Higher emotional synchronization is modulated by relationship quality in romantic relationships and not in close friendships.

Emotions are fundamental to social interaction and deeply intertwined with interpersonal dynamics, especially in romantic relationships. Although the neural basis of interaction processes in romance has been widely explored, the underlying emotions and the connection between relationship quality and neural synchronization remain less understood. Our study employed EEG hyperscanning during a non-interactive video-watching paradigm to compare the emotional coordination between romantic couples and close friends. Couples showed significantly greater behavioral and prefrontal alpha synchronization than friends. Notably, couples with low relationship quality required heightened neural synchronization to maintain robust behavioral synchronization. Further support vector machine analysis underscores the crucial role of prefrontal activity in differentiating couples from friends. In summary, our research addresses gaps concerning how intrinsic emotions linked to relationship quality influence neural and behavioral synchronization by investigating a natural non-interactive context, thereby advancing our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying emotional coordination in romantic relationships.

Interpersonal Process of Dyadic Coping in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Perspective From the Australian Rheumatology Association Database.

OBJECTIVE: Dyadic coping, the process of coping that transpires between couples challenged by one partner's illness, is an important predictor of disease adjustment and patient well-being. However, the extent of dyadic coping in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains unclear. This study examines the effect of dyadic coping on psychological distress and relationship quality from the perspectives of both participants with RA and their spouses. METHODS: Participants and their spouses were invited to participate in an online survey study if they were aged ≥ 18 years and had lived together for more than a year. The survey included the Chronic Pain Grade Scale, Dyadic Coping Inventory, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, and Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Participants and spouses completed the survey independently. The actor-partner interdependence model was used to analyze the dyadic data. RESULTS: One hundred sixty-three couples participated. Our findings showed that participants who reported higher supportive dyadic coping reported lower depression, anxiety, and stress, and higher relationship quality, whereas participants who reported higher negative dyadic coping reported higher depression, anxiety, and stress, and lower relationship quality. Spouses who reported higher supportive dyadic coping reported higher relationship quality, but no effect on depression, anxiety, and stress was observed. In contrast, spouses who reported higher negative dyadic coping reported higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, and lower relationship quality. CONCLUSION: Participants' and spouses' perceptions of supportive and negative dyadic coping closely influenced their psychological distress and relationship quality. Further, having a partner with RA also seemed to affect the spouse, especially when there was a negative dyadic coping pattern.

Genital arousal and responsive desire among women with and without sexual interest/arousal disorder symptoms.

BACKGROUND: Models depicting sexual desire as responsive to sexual arousal may be particularly apt for women experiencing arousal or desire difficulties, and the degree to which arousal triggers desire may depend on the relationship context and desire target and timing-yet, these associations have not been directly tested among women with and without sexual interest/arousal disorder (SIAD). AIM: To assess the role of SIAD status and relationship satisfaction in the associations between genital arousal and 4 types of responsive desire. METHODS: One hundred women (n = 27 meeting diagnostic criteria for SIAD) in romantic relationships with men viewed a sexual film (pleasurable intimate depiction of oral sex and penile-vaginal intercourse) while their genital arousal was recorded via vaginal photoplethysmography (n = 63) or thermal imaging of the labia (n = 37). Partner and solitary desire was assessed immediately before and after the film (immediate desire) and 3 days later (delayed desire). OUTCOMES: Outcomes consisted of genital response (z scored by method) and associations between genital response and responsive sexual desire. RESULTS: The key difference between women with and without SIAD was not in their ability to experience genital arousal but in how their genital responses translated to responsive sexual desire. Women with SIAD actually exhibited greater genital arousal than unaffected women. Associations between genital arousal and desire were significant only for women with SIAD and depended on relationship satisfaction and desire type. For women with SIAD with low relationship satisfaction, higher arousal predicted lower immediate desire for a partner; for those with high relationship satisfaction, arousal was either positively related (vaginal photoplethysmography) or unrelated (thermal imaging of the labia) to immediate desire for a partner. Associations with other desire types were not significant. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Patterns of genital arousal and partner-specific responsive desire among women affected with SIAD were indicative of an avoidance model in response to heightened genital arousal, unless relationship satisfaction was high; attending to genital arousal sensations could be a means of triggering sexual desire for women with SIAD who are satisfied in their relationships. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS: This is one of the first sexual psychophysiologic studies to connect relationship factors to patterns of sexual response. The differing arousal assessment procedures and lack of official diagnosis may have attenuated results. The homogeneous sample and in-person session requirement limit generalizability. CONCLUSION: When compared with unaffected women, women affected by SIAD may exhibit stronger arousal responses with sufficiently incentivized sexual stimuli, and the connection between their genital arousal and responsive desire for their partners may be stronger and more dependent on relationship context.

