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Understanding and altering the longitudinal course of marriage
Author(s) -
Bradbury Thomas N.,
Karney Benjamin R.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/j.0022-2445.2004.00059.x
Subject(s) - counterintuitive , psychology , affect (linguistics) , aggression , social psychology , quality (philosophy) , developmental psychology , social relation , marital therapy , clinical psychology , philosophy , communication , epistemology
Weak and counterintuitive findings linking couples' interactional processes to marital outcomes have prompted new lines of research on how marriages change. Recent findings reviewed here highlight the value of (a) expanding conceptions of marital interaction by considering how social support and positive affect moderate the effects of problem‐solving skills on changes in marital quality; (b) examining partners' individual strengths and vulnerabilities as antecedents of marital aggression and hostile interaction; and (c) recognizing the central role of chronic and acute circumstances in governing fluctuations in spouses' judgments of marital quality. We outline implications of these findings for ongoing efforts to prevent adverse marital outcomes, and for recent federal initiatives to strengthen healthy marriages among people with low incomes.