Journal of Marital and Family Therapy October 2002,Vol. 28, No. 4,479-486 TRENDS IN AUTHOR CHARACTERISTICS AND DIVERSITY ISSUES IN THE JOURNAL OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY FROM 1990 TO 2000 C. Everett Bailey Julia F‘ryce Psychological Counseling Services, LTD University of Chicago Froma Walsh University of Chicago In this article, we present an analysis and comparison of published articles in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy (JMFT)between 1990-1995 and 1996-2000. This study focused on trends in author gendel; highest degree, and professional afiliation, and article content on issues of cultural and family diversity (race/ethnicity, class, religiodspirituality, gendel; sexual orientation, and varied family forms}. Key findings show a significant shifr from 69% male first authors in 1990-1995 to equal gender representation in authorshipfor 1996-2000 articles, with a particular increase in female PhDs. Articles addressing diversity issues doubledfrom 15.6% of all 1990-1995 articles to 31% in 1996-2000. Of note, women authored 73% of the 1996-2000 articles on the wide range of diversity issues. Implicationsfor the field are discussed. Over the years, several articles have examined publication trends in marital and family therapy (MFT) journals (Gurman, 1981; Naden, Rasmussen, Morrissette, & Johns, 1997; Shortz, Worthington, McCullough, DeVries, & Morrow, 1994; Sprenkle, Bailey, Lyness, Ball, & Mills, 1997). These reviews inform us of those “voices” and topics (Sprenkle & Bailey, 1997b, p. 381) that both reflect and influence developments in the field of MFT. Periodic discussion of trends also alerts us to authorship and areas that are underrepresented in the journals and informs future areas of focus. Identifying such trends is important to address significant gaps in the literature relevant to the field of MFT. This review of the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy (JMFT), the archival journal of the MFT profession, analyzed trends in authorship and content of articles published over the last decade. The study focused in particular on author gender representation and on the number of articles that addressed cultural and family diversity issues, including race/ethnicity, class, religionlspirituality, gender, sexual orientation, and varied family forms. For more than a decade, many scholars have urged the field of family therapy to give greater attention to cultural and family diversity, which had been neglected in the early development of the field (e.g. Avis, 1986; Hardy, 1989; Imber-Black, 1988; McGoldrick, Pearce, & Giordano, 1996). Early family therapy models tended to focus narrowly on the interior of the family, inattentive to larger sociocultural influences. Clinical theory, training, and research focused predominantly on white, middle-class families and traditional gender roles as the norm, lagging behind the growing diversity and tremendous changes taking place in families and society (Walsh, 1993). Over the last decade, many have widened their lens to explore issues concerning cultural and family diversity; to examine racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination, to better attune clinical approaches to “nontraditional” family forms, and to become more responsive to the C. Everett Bailey, Psychological Counseling Services, LTD, Scottsdale,Arizona. Formerly at MFT Program, Child Development and Family Science, North Dakota State University; Julia Pryce, School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago: Froma Walsh, Center for Family Health, University of Chicago. First authorship is shared between first and second listed authors. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: Julia Pryce, MSW. School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, 969 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637. E-mail: prycej@uchicago.edu October 2002 JOURNAL OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY 479