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Abstract: The social networks surrounding intimate couples provide them with bonding and bridging social capital and have been theorized to be associated with their well-being and relationship quality. These networks are multidimensional, featuring compositional (e.g., the proportion of family members vs. friends) and structural characteristics (e.g., density, degree of overlap between spouses’ networks). Most previous studies of couple networks are based on partners’ global ratings of their network characteristics or network data collected from one member of the dyad. This study presents the analysis of “duocentric networks" or the combined personal networks of both members of a couple, collected from 207 mixed-sex newlywed couples living in low-income neighborhoods of Harris County, TX. We conducted a pattern-centric analysis of compositional and structural features to identify distinct types of couple networks. We identified five qualitatively distinct network types (wife family-focused, husband family-focused, shared friends, wife friend-focused, and extremely disconnected). Couples’ network types were associated with the quality of the relationships between couples and their network contacts (e.g., emotional support) but not with the quality of the couples’ relationship with each other. We argue that duocentric networks provide appropriate data for measuring bonding and bridging capital in couple networks.

ObjectiveTo estimate the effects of state-level changes in the minimum wage on marriage and divorce among low-wage earners.BackgroundProponents of raising the minimum wage highlight the potential benefits of increased earnings for low-income families, yet to date research on the effects of raising the minimum wage has focused almost exclusively on economic outcomes. No research has yet documented whether these changes actually affect marriage and divorce.MethodUsing the Current Population Survey and the American Community Survey, this project applied a quasi-experimental difference-in-difference method to exploit similarities between states that have, and have not, raised their minimum wage.ResultsAcross data sources, among men and women earning low wages, a one-dollar increase in the state minimum wage predicts a 3%-6% decline in marriage entry and a 7%-15% decline in divorce one and 2 years later.ConclusionBoth changes are likely to strengthen low-income families, and are substantially larger effects than those obtained by federal policies directly targeting interpersonal dynamics within low-income couples.ImplicationsGovernment policies that reduce stress on couples and facilitate their access to resources may improve family outcomes, invisibly and without making additional demands on the time of couples who are already strained.

Missing data are exceedingly common across a variety of disciplines, such as educational, social, and behavioral science areas. Missing not at random (MNAR) mechanism where missingness is related to unobserved data is widespread in real data and has detrimental consequence. However, the existing MNAR-based methods have potential problems such as leaving the data incomplete and failing to accommodate incomplete covariates with interactions, non-linear terms, and random slopes. We propose a Bayesian latent variable imputation approach to impute missing data due to MNAR (and other missingness mechanisms) and estimate the model of substantive interest simultaneously. In addition, even when the incomplete covariates involves interactions, non-linear terms, and random slopes, the proposed method can handle missingness appropriately. Computer simulation results suggested that the proposed Bayesian latent variable selection model (BLVSM) was quite effective when the outcome and/or covariates were MNAR. Except when the sample size was small, estimates from the proposed BLVSM tracked closely with those from the complete data analysis. With a small sample size, when the outcome was less predictable from the covariates, the missingness proportions of the covariates and the outcome were larger, and the missingness selection processes of the covariates and the outcome were more MNAR and MAR, the performance of BLVSM was less satisfactory. When the sample size was large, BLVSM always performed well. In contrast, the method with an MAR assumption provided biased estimates and undercoverage confidence intervals when the missingness was MNAR. The robustness and the implementation of BLVSM in real data were also illustrated. The proposed method is available in the Blimp software application, and the paper includes a data analysis example illustrating its use.

Partners in intimate relationships, because they have each other to rely on, have generally been considered safe from the negative consequences of social isolation. Here, we question this assumption, suggesting instead that social isolation may pose a threat to couples by depriving them of the tangible and emotional support that couples are likely to need, especially when confronted by stress. After briefly reviewing theoretical frameworks relevant to this idea, this article summarizes existing research documenting (1) associations between network ties and relationship outcomes, (2) mediators of these associations, for example, support and approval, and (3) moderators of these associations, for example, relationship qualities and cultural differences. We conclude by describing a research agenda to address methodological limitations in existing research and the policy implications of this line of work.

