Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA
888 N EUCLID AVE
TUCSON,AZ 85719-4824
Performing Department
FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES
Non Technical Summary
The divorce rate in the U. S. rose dramatically up until the mid-1980sand continues at a high level (U. S. National Center for Health Statistics, 1998). Obviously, divorce potentially impacts both the mental and physical health of individuals (Waite & Gallagher, 2000), and has enormous economic effects on U. S. society. Unfortunately, the detrimental effects of divorce can be exacerbated by the social contexts in which people live. For example, rural children from divorced families are much less likely to be covered by health insurance than their urban counterparts (Ellis, 2003). In addition, the lack of appropriate family and educational resources in many rural areas further compounds the negative effects of divorce. In the proposed study, we will identify factors that may be conducive to marital stability, with a major focus on identifying factors related to cohabitation/non-cohabitation before marriage as a predictor of marital stability. The results of the study may
have implications for direct intervention with divorced adults and their children. Findings also may be relevant for those formulating and proposing social and family policy.
Animal Health Component
20%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
80%
Applied
20%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The overarching objective of this project is to explore mechanisms that may connect cohabitation prior to marriage with later marital instability. The specific objectives/questions are: (1) using data from a longitudinal study of marriage, The Early Years of Marriage Project, examine predictors of marital stability with emphasis on those who cohabited before marriage versus those who did not; (b) conduct a qualitative study to examine micro-level mechanisms that might account for the differential marital success of cohabitors versus non-cohabitors; and (c) using data from the qualitative study, conduct a quantitative study to examine micro-level mechanisms that might account for the differential marital success of cohabitors versus non-cohabitors.
Project Methods
Objective 1. The longitudinal data from the Early Years of Marriage Project will be obtained from the Henry Murray Research Center of Harvard University. These data are provided virtually free of cost. The quantitative data are provided in a format ready for computer-based statistical analysis. Interview data from face-to-face interviews are available on audiotape. Analyses will take place in the offices of Dr. Cate. First, content analysis of the transcribed interviews will generate data relative to the premarital period. Specifically, the analysis will focus on premarital factors that might help explain the higher likelihood of divorce among premarital versus non-premarital cohabitors. Such factors may include conflict resolution, process of deciding to cohabit or not cohabit before marriage, commitment processes, and others. In addition, those predictors of marital stability previously shown to differentiate between those who cohabited before marriage and those that
did not (e.g., personality, drug/alcohol abuse, demographic characteristics, and others) will be examined. Multiple regression analyses will be conducted to compare the relative ability of each factor to predict marital stability over time. Objective 2. A qualitative study of married individuals will explore micro-level factors that differentiate those who cohabited before marriage from those that did not. Participants will be recruited through various means: advertisements in appropriate newpapers, snowball recruitment, random digit dialing, and other methods. Interviews will be conducted in the researchers offices. The focus will be on identifying dyadic and other processes that might differ in couples that did or did not cohabit before marriage. The development of the interview protocol will utilize the findings from the above longitudinal study, as well as previous work on cohabitation and marital stability. Data from the interviews will be analyzed using a grounded theory
approach. Such an approach allows identification of prominent factors during premarriage and how those factors relate to each other. Objective 3. A quantitative study of married individuals will explore micro-level factors that differentiate those who cohabited before marriage from those that did not. Participants will be recruited through various means: advertisements in appropriate newspapers, snowball recruitment, random digit dialing, and other methods. Data will be collected through the use of a mailed questionnaire. This study will use the findings of the preceding qualitative study to construct social psychological measures of the factors identified as possible processes that differentiate between premarital and non-premarital cohabitors. As with the first study, multiple regression analyses will be conducted to significant predictors of marital instability that may differentiate premarital from non-premarital cohabitors.