Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

This article discusses conceptual issues that should be considered in re-evaluating family development perspectives as they apply to the study of ethnically diverse populations. Four issues are identified: values and value orientations; hidden or conditioned theoretical assumptions; accepted conceptual frameworks; and limited methodologies used in the study of families. We focus on identifying how these issues have limited ways of thinking about family development among ethnically and racially diverse populations. Suggestions are made to help guide researchers' theoretical and conceptual formulations in developing research agendas that include studying family development among diverse populations.

This paper explores the relationship of family ties to black and white couples' marital happiness over the first 3 years of their marriages. Respondents were 115 black and 136 white couples interviewed as part of the Early Years of Marriage study. Although there were many similarities in the way blacks and whites felt about and interacted with their families, black couples were less likely to argue over matters pertaining to family, visited their families more often but perceived fewer family members able to help if needed. Hierarchical panel regressions showed that close family ties had no effect on the marital happiness of whites but significantly predicted black couples' marital happiness, particularly the ties to the husband's family. Predictions of marital happiness further varied by low and high structural stress (low income combined with early family formation), such that low-stress blacks' increased closeness to their in-laws from year 1 to year 3 predicted marital happiness. For high-stress blacks, the couple's closeness to the husband's family in year 1 and increases in that closeness by year 3 predicted increased marital happiness. Findings point to the importance of accounting for both ethnicity and structural context for understanding the paths couples take in establishing happy marriages.

This paper tests family development and life-course perspectives in explaining marital quality over the course of marriage for black and white adults. The sample of 1430 adults (1097 white, 333 black) in their first marriage was from a 1986 national survey. As expected, positive marital quality (satisfaction and interdependence) had significant curvilinear patterns across length of marriage but only satisfaction showed the characteristic U-shape with a dip in the middle years which is consistent with a family life-cycle explanation. Furthermore, family structure variables did not eliminate this pattern, although family financial factors reduced it to marginal significance. Negative marital quality (discord and spouse negative behavior) had significant negative linear patterns over the marital life course, which were unaffected by family life-cycle variables. All four patterns were similar for blacks and whites, except that blacks had a stronger negative linear association between negative marital quality and marriage length. Marital quality was significantly lower among blacks on all measures; kin relation and status inequality variables did not eliminate this difference. The results suggest that marital quality is better explained by a life-course perspective than by the family development model.

This study examines cross-cultural conceptions of interdependence within marriage over the life cycle. Older Japanese and American couples participated in a narrative interview in which both spouses jointly discussed the story of their marriage. The resulting data were analyzed qualitatively and several salient themes emerged. Interdependence among couples varied across cultures and between racial groups. Further, the couples' feelings of intimacy and distance were renegotiated over the life course. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to family development theory.

Based on data from 40 open-ended interviews with working- and middle-class adult children and children-in-law currently caring for an elderly parent, this study focused on the transition to the role of filial caregiver. Class differences in the formation of parent-caring networks among siblings and in the conflict that ensued when siblings did not provide assistance were examined. Although only one-third of the sample received assistance from siblings, it occurred more often in working-class families and was usually the result of family values which emphasized helping one another and an obligation to provide care for one's parents. When siblings did not provide assistance, sisters were more likely to ask for help while brothers demanded it. Often, lack of sibling assistance was a reflection of prior family histories. Implications for later-life families are discussed.

This paper describes and discusses diversity among lesbian and gay families along central dimensions of social stratification: gender, sexual orientation, generation, age, race and ethnicity. We examine implications of this diversity for traditional family theories, identify and discuss sexist and heterosexist assumptions of dominant family theories and suggest the usefulness of an integrative approach that combines insights from positivist and post-positivist theories. We conclude by proposing research questions, directions and methods to guide future empirical work, facilitate theory development and enrich our understanding of diverse family forms.

This is a study of acculturation and acculturation stress among Cuban and Nicaraguan adolescent males and their parents. The sample consisted of 674 Cuban-American and 211 Nicaraguan-American 6th and 7th grade adolescents and one of their parents. Hypotheses predicting group differences in acculturation stress were tested. Analyses were bivariate and multivariate, using parent and adolescent data. Findings indicated important differences in acculturation stress for different cohorts of immigrants within the two ethnic groups as well as differences between the subsamples. Important differences were also found between adolescent and parental acculturation stress, with more recent immigrants among the adolescents experiencing more language conflicts, while parents reported more long-term language conflicts. Adolescent and parental acculturation-related stressors and acculturation levels were strongly associated with lower levels of family cohesion, increased parent/child acculturation conflicts, adolescent self-esteem and adolescent perceived teacher derogation. The differences and similarities found between the Cuban and Nicaraguan groups, parents and adolescents, are discussed with a focus on the importance of the family as a coping source for the stresses associated with immigrant adaptation.

The present study compares self-reports of felt obligation towards parents, cultural attitudes about family functioning and perceptions of family interactions in a sample of 100 Mexican-American and Anglo-American young adults. On average, Mexican-American men and women reported significantly higher levels of familism, more collectivist attitudes and more helping behavior in relationships with parents than did Anglo-Americans, while Anglo respondents reported having more contact with social systems outside the family system. Mexican-American young adults generally reported feeling significantly more obligated to avoid conflict, provide assistance and strive for self-sufficiency in their relationships with parents than did Anglo-Americans. Cultural attitudes of familism and collectivism were related to reports of felt obligation for Mexican-American respondents but not for Anglo-American respondents. Implications of results for family development theory are discussed.