ObjectiveEfforts to understand why some marriages thrive while others falter are (a) not well integrated conceptually and (b) rely heavily on data collected from White middle-class samples. The Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation Model (VSA; Karney and Bradbury, 1995) is used here to integrate prior efforts and is tested using data collected from couples living with low incomes.BackgroundThe VSA Model assumes (a) that enduring vulnerabilities, stress, and couple communication account for unique variance in relationship satisfaction, (b) that communication mediates the effects of vulnerabilities and stress on satisfaction, and (c) that the predictors of satisfaction generalize across socioeconomic levels. To date, these assumptions remain untested.Materials and methodsWith 388 couples from diverse backgrounds (88% Black or Hispanic), we used latent variable structural equation models to examine enduring vulnerabilities, chronic stress, and observed communication as predictors of 4-wave, 27-month satisfaction trajectories, first as main effects and then interacting with a validated 10-item index of sociodemographic risk.Results(a) The three variable sets independently predict satisfaction trajectories; (b) couple communication does not mediate the effects of enduring vulnerabilities or stress on satisfaction; and (c) in 19% of tests, effects were stronger among couples with higher sociodemographic risk.ConclusionEffects of established predictor domains on satisfaction replicate in a diverse sample of newlywed couples, and most findings generalize across levels of sociodemographic risk. The failure of couple communication to mediate effects of enduring personal vulnerabilities and stress raises new questions about how these two domains undermine committed partnerships.

How do natural disasters affect intimate relationships? Some research suggests that couples are brought closer together after a disaster, whereas other research suggests that relationships become more strained in the aftermath. Yet all of this work is limited by a lack of predisaster data that would allow for examination of how relationships actually change. The current study is the first to use longitudinal data collected before and after a natural disaster to examine its effect on relationship outcomes. Using a sample of 231 married couples in Harris County, Texas, who experienced Hurricane Harvey, we found that spouses experienced significant increases in satisfaction from before to after the hurricane, but the increase was temporary; couples decreased in satisfaction after the initial boost. Thus, couples appear to grow closer in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster but then revert to their prehurricane levels of functioning as the recovery period continues.

BackgroundTheoretical and clinical perspectives argue that couples' maladaptive attributions for marital problems lead to marital distress, and that these attributions will detract from couples' relationships regardless of their external circumstances. However, emerging work in cognitive psychology indicates that stress simplifies individuals' information processing, suggesting that the demands faced by couples may strengthen the link between maladaptive attributions and relationship satisfaction.MethodsWith a sample of 462 ethnically diverse newlywed spouses living with low incomes (231 couples, with >30% Black and >50% Latinx), we assessed attributions and relationship satisfaction, along with three hypothesized moderators: couples' financial strain, perceived financial capital within couples' social networks, and the proportion of married couples within couples' social networks.ResultsAfter replicating the robust association between maladaptive attributions and relationship satisfaction, we demonstrate that the association between maladaptive attributions and satisfaction is stronger to the extent that spouses' social networks are characterized by fewer financial resources and lower proportions of married couples.ConclusionContextual factors may alter the effects that partners' cognitions have on relationship satisfaction, suggesting that influences far removed from the dyad itself can affect basic processes arising between partners.

ObjectivePsychological aggression is common in intimate relationships, yet only a subset of psychologically aggressive couples also engage in physical violence. We examine two factors proposed to identify which psychologically aggressive couples display physical violence, emphasizing (a) couples' negative and ineffective communication during relationship-focused conversations and (b) the demands imposed upon couples by chronic social and economic disadvantage.MethodFrom 862 spouses (431 couples), we collected self-report data on psychological and physical aggression, observational data capturing the quality of their communication, and self-report data assessing established indicators of socioeconomic vulnerability. Tests of moderation were conducted with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).ResultsThe association between psychological and physical aggression was stronger among couples who displayed lower-quality communication and among couples facing higher levels of socioeconomic disadvantage. The moderating effect of couple communication remained significant after controlling for socioeconomic disadvantage, and the moderating effect of socioeconomic disadvantage remained significant after controlling for communication. All effects remained after controlling for relationship satisfaction.ConclusionsSpecific communication skills and broad indices of socioeconomic vulnerability make independent contributions to acts of physical aggression among psychologically aggressive couples. Conceptual frameworks are needed to integrate these two levels of analysis, and intervention models are needed that identify at-risk couples and that modify the conditions that heighten their likelihood of physical aggression.

