Thomas Bradbury conducts basic research on the longitudinal course of marriage, with particular emphasis on laboratory observation and interview methods. A central goal of this work is to understand how newlywed couples negotiate the first several years of marriage (which constitute the period of highest risk for marital disruption) and to clarify the factors that increase or decrease the likelihood of couples having stable, satisfying relationships. Findings from this research are being used to develop an intervention program for couples planning marriage, and an experimental version of this program is now being tested to examine its effects on marital disruption over a 3-year period. Funding for the basic longitudinal research is provided by the National Institutes of Health, and funding for the treatment study is provided by the John Templeton Foundation.

Bradbury is a Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. He received his Ph.D. in 1990 from the University of Illinois and completed his clinical internship at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute. Bradbury is the editor of The Psychology of Marriage (with Frank Fincham,1990) and The Developmental Course of Marital Dysfunction (1998). He is a member of the Risk Prevention and Health Behavior Review Committee at the National Institute of Mental Health, and he is an editorial board member for several journals, including the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, the Journal of Family Psychology, and the Journal of Marriage and the Family. Bradbury is the recipient of the 1997 Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contributions from the American Psychological Association and has twice received the Reuben Hill Award for Research and Theory on Marriage from the National Council on Family Relations.