Perceptions of tension and tension behaviors within urban Afro-Guyanese families

Marital tension is an interactional feature of the marital dyad, yet little is known about its existence among Afro-Guyanese families in urban Guyana. This study examines some potential predictors and assesses their association with marital tension to determine if marriages are characterized by high or low tension. The study is a secondary analysis of survey data collected in 2004 from a random probability sample of rural and urban families. It tests specific theoretical assumptions to evaluate marital tension as a function of: years of marriage, age and number of children, trust, employment status, education level, economic stress, gender, positive, and negative interaction. Several analytical models are developed from bivariate and multivariate techniques. Findings suggest that low tension is a characteristic feature of marital relationship among urban Afro-Guyanese families. In addition, the analysis shows education, negative interaction, positive interaction, and gender as significant predictors of the perception of tension in marital relationships.