Associations Between Family of Origin Climate, Relationship Self‐Regulation, and Marital Outcomes

Abstract

Using dyadic data from 961 married couples from the Relationship Evaluation Questionnaire project, the current study explored the direct association between family of origin climate and marital outcomes and the indirect association via relationship self-regulation (RSR). Results from the actor-partner interdependence model analysis indicated that family of origin climate was positively associated with marital stability directly and indirectly via the effects of RSR and marital satisfaction for both men and women. Results suggest that the experience one has in their family of origin is associated with their marital outcomes through their RSR. Actor-partner direct and indirect effects indicate that spouses' RSR may have important consequences for both partner's evaluation of the marriage. Implications for intervention and future research are discussed.

The Critical Need to Recognize That Families Matter for Adult Health: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…Further, adults who report never having married are more likely to report being in supportive, connected relationships with parents and siblings than their married counterparts (Pinquart, 2003; Sarkisian & Gertsel, 2016). Last, marital stability is associated with higher quality, less negative family‐of‐origin relationships (Hardy, Soloski, Ratcliffe, Anderson, & Willoughby, 2015). Overall, while the benefit of marriage for health may be well established, factors predictive of marital transition and related health improvements likely include nonspousal family relationships, which are therefore critical to examine in the context of adult health.…”

Forgiveness, Marital Quality, and Marital Stability in the Early Years of Chinese Marriage: An Actor–Partner Interdependence Mediation Model

“…Marital quality has been theorized to be based on pathways through which forgiveness is related to marital stability. That is, as the VSA Model implies, adaptive processes are generally characterized by couples’ ability to adapt effectively to the challenges of marriage and influence marital stability via marital satisfaction ( Karney and Bradbury, 1995 ; Hardy et al, 2015 ). Furthermore, Braithwaite et al (2016) proposed that forgiveness would be considered an adaptive process in the VSA Model and empirical evidence supports these hypotheses.…”

Relationship satisfaction trajectories among low-income ethnic minority couples before and after a relationship education intervention

“…However, we did not find sex-based differences in partner effects among couples. Similarly, researchers demonstrated related partner effects where a partner’s relationship self-regulation strategies predicted marital satisfaction (Hardy et al, 2015) and a partner’s social integration predicted dedication to the relationship (Owen et al, 2012). Thus, dyadic associations between members of a couple seem important for relationship satisfaction and contribute to benefits derived from RE for couples.…”