Although much has been learned from cross-sectional research on marriage, an understanding of how marriages develop, succeed, and fail is best achieved with longitudinal data. In view of growing interest in longitudinal research on marriage, the authors reviewed and evaluated the literature on how the quality and stability of marriages change over time. First, prevailing theoretical perspectives are examined for their ability to explain change in marital quality and stability. Second, the methods and findings of 115 longitudinal studies--representing over 45,000 marriages--are summarized and evaluated, yielding specific suggestions for improving this research, Finally, a model is outlined that integrates the strengths of previous theories of marriage, accounts for established findings, and indicates new directions for research on how marriages change.

The longitudinal course of marital quality and stability: A review of theory, methods, and research.

Data on the relation between marital turmoil (ie, discord and divorce) and behavior problems in children are reviewed It is concluded that a relation between the two domains docs exist Several parameters of this relation are outlined, including type of marital turmoil, form of the child's behavioral response, sex differences, age effects, parental buffering, and effects of parental psychopathology Conclusions drawn from this review are used to evaluate several broad etiological hypotheses about the effect of marital turmoil on children, and implications for the treatment of behavior problems in children from these families are discussed Finally, interpretative and methodological refinements are suggested for future research

Interparental conflict and the children of discord and divorce.

A longitudinal analysis of risk factors for child maltreatment: findings of a 17-year prospective study of officially recorded and self-reported child abuse and neglect

This meta-analysis finds that parents report lower marital satisfaction compared with nonparents (d=−.19, r=−.10). There is also a significant negative correlation between marital satisfaction and number of children (d=−.13, r=−.06). The difference in marital satisfaction is most pronounced among mothers of infants (38% of mothers of infants have high marital satisfaction, compared with 62% of childless women). For men, the effect remains similar across ages of children. The effect of parenthood on marital satisfaction is more negative among high socioeconomic groups, younger birth cohorts, and in more recent years. The data suggest that marital satisfaction decreases after the birth of a child due to role conflicts and restriction of freedom.

Parenthood and Marital Satisfaction: A Meta-Analytic Review.

▪ Abstract The basic process of adolescent development involves changing relations between the individual and the multiple levels of the context within which the young person is embedded. Variation in the substance and timing of these relations promotes diversity in adolescence and represents sources of risk or protective factors across this life period. The key risk factors of the contempory American adolescent period are discussed. Behavioral risks involve drug, alcohol, and substance use and abuse; unsafe sex, teenage pregnancy, and teenage parenting; school underachievement, failure, and dropout; and delinquency, crime, and violence. Poverty among youth exacerbates these risks. The features of youth programs effective in preventing the actualization of risk or in promoting positive adolescent development are discussed, as are the characteristics of public policies that may enhance the life chances of the diverse youth of America and the world.

Graham B. Spanier

Papers

Child influences on marital and family interaction : a life-span perspective

1 – A Dynamic Interactional View of Child and Family Development

12 – The Study of Child-Family Interactions: A Perspective for the Future

The Use of Research in Applied Marriage and Family Textbooks