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 34(6) of Journal of Family Psychology (see record 2020-62946-001). There are two errors in the last sentence of the fifth paragraph (Model 4: Fluctuations in Cumulative Stress X Fluctuations in Behavior) of the Results section whereby the text "less cumulative stress" and "less stress" should have read "more cumulative stress" and "more stress," respectively. Thus, the correct sentence is as follows: "Specifically, relative increases in observed dyadic negativity were associated with decreases in husbands' relationship satisfaction when husbands also experienced more cumulative stress, whereas decreases in observed negativity in the presence of more stress were associated with increases in husbands' satisfaction (t = -2.00, p = .045, see Figure 1 and Table 2, Model 4)." Note that the findings are correctly stated elsewhere in the article.] Although a number of theoretical perspectives in relationship science argue that variability in couples' relationship satisfaction over time is driven by changes in their communication, tests of this hypothesis have been limited to single assessments of behavior. To address this gap, we examine within-couple, across-time changes in communication, and we argue further that couples' external circumstances might combine with these behavioral changes to generate changes in relationship satisfaction. Using self-reports of satisfaction and in-home observational data collected 4 times at 9-month intervals from 414 newlywed couples, we show that fluctuations in dyadic behavior and spousal stress covary with fluctuations in spousal satisfaction. Tests of the interaction between fluctuations in stress and behavior reveal that husbands who experience upward fluctuations in negativity also experience decreases in relationship satisfaction at the same wave but only if they are concurrently experiencing greater stress than usual. Downward fluctuations in problem-solving effectiveness are associated with lower relationship satisfaction but only among spouses who had chronically high levels of cumulative stress; when chronic stress is low, reduced problem-solving effectiveness is unrelated to satisfaction. Exclusive focus on between-couple variability in couple communication, without regard for the stressors that couples face, will likely restrict the understanding and prevention of relationship distress. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The stress-generation model, commonly applied in studies of psychopathology, purports that vulnerabilities to depression (e.g., rumination, doubt, self-blame, social withdrawal) increase the likelihood that stressful events will later occur, thus activating depressive vulnerabilities and worsening the course of depression. We adapt this model to examine whether adversities experienced early in life serve to channel individuals into stressful circumstances that then evoke situational intimate partner violence (IPV) in adulthood. Cross-sectional self-report data on early adversity, stress, and IPV from 231 ethnically diverse newlywed couples living in low-income communities were analyzed with structural equation modeling. Replicating prior research, reports of early adversity and current life stress covaried reliably with IPV, for husbands and wives. Among husbands, early adversity was linked to IPV via stress, whereas for wives, no such mediation emerged. Results remained robust against alternative models (e.g., controlling for relationship satisfaction, substituting relationship satisfaction for IPV, and examining the interaction between adversity and stress as a predictor of IPV). These findings indicate that the situations that are a defining feature of situational IPV may themselves be a reflection of the adversities that men face early in life; in the absence of these stressors, the association between early adversity and later IPV falls to nonsignificance. Assisting men raised in risky environments to appreciate the effects of stress on their interpersonal exchanges in marriage could reduce rates of IPV. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

