Black-White Differences in the Reciprocal Relationship Between Perceived Discrimination and Psychological Distress.

We formulate a MIDUS longitudinal data-based multi-population LISREL model to gauge variation among Black and White Americans in the reciprocal relationship across time between perceived major and everyday discrimination, and psychological distress. Two hypotheses building on prior theory and empirical findings are generated: reciprocity between perceived discrimination and distress, and stronger reciprocity among Blacks. Here, "reciprocity" denotes positive effects of perceived discrimination and mental health problems such as distress on each other across time. Both hypotheses are supported for relationships between perceived everyday discrimination and distress. The model controls for several potentially relevant variables.

The Trajectory of Subjective Well-Being: A Partial Explanation of the Marriage Advantage.

Although several studies have documented a distinct marriage advantage in well-being, it is still unclear what it is about marriage that renders this benefit. We hypothesize that it is due to factors theorized to accrue to matrimony, such as elevated financial status and specific social psychological supports. We examine the trajectory of subjective well-being for 1,135 respondents from the three-wave 2010 GSS panel survey utilizing linear mixed-effects modeling. We find that about two-fifths of the marriage advantage in subjective well-being is accounted for by a mixture of control variables, finances, and emotional factors, with most of this due to elements that are associated with the marital context. Higher annual income, enhanced interpersonal trust, greater sociability, and less of a sense of loneliness and isolation appear to be responsible for a substantial component of the marital advantage. We further find that the marriage advantage is invariant to both race and gender.

Spiritual intimacy, spiritual one-upmanship, and marital conflict across the transition to parenthood.

Dyadic discussions that directly tap into spouses' views on spirituality and religiousness (S/R) represent an understudied but important facet of marital functioning that may be tied, for better or worse, to marital conflict and resolution processes. This study used longitudinal data gathered from 164 married couples across the transition to parenthood (TtP) to address this possibility. Specifically, during late pregnancy and when their infant was 3, 6, and 12 months old, husbands and wives completed measures about both spouses' spiritual intimacy (i.e., self-disclosure and support of partner's disclosures about spirituality) and spiritual one-upmanship (i.e., relying on spiritual and religious [dis]beliefs and opinions to assert superiority in conflicts). Criterion variables were the frequency of marital conflict and both partners' use of collaborative, hostile, and stalemating communication strategies during marital conflicts. Using fixed-effects regression models with both predictors entered, we found that greater spiritual intimacy by wives and husbands predicted less frequent conflict (p < .01), more collaborative communication by husbands (p < .01) and less stalemating (p < .01) by both spouses. Wives' spiritual intimacy also predicted more collaboration and less verbal hostility by wives (p < .01). By contrast, greater spiritual one-upmanship by both spouses predicted greater stalemating by both spouses (p < .05) and verbal hostility by husbands (p < .05). The findings indicate that 2 contrasting types of S/R dialogues are differentially linked to disagreements and conflict-resolution skills after accounting for stable aspects of the couples across the TtP (e.g., personality traits). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Familial Effects on Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration Across Adolescence and Young Adulthood.

Research suggests violence in the family-of-origin is a consistent predictor of later intimate partner violence (IPV). However, prior empirical studies have also demonstrated that exposure to violence does not lead deterministically to violent behaviors in young adulthood. Given that family context entails more than simply the presence or absence of abuse, additional aspects of family life warrant examination. One such aspect is the quality of the parent-child relationship. Using five waves of data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (N = 950 respondents, 443 males and 507 females), the present study examined both main and interactive effects of parent-child physical aggression (PCPA) and parent-child relationship quality (PCRQ) in predicting adolescents' and young adults' IPV perpetration. Results indicated that both PCPA and PCRQ were key independent predictors of individuals' IPV perpetration, but did not interact to produce cumulatively different risk. Important interactions between PCPA and gender, and PCRQ and age were also found.

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.

Marriage Advantage in Subjective Well-Being: Causal Effect or Unmeasured Heterogeneity?

I investigate whether the marriage advantage in subjective well-being is a true protective effect vs. being attributable to self-selection into (or out of) marriage based on pre-existing mental health. I utilize 1,240 respondents from the GSS panel, a three-wave longitudinal survey collected from 2010-2014. I use a pseudo-treatment approach to informally test for the presence of self-selection. This is followed by a fixed-effect regression analysis to eliminate its influence when estimating the marriage effect. Results support the existence of self-selection: the currently married who in later waves will be exiting marriage are already more distressed than other married respondents in wave 1. And the currently not married who in later waves will be entering marriage are not more distressed in wave 1 than those remaining continuously married. A protective effect is also supported: at any given time, net of self-selection, the currently married are less distressed than the unmarried.

Role of Marital Quality in Explaining Depressive Symptoms After Marital Termination Among Older Adults.

