Spousal Conflict Research Articles

The Rising Cases of Suicide among Nigerians: What Are the Risk Factors, Prevention, and Remedies?

The escalating suicide rate in Nigeria, exacerbated by economic, political, health, and social crises, represents a pressing concern. The aftermath of the global COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns has exacerbated this issue, particularly in African nations with bare-bones governmental support systems. This paper examines the underlying causes of the alarming number of suicides in Nigeria, utilizing interviews to explore the risk factors, preventative measures adopted, and crisis interventions. Our findings reveal that spousal conflicts, job loss, and bereavement are significant triggers of suicidal ideation. Recommendations include fostering supportive environments, crisis interventions, and psychological rehabilitation services. Urgent attention is warranted to address this growing trend and mitigate its socioeconomic repercussions in Nigeria.

A Multimodal Analysis of Spousal Conflicts in Conversational Cartoons

A Multimodal Analysis of Spousal Conflicts in Conversational Cartoons

Family-Work Conflict and Spousal Aggression: A Comparative Analysis Pre- and Peri- COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT The main goal of the study was to examine the contribution of the family–work conflict to explaining spousal aggression from a comparative perspective: pre-COVID days versus the peri-COVID-19 pandemic period. The dimensions of aggression included spousal undermining and violent tactics for spousal conflict management as reflected in physical and verbal-emotional violence tactics. The family–work conflict construct included two factors: family interferes with work conflict and work interferes with family conflict. The sample was comprised of 747 Israeli Jewish mothers and fathers of children in early and middle childhood (384 in pre-pandemic days and 363 in the peri-pandemic period). Data were collected via an online link and were analyzed using path analysis. The intensity of work interferes with family conflict, the level of spousal undermining and the use of physical violence tactics were higher during the peri-pandemic period than in pre-pandemic days. The general measure of family work conflict was related to spousal undermining in both periods. Spousal undermining mediates the relation between family–work conflict and violent spousal conflict management tactics in both periods. A highly intensive family–work conflict experience in routine times and in times of crisis, such as a pandemic, may comprise a warning sign that may lead to expressions of spousal aggression In light of the findings, practical recommendations are proposed for reducing spousal aggression stemming from processes in the work–family interface.

Socioeconomic development initiatives and women’s experiences of marital violence in rural Bangladesh

Socioeconomic development initiatives (SDIs) have become a controversial issue. In giving skill trainings and credit supports, practitioners assume that SDI participation will enhance women’s income/dignity. Some studies have indicated that SDIs reduce women’s exposure to marital violence (MV), while others have shown that they increase spousal conflicts/MV. Our study explains how SDI participation may influence women’s marital life. This explorative study adopted a grounded theory design. Data included 17 participating-women’s interviews. It revealed that many women experienced further marital subordination, spousal conflicts, and MV. Yet women with strong motivation increased marital dignity/safety. Caring husbands facilitated this. If men can be involved in supporting women, impacts of SDIs will be substantial.

Parents’ marital quality and children’s transition to adulthood

These authors examined the long-term consequences for children of the emotional bond between parents. In a long-term Nepalese cohort, they find that children whose parents report strong marital affection and less spousal conflict attain higher levels of education and marry later than children whose parents behave differently.

‘My Husband is No Husband to Me’: Divorce, Marriage and Gender Struggles in African Communities of Colonial Natal, 1869–1910

There is no published historical study devoted to an examination of divorce in Zulu chiefdoms and homesteads living under customary law. Using scholarship that analyses gender struggles in southern Africa, this article evaluates four decades of spousal conflict following the passage of the Natal Native Marriage Law 1 of 1869. The legislation made colonial authority an arbiter of nuptial negotiations and allowed couples to revoke their vows in court. Sparking popular protest and official unease, Law 1 of 1869 drew the ire of African men upset by government meddling in what they viewed as their private quarrels. Of less concern to husbands was that divorce disproportionately burdened women. During proceedings, estranged wives were called on to convey the pain they suffered, including domestic violence, toxic jealousy and witchcraft. Fearing disruption to patriarchal order, magistrates infrequently sided with female plaintiffs. Consequently, a mother who tried to leave her batterer – and the father of their children – could expect to endure injury and adversity. If lucky enough to be awarded a favourable verdict, ex-wives could not escape the stigma associated with their legal banishment from conjugal life.

