MARITAL DISTRESS ACROSS THE MIDLIFE TRANSITION AMONG MIDDLE-CLASS CAUCASIAN WOMEN

Aspects of Levinson's 1978 theory of adult development were used to ex amine women's progress across the mid-life transition. The subjects we re 126 married, Caucasian mothers, ages 37 to 47 years. Contrary to pr ediction, age-related differences in marital distress were not found. For the sample as a whole, martial distress was related to a family hi story of distress, difficulty in parent-child relations, and inequitab le task-sharing with spouses. Some of the difficulties for women in co mbining family and career within the context of current social and fam ily structures are discussed.