Burning the Candle at Both Ends: Extramarital Sex as a Precursor of Marital Disruption

This study examines several aspects of the association between engaging in extramarital sex and the disruption of one’s marriage. Panel data on 1621 respondents followed from 1980 – 2000 in the Marital Instability Over the Life Course survey were utilized to answer these questions. Interval-censored Cox regression analysis revealed several noteworthy findings. As previously found in earlier analyses with these data, reports of problems due to extramarital involvement were strongly related to marital disruption, even holding constant the quality of the marriage. Although men were about three times more likely to be the cheating spouse, there was no difference in the effect of an affair on the marriage according to gender of the cheater. Approximately 40% of the effect of extramarital sex on disruption was accounted for by the mediating factors of marital quality, tolerance of divorce, and wife’s employment. Two moderators of infidelity’s positive effect on disruption were found: the effect was substantially stronger for very religious couples, but weaker when the wife was in the labor force

A Better Deal for Cohabiting Fathers? Union Status Differences in Father Involvement

We use the package deal framework to study the trajectory of father involvement over time as a function of union status, while also examining reporting differences in father involvement by parent gender. Data on 4,224 mother-father pairs are from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study. Average father involvement at the child’s first birthday is 3.25 days per week and declines at a rate of .17 days per year. Mothers, on average, report father involvement to be .57 days less than fathers report. Parents who remain in a continuous coresidential union, who transition from cohabitation to marriage, or who transition from a noncoresidential state to a coresidential union experience the highest levels of father involvement and the lowest levels of discrepancy between mothers’ and fathers’ reports. Cohabiting fathers exhibit higher average levels of father involvement than married fathers. We discuss the place of cohabiting families in light of our findings.father involvement, fatherhood, gender, cohabiting, marriage

Role-Set Diversity: Benefit or Strain?

Most social workers interact with many different types of people in performing their jobs. One view suggests such diversity is beneficial; an opposing view is that this causes job strains. This \u27research indicates a correlation between increased strain and increased role-set diversity only for those age 36-41. Perceived benefits rose with diversity for those in mental health and public welfare settings. For mental health workers, benefits outweighed strains more often as diversity rose. Several areas of job satisfaction were explored for correlation with role-set diversity. There were significant findings by age, years of experience, and agency type. There were no significant correlations for the sample as a whole, indicating that the relationship between role-set diversity and benefits or strains is a much more complex one than has previously been believed

Father’s Contributions to Housework and Childcare and Parental Aggravation Among First-Time Parents

This study investigated the associations between fathers’ contributions to housework and childcare and both spouses’ parenting aggravation. It was hypothesized that greater father contributions to domestic labor would be associated with more paternal aggravation but less maternal aggravation. Data are from a four-wave study of 178 married couples undergoing the transition to first parenthood. Dyadic growth-curve models revealed gender differences in aggravation trajectories over the first year of the child’s life. Fathers were higher in initial aggravation but mothers’ aggravation grew at a faster rate over time. The primary hypothesis was only partially supported. Fathers’ contributions to childcare were associated with significantly lower maternal aggravation levels, but only among more religious mothers. Child fussiness and unpredictability were consistently significant predictors of higher aggravation for both parents. Depressive symptomatology was positively related to aggravation for fathers, whereas love for the spouse was associated with lower aggravation for mothers, controlling for other factors

Marital Sanctification and Spiritual Intimacy Predicting Married Couples’ Observed Intimacy Skills across the Transition to Parenthood