De-gendered Processes, Gendered Outcomes: How Egalitarian Couples Make Sense of Non-egalitarian Household Practices

Despite widespread support for gender-egalitarianism, men’s and women’s household labor contributions remain strikingly unequal. This article extends prior research on barriers to equality by closely examining how couples negotiate contradictions between their egalitarian ideals and admittedly non-egalitarian practices. Data from 64 in-depth interviews with members of 32 different-sex, college-educated couples show that respondents distinguish between labor allocation processes and outcomes. When they understand the processes as gender-neutral, they can write off gendered outcomes as the incidental result of necessary compromises made among competing values. Respondents “de-gender” their allocation process, or decouple it from gender ideology and gendered social forces, by narrowing their temporal horizon to the present moment and deploying an adaptable understanding of constraint that obscures alternative paths. This de-gendering helps prevent spousal conflict, but it may also facilitate behavioral stasis by directing attention away from the inequalities that continue to shape domestic life.

The Influence of Career on Household Responsibilities of Women in Tamale Metropolis

The study examined the influence of career on household responsibilities of career women in the Tamale metropolitan area of the northern region of Ghana. The descriptive survey design was employed for the study while questionnaire was the instrument used to gather data for analysis. A total number of 300 career women from different categories of professions were randomly selected based on their willingness to participate. The questionnaire items were coded and fed into the SPSS software package and analyzed. The data was organised into frequency counts and converted into percentages and presented in tables. Regarding the hypothesis, the Pearson’s correlation with an alpha level of 0.05 was the statistical technique used for the study. The study concluded that there is statistically significant correlation between the career of women and their household responsibilities. Also, the study found that inadequate time for care of children, spousal conflict, mental and emotional stresses were major challenges facing career women in Tamale. The study recommended that husbands and family members should be encouraged to assist their career women of some of their household responsibilities such as laundry, cooking and domestic cleaning services. This would help reduce the burden and stress of career women. Keywords: Career Women, Household Responsibilities, Tamale Metropolis DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/10-14-07 Publication date: July 31 st 2020

Parents' Marital Quality and Children's Transition to Adulthood.

Unique longitudinal measures from Nepal allow us to link both mothers' and fathers' reports of their marital relationships with a subsequent long-term record of their children's behaviors. We focus on children's educational attainment and marriage timing because these two dimensions of the transition to adulthood have wide-ranging, long-lasting consequences. We find that children whose parents report strong marital affection and less spousal conflict attain higher levels of education and marry later than children whose parents do not. Furthermore, these findings are independent of each other and of multiple factors known to influence children's educational attainment and marriage timing. These intriguing results support theories pointing toward the long-term intergenerational consequences of variations in multiple dimensions of parents' marriages.

Agency, empowerment and intra-household gender relations in Bangladesh: Does market-oriented microcredit contribute?

ABSTRACTThis article seeks to probe the influence of microcredit on the development of agency and empowerment of poor women in rural Bangladesh. The study was conducted on the clients of two leading NGOs—Grameen Bank (GB) and Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC)—in Bangladesh. The qualitative findings of the ethnographic study confirmed that poor women’s involvement in microcredit programs does not contribute to the development of their agency and empowerment in a transformative sense due to structural problems in the programs and the patriarchal social structure of Bangladesh. It is true that microcredit has increased the mobility of women through group networks and organizations, but it has not added to their broader empowerment by easing their access to market transactions, unlike their male counterparts. An overwhelming majority of women do not have control over loans and credit-driven activities, although repayment responsibility rests entirely with them. In some instances, microcredit leads to spousal conflicts regarding repayments. Therefore, microcredit has not been very effective in promoting rational economic choices by women that would lead to their empowerment in the true sense of the term.

Mixed Blessing: The Beneficial and Detrimental Effects of Religion on Child Development among Third-Graders

Previous research has linked parental religiosity to a number of positive developmental characteristics in young children. This study introduces the concept of selective sanctification as a refinement to existing theory and, in doing so, adds to a small but growing body of longitudinal research on this topic. We explore how parents’ religious attendance (for fathers, mothers, and couples) and the household religious environment (parent–child religious discussions, spousal conflicts over religion) influence child development among third-graders. Analyses of longitudinal data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS)-Kindergarten Cohort reveal a mix of salutary (beneficial) and adverse (detrimental) developmental outcomes based on teachers’ ratings and standardized test performance scores. Third-graders’ psychological adjustment and social competence are enhanced by various religious factors, but students’ performance on reading, math, and science tests is hampered by several forms of parental religiosity. We discuss the implications of these findings and suggest several avenues for future research.

