Theory and research in marital and family relations have produced notable advances in recent years. It is now possible to identify with considerable accuracy patterns of couple interaction that lead to emotional distress, marital unhappiness, and divorce (Bradbury & Karney, 1993; Gottman, 1990; Larsen & Olson, 1989). There is also a growing body of knowledge about the conditions under which families and their members either withstand or collapse under the onslaught of externally and/or internally induced stressors (Conger et al., 1990, 1992; Elder, 1974; Elder, Liker, and Cross, 1984).

These accomplishments seem all the more remarkable considering the rapid changes that are occurring in family life in the United States and throughout the world. Fundamental to these changes is the increasing proportion of married women in the labor force (Bielby, 1992). As women seek and obtain expanded opportunities and greater choices in education and jobs, it is inevitable that their roles as wives and mothers must change. For the majority of American families, traditional family roles and behavioral patterns are becoming anachronistic (cf. Gerson, 1985; Turner, 1990). As a result, established norms governing the intrafamily division of labor, the allocation of resources, and the distribution of authority among family members are being challenged and reassessed.