This study assesses whether prior marital quality moderates the impact of divorce or widowhood on subsequent depression. Poor marital quality may buffer depression associated with divorce/widowhood; conversely, the effect of divorce/widowhood on depression could be exacerbated by previous marital quality. Three waves from the National Survey of Families and Households based on respondents, ages 50 and older, (N = 2,570) included eight marital quality measures. We find limited evidence suggesting higher marital quality elevates, while lower marital quality decreases, depression after divorce. No moderating effects were found for widowhood. Additionally, health condition is more important than current marital status for elders' well-being after divorce or widowhood. Heterogeneity in the context of the marriage before divorce should be considered when examining marital termination effects on elders' depression.

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.

The perception of fairness in infant care and mothers' postpartum depression.

This study investigates a potential causal effect of mothers' perceptions of the fairness of infant care on their postpartum depression. Based on the tenets of equity theory, it is hypothesized that, net of controls, mothers who see infant care as fairly apportioned between themselves and their husbands will be less depressed than others. We utilize data from a longitudinal study of a nonrandom sample of 178 heterosexual couples experiencing the birth of their first child together. The primary focus variable is the mothers' perception in the first couple of months postpartum that infant care is fair to them. Statistical analysis involved the careful chronological sequencing of response variable and controls, along with regression modeling using propensity scores. We find that a perception of fairness is associated with about a quarter of a standard deviation lower depressive symptomatology, controlling for key covariates. Depressive symptomatology is additionally elevated for mothers experiencing more pre-partum depression, and for those who more generally felt, before the birth, that they were overbenefiting in the marriage. This paper contributes to both equity theory and research on postpartum depression. In a scenario in which it is not practical or ethical to randomly assign people to fairness-in-infant-care conditions, we are able to utilize longitudinal data and a natural "experiment," along with propensity-score modeling to attempt to assess the causal impact of fairness in infant care on postpartum depression. The finding that fairness in this arena appears to reduce postpartum depression emphasizes the importance of encouraging father participation in this critical stage of parenting. Limitations of the study with respect to causal inference are also discussed.

Equity Dynamics in the Perceived Fairness of Infant Care.

How is the perceived fairness of infant care affected by spouses' relative contributions to it as well as to other domains of their relationship? Longitudinal data on 178 couples expecting the birth of their first child were collected over a period spanning approximately the first year of the child's life. Overall, wives were more likely than husbands to see infant care as fair to the wife. Net of fathers' contributions to infant care, spouses were more likely to see infant care as fair to wives the more the father worked in paid labor and did housework and the more wives benefited in the sexual relationship. Fathers' contributions to infant care had a stronger effect on fairness when the child was a son. The findings are consistent with equity predictions, in that fathers' compensatory contributions to other domains of marriage counterbalance an unequal workload in the arena of family work.

Combating unmeasured confounding in cross-sectional studies: evaluating instrumental-variable and Heckman selection models.

Unmeasured confounding is the principal threat to unbiased estimation of treatment "effects" (i.e., regression parameters for binary regressors) in nonexperimental research. It refers to unmeasured characteristics of individuals that lead them both to be in a particular "treatment" category and to register higher or lower values than others on a response variable. In this article, I introduce readers to 2 econometric techniques designed to control the problem, with a particular emphasis on the Heckman selection model (HSM). Both techniques can be used with only cross-sectional data. Using a Monte Carlo experiment, I compare the performance of instrumental-variable regression (IVR) and HSM to that of ordinary least squares (OLS) under conditions with treatment and unmeasured confounding both present and absent. I find HSM generally to outperform IVR with respect to mean-square-error of treatment estimates, as well as power for detecting either a treatment effect or unobserved confounding. However, both HSM and IVR require a large sample to be fully effective. The use of HSM and IVR in tandem with OLS to untangle unobserved confounding bias in cross-sectional data is further demonstrated with an empirical application. Using data from the 2006-2010 General Social Survey (National Opinion Research Center, 2014), I examine the association between being married and subjective well-being.

Sanctification of marriage and spiritual intimacy predicting observed marital interactions across the transition to parenthood.

We examined whether 164 heterosexual, married couples' reports of the sanctification of their marriage and their spiritual intimacy predicted their observed behavior across the transition to parenthood, using highly conservative statistical strategies to control for time-invariant factors and time-varying factors (marital love, collaborative communication skills) that could explain away these links. Spouses provided self-reports of marital sanctification and love, and joint reports of spiritual intimacy and collaboration by each partner. Criterion variables were positive and negative behaviors that spouses exhibited during dyadic discussions of marital conflicts, videotaped during pregnancy and when the couple's first infant was 3, 6, and 12 months old. Using bivariate fixed-effects regression models to control unmeasured time-invariant predictors (e.g., stable traits), his and her sanctification of marriage predicted more observed positivity by 1 or both spouses, and his and her spiritual intimacy predicted more positivity and less negativity by both spouses. Using multivariate regression analyses that controlled for demographic factors, the interdependency of spouses' responses, and salient time-varying marital (spouses' love and collaborative skills), her spiritual intimacy predicted more positivity by both spouses and less negativity by him, and his sanctification marginally predicted more positivity and less negativity by him. Findings offer rigorous causal modeling that spousal reports about marital spirituality influence observed spousal behavior by using longitudinal data to rule out unmeasured and measured third-variable confounds, multiple reporters (husbands, wives), multiple methods (self and joint reports, direct observation), and cross-informant data (spousal reports about him predicting her behavior, and vice versa).

