Mark Fine

Mark Fine is Professor and Chair in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and was previously at the University of Missouri Columbia. He was Editor of Family Relations from 1993-1996 and was Editor of the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships from 1999-2004. His research interests lie in the areas of family transitions, such as divorce and remarriage; early intervention program evaluation; social cognition, and relationship stability. He was co-editor, along with David Demo and Katherine Allen, of the Handbook of family diversity, published in 2000 by Oxford University Press. He co-authored, along with John Harvey, Children of divorce: Stories of hope and loss in 2004 by Erlbaum; co-edited, with John Harvey, The handbook of divorce and relationship dissolution in 2005 by Erlbaum; and co-edited, with Jean Ispa and Kathy Thornburg, Keepin' on: The everyday struggles of young families in poverty, published in 2006 by Brookes Publishing Company. In 2009, he co-authored with David Demo Beyond the Average Divorce, published by Sage. Currently, he is co-editing a volume on family theories with Frank Fincham, “Family Theories: A Content-Based Approach.” He has published almost 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and books. In 2000, he was selected as a Fellow of the National Council on Family Relations. Dr. Fine is a licensed psychologist and maintains a small clinical practice.

There are 47 included publications by Mark Fine :

TitleDateViewsBrief Description
The adjustment of adolescents in stepfather and stepmother families. 1992 4597 The article presents a study that assessed the relations between adolescent adjustment in stepfamilies, and both family context and process variables. The process variables assessed were those commonly identified as being related to child and adolesc...
Assessment of the psychometric properties of the Adaptive Behavior Scale with psychiatric patients. 1988 1685 This study explored the psychometric properties of the Adaptive Behavior Scale (ABS) using a sample of institutionalized, mentally disturbed adults. 188 clients on extended-care wards of a state-operated inpatient psychiatric facility were assessed w...
Black Teenage Mothers: Pregnancy and Child Rearing from Their Perspective (Book). 1991 1931 Black Teenage Mothers: Pregnancy and Child Rearing from Their Perspective. Constance Willard Williams. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1991. 208 pp. $24.95. This book describes the results of an ethnographic, interview study of 30 black teenage moth...
Cognition in Close Relationships [book review] 1992 729 Cognition in Close Relationships. Garth J. O. Fletcher & Frank D. Fincham (Eds.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. 1991. 364 pp. Hardcover ISBN 0--8058-0568-0. $59.95. This edited volume attempts to integrate the rapidly growing literatures on socia...
Cognitive correlates of adjustment for mothers and stepfathers in stepfather families. 1991 1986 This study relates three types of cognitions--ambiguity of the stepfather role, an optimistic perspective on stepfamilies, and myths about stepfamilies--to two areas of satisfaction, namely, (step)parent-child relationships and family/ marital/person...
Conflict and Control: Examining the Association Between Exposure to Television Portraying Interpersonal Conflict and the Use of Controlling Behaviors in Romantic Relationships 2013 3996 Based on content analyses examining the type and amount of relational conflicts featured in popular television (Brinson, 1992; Brinson & Winn, 1997; Comstock & Strzyzewski, 1990; Fine, 1981; Greenberg, Buerkel-Rothfuss, Neuendorf, & Atkin, 1980; Sher...
Conflict and control: Examining the association between exposure to television portraying interpersonal conflict and the use of controlling behaviors in romantic relationships. 2012 2862 Based on content analyses examining the type and amount of relational conflicts featured in popular television (Brinson, 1992; Brinson & Winn, 1997; Comstock & Strzyzewski, 1990; Fine, 1981; Greenberg, Buerkel-Rothfuss, Neuendorf, & Atkin, 1980; Sher...
'Contributing to a field of investigation': A response to Pasley. 1988 1719 I find myself in general agreement with Pasley with respect to desired directions for stepfamily research and certainly concur that future studies need to (1) move beyond simple "deficit comparison" designs, (2) be more sensitive to variations in ste...
Correlates and Consequences of Spanking and Verbal Punishment for Low-Income White, African American, and Mexican American Toddlers 2009 2419 This study examined the prevalence, predictors, and outcomes of spanking and verbal punishment in 2,573 low-income White, African American, and Mexican American toddlers at ages 1, 2, and 3. Both spanking and verbal punishment varied by maternal race...
Defining the boundaries of professional competence: Managing subtle cases of clinical incompetence. 1990 12471 Flagrant cases of professional incompetence are often identified and corrected through formal remediation procedures. However, many subtle cases exist that can go undetected and uncorrected. This article describes a 5-component schema for categorizin...
The divorce decree, communication, and the structuration of co-parenting relationships in stepfamilies. 2006 3065 Using Giddens's (1984) structuration theory, this study explored the communicative processes surrounding the divorce decree in coparenting relationships in stepfamilies. Participants included 21 adults who were coparenting children in stepfamilies wh...
The effects of internal versus external information processing on symptom perception in an exercise setting. 1986 4040 Determined the effects of internal vs external attentional focus on symptom perception and performance in an exercise setting. 15 undergraduates ran 1 mi under each of 3 experimental conditions: "word-cue," in which Ss were required to focus external...