Doing it all: Effects of Family Responsibilities and Marital Relationship Quality on Mothers' Ambulatory Blood Pressure.

BACKGROUND: The shared provider responsibility between married couples does not translate to equally shared division of childcare (CC) and household labor. While some marriages contain highly positive aspects, marriages may also simultaneously contain both positive and negative aspects. The negativity in these relationships can negate the positivity and could potentially lead to the detriment of mothers' health. PURPOSE: We examined mothers' ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) associated with their marital relationship quality and perceived equity with her spouse on CC and household tasks. METHODS: We investigate these associations using a mixed multilevel model analysis on a sample of 224 mothers in heterosexual marriages, all of whom had children under the age of 18 years currently living in the home. RESULTS: Mothers' perception of equity in the division of CC responsibilities contributed to lower ABP. Additionally, mothers in supportive marital relationships (low negativity and high positivity) had lower ABP than those in ambivalent relationships (both high negativity and positivity). There was a crossover interaction such that the effect of relationship quality on ABP was moderated by the perception of equity in the division of CC. For mothers who report doing all the CC, they had lower ABP if they had a supportive marital relationship compared with mothers in ambivalent relationships. Whereas mothers who report more equity in CC and have a supportive relationship have higher ABP compared with mothers in ambivalent relationships. CONCLUSIONS: This study has implications related to dynamics within marital relationships. These results demonstrate important relational influences on mothers' ABP.

Married mothers disproportionately shoulder the responsibilities of childcare (CC) and household labor. This inequity of the division of family responsibilities can negatively affect the relationship between husbands and wives with marital satisfaction being higher when the load is more equally shared between partners. Additionally, marital satisfaction is associated with numerous health benefits including lower blood pressure. We examined mothers' ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) associated with their marital relationship quality and perceived equity with her spouse on CC and household tasks on a sample of 224 mothers in heterosexual marriages. Mothers' perception of equity in the division of CC responsibilities contributed to lower ABP. Additionally, mothers in supportive marital relationships had lower ABP than those reporting less supportive relationships. There was an interaction between the perception of equity in the division of CC and the effect that relationship quality had on mothers' ABP. Mothers who reported doing all the CC had lower ABP if they had a supportive marital relationship compared with mothers in less supportive relationships. Whereas mothers who reported more equity in CC and had a supportive relationship had higher ABP compared with mothers in less supportive relationships.

Two-way associations between relationship quality and uptake of couples health screening including HIV testing and counselling together: quantitative analysis of a couples cohort in rural South Africa.

In the context of a couples cohort established to evaluate an optimised couples-focused behavioural intervention in rural South Africa, we examined: (1) Is couples' relationship quality (RQ) associated with couples HIV testing and counselling (CHTC) uptake? (2) Does CHTC uptake or the intervention components uptake improve subsequent RQ? Enrolled couples, (n = 218), previously naïve to couples HIV testing, were invited to two group sessions and offered four couples counselling sessions (CS1-CS4), as part of the intervention and administered a questionnaire individually at baseline, four weeks, and four months, which included item-scales to measure RQ: satisfaction, intimacy, dyadic trust, conflict, and mutual constructive communication. Logistic models indicated that no baseline RQ measures were significantly associated with CHTC uptake. Linear regression models showed that CHTC uptake before four weeks assessment significantly improved couples' satisfaction and trust at four weeks, and intimacy at four months. Attending at least one CS was associated with increased satisfaction, intimacy, and decreased conflict within couples at four weeks; the improvement in intimacy was sustained at four months. Consistent with the theoretical interdependence model, our findings suggest that CHTC and CS seemed to strengthen aspects of relationship quality, possibly leading to further collaboration in managing lifestyle changes and treatment adherence.

