Domestic situational television comedies were examined for various themes of father involvement. Twelve programs from the six major networks were recorded during the fall 2004 season. All instances that involved either discussion or fulfillment of the father role were transcribed. Inductive thematic analysis led to the identification of three themes: various ways fathers interact with children (spending quality time, emotion-based behaviors, and teaching life lessons); how fathers of varying racial/ethnic groups and socioeconomic status are depicted; and negative messages regarding fathering (foolish or immature behaviors and being the butt of family members' jokes). Fathers in family-based sitcoms engage in a variety of actions that transmit both positive and negative messages about their place within the family. These messages are consistent with the difficulty associated with fathering in contemporary families, a role whose expectations are often ambiguous.

A qualitative analysis of women whose husbands reside in nursing homes was conducted to understand the concept of couplehood. Couplehood is defined here as the extent to which one person perceives herself as married to another person (feeling like an "I" or like part of a "We"). An "I"--"We" continuum was presented to each woman, and noticeable patterns emerged. Some women identified themselves as perceiving no couplehood with their institutionalized husbands ("Unmarried Marrieds"). A second group of women perceived a high degree of couplehood ("'Til Death Do Us Parts"), while a third group perceived low couplehood ("Husbandless Wives"). Differences seem to exist in terms of the degree to which couplehood is perceived (no, low, high). Implications of such a typology are offered for researchers, clinicians, and community-dwelling wives.

Family role theory is the framework used to guide this study of how mother's employment and age of younger child affects mother's time in meal preparation and cleanup, expenditures for meals away from home, and meals shared by the family both at home and away. Eleven null hypotheses are generated and tested using data from the 11 state urban/rural comparison of families' time use. Analysis of covariance (with total family income controlled) is the primary statistical tech nique employed. Results indicated that the time spent by mothers in meal prep aration/dishwashing varied by their employment, and age of the younger child. Expenditures for meals purchased away from home did not differ by the mother's employment status or age of the younger child. Meals eaten together as a family were not related to the mother's employment status in urban areas, but were related in rural areas. Where meals were eaten together varied by employment status of the mother and age of the younger child. Implications for home econ omists and suggestions for future research are presented.

Splitting custody of children between parents after divorce is one form of custody. The authors review this custody decision and its potential effect on the sibling system across the lifespan. The arrangement is analyzed by means of family-systems theory. Because split custody may be harmful to the sibling bond, the potential benefits must be weighed against costs in each case before entering into this custody arrangement.

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