LONG TERM EFFECTS OF PREMARITAL INTERVENTION

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In 1980-81 we established a longitudinal study of 135 premarital couples to investigate causes and possibilities for prevention of marital distress. Our findings indicate that divorce is predictable from patterns of premarital interaction. Couples at risk for divorce have difficulty handling their own and their partner's negative emotions (e.g., one predictor of divorce is male's withdrawal from conflict). Based on our results, we developed a theory of affect regulation in couples and families. From this theory, we propose new directions focusing on transmission of dysfunctional interaction patterns across relationships: (1) Because our couples are in the childrearing stage, we can investigate how the various forms of marital conflict affect children. We propose to test the hypothesis that affect regulation processes in the marriage are "transmitted" through parent-child interactions and influence child affect regulation and development (e.g., do parents who withdraw from conflict with each other have children who withdraw as a way of coping with negative emotions?). (2) Recognizing that effects are bi-directional, the effects of having children on marital interaction and satisfaction are also addressed. To address these questions, will assess parent-child interactions during yearly follow-up visits. (3) We also will follow divorced spouses into new relationships to discover if dysfunctional interaction patterns are repeated in second marriages. (4) We will continue researching the prediction of marital distress and divorce through the high-risk first decade of marriage. We will test the hypothesis that whereas husband withdrawal is one of the best predictors of divorce early in marriage, wife withdrawal will be one of the best predictors of divorce later in marriage. (5) We will complete the only long-term evaluation of a communication skills training program designed to prevent divorce and marital distress and evaluate the effects of the program on parent-child interaction and child functioning.