A context-dependent perspective to understand the relation between parent-child physiological synchrony and child socioemotional adjustment.

Physiological synchrony is an important biological process during which parent-child interaction plays a significant role in shaping child socioemotional adjustment. The present study held a context-dependent perspective to examine the conditional association between parent-child physiological synchrony and child socioemotional adjustment (i.e., relationship quality with parents and child emotion regulation) under different (i.e., from highly unsupportive to highly supportive) emotional contexts. One hundred and fifty school-age Chinese children (Mage = 8.64 years, 63 girls) and their primary caregivers participated in this study. After attaching electrocardiogram (ECG) electrodes, parent-child dyads were instructed to complete a 4-minute conflict discussion task. Parent-child physiological synchrony was calculated based on the within-dyad association between parents' and children's respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) levels across eight 30-second epochs. Parental emotional support, child relationship quality with parents, and child emotion regulation during the discussion task were coded by trained research assistants. Supporting our hypotheses, parental emotional support moderated the relations of parent-child RSA synchrony with both child relationship quality with parents and child emotion regulation. Furthermore, the Johnson-Neyman technique of moderation indicated that the associations between parent and child RSA synchrony and child socioemotional adjustment indicators shifted from negative to positive as the parental emotional support became increasingly high. Our findings suggest that parent-child physiological synchrony may not be inherently adaptive or maladaptive, highlighting the importance of understanding the function of parent-child physiological synchrony under specific contexts. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Physiological synchrony may not be inherently adaptive or maladaptive, and the meanings of parent-child physiological synchrony might be contingent on contextual factors. Parental emotional support moderated the relations between parent-child respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) synchrony and child socioemotional adjustment indicators (i.e., child relationship quality with parents and child emotion regulation). More positive/less negative parent-child RSA synchrony was associated with better child socioemotional adjustment under a supportive emotional context, whereas with poorer child socioemotional adjustment under an unsupportive emotional context. These findings highlight the significance of considering the emotional context in physiological synchrony studies.

Porn or Partner Arousal? When It Comes to Romantic Relationships, Not All Sexual Arousal Is Equal: A Prospective Study.

Little is known about the role of subjective sexual arousal within romantic relationships. The current paper addresses this limitation using a prospective study design that investigates the direct associations between subjective sexual arousal induced by a romantic partner (partner arousal) and arousal induced by pornography (porn arousal) on changes in relational outcomes. A total of 309 participants who were in a current romantic relationship completed measures of partner and porn arousal as well as relational outcomes (i.e., sexual satisfaction and relationship quality and stability) at baseline (T1) and completed a second assessment of relational outcomes 2 months later (T2). Partner arousal was found to have no significant associations with changes in relational outcomes; however, porn arousal was associated with significant declines in sexual satisfaction and relationship quality and stability over a 2-month period. This paper is the first to examine how feeling sexually aroused by porn may impact relational outcomes for those in romantic relationships.

Differences in Minority Stress Experiences, Mental Health, and Relationship Quality Outcomes Among Bisexual, Pansexual, and Queer Women.

The majority of sexual minority women in the United States today identify as bi+. Recent research suggests that "non-traditional" bi+ labels such as pansexual and queer are being adopted more frequently than ever before, making it increasingly important to evaluate whether these women have unique needs. In the current study, we explored differences in minority stress experiences, mental health, and relationship quality outcomes by sexual identity label among women who identify with the most common bi+ labels: bisexual, pansexual, and queer. Participants were 285 bi+ cisgender women in romantic relationships. They completed online measures of minority stress (antibisexual experiences, identity concealment, disconnection from the sexual and gender minority (SGM) community, and internalized stigma), mental health (depression and anxiety), and relationship quality (satisfaction and commitment). Overall, participants reported similar experiences of minority stress and few differences in their mental health outcomes. However, there were differences in antibisexual experiences by sexual identity label, such that pansexual women reported more frequent antibisexual experiences than bisexual and queer women. There were also differences in relationship quality by sexual identity label, such that bisexual women reported higher satisfaction than pansexual women and higher commitment than both pansexual and queer women. Findings suggest that pansexual and queer women may be facing their own unique challenges, even compared to bisexual women. Clinical prevention and intervention efforts can be tailored for these women to include strategies to cope with more frequent exposure to antibisexual experiences, as well as relationship education and skill-building to promote healthy romantic relationships.