The Effects of Involved Nonresidential Fathers’ Distress, Parenting Behaviors, Inter-Parental Conflict, and the Quality of Father-Child Relationships on Children’sWell-Being 2006 6669 Based on data from the 1997 Child Development Supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the present study examined a sample of 129 nonresident fathers who had regular contact with their young children to determine how father involvement and f...
An empirical examination of spirituality as an internal developmental asset during middle childhood and adolescence. 2012 7457 This mixed method study explores youths' perceived conceptions of spirituality and tests whether spirituality is an additional internal developmental asset (IDA). Spirituality was assessed using an open-ended question asking youth to define spiritual...
An examination and evaluation of recent changes in divorce laws in five Western countries: The critical role of values. 1994 6221 This article describes changes in divorce laws in the United States, England and Wales, France, and Sweden in the areas of obtaining a divorce, spousal support, child support and child custody. Also, the article discusses the relation between individ...
Family, Self, and Society: Toward a New Agenda for Family [book review] 1993 1574 Family, Self, and Society: Toward a New Agenda for Family Research. Philip A. Cowan, Dorothy Field, Donald A. Hansen, Arlene Skolnick, & Guy E. Swanson (Eds.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. 1993. 502 pp. Hardcover ISBN 0-8058-0999-6. $89.95. This...
Further Reflections on Publishing Multiple Journal Articles From the Same Data Set : Reply to Bray (1994) and Parke (1994) 1994 2338 Areas of Agreement There are three primary areas in which we agree with James H. Bray (1994) and Ross D. Parke (1994). The first, and perhaps the most important, area of agreement is the desirability of researchers publishing a single, integrative,...
Integrating philosophy and psychology in teaching a graduate course in ethics. 1988 1586 Recent surveys of doctoral and master's programs in clinical psychology suggest that there are major gaps in the frequency and quality of ethical training. After describing a model of the ethical decision-making process, we present a thorough and for...
Investigating personality and viewing-motivation correlates of reality television exposure. 2012 11457 This study investigated the personality and viewing-motivation correlates of reality television exposure. Results from a survey of 592 undergraduates showed that extroversion negatively predicted reality television exposure, whereas neuroticism was n...
The Marriage-Go-Around: The State of Marriage and the Family in America Today - by Andrew J. Cherlin 2010 14339 The Marriage-Go-Around: The State of Marriage and the Family in America Today . Andrew J. Cherlin . New York : Alfred A. Knopf . 271 pp. ISBN 9780307266897 . $25.95 cloth . The Marriage-Go-Around is a thoughtful and integrative book written by one o...
Maternal intrusiveness, maternal warmth, and mother-toddler relationship outcomes: Variations across low-income ethnic and acculturation groups. 2004 5364 The present study investigated the extent to which maternal intrusiveness and warmth during play, observed in 579 European American, 412 African American, and 110 more and 131 less acculturated Mexican American low-income families when children were ...
Modeling Parenting Stress Trajectories Among Low-Income Young Mothers Across the Child's Second and Third Years : Factors Accounting for Stability and Change 2007 4630 This study investigated parenting stress trajectories among low-income young mothers and the factors that are associated with change and stability of parenting stress as children aged from 14 to 36 months old. With a sample of 580 young mothers who a...
Mother-infant interactions in Early Head Start: A person-oriented within ethnic group approach. 2013 3002 Objective . This article identifies patterns of mothering in low-income families from three ethnic groups and explores whether those patterns yield similar associations with child outcomes. Design . A person-centered within-group approach was used to...
Mothers, fathers, stepfathers, and siblings as providers of supervision, acceptance, and autonomy to young adolescents. 1995 2874 This study examined whether 124 young adolescents living with 2 biological parents and at least 1 sibling (TP) and 27 young adolescents living with mothers, stepfathers, and at least 1 sibling (SF) differed in the extent to which they agreed that mot...
On the distinction between two tests as measures of the same construct and as interchangeable. 1992 2466 Comments on the debate between E. R. Harcum (see record 1989-31713-001) and W. Branch (see record 1990-13759-001) regarding the assumption that 2 tests measure the same construct because they correlate moderately highly with each other. Although 2 hi...
Parent and nonparent residential family members as providers of warmth and supervision to young adolescents. 1993 2296 In contrast to previous studies that have examined only parents as sources of warmth and supervision, this study examined any residential family member as a source of warmth and supervision. Ss were 6th and 7th graders from 434 2-parent, 66 single-di...
Parent-child relationships in stepfamilies. 1988 3177 Compared college students' perceptions of parent–child relationships in stepfamilies with those in continuously intact families. 47 students from stepfamilies and 130 from intact families completed a parent–child relationship survey developed by M. A...
ParentLink: A model of support and integration for parents. 2000 1187 ParentLink represents a collective of Missouri organizations and agencies striving to simplify parents' access to research-based information, services, and problem-solving support pertaining to parenting. It is based on systems theory (von Bertalanff...
Patterns of Maternal Directiveness by Ethnicity Among Early Head Start Research Participants 2013 1974 Objective. Using the Early Head Start dataset, this study examined change over time in European American, African American, and Mexican American mothers' directiveness during play with their young children and associations between these patterns and ...
