Progress 07/01/06 to 06/30/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: "This was the final year of the six-year study. Most of the Year 5 respondents (88%) completed the Year 6 survey. The study findings continue to be posted on our website http://extension.usu.edu/stepfamily/. Over 8,000 unique visitors came to the website in 2012. This year we finished entry of all year 5 surveys, validated the data entry from previous years, and successfully collected the 6th and final survey. In an effort to disseminate information about healthy stepfamily relationships, we distributed over 1,000 factsheets on remarriage to Utah households. Over 20,000 copies of the Utah Marriage Handbook were distributed via County Clerk's and Utah High Schools. We also presented findings at the National Council on Family Relations. With the data, several articles are being developed. One article (in press) focused on the consistency of remarriage-related cognitions between stepfamily members, which has been posited to be of "primary importance" in functional stepfamily systems. Our study evaluated the consistency tenant of the Multidimensional Cognitive Development Model using common remarriage beliefs. With a sample of 447 newlywed remarried couples, results from hierarchical regressions indicate that individual endorsements of remarriage beliefs are more predictive of cohesion and consensus than is constancy of endorsement between husband and wife. The findings are being disseminated in academic articles, professional presentations, as well as public outlets like newspaper articles. They are providing remarried citizens, and the professionals who serve them, with research-based information about healthy remarriage dynamics and success stepfamily functioning. The research from this AES study helped the PI apply and secure another $786K grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide stepfamily education classes. The impact of those classes include statistically significant increases in participants' relationship knowledge and skills." PARTICIPANTS: "USU Extension, FCHD Department, Utah Department of Vital Records, and married couples from around the State. Year 1 Men completed - 942 Women completed - 1106 Divorced - 20 Refused - 61 Year 2 Men completed - 507 Women completed - 592 Divorced - 11 Refused - 14 Deceased - 8 Year 3 Men completed - 466 Women completed - 530 Divorced - 12 Refused - 14 Deceased - 6 Year 4 Men completed - 395 Women completed - 465 Divorced - 28 Refused - 21 Deceased - 3 Year 5 Men completed - 313 Women completed - 379 Divorced - 2 Refused - 1 Deceased - 3 Deployed - 2 Year 6 Men completed - 278 Women completed - 332 Divorced - 5 Refused - 2 Deceased - 5" TARGET AUDIENCES: Remarried couples and stepfamilies. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
"Overall, this AES project has provided new insight into the early years of remarriage. It has identified specific difficulties in social, spousal, parenting, and stepparenting domains. Findings highlight the longitudinal perceptions of men and women on difficult areas of remarried and stepfamily life. The majority of significant items within this study had a positive trend, meaning that couples reported increased difficulties over time. Building on previous research demonstrating couples in the first four years of marriage experience marital decline (Kurdek, 1999; Karney & Bradbuury, 1997), this study points to underlying and on-going challenges for remarried couples. For men, the most significant difficulty over time was being a biological parent in a stepfamily; whereas women reported having the most significant difficulty with their roles as a spouse and stepmother. The results also suggests that men and women have more differences than similarities in reported remarital and stepfamily difficulties. It is not entirely clear whether these findings are the result of time alone, sample characteristics, or the relationship dynamics within the homes; however, this research can serve as a catalyst to explore these difficulties in more detail."
Publications
- Omer, L., & Higginbotham, B. 2012. Pre-remarriage history and current (step)parenting difficulties:. (In Preparation; Not Yet Submitted).
