| This study examines associations between childhood experiences of parental behavior and later marital relationships. Subjects are 43 currently married individuals. Three self report measures are employed. The California Inventory for Family Assessment is used to assess marital functioning in the areas of cohesion, enmeshment, expressiveness/conflict management and authority/dominance. The Mutual Psychological Development Questionnaire measures marital mutuality. And, for examination of the earlier family relationships, the Parental Authority Questionnaire is used to gauge three parenting styles, authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative. Additional questions were asked regarding the emotional warmth, coldness and involvement of parents during childhood. Among the findings are that authoritative parenting positively correlates with mutuality, warmth, and physical intimacy in the spousal relationship, while authoritarian parenting is negatively related to mutuality, warmth, physical intimacy and self disclosure in the marriage. Permissive parenting is positively related to later marital openness and self disclosure, and negatively associated with conflict avoidance. For men but not women, permissive mothering is associated with separation anxiety, possessiveness and jealousy in marriage. The childhood experience of mother as warm and nurturing is associated with later expressions of warmth, physical intimacy, and a desire to spend time with one's spouse, while these qualities in the marriage are negatively associated with the past experience of mother as unaffectionate and emotionally cold. For men, unaffectionate mothering is related expressions of anger and aggression toward their wives as well as separation anxiety in the marriage. The description of mothers as emotionally unpredictable is negatively correlated with physical intimacy in the marriage. For women, unaffectionate fathering is related to possessiveness, jealousy and emotional over-identification with their husbands. Fewer relationships were found between fathers' emotional tone and marital relationships than for mothers'. Gender differences were found particularly for the measures of marital enmeshment. |