health, even though the investigation of change should explain individual growth or decline over time. Instead, prior studies of health and social relations have inferred intraindividual change from interindividual differences in levels of attributes (Lorenz & Wickrama, 1994). Actually monitoring the correspondence between changes in social relations and changes in health status provides stronger evidence for the dynamic association between those attributes, at least in comparison with the correspondence that can be obtained from interindividual differences in levels of marital quality and physical health at one point in time (McArdle, 1986; Patterson, 1983, Rogosa, Brandt, & Zimowski, 1982). Most important, none of the earlier studies that we have been able to identify has used individual trajectories of change to examine the systematic relationship between marital quality and physical wellbeing. In examining how the dynamics of marriage might affect changes in health status, it is important to note that changes in personal attributes across several points in time can take either linear or nonlinear forms. When true individual change follows interesting and even nonlinear trajectories, traditional analytical methods (correlational and covariant) are unlikely to reveal the intricacies of individual change (Willet & Sayer, 1994). …

Role dissatisfaction and the decline in marital quality across the transition to parenthood.

In the examination of role dissatisfaction and decline in marital quality across the transition to parenthood, it is postulated that 1) there would be a decline in the mean level of marital quality particularly among females, and 2) that the level of perceived inequity in postpartum allocation of marital roles would moderate the effects of the transition. A background review of pertinent literature pertaining to role dissatisfaction is presented, and found to be complex. Role inequity was measured as the level of dissatisfaction with a partner's contribution to a range of different role activities postpartum. The Australian sample was comprised of 59 primiparous couples who reported levels of marital satisfaction during the last trimester of pregnancy (Time 1) and then 3 months after the birth of the baby (Time 2). Couples were recruited from a variety of sources: private physicians, childbirth classes, and public hospitals. Average marriage duration was 3.5 years. Mean female age was 23.85 years and mean male age was 26.71 years. Most had completed at least 12 years of formal education. Marital quality was measured by a 32 item Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) comprised of units on dyadic satisfaction, consensus, cohesion, and affectional expression. Time 1 mean correlation of subscales was .43, and Time 2, .36. Dissatisfaction with partner's role performance was measured with an instrument of 18 items developed by Noller and Callan. Alpha coefficients were .69 and .71 for males and females respectively. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to assess marital quality scores by sex and time period and changes in marital quality due to level of postnatal role dissatisfaction by sex and time period. The Bonferronni procedure was used to control the Type 1 error rate for all analyses after the initial analysis of variance. The results revealed that the decline in marital quality reported in the literature may be a reflection of a decline in affectional expression. There was no support for the expectation that females experienced greater declines in marital quality than males, although it is possible that those experiencing greater dissatisfaction may not have provided followup data. There was support for the notion that females' levels of role dissatisfaction account for declines in marital quality; i.e., there was a decline in scores of affectional expression of women only who were also dissatisfied with a partner's role performance. When females perceived partner's performing a fair share in household tasks, marital quality increased. Future research on causation should explore the inequity model and use an objective measure of 1 or both variables. The link between role relations to the extent of change in new mothers' levels of marital quality suggests prenatal counseling on marital roles. Role inequity had no effect on male levels of decline in marital quality. Independent processes may account for these results, but there is a promising direction.

Perceptions of Communicative Relationships in Families with Adolescents

In this study of perceptions of interactions within the family group, both parents and one adolescent from 54 two-child middle-class families were videotaped while interacting on two set topics. Each pair of parents and their adolescent child then viewed the videotape and made ratings on the dimensions of anxiety, involvement, dominance, andfriendliness of themselves and the other family members. While there were few differences between parents, adolescents rated family members as more anxious, less involved, and less dominant than did other family members, and were rated as less dominant and less involved than other family members. Various interpretations can be made of these findings, among them that their striving for independence may require adolescents to move outside the family and adopt a more objective, outsider's view. At the same time, adolescents judged interactions to be as friendly as did their parents, indicating a desire for closeness with other family members. Otherfindings revealed that perceptions of the levels of anxiety, involvement, dominance, andfriendliness shown by family members also varied according to the sex of the adolescent and the level of marital quality in the family. In families with adolescent daughters, for example, those high in marital quality ratedfamily members as more friendly than did those low in marital quality. In families with sons, those low in marital quality rated family members as more dominant and more involved than did those high in marital quality.

The Relation of Child Age, Gender, and Number of Children to the Marital Adjustment of Wives

This study compared the marital adjustment and emotional quality of the home environments of 210 employed wives in four family categories: mothers with infants, mothers with preschool-aged children, mothers with both infants and preschool children, and wives with no children. The Dyadic Adjustment Scale and the Family Relations Index were administered to evaluate the effects of child age, gender, and number on the quality of wives' marriages. As in previous research, childless wives reported higher levels of marital adjustment and emotional quality of the home environment than the combined category of mothers when the responses of the mothers were pooled across all child groups. However, further analyses, using planned directional contrasts, revealed that the differences were primarily due to mothers with two children and mothers with male children. Mothers with female children reported no significant differences in marital adjustment and emotional quality of the home environment when compared with the childless wives. Results of this study suggest that decreased levels of marital quality may be specific to mothers with certain types of children.

Marital Quality and Power Processes among Black Couples

The primary purpose qf this study was to examine the association between spousal power structure and marital quality in black married couples. Two self-report and ffbur behavioral power measures were used to classify couples as husband-dominant, egalitarian, or wife-dominant. Marital quality was assessed by measures of global marital satisfaction, positive regard for the spouse, and reciprocity. A MANO VA with power structure as the independent variable and the marital quality indices as dependent variables was perfobrmed for each of the power measures. These analyses showed that the three powerpatterns were associated with dferent levels of marital quality, with husband-dominant couples frequently reporting the highest marital quality. In another analysis of these data, a stepwise regression with marital quality as the criterion and husband-wife differences on power measures as the predictor variables indicated that power balance or husband-wife difference in power was predictive of marital quality: similarity in self-reported power but dissimilarity in behavioral power was associated with higher marital quality. Results are discussed for their relevance to previous research on power processes in black couples and to measurement problems in the assessment qf spousal power distribution.