Partnership quality and maternal depressive symptoms in the transition to parenthood: a prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy and childbirth are critical life events which lead to significant changes in family structures and roles, thus having a substantial impact on partner relationship and maternal wellbeing. A dysfunctional partnership during this critical time of life has been associated with maternal depressiveness. However, sub-components of partnership quality and the causal relation with maternal symptoms of depression in the perinatal period have been sparsely studied so far. The current study aims to longitudinally assess the course of relationship quality and its sub-components from pregnancy to postpartum and to test a potential causal association with maternal symptoms of depression in the perinatal period. METHODS: Differing from previous studies, partnership quality and symptoms of depression have been assessed prospectively and longitudinally from an early stage of pregnancy (second trimester) until six months postpartum. Cross-lagged panel models were applied to investigate a potential causal relationship between partnership quality and maternal depressive symptoms. RESULTS: Relationship quality decreased significantly during the transition to parenthood (p < .05) with the steepest decline referring to tenderness (p < .001). We also found a substantial association of relationship quality and maternal depressiveness, but no indication for a clear causal direction of this association. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that relationship quality and maternal depressiveness are substantially related in the perinatal period, thus pointing to the need of early prevention and intervention programs for peripartum women and their partners to prevent adverse outcome for the couple and the family.

Supervisor's neuroticism and problematic Internet use among graduate students: the mediating role of supervisor-student relationship quality and the moderating role of fear of the supervisor's negative evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Graduate students exhibit vulnerability to problematic Internet use, which can result in adverse physical, psychological, and social consequences. However, limited studies have addressed this issue among graduate students, and even fewer have explored the unique factors contributing to their problematic Internet use. Therefore, to address this gap, the current study aims to probe the relationship between supervisor's neuroticism and problematic Internet use among graduate students, the mediating effect of the supervisor-student relationship quality, as well as the moderating effect of fear of the supervisor's negative evaluation. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018 at three universities in Beijing, China. Anonymous data from 448 graduate students were collected regarding problematic Internet use, supervisor's neuroticism, supervisor-student relationship quality, and the fear of the supervisor's negative evaluation. A moderated mediation analysis was performed using Hayes' PROCESS macro (Model 14). RESULTS: Supervisor's neuroticism was positively linked to graduate students' problematic Internet use, supervisor-student relationship quality mediated the linkage, and fear of the supervisor's negative evaluation played a moderating role in the second stage. Specifically, for students lower in fear of the supervisor's negative evaluation, supervisor-student relationship quality negatively predicted students' problematic Internet use. While for the graduate students higher in fear of the supervisor's negative evaluation, supervisor-student relationship quality could not significantly predict students' problematic Internet use. The mediating effect was only significant for graduate students lower in fear of the supervisor's negative evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: This study established a theoretical model linking supervisor's neuroticism to graduate students' problematic Internet use, highlighting the potential roles of supervisor-student relationship quality and fear of the supervisor's negative evaluation. Reducing the neuroticism level of the supervisor, enhancing the quality of the supervisor-student relationship, and mitigating students' fear of the supervisor's negative evaluation will contribute to the reduction of problematic Internet use among graduate students.

