Supporting fathers and supported mothers in families with disruptive boys: who are they?

What are the personal characteristics of supported mothers and supporting fathers, in the context of families having disruptive boys? The supportive and unsupportive behaviors of fathers towards mothers (N = 44) were rated by observers in standardized situations. Characteristics of both fathers and mothers were used to predict support: age, education, IQ, reported parental care during childhood, symptoms of distress and marital satisfaction. The joint characteristics of both spouses were better predictors than fathers' or mothers' characteristics alone. Unexpectedly more support and less stress correlated with more unfavorable characteristics of the father compared to the mother for the same marital dyad. Both spouses' reports on parental care were highly predictive of fathers' supportive and unsupportive behaviors towards mothers, whereas higher intellectual abilities of fathers predicted unsupportive behaviors. Results are discussed in relation to marital relations and differences between behavioral versus reported assessments of spouse support.