NEWLYWEDS NARRATIVE THEMES - MEANING IN THE FIRST-YEAR OF MARRIAGE FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND WHITE COUPLES

This study addresses the meaning of marriage in the first year through themes in joint narratives told by 343 African American and White urb an newlyweds in first marriages. Controlling for spouses' education, h ousehold income, years lived together prior to marriage, premarital pa rental status, and length of narrative in logistic regression analysis , the authors found no significant differences between African America n and White newlyweds on children, education, family, finances and tim e themes. They found significant differences between the couples on ac hievement, couple relations, religion, and work themes. White newlywed s were more likely to report achievement and work themes; African-Amer ican newlyweds were more likely to report themes of couple relations a nd religion. The authors discuss these results in terms of the differe nt and similar meanings of African American and White marriages as wel l as implications for family practice.