Sleep quality differences among caregivers for persons living with and without dementia.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the relationship between caring for a person with/without dementia and caregiver sleep quality, and analyzed the extent to which perceived benefits of caregiving and assessments of caregiver-recipient relationship quality explain the relationship between care recipient dementia status and caregiver sleep quality. METHOD: Data were analyzed from caregivers for persons with no or probable dementia who participated in the 2017 National Study of Caregiving (NSOC) and National Health and Aging Trends Study. Caregiver sleep quality was measured using NSOC time diary interview. Perceptions of caregiving and relationship quality were assessed using 4-item surveys. We used multivariable logistic regressions to examine the association between care recipient dementia status and caregiver sleep quality controlling for covariates. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 1,374 caregivers (mean age = 62.3, SD = 14, 68.3% women, 69.4% non-Hispanic White). In multivariable models adjusting for caregiver and care recipient characteristics, being a caregiver for someone with dementia was associated with 23% lower odds of reporting "excellent/very good" sleep quality (OR: 0.77, 95%CI: 0.61-0.98, p = 0.032). Greater perception of caregiving benefits was associated with 8% greater odds of "excellent/very good" sleep quality (AOR: 1.08, 95%CI: 1.02-1.15, p = 0.013), but did not explain the relationship between dementia and caregiver sleep quality. Positive ratings of relationship quality explained the relationship between care recipient dementia status and caregiver sleep quality (AOR: 0.82, 95%CI: 0.65-1.05, p = 0.12). CONCLUSION: Improving assessments of relationship quality and amplifying perceptions of caregiving benefits may reduce disparities in sleep quality between caregivers of persons living with or without dementia.

Short-term and long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on child psychological well-being: a four-wave longitudinal study.

As the COVID-19 pandemic further unfolds, it becomes a key theoretical and practical question to identify trajectories of child psychological well-being and to explore risk and resilience factors for developmental adjustment. The current study addressed this research gap by means of an ecological design: A (lockdown)-B (relaxation)-B (relaxation)-A (lockdown). We collected parental reports via online questionnaires over four measurement occasions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany (non-probabilistic sample): from the first lockdown (T1-spring 2020, N = 1769) to the following period of relaxation (T2-summer 2020, n = 873; T3-fall 2020, n = 729) on to the second lockdown (T4-winter 2020/21, n = 748). Key measures at T1-T4 were child emotional and behavioral problems as well as hyperactivity, child emotional and family-related well-being, parental strain, and parent-child relationship quality. We found evidence for quadratic growth models. While child problem behaviors (b = 0.32, p < 0.001) and emotional well-being (b = - 0.33, p < 0.001) improved after the first lockdown during subsequent periods of relaxation before worsening again in the second lockdown, child family-related well-being steadily decreased over all four measurement points (T1-T2: p < 0.001; T2-T3: p = 0.045; T3-T4: p = 0.030). Importantly, parental stress emerged as a strong risk factor (ps < 0.11) and the parent-child relationship quality constituted a resilience factor (p = 0.049) for child psychological well-being. These findings have major implications for policies aiming to further child health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Relational and physical aggression in preschool-age children: Associations with teacher, parent, sibling, and peer relationship quality.

Early childhood relationships with teachers, parents, siblings, and peers are foundational factors for later social functioning. High rates of childhood aggression have been associated with negative developmental consequences, however, the associations between child aggression on the quality of these formative relationships have not been studied extensively. In a sample of young children attending preschool (N = 114, Mage = 46.27 months, SD = 9.94, 40% girls), this study investigated associations between early childhood relational and physical aggression and the quality of concurrent teacher-child and parent-child closeness and conflict, sibling relationship quality, and positive peer interactions and peer rejection. Early childhood relational and physical aggression was associated with negative teacher-child relationships, and this was true for boys and girls. Differential patterns of prediction were found for relational and physical aggression on the other relationship variables. Relational aggression strongly predicted more positive peer interactions, whereas physical aggression predicted fewer positive peer interactions and greater peer rejection. Early childhood relational aggression predicted higher levels of teacher-child closeness, whereas physical aggression predicted lower levels of teacher-child closeness and fewer positive sibling interactions. These findings challenge common perceptions that aggression is negatively associated with relationship quality. Notably, relational aggression relative to physical aggression may be associated with some favorable relationship outcomes. We did not find support for an additive model of aggression whereby children who were both relationally and physically aggressive (co-morbid) were at higher risk for negative relationship quality. Implications of these findings for future research and prevention and intervention are discussed.

Affective dynamics in mother-adolescent dyads: links to mental health and relationship quality.

