Browsing by Subject "marriage"
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Item Changes in Marital Satisfaction Across the Transition to Parenthood: The Role of Adult Attachment Orientations(2012-07-16) Rentfro, Jamie LeighFor parents, the birth of their first child sparks rapid change for each partner and for their romantic relationship. With the stress of the transition to parenthood, many couples experience declining marital satisfaction. However, previous studies have reported wide variation in the magnitude and time course of this decline. The present study sought to determine the trajectory of marital satisfaction across the first 2 years of parenthood. The study also examined the role of anxious and avoidant attachment, as well as relationship dynamics that prevent or augment declines in satisfaction for anxious and avoidant individuals. Data were collected from couples in five assessment waves: 6 weeks before the birth of the first child, and 6, 12, 18, and 24 months postbirth. Both partners completed self-report measures of attachment orientations and relevant situational stressors. It was hypothesized that, for insecurely attached partners, declines in marital satisfaction would be associated with the inability to pursue attachment-related goals. Thus, satisfaction should decline when: 1) anxious individuals are unable to increase proximity to their partners; and 2) avoidant individuals are unable to increase distance from their partners. Growth curve models examined changes in satisfaction over time, moderated by gender, attachment orientation (anxiety or avoidance), and situational stressors. Results yielded three key findings, which largely supported the hypotheses. First, for highly anxious individuals, satisfaction was lower or declined when they perceived their partners as less supportive and more negative toward them, and when they felt their babies interfered more in their romantic relationship. Second, for highly avoidant individuals, satisfaction was lower or declined when they felt their babies interfered more in leisure activities, and when they perceived more work-family conflict and more demands from their families. Third, an interesting pattern of gender differences emerged, such that satisfaction often declined more steeply in insecure men than women. Exploratory analyses revealed additional moderators of the attachment-satisfaction relationship. These are discussed as they relate to the goals of insecurely attached individuals. Findings suggest that attachment insecurities predict dissatisfaction in new parents primarily when situational stressors block the pursuit of secondary attachment goals.Item Cross-Cultural Validation of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised: A confirmatory factor analytic study(2011-10-21) Gasbarrini, Molly FaitheThis study examined issues of measurement equivalence in a cross-national study using the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised (MSI-R). Overall findings supported cross-cultural similarities across the Spain, Germany, Korea, and the U.S. standardization samples. The Spanish, German, and Korean translations of the MSI-R demonstrated moderate to strong internal consistency, inter-scale correlations, and discriminative validity overall. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed configural and metric invariance across the original measure and the German, Spanish, and Korean translations. Mean profile comparisons between the current German, Spanish, and Korean samples and the original standardization sample revealed significant differences on several scales. Test characteristic similarities between the U.S. and the Spanish, German, and Korean clinical samples suggest the clinical utility of the MSI-R for identifying couples for secondary prevention or intervention protocols, and treatment planning in Spain, Germany, and Korea. Implications for cross-national clinical and research applications of the MSI-R are discussed.Item Investigating the Relation Between Stress and Marital Satisfaction: The Interaction Effects of Dyadic Coping and Communication(2013-07-30) Gasbarrini, Molly FThis study examined the role that communication and coping skills play in the relation between stress and marital satisfaction in a community sample of 119 married, heterosexual couples in Italy. Hierarchical regression models were used to test for communication or coping skills as a moderator of the relation between an external or internal stressor and relationship satisfaction. Results from regression analyses showed that actor reports of both coping and communication significantly contributed to relationship satisfaction above and beyond contributions from external/internal stressors for both husbands and wives. There was a significant interaction effect of poor communication and internal stress on relationship satisfaction for both husbands and wives. There was also a significant interaction effect of coping skills and internal stress on relationship satisfaction for wives. Additionally, there was a significant interaction effect of husbands? coping and wives? internal stress on relationship satisfaction. Implications of these findings for prevention and intervention strategies for relationship distress and for further research are discussed.Item Long-Term Marriages Among Nigerian Immigrants: A Qualitative InquiryNwachukwu, Thomas Kizito