Younger Couples (younger + couple)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Personality and social network effects on romantic relationships: a dyadic approach

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 4 2004
Franz J. Neyer
The quality of romantic relationships and their associations with both partners' personality traits and social networks were studied in 100 younger couples. The similarity of partners was modest with respect to personality traits, and moderate to large with respect to the perceived quality of the partner relationship and their social networks. While similarity in personality was unrelated to relationship quality, dyadic analyses showed that one's perceived quality of relationship was better predicted by one's own personality (i.e. actor effects) than by the personality of one's partner (i.e. partner effects). Moreover, relationship quality could to some extent be predicted by the quality of the social network once the personality traits of each partner were controlled. Results are discussed from a transactional view of personality and relationships. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Save the Young,the Elderly Have Lived Their Lives: Ageism in Marriage and Family Therapy,

FAMILY PROCESS, Issue 2 2000
David C. Ivey Ph.D.
The paucity of literature addressing mental health issues concerning geriatric populations represents the perpetuation of ageist practices and beliefs in the field of marriage and family therapy. The purpose of this study was to assess whether client age and clinical training relate to the evaluation of couples who present for conjoint therapy. Written vignettes describing two couples, one older and one younger, who report issues involving the absence of sexual intimacy, increased frequency of arguments, and increased use of alcohol were evaluated by practicing marriage and family therapists, therapists-in-training, and individuals with no clinical background. It was hypothesized that respondents' views would vary in connection with the age of the couple and with the three levels of participant training. Results indicate that client age and participant training are associated with perceptions of individual and couple functioning. Our findings suggest that the relational and mental health concerns experienced by elder couples are not perceived as seriously as are identical concerns experienced by younger couples. Contrary to our expectations the observed differences between views of the two age conditions did not significantly differ between levels of participant training. Training and experience in marriage and family therapy may not significantly mitigate vulnerability to age-discrepant views. [source]


How Dual Are Dual-Income Couples?

JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 1 2006
Documenting Change From 1970 to 200
Using Current Population Survey data for 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2001 (N =73,001), we document change in the prevalence of couples where (a) the wife contributes less than 40% of the family income, (b) income contributions are relatively equal, and (c) the wife's income contribution surpasses her husband's contribution. In 1970, close to 90% of couples had conventional earning arrangements: The husband was the sole provider in 56% of couples and contributed 60% or more of the income in an additional 31% of couples. By 2001, husbands were still the sole (25%) or major provider (39%) in a majority (64%) of couples but wives shared equally in providing income in 24% of couples, more than double the 9% in 1970. Additionally, wives as primary (or sole) earners increased from 4% to 12%. We investigate the associations between income provisioning within dual-income families and ongoing cohort replacement by younger couples, women's increased human capital, life course processes, couple's labor supply, and race. Our findings suggest that wives' increased human capital and couple's labor supply were strongly associated with increased female breadwinning patterns, but age cohort replacement processes and life stage factors also played a role in explaining change over time. [source]


Thoroughness of skin examination by melanoma patients: Influence of age, sex and partner

AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 3 2009
Susan L Boone
ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to determine the thoroughness of deliberate skin examination by people with a history of melanoma. Patients were randomized into one of two conditions: either to receive the brief educational and skills training intervention alone or as a couple with their spouse or cohabiting partner. Subjects recorded concerning lesions on body maps. At the 4-month visit, a total body skin examination was performed by a dermatologist blinded to the subjects' condition and to their recorded responses. The skin surface was divided according to the region's visibility during skin self-examination and sexual connotations: visible/not sexually sensitive, non-visible/not sexually sensitive and sexually sensitive. The primary point of comparison was missed lesions, defined as the difference between lesions recorded by the subjects and their partners and those recorded by the dermatologist. Among 130 participants, 56 subjects reported partner assistance while performing SSE. Participants missed more lesions in sexually sensitive areas than in the other regions. With the increasing age of the patient, the number of missed lesions in non-visible/not sexually sensitive and sexually sensitive areas decreased. Male patients assisted by female partners missed fewer lesions in all three regions than female patients assisted by male partners. In easily visible areas, male patients missed significantly fewer lesions than female patients (P = 0.01). Older couples performed more thorough partner-assisted skin examinations in non-visible and sexually sensitive areas than younger couples. Male patients who were assisted by female partners performed more thorough partner-assisted skin examinations than female patients assisted by male partners. [source]