title: Rebound from marital conflict and divorce prediction.
abstract: Marital interaction has primarily been examined in the context of conflict resolution. This study investigated the predictive ability of couples to rebound from marital conflict in a subsequent positive conversation. Results showed that there was a great deal of consistency in affect across both conversations. Also examined was the ability of affective interaction to predict divorce over a 4-year period, separately in each of the two conversations. It was possible to predict divorce using affective variables from each conversation, with 82.6% accuracy from the conflict conversation and with 92.7% accuracy from the positive rebound conversation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle 98195, USA. johng@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gottman
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Levenson
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003142:Communication; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D004243:Divorce / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D019260:Expressed Emotion; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D015588:Observer Variation; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000145:classification