Abstract

The general purpose of this study was to understand differences in one's ability to implement relationship self-regulation (RSR) based on the predictor variables of parental marital satisfaction, parent-child relationship quality, and neuroticism. Participants were 380 married couples (760 individuals) in their first marriage who completed the RELATionship Evaluation (RELATE) between 2006 and 2008. This sample was used to test a structural equation model of the study variables. Results were mixed, indicating that proximal factors may have a larger effect on RSR than more distal family-of-origin factors. There was no direct relationship between perceived parental marital satisfaction and RSR for males or females. Likewise, there was no direct relationship between parent-child relationship quality and RSR, with the exception of female mother-child relationship quality and female RSR. Both perceived self-neuroticism and partner-neuroticism had statistically significant negative associations with self-RSR, with self-neuroticism being the strongest. Additionally, male mother-child relationship quality and female father-child relationship quality had statistically significant negative associations with male and female self-neuroticism, respectively. The relationship between male mother-child relationship quality and male RSR was fully mediated by male neuroticism. The same was true for females, with female neuroticism fully mediating the relationship between female father-child relationship quality and female RSR. Implications for couple therapists and educators based on these findings are discussed.

Degree

College and Department

Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Family Life; Marriage and Family Therapy

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