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Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Publications were linked to http://extension.usu.edu/stepfamily/. Over 4,000 unique visitors came to the website in 2011. Over 500 factsheets on remarriage distributed to Utah households. Year 4 data was entered. Year 5 data was collected. Retention remains high with approximately 80% of Year 4 participants returning a Year 5 survey. Year 1: Men completed - 942, Women completed - 1106, Divorced - 20, Refused - 61; Year 2: Men completed - 507, Women completed - 592, Divorced - 11, Refused - 14, Deceased - 8; Year 3: Men completed - 466, Women completed - 530, Divorced - 12, Refused - 14, Deceased - 6; Year 4: Men completed - 395, Women completed - 465, Divorced - 28, Refused - 21, Deceased - 3; Year 5: Men completed - 313, Women completed - 379, Divorced - 2, Refused - 1, Deceased - 3, Deployed - 2. The data and experience from this AES project helped the PI apply and secure $786K from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Presented findings at the National Council on Family Relations. PARTICIPANTS: USU Extension, FCHD Department, Utah Department of Vital Records, and married couples from around the State. TARGET AUDIENCES: Remarried couples and stepfamilies. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Using family stress theory and a sample of remarried individuals, 739 women and 686 men, we found marital instability and quality were influenced by economic strain through decreased spousal warmth and increased spousal hostility. Previous studies have shown economic strain and relationship behaviors leading to marital outcomes. Little is known about these connections among remarried couples. Implications for relationship education content include a focus on relationship skills (warmth, conflict management, stress management), which can be applied to buffer economic strain. The study extends the work of Conger et al. (1990) in several ways. First, it replicates many of their original findings with a remarried sample. Secondly, by including self-report and partner reports of warmth and hostility, it addresses their call for "interactional dimensions of family relationships." Thirdly, it suggests similarities between remarried women and men and, in comparison to Conger's sample, some unique effects of economic strain. A second article being prepared focuses on 939 husbands and 1,100 wives remarried in 2006. Controlling for marital quality, analyses of covariance indicate that both premarital cohabitation and marriage number have main effects on various stepparenting and parenting difficulties. Multiple marital transitions were associated with increases in parenting difficulties for husbands while decreasing stepparenting difficulties for wives. Overall, husbands' difficulties revolved around parenting issues while the impact of cohabitation and marriage numbers for wives was manifest in stepparenting difficulties. Interaction effects between premarital cohabitation and marriage number indicate that premarital cohabiters generally experience more parenting and stepparenting difficulties in remarriage if they already have a history of multiple marital transitions.
Publications
- UTAO+980 Adler-Baeder, F., Higginbotham, B., Schramm, D., Paulk, A. (2011). Utah Marriage Handbook.(FR/Marriage/2011-01). (Published).
- UTAO+980 Higginbotham, B. (2011). Addition of Family Members Through Marriage. In M. J. Craft-Rosenberg (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Family Health, Sage. (Published).
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Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Previous publications were linked on my website http://extension.usu.edu/stepfamily/ Over 450 factsheets on remarriage issues were disseminated to Utah citizens. Year 3 data was entered. Year 4 data was collected. Retention remains high with approximately 85% of Year 3 participants returning a Year 4 survey. Year 1: Men completed - 942; Women completed - 1106; Divorced - 20; Refused - 61; Year 2: Men completed - 507; Women completed - 592; Divorced - 11; Refused - 14; Deceased - 8; Year 3: Men completed - 466; Women completed - 530; Divorced - 12; Refused - 14; Deceased - 6; Year 4: Men completed - 395; Women completed - 465; Divorced - 28; Refused - 21; Deceased - 3. One of the reports in preparation explores effects of financial stress on remarital quality. Specifically, the study replicates Conger and colleagues (1990) model using my remarried sample to discover any unique features or outcomes related to remarriage. The sample were the respondents who provided complete information about their marriage quality and stability (n = 686 for husbands and n = 739 for wives). Mplus 5.1 was used to test the hypothesized model for both husband and wife data with listwise solution for missing data and maximum likelihood estimations for obtaining standardized coefficients. The goodness of fit indices for the wives' model were, χ2 (145) = 487.44, p < .001, CFI = .95, TFI = .94, RMSEA = .06; and for the husbands' model were, χ2 (144) = 446.99, p < .001, CFI = .95, TFI = .94, RMSEA = .06. Though the standardized coefficients in the wives' and husbands' models were different from each other, the pattern of hypothesized causal relationships were similar for both husbands and wives data. PARTICIPANTS: USU Extension, FCHD Department, Utah Department of Vital Records, and married couples from around the State. TARGET AUDIENCES: Remarried couples and stepfamilies. