Erika Lawrence

Physical aggression and marital dysfunction: A longitudinal analysis.

Shortly after marriage, 56 couples provided data on physical aggression and other predictors of marital adjustment. At 6-month intervals over the next 4 years, spouses reported on their marital quality and stability. Results indicated that marital dysfunction was more common among aggressive than among nonaggressive couples (70% vs. 38%) and among severely aggressive than among moderately aggressive couples (93% vs. 46%). Aggression remained a reliable predictor of marital outcomes after the authors controlled for stressful events and negative communication. These findings help to refine developmental models of marital dysfunction, which often overlook the role of aggression, and can provide information for prevention programs for marital distress, which typically do not distinguish between aggressive and nonaggressive couples.

Characteristics of Women Physically Abused by Their Spouses and Who Seek Treatment Regarding Marital Conflict

Physically abused women seeking treatment for marital difficulties (abused women, n = 49) were compared with maritally discordant, nonabused women (discordant only, n = 23) and maritally satisfied nonabused women (community control, n = 25). Abused women reported significantly more fear of their spouses and reported that their spouses were significantly more coercive and psychologically aggressive than women in the 2 matched nonabused groups. Abused women did not report higher rates of abuse as a child, nor did they report higher rates of past psychopathology than women in the nonabused groups. However, abused women and nonabused discordant women reported higher rates of emotional abuse in childhood than maritally satisfied nonabused women. Furthermore, both clinical groups had a tendency to have higher lifetime rates of major depression before their current marriage than the maritally satisfied women. This result suggests that childhood abuse and a history of depression may be risk factors for women in abusive and nonabusive discordant relationships. As expected, abused women reported higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder than women in the discordant-only and community control groups. Treatment implications for both standard treatments for marital problems and treatments for victims of physical abuse are discussed.

Prenatal Expectations and Marital Satisfaction Over the Transition to Parenthood

Associations among prenatal expectations, the extent to which expectations were confirmed or disconfirmed, and trajectories of marital satisfaction over the transition to parenthood were assessed 7-11 times in a sample of newlywed couples. Piecewise growth curve analyses were conducted to examine levels of marital satisfaction at the beginning of marriage and rates of change over 2 periods: from the beginning of marriage through the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and from the 3rd trimester of pregnancy through 18 months postpartum. Postpartum marital decline was greater than decline from marriage through pregnancy. Spouses who were more satisfied at the beginning of marriage reported higher expectations. There was marked variability in the extent to which prenatal expectations were confirmed; some expectations were unfulfilled, others were met, and still others were surpassed. Associations between the extent to which expectations were confirmed and rates of change in marital decline differed as a function of the specific type of expectation. Implications for understanding vulnerability and resiliency in couples negotiating the transition to parenthood are discussed.

Is psychological aggression as detrimental as physical aggression? The independent effects of psychological aggression on depression and anxiety symptoms.

The differential effects of psychological and physical victimization on depression and anxiety symptoms were examined via APIM and growth curve modeling techniques in a sample of newlyweds (N = 103 couples) assessed four times over the first 3 years of marriage. On average, husbands and wives reported moderate levels of psychological aggression, and there were no sex differences in prevalence rates or mean levels. Changes in psychological victimization were associated with changes in depression and anxiety symptoms, even after controlling for the effects of physical victimization. This study demonstrates the severe impact of psychological aggression on its victims and expands on previous studies of battering samples to demonstrate that psychological victimization may be more damaging than physical victimization in nonbattering, community couples.

Too much of a good thing: Underprovision versus overprovision of partner support

We examined whether support underprovision (receiving less support than is desired) and support overprovision (receiving more support than is desired) should be examined as qualitatively distinct forms of inadequate support in marriage. Underprovision of partner support, overprovision of partner support, and marital satisfaction were assessed 5 times over the first 5 years of marriage in a sample of newlywed husbands and wives (N = 103 couples), and were analyzed via actor-partner interdependence modeling (APIM) and growth curve analytic techniques. Increases in underprovision and overprovision of support were each uniquely associated with declines in marital satisfaction over the first 5 years of marriage; however, overprovision of support was a greater risk factor for marital decline than underprovision. Further, when examining support from a multidimensional perspective, overprovision was at least as detrimental, if not more detrimental, than underprovision for each of 4 support types (i.e., informational, emotional, esteem, and tangible support). The present study is the first to examine the utility of differentiating between underprovision and overprovision of partner support. Theoretical, empirical, and clinical implications are discussed.

Is skills training necessary for the primary prevention of marital distress and dissolution? A 3-year experimental study of three interventions.