Current research in developmental psychopathology has emphasised how emotion dynamics, such as affective variability, relate to psychosocial functioning. In this brief article, we examined mean differences in mothers' and adolescents' affective intensity and lability in positive and negative emotions and explored how these emotion dynamics related to depressive symptoms and mother-adolescent relationship quality. We administered individual surveys each day for one week to mother-adolescent dyads (N = 109) that inquired about positive and negative affective states. Affective intensity was measured by the mean across the week and lability by the standard deviation. Participants also reported on their depressive symptoms and adolescents reported on relationship quality. Results showed that positive affect was more intense and more variable than negative affect, and adolescents experienced more intense negative affective and less intense positive affect than mothers. Greater mother and adolescent negative affect intensity and less maternal positive affect intensity related to more depressive symptoms. Affective intensity in mothers and adolescents and affective lability in mothers related to mother-adolescent relationship quality. These findings extend the growing body of knowledge on individuals' affective intensity and variability by considering family dynamics.

Self-awareness and quality of relationships after acquired brain injury: Systematic review without meta-analysis (SWiM).

BACKGROUND: Relational aspects of self-awareness following Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) are increasingly being recognized. However, research underpinning the nature of the association between self-awareness and quality of relationships has yet to be synthesized. METHOD: Searches, which were completed between February 2022 and February 2023, consisted of combining terms related to ABI, self-awareness, and quality of relationships. Data were analyzed using the Synthesis Without Meta-Analysis (SWiM) approach. RESULTS: Associations between self-awareness and relationship quality across eight studies identified for this review differed in direction and significance. A more consistent pattern emerged, however, when studies assessing the quality of specific types of relationships i.e., spousal (N = 1) and therapeutic (N = 3), were compared to studies assessing the quality of a person's broader network of relationships (N = 4). In particular, good awareness was positively associated with the quality of specific relationships (r = 0.66) whereas it was negatively associated with the quality of a person's broader network of relationships (r = -0.35). CONCLUSION: Results are discussed with consideration given to measures assessing the quality of specific relationships. In particular, such measures may tap into important patterns of interaction between two individuals, such as those related to attunement or communication, which may be valuable preconditions for improving awareness.

Longitudinal associations between relational and sexual well-being in couples transitioning to parenthood.

There is limited understanding of the dynamic between relational and sexual well-being as couples adjust to new parenthood, despite this being a vulnerable period for couples' relationships. This study was aimed at examining the bidirectional links between relationship quality and sexual well-being (i.e., sexual satisfaction, sexual distress) across the transition to parenthood. We assessed new parent couples (N = 257) across four time points (two prenatal) from mid-pregnancy through 6 months postpartum. Parallel dyadic latent growth curve modeling was employed to examine the associations between trajectories of perceived relationship quality, sexual satisfaction, and sexual distress. New parents' declines in relationship quality were associated with declines in own and partners' sexual satisfaction and with increases in own sexual distress. Mothers' prenatal relationship quality and sexual distress predicted subsequent changes in own sexual distress and fathers' relationship quality, respectively. Results indicate that changes to new parents' relational and sexual well-being mutually influence each other over time. Current results indicate that the impact of the transition on couples' relationships is partly determined by own and partners' prenatal factors, to which clinicians and researchers can attend to early on. Cross-domain links between relational and sexual well-being should be considered in research and clinical practice.

Do couples who play together stay together? A longitudinal dyadic examination of shared leisure, financial distress, and relationship outcomes.

We examined whether shared leisure offers protection against negative associations between financial distress and relationship quality (satisfaction and commitment) for lower- and higher-income couples. We expected husbands' and wives' reports of shared leisure would be protective of the effects of financial distress (Time 2) on relationship satisfaction (Time 3) and commitment (Time 4) for higher-income couples (but not lower-income couples). Participants were drawn from a nationally representative, longitudinal study of US newly married couples. The analytic sample included both members of 1382 different-gender couples with data across the three sampled waves of data collection. Shared leisure was largely protective of the effects of financial distress on husbands' commitment for higher-income couples. For lower-income couples, higher shared leisure exacerbated this effect. These effects were only found at extreme levels of household income and shared leisure. When considering if couples who play together stay together, our findings suggest that it can, but it is critical to understand the financial situation of the couple and the resources they may have to support shared leisure activities. Professionals working with couples should consider their financial situation when making recommendation to engage in shared leisure, such as going out for recreation.