This study examined the extent to which 164 married heterosexuals’ reports of the sanctification of marriage and spiritual intimacy during pregnancy predicted the trajectory of the couples’ observed intimacy skills during late pregnancy and when their first child was 3, 6, and 12 months old. At each time point, couples were videotaped in their homes for 10 min discussing their fears and vulnerabilities about becoming and being a new parent. Separate teams of three coders rated the four interactions and each spouse’s intimacy skills, including disclosure of feelings of vulnerability about becoming or being a new parent, and supportive comments and positive non-verbal responses to each other. Using a multi-level dyadic discrepancy approach to growth curve modeling, both husbands’ and wives’ observed intimacy skills displayed a curvilinear trajectory over the first year of parenthood, with wives consistently displaying more emotional intimacy skills than husbands. Consistent with hypotheses, higher endorsement of the sanctification of marriage and spiritual intimacy between spouses at home predicted higher observed intimacy skills across time. No variation in these associations emerged due to parent gender. Thus, this longitudinal study identifies two specific spiritual processes within marriages that may motivate spouses to share their vulnerabilities and provide one another with valuable emotional support in coping with the transition to parenthood

Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration from Adolescence to Young Adulthood: Trajectories and the Role of Familial Factors

Prior empirical research on intimate partner violence (IPV) in adolescence and young adulthood often focuses on exposure to violence in the family-of-origin using retrospective and cross-sectional data. Yet individuals’ families matter beyond simply the presence or absence of abuse, and these effects may vary across time. To address these issues, the present study employed five waves of longitudinal data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) to investigate the trajectory of IPV from adolescence to young adulthood (N = 950 respondents, 4,750 person-periods) with a specific focus on how familial factors continue to matter across the life course. Results indicated that family-of-origin violence and parent-child relationship quality were independent predictors of IPV. The effect of parent-child relationship quality on IPV also became greater as individuals aged. These results have implications for policies targeted at reducing IPV

Parents and Partners: Moderating and Mediating Influences on Intimate Partner Violence Across Adolescence and Young Adulthood

Prior work examining intimate partner violence (IPV) among young adults often has emphasized familial characteristics, such as parent–child physical aggression (PCPA), and romantic relationship dynamics, such as jealousy and controlling behaviors, but has not considered these two domains simultaneously. Likewise, research examining how these two domains affect IPV perpetration over time for young adults is still limited. Using five waves of data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (N = 950), the present study examined the influence of parent– child relationship factors and romantic relationship dynamics in both their main and interactive effects on IPV perpetration spanning adolescence through young adulthood. Results from random-effects analyses indicated that both familial and romantic relationship dynamics should be taken into account when predicting IPV perpetration. Importantly, these two domains interacted to produce cumulatively different risk for engaging in violence against a romantic partner. Individuals were more likely to perpetrate IPV when their romantic relationship was characterized by verbal aggression if they reported PCPA experiences

Distal and Proximal Influences on the Risk of Extramarital Sex: A Prospective Study of Longer Duration Marriages

Previous models of the risk of extramarital sex (EMS) rely largely on cross-section samples and retrospective reporting. This may well conflate causes with consequences of EMS in the same model. Instead, this study employs panel data with an event-history approach to re-assess the influences on the risk of EMS. The sample consists of 1,270 married respondents, with no prior history of EMS, who were followed up in five subsequent surveys spanning a 20-year period. The quality of the conjugal bond emerged as a paramount influence on the outcome. The hazard of EMS was higher for respondents who had ever experienced a trial separation, reported marital violence, scored higher on a marital instability index, or spent less time in activities with the spouse. The risk of EMS was lower the longer respondents had been married at baseline, the longer the duration since baseline, and the greater the respondent\u27s religiosity

Partner\u27s Stake in Conformity and Abused Wives\u27 Psychological Trauma

This study investigates the potential buffering effect of help-seeking in the association between intimate partner assault and women\u27s psychological trauma, and how this, in turn, may depend on the partner\u27s stake in conformity. The sample consists of 374 women reporting the experience of domestic violence from a current intimate partner, drawn from the larger survey Violence and Threats of Violence Against Women and Men in the United States, 1994-1996. Help-seeking did not appear to buffer the impact of assault severity, contrary to expectation. However, the partner\u27s stake in conformity did condition the effect of his or her having been arrested. Victims had higher levels of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) when police arrested partners of average or below-average stake in conformity. But victims of partners characterized by higher than average stake in conformity did not show elevated PTSD due to their partners having been arrested. On the other hand, PTSD was higher among women experiencing more emotional abuse from the partner