Spousal Conflict Style, Support and Negativity: Impact on Children’s Social Competence

Previous research examining the relationship between spousal conflict behavior and children’s social competence delineated two conflict management styles – hot positive and cold negative. The former had a positive relationship with children’s social competence and the latter a negative relationship. The authors called for additional research to examine the relationship of conflict management style and other important factors with child outcomes. The research reported here examined the degree to which spouses’ conflict management style assessed on five dimensions, and such factors as social support and negativity within the marital relationship related to children’s social competence. This constellation of factors predicted children’s social competence. Family conflict practitioners can use these results to help spouses understand how their conflict behavior affects their children’s development. Spousal Conflict Management Style 1 Spousal conflict style, support and negativity: Impact on children’s social competence

Food Insecurity and Family Well-Being Outcomes among Households with Young Children

To investigate associations between household food insecurity and multiple family well-being variables in an effort to illuminate previously understudied, policy-amenable mechanisms through which food insecurity threatens healthy development. Data are drawn from the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort. The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort contains longitudinal data on household food insecurity and several family well-being factors including maternal physical and mental health, positive parenting practices and disciplinary strategies, and frequency and severity of spousal conflict. We use regression models with lagged dependent variables to estimate associations between food insecurity and family well-being outcomes, on a subsample of low-income families (N ≈ 2100-4700). Household food insecurity was significantly associated with poorer maternal physical health; increased depressive symptoms and use of harsh discipline strategies; and greater frequency and negativity of conflict between parents. Associations were strongest and most consistent when children were preschool aged. Transitions into food insecurity between toddlerhood and preschool were also associated with significantly worse parental physical and mental health outcomes, and more family conflict, with similar though slightly weaker and less consistent associations for transitioning into food insecurity between infancy and toddlerhood. Food insecurity is associated with significant decreases in family health and well-being. Clinicians and other public health officials play a critical role in assessing risk for children and families, and linking families with supportive services. Screening families experiencing or at risk for food insecurity and connecting them with resources is an avenue through which public health practitioners can support family health.

Cardiovascular Reactivity During Marital Conflict in Laboratory and Naturalistic Settings: Differential Associations with Relationship and Individual Functioning Across Contexts.

Cardiovascular reactivity during spousal conflict is considered to be one of the main pathways for relationship distress to impact physical, mental, and relationship health. However, the magnitude of association between cardiovascular reactivity during laboratory marital conflict and relationship functioning is small and inconsistent given the scope of its importance in theoretical models of intimate relationships. This study tests the possibility that cardiovascular data collected in laboratory settings downwardly bias the magnitude of these associations when compared to measures obtained in naturalistic settings. Ambulatory cardiovascular reactivity data were collected from 20 couples during two relationship conflicts in a research laboratory, two planned relationship conflicts at couples' homes, and two spontaneous relationship conflicts during couples' daily lives. Associations between self-report measures of relationship functioning, individual functioning, and cardiovascular reactivity across settings are tested using multilevel models. Cardiovascular reactivity was significantly larger during planned and spontaneous relationship conflicts in naturalistic settings than during planned relationship conflicts in the laboratory. Similarly, associations with relationship and individual functioning variables were statistically significantly larger for cardiovascular data collected in naturalistic settings than the same data collected in the laboratory. Our findings suggest that cardiovascular reactivity during spousal conflict in naturalistic settings is statistically significantly different from that elicited in laboratory settings both in magnitude and in the pattern of associations with a wide range of inter- and intrapersonal variables. These differences in findings across laboratory and naturalistic physiological responses highlight the value of testing physiological phenomena across interaction contexts in romantic relationships.

A diary study on the role of psychological detachment in the spillover of self-control demands to employees’ ego depletion and the crossover to their partner

ABSTRACTThis study examined whether daily self-control demands at work deplete one’s self-control resources (i.e., ego depletion) at work and whether these demands have prolonged effects by spilling over to the home domain via a lack of psychological detachment. Moreover, we investigated the daily crossover of ego depletion at home between partners and its influence on spousal interactions. Results of our dyadic diary study revealed that daily self-control demands at work are positively related to ego depletion experienced at work and at home, and negatively related to psychological detachment. Psychological detachment is directly negatively related to ego depletion experienced at home and mediates the positive relationship between self-control demands at work and ego depletion at home. With regard to crossover mechanisms, we found support for a direct positive crossover of ego depletion of the actor to the ego depletion of the actor’s partner. In addition, the ego depletion of the actor’s partner related directly negatively to providing spousal support and positively to spousal conflict and moreover mediated the relation between ego depletion of the actor and both spousal interactions. Implications for practice and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The Relationship between Power Perception and Couple's Conflict Management Strategy