Fathers' 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.

Nonmaternal Care's Association With Mother's Parenting Sensitivity: A Case of Self-Selection Bias?

Although attachment theory posits that the use of nonmaternal care undermines quality of mothers' parenting, empirical evidence for this link is inconclusive. Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1,233), the authors examined the associations between nonmaternal care characteristics and maternal sensitivity during the first 3 years of children's lives, with special attention to selection effects and moderation by resource levels. Findings from fixed-effects regression models suggested that, on average, there is little relationship between nonmaternal care characteristics and maternal sensitivity, once selection factors are held constant. Some evidence of moderation effects was found, however. Excellent-quality care is related to more sensitivity for mothers with lower family income. Poor-quality care is related to lower sensitivity for single mothers, but not partnered mothers. In sum, nonmaternal care characteristics do not seem to have as much influence on mothers' parenting as attachment theory claims.

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. In particular: is there a differential effect on disruption depending on the gender of the perpetrator? Is the effect of infidelity primarily due to its negative impact on marital quality and one's resistance to divorce? Are there characteristics of marriages that condition the effect of infidelity? 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. 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 is accounted for by the mediating factors. 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.

Developmental Patterns in Marital Satisfaction: Another Look at Covenant Marriage.

This study investigated differences in the trajectory of marital satisfaction in the first seven years between couples in covenant vs. standard marriages. Data on 707 Louisiana marriages from the Marriage Matters Panel Survey of Newlywed Couples, 1998 - 2004, were analyzed using multivariate longitudinal growth modeling. Restricting the sample to couples who remained married over the duration of the study, a marginal benefit of covenant status was found for husbands. This effect was largely accounted for by covenant husbands' more extensive exposure to premarital counseling. The linear decline in marital satisfaction over time that obtained for both husbands and wives was not, however, any different for covenants vs. standards. Couples characterized by more traditional attitudes toward gender roles were significantly less satisfied than others. High premarital risk factors, initial uncertainty about marrying the spouse, and the presence of preschool children in the household were all corrosive of marital satisfaction at any given time.

Doing the Scut Work of Infant Care: Does Religiousness Encourage Father Involvement?

Considerable debate exists regarding whether religiousness promotes or impedes greater father involvement in parenting. Our study addresses this issue using a Midwestern longitudinal dataset that tracks the transition to first parenthood for 169 married couples. We focus on performance of the "messier" tasks of infant care. We find little evidence that religiousness enhances father involvement in this domain. Biblically conservative couples exhibit a greater gender gap in childcare than others, with mothers more involved than fathers. The gender gap is also greater the more fathers work outside the home, the greater mothers' knowledge of infant development, and the more unadaptable the infant. Average daily childcare is lower the greater spouses' work hours, but higher with difficult pregnancies or fussy babies.

The 20-Year Trajectory of Marital Quality in Enduring Marriages: Does Equity Matter?

I examine the trajectory of marital quality as a function of relationship equity with data from a six-wave panel study of 704 married respondents between 1980 and 2000. Reporting that one "gives more" to the marriage (subjective underbenefit) is more likely for women than men at any given marital duration. Respondent's relative contribution to income, paid labor, housework, and health (objective underbenefit) raises this probability for women of average religiosity. For the more religious, objective underbenefit has no effect on women's sense of underbenefit, but reduces men's sense of underbenefit. Objective underbenefit lowers women's, but raises men's, marital quality, at any marital duration. The relevance of equity was not diluted by the passage of time in marriage.

Sanctification of Marriage and General Religiousness as Buffers of the Effects of Marital Inequity.

Theory suggests that relationship inequity will be associated with less marital and personal distress among the more religious, and that this interaction effect will be stronger for women than men. Data are from 178 married couples experiencing the third trimester of pregnancy of their first biological child. Five outcome variables were assessed for each spouse: marital satisfaction, love, marital conflict, depression, and anxiety. Consistent with equity theory, perceived relative advantage was related in a non-monotonic fashion to all outcomes, with increasing advantage predicting better outcomes up to the equity point, but worse outcomes afterwards. Sanctification of marriage appeared to be a more important moderator of inequity effects than general religiousness. In particular, relative advantage had weaker effects among higher sanctifiers. The influence of relative advantage was also conditioned by gender. Wives' psychological well-being appeared to be more adversely affected than men's due to considering oneself overbenefited in the relationship. Moreover, the interaction between sanctification and relative advantage was somewhat stronger for wives.

Sexual assault and current mental health: the role of help-seeking and police response.

We examine the extent to which seeking help from social service agencies, family and friends, reporting to the police, or responses by the police might buffer or exacerbate the impact of sexual assault on mental health outcomes among sexual assault victims.The trend in many cases was for help-seeking and police response to exacerbate the impact of sexual assault victimization. With respect to depression, we found that the association of rape penetration was greater among those seeking help from social services and those reporting their victimization to the police. Although arresting the offender appears to be associated with higher levels of depression, it actually results in a lower probability of heavy episodic drinking.