The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationships between the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) psychological type and marital satisfaction, divorce proneness, positive affect, and conflict regulation in couple visiting a clinic.

Couples (n=62) who visited "M" couple clinic participated in the study. Data were collected from March to June 2009 using the Marital Satisfaction Scale, Marital Status Inventory, Positive Affect Inventory, and Conflict Regulation Inventory.

The couples showed no significant differences in marital satisfaction, positive affect, and conflict regulation according to similarities between spouses in MBTI types. However, they showed significant differences in divorce proneness of husband according to a similarity in the Sensing/Intuition indicator. They also showed significant differences in divorce proneness, positive affect, and conflict regulation between the couples for ISTJ (Introversion, Sensing, Thinking, Judging) or ESTJ (Extraversion, Sensing, Thinking, Judging) types compared to other couples.

When nurses counsel couples, they should understand that differences in psychological type between spouses affects their marital relationship. In addition, nurses should educate couples on the characteristics of each type according to the couple's types and help them to understand each other, especially for couples where one spouse is the ISTJ/ESTJ type. These interventions will improve marital satisfaction and prevent the divorce in these couples.

This study was designed to develop and test a structural model for children's adaptation in divorced families. The hypothetical model was constructed based on the Family Resilience Model by McCubbin and McCubbin.

Data were collected using self-report questionnaires from 219 children (3-6th grade) in divorced families. The children attended one of 22 community agencies, 8 after-school programs, 3 elementary schools in three cities in South Korea. The collected data were analyzed using LISREL program to test the hypothetical model.

The modified model was constructed by deleting four paths in accordance with the statistical and theoretical criteria. Compared to the hypothetical model, the revised one had a better fit to the data. Self-esteem, and beliefs about parental divorce had direct effects, and family communication and internal control had indirect effects on children's adaptation in divorced families. These variables explained 56% of the variance in children's adaptation.

The modified model was supported by empirical data. This model could be applied to family nursing interventions with divorced families or any other suffering family transition. When working with children experiencing parental divorce, it is important for nurses to enhance children's self-esteem, family communication and to decrease children's negative beliefs about parental divorce to help in their adaptation.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the psychological factors that affect marital satisfaction or divorce likelihood in clinical couples.

Clinical couples (n=57) who visited "M" couple clinic participated in the study. Data was collected from September 2005 to June 2006 using a Marital Satisfaction Scale, a Marital Status Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory, and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.

The couples showed high scores on depression, obsessive-compulsion, personality factors and divorce probability and a low score on marital satisfaction. The wife's obsessive-compulsion was a predictor of her marital satisfaction, and the wife's social introversion and depression, and husband's obsessive-compulsion were predictors of the wife's prospect of divorce. The husband's hypomania and depression were predictors of his marital satisfaction, and there were no predictors of the husband's prospect of divorce.

Obsessive-compulsion is a significant factor in a couple's relationship, although previous studies have not been interested in obsessive-compulsion. Divorce likelihood should be evaluated for clinical couples as well as marital satisfaction, because it is more important for divorce prevention. Each spouse who has a psychological problem such as depression, obsessive-compulsion, and deviated personality needs individual therapy as well as couple therapy.