Pain without reward: A phenomenological exploration of stillbirth for couples and their hospital encounter.

Stillbirth constitutes a unique form of grief related to the death of an unborn child. This study explores the experiences of eight couples who lost a child to stillbirth, from the time they suspected something was wrong to their release from the hospital and beyond. Couples were interviewed conjointly and data were analyzed qualitatively using a phenomenological approach. Analysis revealed themes of positive and negative encounters with hospital staff, grief and loss, relationships with spouse and family, and long-term impacts. Implications for clinicians are discussed, including gender differences in the grief process for fathers and mothers.

Lived experience of young widowed individuals: A qualitative study.

Young widowhood is a unique experience that has received little in-depth attention in research and clinical settings. The present study examined the lived experiences of young men and women who had lost a spouse. Eleven men and women between the ages of 18 and 49 were interviewed about their experiences postloss using phenomenological methods. After coding the interviews, three themes emerged: (1) relationship prior to death, (2) coping, and (3) concerns. Clinical implications included the need for more accessible resources for young widowed individuals, such as therapeutic services, finances, and childcare.

Daily Events for Clinical Couples: Examining Therapy Interventions, Positive Events, Arguments, and Exercise in the Beginning Stage of Therapy.

This study examined the daily association of several events within the beginning phase of couple therapy. Events examined were as follows: trying something from therapy, an argument, a positive event, and physical exercise. Participants were 33 couples in a treatment-as-usual setting who completed the Daily Diary of Events in Couple Therapy (DDECT). A dyadic multilevel model was used to explore the daily associations between predictor and outcome variables. Results showed when male partners tried something from therapy at rates greater than the average their female partners reported a more positive relationship while when female partners tried something from therapy at rates greater than the average it contributed to a more negative relationship. In addition, results showed that clients in couple therapy rarely try things from therapy on a daily basis. Finally, relative to other predictors trying something from therapy had a smaller, but significant relationship with outcomes.

Examining Attachment Avoidance and Attachment Anxiety Across Eight Sessions of Couple Therapy.

This study examined initial levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance, as well as their patterns of change, across eight sessions of couple therapy. Participants were 461 couples in a treatment-as-usual setting. Dyadic latent growth modeling was used to determine whether couples started therapy at similar levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance and whether attachment anxiety and avoidance changed. An actor partner interdependence model was used to see whether partner attachment anxiety was related to avoidance. Results showed relative stability of attachment anxiety and avoidance over the course of therapy, with the only change being a slight decline in attachment anxiety among women. Results showed that a person's attachment anxiety was not related to their partner's avoidance and vice versa.

Insecure attachment behavior and partner violence: incorporating couple perceptions of insecure attachment and relational aggression.

Intimate partner violence and insecure attachment are therapeutically relevant concepts when working with couples. The link between attachment and intimate partner violence has been examined in the literature, but an area of aggression that often goes unexamined is relational aggression, or using third parties as a means of being aggressive toward a partner. We asked how participants' attachment behaviors were related to their own and partners' relational and physical aggression. We used structural equation modeling to estimate actor-partner interdependence among these relationships in 644 heterosexual couples. Results indicated significant partner paths from attachment to relational aggression, as well as significant actor paths between relational aggression and physical aggression. Implications were discussed. Data for this study were collected from the RELATE assessment.

Bridging the clinician/researcher gap with systemic research: the case for process research, dyadic, and sequential analysis.

In Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT), as in many clinical disciplines, concern surfaces about the clinician/researcher gap. This gap includes a lack of accessible, practical research for clinicians. MFT clinical research often borrows from the medical tradition of randomized control trials, which typically use linear methods, or follow procedures distanced from "real-world" therapy. We review traditional research methods and their use in MFT and propose increased use of methods that are more systemic in nature and more applicable to MFTs: process research, dyadic data analysis, and sequential analysis. We will review current research employing these methods, as well as suggestions and directions for further research.

The Self Assessment of Future Events Scale (SAFE): assessing perceptions of risk for future violence in intimate partner relationships.

The purpose of this study was to develop a survey measure, appropriate for use in clinical or research settings, to assess respondent's perceptions that their partner will engage in future physical violence, verbal/psychological violence, or controlling behaviors. Data were collected from adults in intimate relationships. Exploratory factor analysis was used to refine the measure and confirmatory factor analysis provided evidence for the fit of the final version of the measure. Scores on the measure indicated less safety for participants in distressed relationships and for participants meeting the study criteria for PTSD. Scores on the measure also indicated significantly decreased safety for participants that reported being the victims of physical violence and participants reporting both victimization and perpetration in their current intimate relationships.

Appraisal distortions and intimate partner violence: gender, power, and interaction.

In relationships characterized by control, abuse, or violence, many appraisal distortions occur including denial and minimization. However, the nature of the distortion varies depending on the individual's role in the relationship (i.e., abuser or victim). Reducing these distortions is an important component in treatment success and involves accepting responsibility for actions and attributions. This study used constructivist grounded theory methods to explore the following questions: (1) What are the types of distortions that are used by individuals who have been in violent or abusive relationships? (2) What are the gender and power differences in the appraisal distortions used? (3) What are the functions and interactions of the distortions in the relationship dynamics? Qualitative analysis of interviews with 29 individuals who had been in abusive relationships found that there were several types of distortions used by participants, but there were differences in the function of the distortion, depending on the individual's role in the abuse. These generally corresponded to power and gender, where the male as perpetrator used different distortions (or used similar distortions for different reasons) than did the female as victim. Suggestions for research as well as treatment implications for both offenders and survivors of abuse are given.