An increasing number of couples in the United States are entering their first marriage having already had a child together, raising important questions about whether and how these couples' marriages differ from newlywed couples who enter marriage without children. The current study used 5 waves of data collected over the first 4.5 years of marriage from a sample of ethnically diverse, first-married newlywed couples living with low incomes to examine the effects of premarital parenthood on couples' self-reported satisfaction, observed communication, and marital dissolution over time. Among couples who entered marriage with a shared biological child (premarital parents), satisfaction levels were lower and communication was less effective, less positive, and more negative than couples entering marriage without children. Rates of change in marital functioning did not differ between groups, but the rate of marital dissolution was twice as high among premarital parents (19.1%) relative to couples who were not parents at the start of marriage (9.5%). These between-groups differences remained robust after controlling for several demographic differences (race, age, education, household income, work status, relationship length, premarital cohabitation), and initial differences in communication did not account for between-groups differences in marital satisfaction or dissolution. Together, these findings indicate that newlywed marriage unfolds in similar ways for low-income couples with and without children at the start of marriage, but couples raising children at the time of marriage have greater vulnerability to marital distress and dissolution. Further research is needed to characterize this risk and how interventions can offset it. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Although getting married is no longer a requirement for social acceptance, most people do marry in their lifetimes, and couples across the socioeconomic spectrum wish their marriages to be satisfying and long-lasting. This review evaluates the past decade of research on the determinants of satisfaction and stability in marriage, concluding that the scholarship of the past ten years has undermined three assumptions that were formerly accepted as conventional wisdom. First, research exploiting methods like latent class growth analyses reveal that, for most couples, marital satisfaction does not decline over time but in fact remains relatively stable for long periods. Second, contrary to predictions of behavioral models of marriage, negative communication between spouses can be difficult to change, does not necessarily lead to more satisfying relationships when it is changed, and does not always predict distress in the first place. Third, dyadic processes that are reliably adaptive for middle-class and more affluent couples may operate differently in lower-income couples, suggesting that influential models of marriage may not generalize to couples living in diverse environments. Thus, the accumulated research of the last ten years indicates that the tasks of understanding and promoting marital satisfaction and stability are more complex than we appreciated at the start of the decade, raising important questions that beg to be answered in the years ahead.

Despite being at elevated risk for relationship distress and dissolution, couples living with low incomes are less likely than their middle-class counterparts to participate in couple therapy. To increase treatment use among economically disadvantaged couples, information is needed on how they perceive barriers to treatment and on factors that might facilitate their help-seeking. The first aim of the present study was to identify the prevalence of attitudinal, structural, and relational barriers to seeking therapy for the relationship among individuals who perceived a need for help with their relationship. The second aim was to test whether having direct experience with a relationship intervention (through receipt of premarital education) or indirect experience (by having a social network member who has received couple therapy) is associated with reduced barriers and greater use of therapy for the relationship. Using self-report data from 231 ethnically diverse newlywed couples living in low-income neighborhoods, we find that men and women identify cost and uncertainty about where to go for help as their top two barriers to seeking therapy for the relationship, followed by the partner not wanting therapy (for women) and the belief that individual counseling would be more helpful than couple therapy (for men). Direct and indirect experiences with relationship interventions was associated with increased likelihood that couples sought therapy for the relationship. These results suggest specific directions that can be taken to improve the accessibility of interventions, thereby providing low income couples with resources that might enhance their relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Interventions aimed at reducing interpartner aggression assume that within-couple declines in aggression enhance individual and relational outcomes, yet reductions in aggression may fail to yield these benefits when other risk-generating mechanisms remain intact. The present study evaluates this possibility by investigating whether naturally observed within-couple changes in aggression are associated with improved individual and relational outcomes in the manner assumed by intervention programs. Drawing upon 4 waves of data collected at 9-month intervals from a community sample of 431 newlywed couples (76% Hispanic) living in low-income neighborhoods, Actor-Partner-Interdependence Modeling (APIM) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) indicated that levels of aggression at the outset of marriage had limited associations with later outcomes. Changes in aggression, however, were associated with subsequent marital outcomes, such that decreases in aggression were beneficial and increases in aggression were costly. Individuals who experienced increases in aggression worsened in their observed communication over time and reported greater increases in stress. Reports of stress early in marriage predicted escalations in aggression over time. Thus, helping couples to contain increases in aggression might be particularly consequential for their well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record

Despite evidence that empirically supported couple therapies improve marital relationships, relatively few couples seek help when they need it. Low-income couples are particularly unlikely to engage in relationship interventions despite being at greater risk for distress and dissolution than their higher-income counterparts. The present study aimed to clarify how premarital education influences couples' progression through different stages of later help-seeking, as identified in prior research. Using 5 waves of self-report data from a sample of 431 ethnically diverse newlywed couples living in low-income neighborhoods, analyses revealed that wives who received premarital education later considered seeking therapy at a higher level of relationship satisfaction and lower level of problem severity than those who did not receive premarital education, though this was not true for husbands. Wives who received premarital education were also more likely as newlyweds to say that they would seek therapy if their relationship was in trouble, though husbands were not. Spouses who considered seeking therapy were more likely to follow through with participation if they had received premarital education, whereas if they had not received premarital education they were more likely to consider seeking therapy without following through. Similarly, among couples who received therapy, those who also received premarital education sought therapy earlier than those who did not receive premarital education, though not at a higher level of relationship satisfaction. Taken together, these results suggest that participation in premarital education is linked with later help-seeking by empowering couples to take steps throughout their marriage to maintain their relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record