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Previous literature suggests economic strain can lead to undesirable family outcomes, such as increased risk of martial dissatisfaction and divorce or separation. Over the past two decades, Conger and his colleagues have used a family stress model to explain the mechanism between economic strain and marital outcomes. While the association among economic strain, spousal interactions, and poor marital or family outcomes have been frequently examined, it is worthwhile to point out that diverse family contexts have not been well represented in this research. The results from our study, using a remarried sample, indicate that marital instability and quality are influenced by economic strain and financial concerns through the changes of (decreasing) warmth and (increasing) hostility behaviors toward their spouses. The analysis identified a stronger relationship between warmth and hostility for husbands, whereas hostility had a stronger negative influence on marital quality for wives than for husbands. The current research extends the body of knowledge on marital financial strain by using theory to guide the study and by using a remarried sample.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/09 to 12/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Activities this year included: Analysis of Year 1 and Year 2 data. During 2009, portions of the Year 1 and Year 2 data set were analyzed by the PI, graduate students, and undergraduates. The Year 2 data set has 507 completed husband questionnaires and 591 completed wife questionnaires. Collection and entering of Year 3 data. Between February and April, Year 3 surveys were sent to everyone who returned a Year 1 or Year 2 survey. 521 women and 459 men returned surveys for a response rate of 48% and 42%, respectively. We continue to enter and clean the Year 3 data. Dissemination of findings. The dissemination of findings and related resources has occurred in a number of ways. Three articles were published in refereed journals this year and one more is in press. With the Year 3 surveys, we sent a research-based fact sheet called "Helpful Strategies to Deal with Ex-partners in Remarriages". This was received by over 1,100 Utah households. PARTICIPANTS: USU Extension, FCHD Department, Utah Department of Vital Records, and married couples from around the State. TARGET AUDIENCES: Remarried couples and stepfamilies. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Below I summarize two studies that have been conducted and published from the on-going project evaluation. Study 1 - This study provided a contemporary evaluation of 10 different forms of remarriage preparation. We reported usage of remarriage preparation and perceived helpfulness as well as differences in dyadic adjustment between respondents who did or did not prepare. Those who participated in some form of preparation generally found it helpful. The majority of those who did not prepare felt it was unnecessary. Differences in dyadic adjustment varied by the form of preparation. Implications for scholars, practitioners, and policy makers include the need for more research-based materials that counter popular stepfamily myths as well as resources that can be made available to the public through mediums that are trusted and commonly accessed. Study 2 - In light of the limited research on later-life relational transitions, this study explored remarriage-related difficulties experienced by elderly remarried couples. The sample was comprised of 192 couples in which at least one spouse was over the age of 60 and the union was not a first marriage for both individuals. The areas of greatest difficulty for both husbands and wives included: couple expectations, organizing and participating in family events in the context of a stepfamily, reacting to children's emotions, and trust with stepchildren. For the majority of the 52 topics covered, husbands and wives had relatively similar ratings of perceived difficulty. Despite the age of the sample, issues related to (step)children were still some of the highest rated difficulties. Like young and midlife remarried couples, elderly couples also have to balance the new with the old, and often struggle to maintain relationships stemming from blood and marriage (Ganong & Coleman, 2004). For biological parents in stepfamilies, the highest rated difficulties were dealing with "my spouse and my children competing for my attention and love," and "knowing how to react when my children express emotions about our stepfamily." For the stepparent, establishing trust and "feeling I have 'my' place in the family" were the most difficult. Few traditional CRE programs address these issues, in large part because most programming has been developed for young or midlife couples getting married for the first time. This does not mean that elderly remarried couples would not benefit from learning about the skills taught in general CRE curricula (i.e., communication, conflict resolution) but to meet their unique relational needs they may benefit more by attending classes designed specifically for them.