OBJECTIVE Evidence in support of skill-based programs for preventing marital discord and dissolution, while promising, comes mainly from studies using single treatment conditions, passive assessment-only control conditions, and short-term follow-up assessments of relationship outcomes. This study overcomes these limitations and further evaluates the efficacy of skill-based programs. METHOD Engaged and newlywed couples (N = 174) were randomly assigned to a 4-session, 15-hr small-group intervention designed to teach them skills in managing conflict and problem resolution (PREP) or skills in acceptance, support, and empathy (CARE). These couples were compared to each other, to couples receiving a 1-session relationship awareness (RA) intervention with no skill training, and to couples receiving no treatment on 3-year rates of dissolution and 3-year trajectories of self-reported relationship functioning. RESULTS Couples in the no-treatment condition dissolved their relationships at a higher rate (24%) than couples completing PREP, CARE, and RA, who did not differ on rates of dissolution (11%). PREP and CARE yielded unintended effects on 3-year changes in reported relationship behaviors. For example, wives receiving PREP showed slower declines in hostile conflict than wives receiving CARE, and husbands and wives receiving CARE showed faster declines in positive behaviors than husbands and wives receiving PREP. CONCLUSIONS These findings highlight the potential value of cost-effective interventions such as RA, cast doubt on the unique benefits of skill-based interventions for primary prevention of relationship dysfunction, and raise the possibility that skill-based interventions may inadvertently sensitize couples to skill deficits in their relationships.

Feeling controlled in marriage: A phenomenon specific to physically aggressive couples?.

Spouses in maritally happy nonaggressive (H; n = 21), distressed nonaggressive (DNA; n = 16), and distressed aggressive (DA; n = 20) marriages were interviewed about their perceptions of their spouse as controlling. Four areas of spousal control were assesed: involvement in decision making, relationships with family and friends, freedom to plan activities independently, and sense of competence and self-respect. Overall, as expected, spouses in happy marriages reported feeling less controlled than spouses in the 2 distressed groups. Few gender differences were obtained, with the exception that wives in aggressive marriages were more likely to report that their husbands controlled their sense of competence and self-respect. Differences between the DA and DNA groups depended on the specific area of control. Wives in the aggressive couples were significantly more likely than their husbands to state that their spouses aggression was an attempt to control them.

Objective ratings of relationship skills across multiple domains as predictors of marital satisfaction trajectories

Expanding upon social-learning and vulnerability-stress-adaptation approaches to marriage, the impact of multiple dyadic behaviors on marital satisfaction trajectories was examined in 101 couples. Semi-structured interviews were administered separately to husbands and wives at three months of marriage. Interviewers generated objective ratings for five domains: emotional closeness/intimacy, sexual intimacy/sensuality, interspousal support, decision-making/relational control, and communication/conflict management. Marital satisfaction was assessed four times over three years. Dyadic behaviors were associated with initial levels and rates of change in satisfaction, demonstrating the unique contributions of each relational skill on marital development. For husbands, sexual intimacy was the strongest predictor of change whereas for wives, communication/conflict management was the strongest predictor of change compared to other domains. Theoretical, methodological and clinical implications are discussed.

Comparing Three Measures of Psychological Aggression: Psychometric Properties and Differentiation from Negative Communication

The authors evaluated the psychometric properties of three measures of psychological aggression: The Conflict Tactics Scales-2nd Version: Psychological Aggression Scale (CTS2-PS), The Multidimensional Measure of Emotional Abuse (MMEA), and The Test of Negative Social Exchange (TENSE). One hundred newlywed couples completed these measures as well as measures of communication, marital satisfaction, physical aggression, and depressive symptoms. Couples also participated in two problem-solving discussions that were later coded for positive and negative affect. Psychological aggression measures were internally consistent at the overall scale level (Cronbach’s αs >0.77), with the exception of the CTS2-PS. The internal consistency coefficients of the MMEA and TENSE subscales were variable. Finally, convergent validity correlations were moderate and divergent validity analyses revealed that the three measures correlated moderately with negative communication pattern measures. Implications for enhancing conceptual models and intervention efforts are discussed.

Validity and Utility of a Multidimensional Model of Received Support in Intimate Relationships

The authors of the present study statistically address the largely conceptual debate about the multidimensional nature of received support in intimate relationships. The Support in Intimate Relationships Rating Scale (SIRRS) was factor analyzed in 3 samples of dating and married couples. A novel, 4-factor structure of support types was generated that constituted esteem/emotional, physical comfort, informational, and tangible support types. This structure was reliable and valid in dating and marital relationships, across men and women, and across time. Each support type also demonstrated incremental validity for explaining marital adjustment, depression symptoms, and anxiety symptoms longitudinally. This study is among the first to generate and cross-validate a factor analytically derived set of support types for received support and the first to do so regarding partner support specifically. This is also the first study to replicate a distinct set of support types across different types of intimate relationships, across both sexes, and over time within relationships. Implications for enhancing functional theories of support and for augmenting the construct validity of a multidimensional model of received support are discussed.