Welcome to the Family Science 5, helping you catch up on some of the Family Science research and researchers featured in the media during February 2024.

NCFR member journal subscribers can access full text of journal articles through the NCFR website; you may be prompted to log in.

1. Women.com cited several Family Scientists and scholarly articles from NCFR's Journal of Marriage and Family (JMF) and Family Relations: Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Science (FR) in its article about on-again-off-again relationships. Previous media interviews and quotes are included from NCFR members J. Kale Monk, Ph.D., CFLE, and Amber Vennum, Ph.D., CFLE, in addition to these NCFR journal articles:
   • FR 2018: "On–Off Relationship Instability and Distress Over Time in Same- and Different-Sex Relationships" — authored by members Dr. Monk, Brian G. Ogolsky, Ph.D., and Christopher Maniotes, Ph.D.
   • FR 2021: "Coming Out and Getting Back In: Relationship Cycling and Distress in Same- and Different-Sex Relationships" — authored by Drs. Monk and Ogolsky, and NCFR Fellow Ramona F. Oswald, Ph.D.
   • FR 2014: "The Impact of Premarital Cycling on Early Marriage" — authors include Dr. Vennum
   • JMF 2013: "Relationship Churning, Physical Violence, and Verbal Abuse in Young Adult Relationships" — authors include NCFR member Wendy D. Manning, Ph.D.
      
2. TODAY.com featured research-based insights from NCFR member J. Kale Monk, Ph.D., CFLE, about couples who break up and get back together and about considerations for ex-spouses thinking about reuniting.
   
   "Why do you want or feel like you need to get back together? Is the reason rooted in dedication and positive feelings, or more about obligation and convenience?" Dr. Monk said in the interview. "Are things really different now and moving forward? This will help (a couple) determine if reconciliation is the right decision for them."
   
   While divorce rates are higher for subsequent marriages, the outlook could be improved if ex-spouses reunite for positive, relationship-driven reasons and actively strengthen their bond, Dr. Monk said in the article.
3. Several Canadian news and lifestyle outlets, including The Indo-Canadian Voice, highlighted a new open-access JMF study examining "the relationship between how different-sex couples meet and assortative mating on education, race, nativity, and age," according to the article abstract. The study — "How Couples Meet and Assortative Mating in Canada" — found that in online dating there was higher educational and nativity heterogamy, but lower age heterogamy (as compared to offline dating).
    
4. The New York Times quoted NCFR member Stephanie Coontz, M.A., in a piece about the possibly fading stigma around being a stay-at-home father in the U.S.:
   
   "...shared labor is not necessarily a new development. Before the 20th century, couples were partners in work like 'setting up a farm or small business,' [Coontz] said. In colonial households, women were often referred to as 'deputy husbands,' [Coontz] said, because if the husband had to leave (to fight, for instance), it was up to the wife to keep the business running."
5. Prairie Public News of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana, aired Valentine's Day-themed interviews about healthy relationships with Family Science scholars Ted G. Futris, Ph.D., CFLE (who is also an NCFR member), and Ronald J. Werner-Wilson, Ph.D. A full transcript and highlights from Dr. Futris's interview for the station's Main Street segment are posted on the episode webpage.