Publications
- Higginbotham, B., Reck, K., & Brooks, N. 2009. Difficulties experienced among newly remarried elderly couples. Journal of the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences 4:32-37.
- Higginbotham, B. & Felix, D. 2009. Economic predictors of marital quality among newly remarried rural and urban couples. Family Science Review 14(2):18-30.
- Higginbotham, B., Miller, J., & Niehuis, S. 2009. Remarriage preparation: Usage, perceived helpfulness, and dyadic adjustment. Family Relations 58:316-329.
- Schramm, D. G. & Higginbotham, B. J. 2009. A revision of the Questionnaire for Couples in Stepfamilies. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage 50(5):341-355.
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Progress 01/01/08 to 12/31/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Activities this year included analysis of Year 1 data, collection and entering of Year 2 data, and dissemination of findings. Analysis of Year 1 data. During 2008, portions of the Year 1 data set were analyzed by the PI, graduate students, and undergraduates. The Year 1 data set has 939 completed husband questionnaires for a response rate of 19.2%, and 1,100 completed wife questionnaires for a response rate of 22.5%. The opportunity to analyze a dataset of so many newly remarried individuals has been a great learning experience for students. Collection and entering of Year 2 data. Between February and Abril, Year 2 surveys were sent to everyone who returned a Year 1 survey. 572 women and 494 men returned surveys for a response rate of 52% and 52.6%, respectively. We continue to enter and clean the Year 2 data. Dissemination of findings. The dissemination of findings and related resources has occurred in a number of ways. With the Year 2 surveys, we sent a research-based fact sheet called "Creating Rituals in Remarriages". This was received by over 1,100 Utah households. This year we have also presented findings at two national conferences, a student research symposium, and a state conference. Results are also being sent to professional journals. Currently, three articles are under peer-review and another two are in preparation. PARTICIPANTS: USU Extension, FCHD Department, Utah Department of Vital Records, and married couples from around the State. TARGET AUDIENCES: Remarried couples and stepfamilies. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Below I summarize two studies that have been conducted from the on-going project evaluation. Both were presented at national conferences and have been submitted for publication. Study 1: Controlling for marital quality, analyses of covariance indicate that both premarital cohabitation and marriage number have main effects on various stepparenting and parenting difficulties. Multiple marital transitions were associated with increases in parenting difficulties for husbands while decreasing stepparenting difficulties for wives. Overall, husbands' difficulties revolved around parenting issues while the impact of cohabitation and marriage number for wives was manifest in stepparenting difficulties. Interaction effects between premarital cohabitation and marriage number indicate that premarital cohabiters generally experience more parenting and stepparenting difficulties in remarriage if they already have a history of multiple marital transitions. Implications for practitioners and program developers include: - It may be that cohabitation provides a more gentle transition into remarriage allowing families to address and adjust to common difficulties associated with parenting in the context of stepfamily life. Still, the small number of main and interaction effects involving premarital cohabitation implies some association with a few specific difficulties in remarriages. - Educators and programmers may want to consider the gender differences identified between men and women when deciding how and what material is offered. Men in remarriages appear to need more help with parenting difficulties while wives may benefit from additional information regarding the stepparent role. Helping couples support their spouses through difficulties, which the other may or may not share, may be a particularly beneficial aspect of couple intervention and educational efforts. Study 2. Using a sample of newly remarried couples from rural and urban areas, we investigated the rural influence of economic pressure upon self-reported marital instability and marital satisfaction. Several economic variables, which have been implicated in the extant literature as stressors in rural communities (i.e., financial pressure, income, family size, and education level) were examined in order to understand their influence on couples in this stage and type of marriage. In the present study, rural couples had significantly lower average household income. They also had lower levels of education and a greater average number of people in the household, which indicates that stepfamilies in rural areas are larger than stepfamilies in urban areas. Yet, in terms of marital quality they are more similar than different. In this newlywed sample, both spouses in rural and urban remarriages report high levels of satisfaction and low levels of relationship instability. By and large, the aspects of economic strain that predict remarital quality in rural couples also predict urban remarital quality.
