Better to Stay in a Bad Marriage? How Researchers are Squelching Science
Steve Wetherbe, National Catholic Register, 5/9/2011
Elizabeth Marquardt, head of the Manhattan-based Center for Marriage and Families, sparked the debate when she challenged a report from Child Trends, a research organization based in Washington, D.C., that showed the happier the parents' relationship is, the happier, better socialized and more successful the children are. The report, "Parental Relationship Quality and Child Outcomes Across Subgroups", found couples' satisfaction correlated positively with child behaviors regardless of the family structure, class and ethnicity. All well and good, said Marquardt in an early April blog on the FamilyScholars.org website she edits. But why didn't Child Trends even mention that its data also showed that the positive outcomes across all "subgroups" trended significantly upwards the more traditional the parents' relationship?