• Daily Variability in Relational Experiences
  Presented by: Casey Totenhagen, Mara Katz, Emily Butler, Melissa Curran

• Coming to Terms with Parental Divorce: Associations with Marital Outcomes and the Role of Gender and Religiosity
  Presented by: Tamara Fackrell, Franklin Poulsen, Dean Busby, David Dollahite

• Marital Trajectories of Parents and Nonparents: Do They Really Differ?
  Presented by: Jared A. Durtschi, Ming Cui, Frederick Lorenz, Rand Conger

• Daily Patterns of Spousal Interference
  Presented by: Abigail Tolhurst Christiansen, Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, Doug Sprenkle

Abstracts

Daily Variability in Relational Experiences

Presented by: Casey Totenhagen, Mara Katz, Emily Butler, Melissa Curran

We use a daily diary approach with a sample of 157 couples (314 individuals) to examine the extent to which seven relational variables (i.e., satisfaction, commitment, closeness, conflict, ambivalence, maintenance, and love) significantly vary over the course of seven days. Recognizing that some couples (e.g., newer couples) may fluctuate more than others (e.g., longer-term couples), we also examine the extent to which variability depends on relationship length. We find that all examined relational constructs exhibit significant within-person variability, and for many of the constructs, couples together longer are more stable in their fluctuations than newer couples.

Coming to Terms with Parental Divorce: Associations with Marital Outcomes and the Role of Gender and Religiosity

Presented by: Tamara Fackrell, Franklin Poulsen, Dean Busby, David Dollahite

In this paper we examine the current marriage relationship outcomes for children of divorce compared to children from intact families. The sample is 997 matched married couples. Those from families with married parents were more likely to come to terms with issues in their family-of-origin, had higher religiosity, less negative communication, and more positive relationship satisfaction than those with divorced parents. The variable coming to terms with family-of-origin predicted positive marital outcomes to some extent for all couples though for couples where both partners' parents had divorced coming to terms predicted fewer positive outcomes. Furthermore, significant gender differences emerged.

Marital Trajectories of Parents and Nonparents: Do They Really Differ?

Presented by: Jared A. Durtschi, Ming Cui, Frederick Lorenz, Rand Conger

This study examined the nature of marital change during the transition to parenthood by using growth curve analyses to directly test the differences between parents' (n = 260 couples) and nonparents' (n = 107 couples) trajectories across four years. Data were collected from both spouses participating in the Family Transitions Project 2-years before the birth of a first child, and twice in the first 2-years postpartum. A general pattern of deterioration was observed for parents and nonparents; however, rates of change did not significantly differ between parents and nonparents in marital quality or observed warm and hostile behavior.

Daily Patterns of Spousal Interference

Presented by: Abigail Tolhurst Christiansen, Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, Doug Sprenkle

Little is known about how spouses make their partners' lives more difficult. This study tested a 3 level model of perceived spousal interference. Data were from an ESM study, where paired spouses (N=241) answered questions over one week. On a daily level, spouses' own emotion states significantly predicted the odds that they would perceive spousal interference later in the day. Men and women did not differ significantly in the relationship between emotion states and later perceptions of spousal interference. Nor did these daily level relationships vary based on a couple's length of marriage or number of children in the home.