Marital Interactions, Family Intervention, and Disagreements: A Daily Diary Study in a Low‐income Sample

• Author: JoAnn Hsueh,Patricia Chou,Meghan McCormick,Edward Mark Cummings,Christine Merrillees
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12296
• Date: 01 June 2018
• Published date: 01 June 2018

Marital Interactions, Family Intervention, and

Disagreements: A Daily Diary Study in a

Low-income Sample

JOANN HSUEH*

MEGHAN MCCORMICK

†

CHRISTINE MERRILLEES

‡

PATRICIA CHOU*

EDWARD MARK CUMMINGS

§

Little research has examined associations between low-income married couples’ daily

interactions and severity of disagreements. Similarly, few researchers have considered how

family-strengthening interventions for low-income couples may affect the quality of daily

interactions and associations between interactions and conflict experiences. This study

aims to fill these gaps in the literature by leveraging daily diary data from a random

assignment study of a family-strengthening intervention with low-income husband s and

wives 30 months postenrollment. Married couples randomly assigned to the intervention

participated in 10 weeks of relationshi p education services. Control group couples received

no services. Thirty months postrandom assignment, participants reported on the severity of

daily marital disagreements over a 15-day period, as well as their positive and negative

emotions during inter-spousal interactions. Multi-level models demonstrated associa tions

between reports of emotions in interactions and severity of disagreements. In addition,

wives assigned to the family strengthening program reported fewer negative emotions dur-

ing interactions at follow-up than wives in the control condition. Finally, negative associa-

tions between positive emotions in interactions and severity of disagreements were stronger

for wives assigned to the intervention, while positive associations between negative emo-

tions in interactions and severity of disagreements were weaker for wives assigned to the

intervention. Implications for future research and intervention development are discussed.

Keywords: Marital Interaction; Family Intervention; Marital Conflict; Low-Income

Couples; Diary Study

Fam Proc 57:359–379, 2018

*Families & Children Policy Area, MDRC, New York, NY.

†

MDRC, New York, NY.

‡

Department of Psychology, SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo, NY.

§

Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, NY.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to JoAnn Hsueh, Families & Children Policy

Area, MDRC, 16 East 34th St. 19th Floor New York, NY 10016. E-mail: joann.hsueh@mdrc.org

Collection of the data described in this report was supported by the William T. Grant Foundation and

Contract Number HHS-233-03-0034 from the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, the Adminis-

tration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded to MDRC.

Preparation of this report was supported by the William T. Grant Foundation. The views expressed in this

publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Office of Planning, Research, and Evalua-

tion, the Administration for Children and Families, or the William T. Grant Foundation.

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Family Process, Vol. 57, No. 2, 2018 ©2017 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12296

Most descriptive research and evaluations of interventions aimed at understanding

and enhancing marital quality, satisfaction, and longevity have focused on middle-

to upper-income couples (Fincham, Stanley, & Beach, 2007; Robles, Slatcher, Trombello,

& McGinn, 2014). Yet, in light of especially high divorce rates and low marriage rates in

lower-income couples (Amato, Booth, McHale, & Hook, 2015), increased attention has

turned toward efforts to strengthen low-income couples’ marital relationships. The federal

government has spearheaded this effort by dramatically increasing expenditures for

marriage education and family strengthening programs adapted for and targeted towards

low-income families (Johnson, 2012). However, evaluations of these interventions have

generally shown weaker than expected effects on outcomes of interest (e.g., Hsueh et al.,

2012; Lundquist et al., 2014; Wood, McConnell, Moore, Clarkwest, & Hsueh, 2012).

Further, as argued by Trail and Karney (2012), there is limited marital research to guide

and strengthen the effectiveness of these investments. Many current theories about

marital functioning and relationships, as well as the basic assumptions underlying these

programs, have yet to be examined empirically with low-income or racially and ethnically

diverse couples with children. This more specific information is sorely needed in order to

appropriately guide policy initiatives aimed at strengthening marriages, particularly

within low-income communities.

This study asks whether and how policy strategies aimed at strengthening low-incom e

couples’ relationships can be improved. We aim to accomplish this goal by leveraging a

valuable opportunity afforded by rich data collection in a large-scale federal initiative

aimed at testing the effectiveness of a relationship education program targeting

low-income married couples. To this end, this study has three overarching goals. After

drawing upon extant theories to describe the nature of everyday marit al interactions in a

sample of low-income and racially and ethnically diverse couples with adolescent children,

we first aim to explore how these everyday interactions affect or spill over into other

aspects or domains of marital functioning—namely disagreements—and how behaviors

and emotions conjointly unfold and develop over time in everyday family life. Second, we

aim to examine how one family strengthening intervention in particular did or did not

improve low-income husbands’ and wives’ reports of their positive and negative emotions

during daily marital interactions occurring in the ecologically valid context of the home.

Finally, we seek to unpack how the family strengthening intervention may have affected

low-income married couples’ everyday interactions and navigation of disagreements as

they unfold in their daily lives. We bring needed evidence to bear on current theories

about how low-income populations experience marriages in their everyday lives, and how

this information might guide the design and content of policy initiatives to strengthen

marriages in low-income communities.

MARITAL INTERACTIONS AND DISAGREEMENTS

The dynamic interplay of behaviors and emotions in shaping marital satisfaction, sta-

bility, and conflict has long been a focus of family systems theories and marital research.

As described by Patterson (1982), couples may get caught up in coercive cycles and pat-

terns of negative interactions where there is an increased likelihood of escalating hostile

behaviors and negative communication and affect with each other in their daily lives, in

turn leading to more hostile behaviors and negative emotionality during conflicts and dis-

agreements. With either the positive or negative feedback loops, spouses’ behaviors out-

side of marital conflicts may fuel conflict, which become amplified in the context of the

ensuing disagreement. A social exchange perspective (Thibaut & Kelley, 1959) suggests

that the spread of negative behaviors and emotions from couples’ everyday interactions to

conflicts may stem from one spouse’s positive attributions and perceptions of the other

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