PERCEIVED DYADIC CONSENSUS, CONGRUENCE OF SEX ROLE ORIENTATION, AND INTENDEDNESS OF PREGNANCY AMONG PRIMIPAROUS MARRIED COUPLES (FAMILY SYSTEMS).
Contributors: New York University.
Published: 1985
Number of pages: 126
Subjects: Sociology, Individual and Family Studies.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of this investigation was to explore predictors of health in the family system. Based on Beavers' model, perceived dyadic consensus on key marital issues and congruence of sex role orientation in the couple were selected as measures of system function and structure to predict health as measured by the intendedness of the first pregnancy. The hypotheses tested were: (1) Perceived dyadic consensus on key marital issues will be positively related to intendedness of first pregnancy. (2) Congruence of sex role orientation will be positively related to intendedness of first pregnancy.

Three research questions were posed to examine underlying theoretical concepts of the Beavers model. These questions sought to evaluate the interactive properties of function and structure, to evaluate the independent contribution of function and structure to the overall health of the system, and to evaluate whether structure or function is the better predictor of healthy systems.

Seventy six married, middle class couples, ages 20 to 40, composed the study sample. Spouses individually completed the Brogan & Kutner Sex Role Orientation Scale, the Spanier Dyadic Consensus Scale, a Family Data Sheet, and Miller's Intendedness of Pregnancy Structured Interview. Couple sex role congruence was computed as the Euclidean distance between the husband-wife responses, and couple dyadic consensus was computed as total husband-wife perceptions of agreement on key marital issues. The hypotheses were analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Neither of the hypotheses was supported. In addition, multiple regression analysis revealed no interactive effects between the independent variables. If relationships exist between function and structure and health in family systems, the measures utilized in this investigation were inadequate to predict systems health.

Ancillary findings revealed significant correlations between sex role congruence and both education and income. Also, this study found a larger than anticipated number of unintended pregnancies (32%); this finding can possibly be explained by an increasing health consciousness in American society that has resulted in concern about the risks of contraceptive use. Differences revealed in husband-wife responses strongly suggest that family studies must include the dyad to accurately assess the system.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-08, Section: A, page: 2455.

Thesis (PH.D.)--NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, 1985.

School code: 0146.