Problem Solving And Social Support As Predictors Of The Marital Quality Of Newlywed Marriage

Purposes (1)To explore the applicability of Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scales in China;(2)To find out the correlations and differences between wives’and husbands’behaviors in problem solving and social support task;(3)To explore whether Chinese couples’ behaviors can predict their marriage quality.Methods Present study recruits41couples from seven provinces and cities across the country by advertising on-line and acquaintance introduction. Strictly following experimental steps of the observational study, we collect video information of four topic discussion processes of two tasks, problem solving and social support (in each task spouses are required to choose a topic of their own),10minutes per topic, then we code the video tape with Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scales (IFIRS) and collected marriage quality information with Quality of Marriage Index (QMI).Results (1) Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scales has good coefficient of internal consistency and Interclass Correlation Coefficients;(2) The behaviors in problem solving and the social support have high correlation for individuals;(3) In problem solving task, wives’ positive behaviors are negatively correlated with their own negative behaviors;(4) There is a significant difference between couples’ negative behaviors in two tasks:they all display more negative behaviors in problem solving task than social support task, but there is no significant difference between positive behaviors;(5) In problem solving task, there is a significant difference between the behavior of husbands and wives regardless of whose topic it is. Husbands display significantly more positive behaviors than wives, while wives display significantly more negative behaviors than husbands.(6) Problem-solving interactions do not vary according to who raised the problem issue.(7) In social support task, wives play significantly higher negative behavior than husbands no matter whose topic it is. (8) In social support task, there is no significant difference between the performance concerning whose topic it is.(9) Self-report assessment of marriage quality does not show significant difference between husbands and wives.(10) Demographic variables can predict marriage quality. Age and income of husbands can positively predict their marriage quality, and the marriage length wives reported can positively predicte wives’marriage quality.(11) Husbands’ positive behaviors in problem solving has more relative predictive power to wives’ marriage quality; wives’ negative behaviors in social support has more relative predictive power to husbands’ marriage quality.Conclusions (1) Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scales are fit for Chinese couples;(2) Wives’behaviors are more negative than husbands’;(3) Wives’ negative behavior in social support can predict husbands’ marital quality; husbands’ positive behaviors in problem solving can predict wives’ marriage quality.