Publications
- Higginbotham, B. & Adler-Baeder, F. 2008. Assessing beliefs about remarriages and stepfamilies: The remarriage belief inventory. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage 48(3/4):33-54.
- Higginbotham, B. Anderson, A., & Lown, J. 2007. Advising recently remarried clients: Implications from social science research. Journal of Personal Finance 6:81-92.
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Progress 01/01/07 to 12/31/07
Outputs
OUTPUTS: In 2007, Year 1 data was collected from 1078 women and 938 men. Multiple presentations were given: Higginbotham, B., & Henderson, K.. (2007, November). Characteristics of Rural Newlywed Remarriages. Poster presented at the annual conference of the National Council on Family Relations. Pittsburgh, PA. Anderson, A. Higginbotham, B., & **Henderson, K.. (2007, November). Difficulties Associated with Stepparenting as Predictors of Remarital Quality and Stability. Poster presented at the annual conference of the National Council on Family Relations. Pittsburgh, PA. Anderson, A., & Higginbotham, B. (2007, January). Difficulties Associated with Stepparenting as Predictors of Remarital Quality and Stability: A study of Rural Utah Stepfamilies. Poster presented at the annual Undergraduate Research Day at the State Capitol. Salt Lake City, UT. Anderson, A., & Higginbotham, B. (2007, February). Difficulties Associated with Stepparenting as Predictors of Remarital Quality and Stability:
A study of Rural Utah Stepfamilies. Poster presented at the Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research. Salt Lake City, UT.
PARTICIPANTS: USU Extension, FCHD Department, Utah Department of Vital Records, and married couples from around the State.
TARGET AUDIENCES: Remarried couples and stepfamilies.
Impacts
The findings from this study are benefiting the State by providing needed support for broader efforts to (a) create and disseminate family-life resources and programs throughout the Cooperative Extension System and (b) secure external funding offered through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. One article has already been published and others are in development. In light of findings from this project, the Principal Investigator developed a "marriage handbook" that will be distributed to all couples in Utah who apply for a marriage license. Another significant outcome was the awarding of $1.6 million to the Principal Investigator to provide remarriage and stepfamily education programs in partnership with Head Start agencies. The application for these federal funds relied heavily on the data and experience the Principal Investigator had acquired from this AES project.
Publications
- Higginbotham, B. Anderson, A., & Lown, J. 2007. Advising recently remarried clients: Implications from social science research. Journal of Personal Finance 6:81-92.
- Higginbotham, B. & Adler-Baeder, F. 2007. Assessing beliefs about remarriages and stepfamilies: The remarriage belief inventory. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage (in press).
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Progress 07/01/06 to 12/31/06
Outputs
The USU Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved the research protocol and questionnaire on October 10, 2006. With the IRB approval, on the 16th of October the Director of the Utah Office of Vital Records and Statistics formally approved our request to access marriage licenses. On November 7th staff from the Utah Office of Vital Records and Statistics finished compiling an electronic list of all Utah remarriages from January through June 2006. The electronic list did not include mailing addresses; consequently, a student assistant has been traveling to the State Health Department to manually enter this information. Address entry will be completed in approximately two weeks. Once addresses have been entered into our database the data collection process will commence.
Impacts
Divorce in Utah costs the state approximately $77 million in direct costs each year. In many rural counties the divorce rate is higher than the state average as is the remarriage rate. Data from this project, on the economic and familial stressors of rural remarriages, may assist practitioners and policy makers develop programs and policies that support remarrying couples' ability to form and sustain healthy marriages.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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