This study investigated the correlates of relationship satisfaction, marriage expectations, and relationship longevity among unmarried African American and Black Caribbean (Caribbean Black) adults who are in a romantic relationship. The study used data from the National Survey of American Life, a national representative sample of African Americans and Caribbean Blacks in the United States. The […]

This article is a summary of Family Relations Special Issue : Enduring Couples. Most Americans (even the divorced) view long-term marriage as their ultimate goal; and, despite the odds, in 1998, 63% of young women and 57% of young men participating in the nationally representative sample for the Monitoring the Future Study believed that they […]

This article presents a case for faith communities to strengthen efforts to build healthy marriages during teen years through an ecological approach using individual, social network, organizational and community strategies. Community-based marriage preparation programs for engaged couples are effective in reducing divorce and distress in the early years of marriage. Extending these commitment–and skill-training efforts […]

Environmental or genetic influences, or both could account for the increased risk of divorce among the offspring of separated parents. Previous studies have used covariates to statistically control for confounds, but the present research is the first genetically informed study of the topic. The investigation used the Children of Twins Design with twins, their spouses, […]

This brief uses both quantitative and qualitative data to examine how risk factors such as physical abuse, substance abuse, and incarceration are related to father involvement and relationship status among unmarried couples. The authors also examine how parents’ relationship status and quality mediate the association between fathers’ risk behaviors and involvement with children.

Teenage childbearing is associated with many adverse consequences for teen mothers, their families, and children. Many of the negative consequences for teen mothers are due to the disadvantaged situations in which many of these girls already lived before having a teen birth. While the disadvantaged backgrounds of most teen mothers account for many of the […]