Prevailing views of marital functioning generally adopt the view that marital problems predict decreases in marital satisfaction, but alternative theoretical perspectives raise the possibility that lowered satisfaction can also predict increases in problems. The current study sought to integrate and compare these perspectives by examining the bidirectional cross-lagged associations between newlyweds' reports of their marital satisfaction and marital problems over the first 4 years of marriage. Using annual assessments from 483 heterosexual newlywed couples, we find evidence for problem-to-satisfaction linkages as well as satisfaction-to-problem linkages. Satisfaction was a stronger predictor of marital problems early in marriage but not as time passed; by Year 4 only problem-to-satisfaction linkages remained significant. These findings are consistent with the idea that couples with more problems go on to report lower levels of satisfaction and couples with lower levels of satisfaction go on to report more marital problems. This dynamic interplay between global judgments about relationship satisfaction and ongoing specific relationship difficulties highlights the value of examining bidirectional effects to better understand marital functioning over time.

Although interpersonal communication is a defining feature of committed relationships, the quality of couple communication has not proven to be a straightforward cause of relationship quality. At the same time, emerging models argue that external circumstances likely combine with communication to generate changes in relationship quality. We integrate these 2 ideas by proposing that communication does exert effects on changes in relationship quality, but primarily when couples encounter challenging situations that require an adaptive response. In the present study we examine residential moves to different neighborhoods as one such adaptive challenge. We conducted a longitudinal study of 414 newlywed couples to examine whether observed communication moderates the effect of moving to higher- or lower-income neighborhoods on changes in relationship quality. Results indicate that communication exerts no main effects on relationship quality. Consistent with the proposed model, however, wives who displayed less positive, less effective, and more negative behaviors experienced greater decreases in relationship quality, but only when couples moved to substantially higher-income neighborhoods. Because communication may not affect relationship quality until couples encounter qualitatively new demands, strengthening relationships may pivot less on improving communication skills and more on ensuring that couples' circumstances do not overwhelm the skills that they already possess. (PsycINFO Database Record

Are the marriages of lower-income couples less satisfying than the marriages of more affluent couples? To address this question, we compared trajectories of marital satisfaction among couples with a wide range of household incomes. The marital satisfaction of 862 Black, White, and Latino newlywed spouses (N=431 couples) was assessed five times, each nine months apart, over the first four years of marriage. Lower-income couples did not have less satisfying marriages on average, nor did their satisfaction decline more steeply on average. However, they did experience (1) significantly greater fluctuations in marital satisfaction across assessments, and (2) significantly more variability between husbands and wives. If efforts to support the marriages of low-income couples are to address the unique characteristics of their marital development, these findings suggest that efforts to stabilize their marriages may be more effective than efforts to improve their satisfaction alone.

Although people with a history of child abuse are known to be at elevated risk for later difficulties in relationships, there is debate over whether these effects are enduring and relatively immutable or are moderated by characteristics and behaviors of the partner. To reconcile these competing perspectives, we conducted a longitudinal study of 414 newlywed couples living in low-income neighborhoods, testing whether the association between abuse history and relationship satisfaction is dependent on the partners' aggression, depression, substance abuse, observed communication, and other demographic risk factors. Spouses who had been abused as children (25% of husbands, 31% of wives) reported more symptoms of depression and substance abuse and, among husbands, displayed more negative communication. Spouses with a history of child abuse were also less satisfied with their marriage, even as newlyweds; abused wives also declined in satisfaction over time compared to those without this history. However, interactions between abuse history and all of the proposed moderators were not significant, indicating that partner and relationship characteristics failed to strengthen or weaken the association between abuse history and relationship satisfaction. Childhood experiences of abuse appear to have lasting and broad effects on individual and relational outcomes, and these effects are neither heightened nor mitigated by the partner's characteristics or behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record

Divorced individuals offer explanations for why their relationship ended, yet little is known about the development of these problems during the relationship. Problems that lead to divorce may exist at the beginning of the marriage (enduring dynamics model) or may develop over time (emergent distress model). We asked 40 divorced individuals about the reasons for their divorce and compared the development of problems that did and did not contribute to their divorce over the first few years of their marriage. Results support an emergent distress model for wives; they saw problems that lead to divorce increasing over time, whereas results for husbands indicated that they were less attuned to problems overall, suggesting that wives are the bellwether for relationship problems.

