Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 1999

Developing Sound Assessment Instruments Due to the dire lack of tools for assessing marital adjustment and parent-chil d relations, the researchers had to first develop assessment tools before the y set questionnaires to collect data. This was the most difficult part of the study. Over 10 scales were developed i n thi s study. Wh i l e some we re b o r r o w ed f r o m s t u d i e s conducted overseas, most were designed by the researchers themselves. Before u s i n g each scale, the researchers conducted a validation and a reliability study to ensure that it is valid and reliable. Re l i a b i l i t y refers to the consistency of measurement. If the same test adm i n i s t e r ed several times to the same respondents yields significantly different results' the reliability of the test is low. The scales used in the project had been tested and retested on the same pool o f middle- aged subjects at a two-week interval to f i nd out if the results were consistent. Validity refers to whether the scale can really measure wha t it sets out to measure. Scales for mea s u r i ng ma r i t a l adjustment, for example, should be able to detect differences i n ma r i t a l quality. The researchers gave related scales to t w o d i f f e r e n t g r o u ps of p e o p l e , one w i t h memb e rs w h o were i n c l i n ed to d i v o r ce or receiving marriage counselling, and hence, were assumed to display undesirable marital quality; and the other w i t h members whose marriage s were considered exemplary or had not sought marital help for the previous six months. If the scales we re v a l i d , t h e y s h o u ld be able to distinguish between members of the two groups. To ascertain the validity and reliability of the scales, the researchers conducted a validation s t udy w i t h 172 participants and a test-retest reliability study w i th 90 participants. They found that the instruments developed wer e acceptable. They then sent purpose-trained students to gather i n f o rma t i o n about marital adjustment, parent-child relations, and psychological well- b e i n g of 1,501 r e s p o n d e n t s t h r o u g h t he administering of questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. Major Findings Impact of Marital Quality and Parent - Child Relation on Midlife Adjustment The researchers discovered that respondents who d i s p l a y ed mo re signs of ma r i t a l ma l a d j u s t me nt showed more psychiatric and midlife crisis symptoms. On the whole, the qua l i ty of f am i ly life was more predictive of the well-being of wome n than men. A n d compared to parent-child relations , marital quality had a stronger impact on adjustment to 'midlife crisis'. Impact of Marital Quality on Parent-Child Relations: the Spill-over Effect and the Compensatory Effect The results indicate that respondents w i t h better marital qualit y also had better relations w i t h their children and a more positive attitude to the value of c h i l d r en. These f i n d i n g s s u p p o r t the s p i l l - o v e r h y p o t h e s i s w h i c h states that w h e n a ma r r i a ge deteriorates, it wo u l d adversely influence parent-child relation and the parents' perception of the value of children. No support was found i n this study for the opposite compensator y effect, i.e., the wors e the marital quality, the better the parent-child relation . Women the 'Losers'? Another interesting f i nd i ng is that married men d i s p l a y e d f ewe r p s y c h i a t r i c a n d m i d l i f e crisis symptoms, and had better mental health than married w o m e n . Wome n we r e less s a t i s f i ed w i t h t he i r marriages and displayed less positive mental well- be i ng, p r o b a b l y due to th e greater b u r d e n a n d pressure on them engendered b y their social roles. O n the whole married men contribute less to but benefit mo r e f r o m m a r i t a l r e l a t i on s . He n c e, f r o m the viewpoint of gains from marital or family life, married w ome n appear to be the 'losers'. The f i nd i ngs on g e n d e r d i f f e r e n c es i n m a r i t a l q u a l i t y a n d psychological well-being are give n in Figure 1 and Figure 2. How Prevalent is 'Midlife Crisis'? Some theories posit 'midlife crisis' as a universal developmental phenomenon i n adult development. Howe v er the researchers f ound that although some respondents were dissatisfied w i t h their w o r k and Research News 39