What factors influence the relationship of a newly married couple? Do these factors change as the marriage matures? The authors of this book examine the determinants of marital instability in the early years of marriage. Conclusions are based on the results of a survey of 199 black couples and 174 white couples throughout the first four years of marriage. Findings focus on attitudes, perceptions, and feelings spouses have for each other and the manner in which they interact. Some of the topics discussed in the survey include: length of courtship, educational differences, religion, and family involvement. The findings show what effect these and other factors have on a marriage.

Clinicians and educators in the marriage and family field will gain valuable insight into the relationship dynamics that cause marital stress and the interactional factors that may result in divorce from this excellent book. The perceptive theoretical, empirical, and clinical chapters included in Marital Instability and Divorce Outcome examine why certain elements in relationships result in divorce while others do not and assist professionals in evaluating these elements. Specifically, this provocative volume enables professionals to examine how a marriage has weathered developmental periods of stability and instability, whether or not it has the necessary resources to survive, and, in the event a divorce occurs, what will be the most likely post-divorce adjustment for the marriage partners. This informative volume aids professionals in their work with marital relationships, by covering a wide range of topics involved in assessing marital instability and divorce outcomes. The relationship circumstances that can lead to divorce are examined in an investigation of personality types which are prone to divorce and a comparison of patterns of relationships which are stable and those which are likely to result in divorce. The conditions that exist after a divorce are explored in a discussion on how to predict post-divorce adjustment and physical well-being of the marriage partners after divorce. Educators teaching marriage and family courses at all levels from high school to college and clinicians who work with marital, family, and child cases will find this helpful volume to be an invaluable resource for evaluating factors influencing marital instability and divorce outcome.

To examine the causes of marital instability throughout the life course, six waves of data were collected between 1980 and 2000 from married individuals who were between the ages of 18 and 55 in 1980. Information collected in 1980 (Wave I) focused on the effects of wives' participation in the labor force on marriage and marital instability. Measures predicting marital instability and divorce and assessing marital quality were developed. Variables include information on earnings, commitment to work, hours worked, and occupational status. The focus of Wave II, conducted in 1983, was to link changes in factors such as economic resources, wife's employment, presence of children, marital satisfaction, life goals, and health to actions intended to dissolve a marriage, such as divorce and permanent separation. Information on adjustment to marital dissolution, relationship with in-laws, size of home, parents' employment, use of free time, club membership, child-care arrangements, and responsibility for chores was gathered. Wave III, collected in 1988, further examined the impact of changes in employment, economics, and health on marital relationships. Questions were asked about divorce and remarriage, investment of energy and resource use in the care of aging parents and dependent offspring, asset value, awareness of aging, mental health issues, and history of disease. In 1992, Wave IV data were collected to look at changes in employment, economics, and health. Questions were asked about retirement issues, family structure, and the impact of caring for aging parents while at the same time caring for dependent offspring. Data were also collected in 1992 and 1994 from adult offspring who were living in the household in 1980 and had reached age 19 by 1992, thus providing parallel measures with their parents regarding the quality of parent-child relationships, attitudes, and supp ... Cf. : http://webapp.icpsr.umich.edu/cocoon/ICPSR-STUDY/03812.xml.

This open access book collects the major discussions in divorce research in Europe. It starts with an understanding of divorce trends. Why was divorce increasing so rapidly throughout the US and Europe and do we see signs of a turn? Do cohabitation breakups influence divorce trends or is there a renewed stability on the partner market? In terms of divorce risks, the book contains new insights on Eastern European countries. These post socialist countries have evolved dramatically since the fall of the Wall and at present they show the highest divorce figures in Europe. Also the influence of gender, and more specifically women’s education as a risk in divorce is examined cross nationally. The book also provides explanations for the negative gradient in female education effects on divorce. It devotes three separate parts to new insights in the post-divorce effects of the life course event by among others looking at consequences for adults and children but also taking the larger family network into account. As such the book is of interest to demographers, sociologists, psychologists, family therapists, NGOs, and politicians. “This wide-ranging volume details important trends in divorce in Europe that hold implications for understanding family dissolution causes and consequences throughout the world. Highly recommended for researchers and students everywhere.”