'CCF's Unconventional Wisdom: New Data and Trends in American Families'

Experts release recent research and clinical findings

CHICAGO, April 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In preparation for the Council on Contemporary Families' 13th Annual Conference at Augustana College in Rock  Island, Illinois, April 16-17, 2010, the Council surveyed its members about recent research findings and clinical experiences regarding marriage, childrearing, sexuality, gender, and new methods for helping couples and children. Edited by psychologist Joshua Coleman and family historian Stephanie Coontz, the report, "Unconventional Wisdom, Issue 3: New Data, Trends, and Clinical Observations about America's Changing Families," contains entries from more than 50 prominent researchers and clinicians.

In the "Who Knew?" category…

• Among couples aged 50 and over, Hispanics are especially likely to enjoy a satisfying sex life.
• Changing schools is a bigger threat to teens' academic success than being raised in a single-parent family.
• More men than women now report work-life conflict.  
• Highly-educated women are slightly more likely to never marry than other women, but their divorce rates are so much lower that by age 40, they are MORE likely to be married than other women.
• The percentage of American children who live successively with 3 or more of their mother's partners by age 15 is 4 times higher than other Western countries.

In the "Good to Know" category…

• Most couples experience declining marital quality after childbirth, but a new two-day workshop has been shown to prevent escalating hostility, avert relationship deterioration, and reduce post-partum depression.
• Although couples with infidelity issues begin therapy showing more distress than couples with different marital problems, a new clinical study reveals that they show as much improvement in therapy as less distressed couples.
• Divorced parents who take as little as 5-6 hours of mediation are more likely to engage in collaborative co-parenting, even 12 years down the road, than couples who litigate.

And in the "Can You Guess?" Category...

• Who's more likely to report "needing" an orgasm to enjoy sex, men or women?
• Which men have increased their housework most in the past 30 years, men with less than a high school degree, high-school grads, or college grads?
• Who reports higher happiness and self-esteem when they move out of the single state, those who marry or those who cohabit? Who reports better health?
• What is the downside to the successful marketing of the HPV vaccine to women?

The report is available to the public at http://www.contemporaryfamilies.org/all/unconventional-wisdom-issue-3.html?q=unconventional+wisdom.

ABOUT CCF: The Council on Contemporary Families is a non-profit, non-partisan organization of family researchers and practitioners dedicated to providing the press and public with the latest research and best-practice findings about American families. Founded in 1996 and based at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Council's mission is to enhance the national conversation about how and why contemporary families are changing, what needs and challenges they face, and how these needs can best be met.

CCF will hold its annual conference this year at Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, on Friday 4/16 and Saturday 4/17, 2010, on the theme "Families as They Really Are: How Do We Use What We Know?" Leading researchers from around the country will report new findings in the fields of couples therapy, divorce mediation, parenting, sexuality, and family health. Visit http://www.contemporaryfamilies.org/conference/2010savethedate.html  for details.

To receive regular briefing papers from the Council, or a complimentary press pass to the conference, contact CCF's Director of Research and Public Education, Stephanie Coontz, [email protected]  

SOURCE Council on Contemporary Families