The quality of communication between spouses is widely assumed to affect their subsequent judgments of relationship satisfaction, yet this assumption is rarely tested against the alternative prediction that communication is merely a consequence of spouses' prior levels of satisfaction. To evaluate these perspectives, newlywed couples' positivity, negativity, and effectiveness were observed four times at 9-month intervals and these behaviors were examined in relation to corresponding self-reports of relationship satisfaction. Cross-sectionally, relatively satisfied couples engaged in more positive, less negative, and more effective communication. Longitudinally, reliable communication-to-satisfaction and satisfaction-to-communication associations were identified, yet neither pathway was particularly robust. These findings raise important doubts about theories and interventions that prioritize couple communication skills as the key predictor of relationship satisfaction, while raising new questions about other factors that might predict communication and satisfaction and that strengthen or moderate their association.

Developing programs to support low-income married couples requires an accurate understanding of the challenges they face. To address this question, we assessed the salience and severity of relationship problems by asking 862 Black, White, and Latino newlywed spouses (N = 431 couples) living in low-income neighborhoods to (a) free list their 3 biggest sources of disagreement in the marriage, and (b) rate the severity of the problems appearing on a standard relationship problem inventory. Comparing the 2 sources of information revealed that, although relational problems (e.g., communication and moods) were rated as severe on the inventory, challenges external to the relationship (e.g., children) were more salient in the free listing task. The pattern of results is robust across couples of varying race/ethnicity, parental status, and income levels. We conclude that efforts to strengthen marriages among low-income couples may be more effective if they address not only relational problems, but also couples' external stresses by providing assistance with child care, finances, or job training.

Marriages and other intimate partnerships are facilitated or constrained by the social networks within which they are embedded. To date, methods used to assess the social networks of couples have been limited to global ratings of social network characteristics or network data collected from each partner separately. In the current article, the authors offer new tools for expanding on the existing literature by describing methods of collecting and analyzing duocentric social networks, that is, the combined social networks of couples. They provide an overview of the key considerations for measuring duocentric networks, such as how and why to combine separate network interviews with partners into one shared duocentric network, the number of network members to assess, and the implications of different network operationalizations. They illustrate these considerations with analyses of social network data collected from 57 low-income married couples, presenting visualizations and quantitative measures of network composition and structure.

Although couples' management of differences and problems is widely assumed to be central to the course and outcome of their relationships, some theoretical perspectives hold that marital conflicts increase over the newlywed years, whereas others maintain that couples' problems remain stable. We tested these opposing views by examining changes in marital problems and marital satisfaction over the first 4 years of marriage in a sample of 169 newlywed couples. Although marital satisfaction declined on average, overall levels of marital problems remained stable. Analyses of 19 specific problems generally revealed considerable stability as well, although husbands and wives rated showing affection as increasingly problematic over time. These findings challenge longstanding assumptions regarding the role of accumulating conflict in marital functioning over time and suggest that specific and overall problems in marriage largely remain stable over the newlywed years. Implications for theory and clinical practice are discussed.

Relative to White families, Black families have been described as relying on extended social networks to compensate for other social and economic disadvantages. The presence or absence of supportive social networks should be especially relevant to young couples entering marriage, but to date there has been little effort to describe the social networks of comparable Black and White newlyweds. The current study addressed this gap by drawing on interviews with 57 first-married newlyweds from low-income communities to compare the composition and structure of Black and White couples' duocentric social networks. The results indicated that low-income Black couples entered marriage at a social disadvantage relative to White couples, with more family relationships but fewer positive relationships and fewer sources of emotional support (for wives), fewer connections to married individuals, and fewer shared relationships between spouses. Black couples' relative social disadvantages persisted even when various economic and demographic variables were controlled.