Guide to the Constructs:
Context & Consequences of Marriage
Economic Situation Work and Outside Commitments Economic Stress
Parenthood and Children Psychological Well-being and Stress Behavioral Problems
Physical and Social Context
This section focuses on factors that might affect or be affected by the character of the marriage relationship. A couple's economic situation, for example, may produce considerable stress on the spouses and create tension in their marriage (Conger & Elder, 1994); at the same time, the resources husbands and wives bring to their marriage, and the decisions couples make regarding work roles and procreation, play a part in creating the economic circumstances under which they live. This section includes variables related to: (a) couples' objective economic situation, (b) their work roles and other outside commitments; (c) economic stress; (d) parenthood and parenting; (e) psychological well-being; (f) the extent to which the spouses exhibit behavioral problems (e.g., drinking, abuse); and (g) features of the physical and social context within which the couple lives their life together.
Some couples in the PAIR Project sample experienced considerable economic growth during the 1980s and into the 1990s; others, perhaps the majority, suffered economic hard times. In the early 1980s, unemployment rates reached double figures in rural, economically depressed areas like the one from which our sample was drawn. Our sample, being young and relatively unskilled, was particularly hard hit. More than a third of the husbands we interviewed were unemployed in 1981, 1982, or 1983, the years we carried out our initial interviews. Many of the men in our sample had unstable employment histories; the women often worked, but few of them stayed in the labor force once they became mothers (which most of them did by the time the couples reached their second wedding anniversary). Many of the couples no doubt had a difficult time keeping up with inflation or with the needs of their expanding family as they struggled to make ends meet, often finding themselves postponing fills, borrowing from relatives, or holding off on buying things they needed.
Socioeconomic status refers to access to or control over wealth, power, and social status (Mueller & Parcel, 1981). Such status, because it has traditionally been defined in terms of the education and occupation of the "head of the household" is more difficult to measure in the 1990s than it was when the participants in the present study were growing up (in the 1960s, and 1970s). Although many women worked outside the home, men were almost uniformly the primary breadwinner. Classification of husbands and wives with regard to social class appears in the Attributes section of the Guide.
Table 3a. Economic Situation 1. Income
2. Income Loss or Gain
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Work and Other Outside Commitments
The connection between work roles, marriage, and family relationships
has been the focus of several PAIR Project manuscripts (Atkinson & Huston, 1984;
Crouter, Perry-Jenkins, Crawford, & Huston, 1989; Huston & Ashmore, 1986; Johnson,
Huston, Gaines, & Levinger, 1992; McHale & Huston, 1984). The data available
provide an in-depth view of the work roles and work history of the husbands and wives.
During Phase 4, participants also provided information about their involvement in
community-based activities.
Table 3b. Work and Other Outside Commitments 1. Student Status (Phases 1-4) 2. Employment Status (Phase 4)
3. For each current job (Phase 4)
4. Job Satisfaction
5. Employment Problems (Phase 4)
6. Unemployment History (Phase 4)
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1. Economic Comparisons (Phase 4)
2. Economic Pressure (Phase 4)
3. Financial Strain (Phase 4)
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Following the lead of Conger and his colleagues (Conger & Elder, 1994) and the research on stress by Pearlin, Leiberman, Menaghan, & Mullan (1981), several questions were included in Phase 4 having to do with the subjective experience of economic distress. The questions pertaining to economic comparisons required individuals to compare themselves with their neighbors, with others with a similar level of education, and others who work as hard as they do. The questions pertaining to economic pressure ask whether the family has cutback on various expenses, whether they have had a difficult time making ends meet, and whether they lack materially.
Table 3d. Parenthood and Children 1. Information about First Child
2. Household Size
3. For Each Child
4. Satisfaction with Child Care and Relationship with Child
5. Parenting Strain (Phase 4)
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Most of the couples who stayed married through the first three phases of the study (i.e., just past their second anniversary) had also become parents by that time. The PAIR Project has been the focus of several papers dealing with the impact of parenthood on marriage (McHale & Huston, 1985; MacDermid, Huston, & McHale, 1990; Crawford & Huston, 1993; Huston & Vangelisti (1995). In addition, a limited amount of work has been done on the parental roles assumed by new mothers and fathers (Crouter, Perry-Jenkins, Huston, & McHale, 1987; McHale & Huston, 1987). Little work has been done on child care arrangements, satisfaction with child care and parents' relationship with the child. During the Phase 4 follow-up, data were also gathered on parenting role strain using the parental stress index ((Abidin, 1983, Burke & Abidin, 1980; Lloyd & Abidin, 1984).
Psychological Well-Being and Stress
Table 3e. Psychological Well-Being and Stress 1. Life Satisfaction (Phase 1-4) 2. Role Overload (Phase 4) 3. Role Balance (Phase 4) 4. Role Ease (Phase 4) 5. Avg. Rating of How Relaxed or Hassled the Day (Phase 4) 6. Moods (Phase 3)
7. Stress (Phase 4)
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Life satisfaction was measured at each of the four phases of the investigation using Campbell, Converse, and Rodgers (1976) measure. The other measures, with the exception of "role balance" and "role balance" focus on stress. Measures of economic stress and parenting strain can be found in Tables 3c & 3d.
Most of the stress measures were gathered via the questionnaires mailed to the participants as part of the Phase 4 data collection effort. The average rating of how relaxed or hassled the day, however, was based on the reports provided during the daily diary interview.
Table 3f. Behavioral Problems 1. Simple Totals (Phase 4)
2. Weighted for Variety of Behaviors (Phase 4)
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During the longer telephone interviews that were carried out during Phase 4, husbands and wives were asked to provide information about the frequency with which their partner had exhibited a number of problem behaviors. Subsequently they provided information regarding the same matters about themselves. Many of the behaviors were identified through a review of research on divorce in which former partners were asked to identify the causes of the divorce. Problems associated with alcohol and drugs, physical abuse, and sexual involvements with others were commonly reported as causes of divorce (see Kitson, 1992; Ponzetti, Zvonkovic, Cate, & Huston, 1992, for reviews). The behavioral problems represent part of the "hard living" lifestyle described by Howell (1973).
The summary scores were calculated in two ways, using both the self-reports and the reports on the spouse. The first way uses the ratio scales that were used in the questions themselves (i.e., with each scale position doubling the frequency of the previous one); the second way converts the responses to actual frequencies based on the midpoint of the ranges of the scale values. The first way reduces the impact on the overall scores of any single high frequency behavior. The second way assumes that any high frequency behavior ought to have a strong connection with the overall score.
Physical and Social Context
The questions pertaining to the physical context are self-explanatory. Community involvement includes such activities as voting, reading the newspaper, watching the news, and being a union or club member.
Table 3g. Physical and Social Context of Marriage 1. Size of Community of Residence (Phases 1-3) 2. Length of Time to Drive to Parents' (Phases 1-3) 3. Number of Residences Since Married (Phase 4) 4. Number of Residences Leased or Rented Since Married (Phase 4) 5. Community Involvement (Phase 4) 6. Couple Owns Residence? (Phases 1-3) 7. Number of Residences Owned Since Married (Phase 4) |