ABSTRACTInterpersonal conflict is integral to intimate spousal relationships, and while potentially destructive, it can also enhance sharing of feelings and thoughts and the sense of being loved. Its positive or negative effects partly rely on how partners deal with it. This study was conducted in Israel with 160 participants. All participants were Jewish and involved in long-term heterosexual intimate relationships (married/in a serious relationship). The study examines a model that suggests that perceived socioemotional and materialistic power of a couple predicts their conflict management strategies. In addition, we tested whether this relationship is mediated by perceived quality of spousal relationship. The perceived socioemotional power was found to predict only cooperative conflict management stratagies and only for women. It was also found that this correlation is mediated by the perceived quality of the relationship. This study enhances our understanding of the way individuals grapple with spousal conflicts and reveals the positive power that can be nurtured and embodied within the spousal relationship. In addition, this study reveals that the effect of power perception differs between men and women. Clinical and research implications for couple and family therapists are discussed, and suggestions for effective clinical practice in addressing marital power are given.

“I Love You, Not Your Friends”

Research on the merging of social networks among married couples tends to focus on the benefits of increased social capital, with the acknowledgment of potential stressors being limited primarily to in-law relationships. The purpose of the present study was to examine both positive (i.e., shared friend support) and negative (i.e., disapproval and interference of partner’s friends) aspects of friend ties on divorce across 16 years. Using a sample of 355 Black and White couples from the Early Years of Marriage project, we examined these associations with a Cox proportional hazard regression, controlling for a number of demographic and relational factors. Our findings indicate that (1) the negative aspects of couples’ friend ties are more powerful predictors of divorce than positive aspects; (2) at least early in marriage, husbands’ negative perceptions of wives’ friends are more predictive of divorce than are wives’ negative perceptions of husbands’ friends; (3) friendship disapproval may be less critical in the marital lives of Black husbands and wives than of White husbands and wives; and (4) the association between disapproval of wives’ friends at Year 1 and divorce may be partially explained by wives’ friends interfering in the marriage. Our findings are interpreted in light of possible mechanisms to explain the link between partner disapproval of friends and divorce, such as diminished interdependence, less network approval, and increased spousal conflict and jealousy.

Spousal conflict resolution strategies and marital relations in late adulthood

AbstractIn this study, we examined differences in the spousal conflict resolution strategies of husbands and wives in late adulthood among a sample of 76 married Israeli couples (N = 152). Using dyadic analysis (the actor–partner interdependence model), we examined the impacts of the strategies adopted by each spouse as well as their partner on evaluations of marital life as reflected in their assessments of positive and negative dimensions of marital life. The findings revealed that integration was the most prevalent strategy used by both spouses, whereas dominance and avoidance were the least prevalent strategies. Moreover, integration contributed most significantly to explaining assessments of marital life.

Domestic Violence and Divorce Law: When Divorce Threats Become Credible

The cost of divorce influences the bargaining position of spouses and thus their behavior within the marriage. This study takes advantage of a major and unexpected reduction in divorce costs in Spain to estimate the causal effects on domestic violence. Results suggest a 30% decline in spousal conflict as a consequence of the reform. Spousal violence is found to have decreased among couples who remained married after the modification in the law, which suggests an important role for changes in bargaining within the marriage when divorce becomes a more credible (cheaper) option.

Impact of continuous glucose monitoring on diabetes management and marital relationships of adults with Type 1 diabetes and their spouses: a qualitative study

To examine the impact of continuous glucose monitoring on diabetes management and marital relationships of adults with Type1 diabetes and their spouses. Nine younger (30-49years) and 11 older (50-70years) patients with Type1 diabetes and 14 spouses participated in eight focus groups specific to age and role (patient or spouse). Audio-recorded data were transcribed, coded and analysed using thematic analysis and aided by NVivo software. Qualitative analysis revealed participants perceived continuous glucose monitoring as positively influencing hypoglycaemia management by decreasing spouses' anxiety, vigilance and negative experiences. Participants also described continuous glucose monitoring as promoting collaborative diabetes management and increasing spousal understanding of diabetes, especially when planning and managing pregnancy. Couples' conflicts occurred when (1) patients assumed sole responsibility for continuous glucose monitoring and/or did not respond to night-time glucose alarms and (2) spouses did not understand alarms and felt frustrated and helpless to assist patients. Our findings suggest that continuous glucose monitoring may positively impact collaborative diabetes management and marital relationships of patients with Type1 diabetes and their spouses. However, reluctance to collaborate and lack of understanding may contribute to couples' conflicts around continuous glucose monitoring. Our findings have important implications for clinical care and point to the need for interventions that include spouses in continuous glucose monitoring training to increase their understanding of continuous glucose monitoring, minimize risk for spousal conflict and enhance collaborative diabetes management. Further studies are needed to explore these issues in more detail and depth with larger and more diverse populations.