Patterns of maternal directiveness by ethnicity among Early Head Start Research participants. 2013 1803 Objective. Using the Early Head Start dataset, this study examined change over time in European American, African American, and Mexican American mothers' directiveness during play with their young children and associations between these patterns and ...
Perceived adjustment of parents and children: Variations by family structure, race, and gender. 1992 2239 The article presents a study examining family structure, race, and gender differences in parent and child adjustment to address the absence of empirical information about the experiences of African-American step-family members. Parental percept of ch...
Perceived self-competence, stepfamily myths, and (step)parent role ambiguity in adolescents from stepfather and stepmother families. 1992 4462 Assessed type of stepfamily (stepfather vs stepmother) and gender differences in junior high school students' perceived self-competence, myths about stepfamilies, and perceived ambiguity of the (step)parent role. In self-competence, there were no sig...
Predicting Commitment to Wed Among Hispanic and Anglo Partners 2003 3737 Ethnic differences in commitment to wed were examined between 46 Hispanics (27 women, 19 men) and 160 Anglos (84 women, 76 men). Although limited by sample sizes, findings indicated that Hispanics and Anglos did not differ, on average, on measures of...
Predictors of Distress Following Relationship Termination among Dating Couples 1997 3737 This study examined the extent to which variables derived from the investment model predicted distress levels following relationship termination. At least one partner in 28 heterosexual dating couples completed measures of commitment, relationship sa...
Predictors of relationship status and satisfaction after six months among dating couples 1996 4485 This study used the investment model to predict relationship status and satisfaction among a sample of heterosexual dating couples. Both partners of 42 couples completed measures of commitment, relationship satisfaction, alternative quality (i.e., pe...
Predictors of single, noncustodial fathers' physical involvement with their children 1992 1592 Presents a study on the factors affecting the relationship between a single, noncustodial father and his child. Factors that facilitate and enhance father-child relationship; Structural relationship characteristics; Representativeness of non-custodia...
Publishing multiple journal articles from a single data set: Issues and recommendations 1994 12804 Researchers frequently have to decide how to publish journal articles from a large data set. When it is not possible to write a single, integrative article from such a data set, the issue of publishing multiple journal articles arises. In this articl...
Reflections on determining authorship credit and authorship order on faculty-student collaborations 1993 3740 Explores the process of determining authorship credit and authorship order on collaborative publications with students. The article presents hypothetical cases that describe relevant ethical issues, highlights ethical principles that could provide as...
Reflections on enhancing accountability in the peer-review process. 1996 2774 Having served as an editor of a peer-reviewed journal ( Family Relations) over the last four years, I read Epstein's (October 1995) comment with great interest. Among a number of thought-provoking suggestions, he recommended that two changes should i...
Reinvestigating Remarriage: Another Decade of Progress. 2000 13147 The article presents an overview of research and theory on remarriages and stepfamilies published in the 1990s. Remarriage is a term that encompasses several different types of relationships--both partners may be in a second marriage or a higher-orde...
The relation between marital quality and (step)parent-child relationship quality for parents and stepparents in stepfamilies. 1995 6358 This study examined the relation between perceived marital quality and the perceived quality of the (step)parent–child relationship in 2 independent samples of couples living in stepfamilies. In Sample 1, participants were both spouses in 111 stepmot...
The relation between role constructions and adjustment among stepfathers. 1997 2370 The purpose of this study was to assess the relations between stepfathers' constructions of their role as stepfathers and several dimensions of their adjustment. Thirty-nine stepfathers who resided with stepchildren between the ages of 10 and 18 comp...
Relations between parental control and warmth and child well-being in stepfamilies. 1993 3688 Examined type-of-stepfamily differences in child well-being and parenting behaviors and how child well-being in stepfamilies relates to parenting behaviors. Data were drawn from the National Survey of Families and Households (J. A. Sweet et al, 1988)...
The role of privacy in families created through assisted reproductive technology: Examining existing literature using Communication Privacy Management theory. 2012 2692 The number of families created through the use of assisted reproductive technology (ART) has grown throughout the past decade. Families created through ART face many unique communication challenges both within the immediate family and with others out...
Studying Interpersonal Interaction [book review] 1992 1369 Studying Interpersonal Interaction. Barbara Montgomery & Steve Duck (Eds.). New York: The Guilford Press. 1991. 346 pp. Hardcover ISBN 0-89862-312-X. $36.95. This volume is an overview of current research methods in the study of interpersonal intera...
We Do Babies! The Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs of Pregnancy and Parenting in the Academy 2008 1161 The most awkward moment at that faculty meeting occurred when a certain senior colleague in the department replied, "Well, when my wife was pregnant, she gave birth during spring break and didn't miss a day of class." Despite backstage reassurances t...
Young Handicapped Children: Their Prevalence and Experiences with Early Intervention Services 1986 1887 The present study assessed the prevalence of handicapping conditions among young children (0 through 4) In Ohio and explored the experiences these handicapped children and their families have had with early intervention services. Using a telephone in...