Social Support and Spousal Relationship Quality Improves Responsiveness among Anxious Mothers.

Maternal responsiveness, a mother's ability to consistently identify infant cues and then act on them, is critical for healthy child development. A woman's social support and spousal relationship may affect responsiveness to an infant, especially among mothers with anxiety. We assessed how social support and spousal relationship quality is associated with responsiveness among anxious mothers, and if postpartum depression (PPD) moderated these associations. Cross-sectional data were collected from 2019 to 2022 in a public hospital in Pakistan from 701 women at six-weeks postpartum. Eligible women had at least mild anxiety in early- to mid- pregnancy. Linear regression analyses assessed if spousal relationship quality and social support from family and friends were associated with maternal responsiveness, measured using the Maternal Infant Responsiveness Instrument. Interaction terms were used to examine if PPD moderated these associations. Spousal relationship quality (B = 2.49, 95% CI: 1.48, 3.50) and social support (B = 1.07, 95% CI: 0.31, 1.83) were positively related to maternal responsiveness to the infant. Emotional support from a spouse was positively associated with responsiveness (B = 1.08, 95% CI: 0.12, 2.03 depressed; B = 2.96, 95% CI: 1.34, 4.58 non-depressed), and conflict with the spouse was negatively associated with responsiveness (B=-1.02, 95% CI: -1.94, -0.09 depressed; B=-2.87, 95% CI: -4.36, -1.37 non-depressed). However, social support was related to responsiveness only in non-depressed women (B = 2.61, 95% CI: 1.14, 4.07). While spousal relationships and social support enhance maternal responsiveness, for depressed women, spousal relationships were particularly critical. In considering maternal-infant interventions to improve child development outcomes, our study indicates the importance of supportive relationships that foster effective responsiveness.

Daily and Half-yearly Associations between Boundary Diffusion and Parent-adolescent Relationship Quality after Divorce.

Boundary diffusion is a particular risk after divorce and has been associated with adolescents' adjustment problems. Yet, its potential impact on parent-adolescent relationship quality is less straightforward, as previous findings support both an alienation and conflict perspective. Therefore these associations (daily and half-yearly) were examined in recently divorced families, addressing both within-dyad changes and between-dyad differences. Data were collected among a sample of N = 133 (pre)adolescents (Mage = 11.76; 51.5% boys) from 76 divorced families, using a measurement burst design: Every six months, 14 consecutive days of daily diaries were collected, for 5 waves. Between dyads, adolescents who experienced more boundary diffusion than others, also reported more conflict with both their parents. Within dyads, when adolescents experienced more boundary diffusion than usual by one of their parents (actor), warmth decreased and conflict increased between this parent and the adolescent, that same and the following day. Adolescents also engaged in more conflict with the other parent that day. These findings mostly supported the conflict perspective: Post-divorce boundary diffusion appears to be a general risk factor for parent-adolescent conflict with both parents, and from day-to-day boundary diffusion was linked to a deteriorated parent-adolescent relationship quality, especially with the parent that triangulated or parentified them. There were no significant long-term associations, nor did any moderator (age, gender, living arrangement) explain heterogeneity in effects.

Aging Parents and the Ties That Bind: Intergenerational Relationship Quality Among Culturally Diverse Canadian Families.

Drawing from a life course perspective, this paper examines mid/later-life parent-child relationship quality among ethnically diverse families. Focus is on the role of culture, child, and parental characteristics. Data are drawn from a study of 588 parents aged 50+ of a least one child aged 19-35 who reside in Metro Vancouver, B.C. from four Canadian cultural groups: British, Chinese, Persian/Iranian, and South Asian. Using OLS regression methods, we use two dependent variable scales: positive and negative support/interaction appraisals of the relationship. The positive relationship quality scale is associated with South Asian versus British-Canadian parents, mothers, those with greater income satisfaction, and daughters. The negative scale is inversely associated among South Asian versus British-Canadian parents, income satisfaction, parental health, and being unpartnered (vs. partnered). Interaction effects are found between gender and ethnicity. Implications for theorizing and applied recommendations for those who work with culturally diverse aging families are discussed.