Socioeconomic Status and Sleep among Couples.

Objective/Background: Lower socioeconomic status (SES) is generally associated with poor sleep but little is known about how different SES indices are associated with sleep duration and quality, or about these relations longitudinally or in cohabiting couples. The main objective was to examine longitudinal associations between multiple SES and sleep parameters in cohabiting adults. Participants: Participants were cohabiting couples (N = 135) of women (M age = 37.2 years, SD = 5.93; 76% White/European American, 18% Black/African American) and men (M = 39.9 years, SD = 7.33; 78% White, 18% Black). Methods: Men and women participated twice with a 1-year lag. At Time (T1), participants reported on multiple SES indices including their income, perceived economic well-being, education, employment status, and occupation. Sleep at T1 and T2 was assessed with self-reports and actigraphs (sleep duration from onset to wake time, %sleep from onset to wake, long wake episodes). Results: Actor effects on actigraphy-assessed sleep parameters were evident for both men and women; low SES was associated with shorter duration and poor quality (%sleep, long wake episodes) sleep. These associations were most pronounced for income-to-needs ratio (men and women) and perceived economic well-being (women only). Partner effects were also evident such that men's employment status was associated with women's longer sleep duration and greater sleep quality (%sleep) whereas women's employment predicted increased subjective sleep problems for men. Conclusion: Findings illustrate the need to consider multiple SES and sleep indices, as well as the family context in studies addressing linkages between SES and sleep.

Food insecurity is associated with poor sleep outcomes among US adults.

BACKGROUND: Although food insecure (FI) adults are at risk of chronic conditions, little research attention is given to their health behaviors, such as sleep. OBJECTIVE: We examined the associations between adult food security status and sleep duration, sleep latency, and sleep complaints reported to a health care professional. METHODS: Our population-based sample included 5637 men and 5264 women (≥22 y) who participated in the NHANES 2005-2010. Food security status was assessed with USDA's 10-item adult Food Security Survey Module. Self-reported information about sleep duration, sleep latency, and sleep complaints to a health care professional were used as sleep outcomes. Multiple linear, stratified by sex, and logistic regression models were used to estimate the association between food security status and the 3 sleep outcomes. RESULTS: Very low food secure (FS) women reported significantly shorter sleep duration than fully FS women (difference: -30 ± 5.2 min; P < 0.01); however, no relation to sleep duration was observed among men. Among men, participants who were marginally FS (4 ± 1.1 min), low FS (4 ± 1.7 min), and very low FS (5 ± 1.8 min) reported significantly longer sleep latency than fully FS men (P < 0.05), but no association with sleep latency was observed among women. The divergent patterns in sleep duration and latency were likely because of our reference groups reporting undesirable sleep outcomes; fully FS men reported inadequate sleep and fully FS women reported long sleep latency. Among both men and women, marginally FS (OR: 1.64; 95% CI: 1.24, 2.16), low FS (OR: 1.63; 95% CI: 1.16, 2.30), and very low FS (OR: 1.99; 95% CI: 1.36, 2.92) participants were more likely to report sleep complaints than their fully FS counterparts (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Poor sleep quantity and quality may predispose FI adults to adverse health outcomes.

Socioeconomic Adversity and Women's Sleep: Stress and Chaos as Mediators.

We examined income-to-needs ratio, perceived economic well-being, and education and their relations with European and African American women's sleep (n = 219). Sleep was examined through actigraphy and self-reports. Income-to-needs ratio was related to sleep minutes. Perceived economic well-being and education were associated with subjective sleep problems. Perceived stress mediated relations between both income-to-needs ratio and economic well-being and subjective sleep problems. Chaos emerged as a mediator linking income-to-needs ratio and subjective sleep problems. African American women had fewer sleep minutes and lower sleep efficiency than European Americans, and more robust relations between economic well-being and stress was observed for European Americans. Findings highlight the importance of economic adversity for women's sleep and explicate some pathways of risk.

Marital conflict, allostatic load, and the development of children's fluid cognitive performance.

Relations between marital conflict, children's respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and fluid cognitive performance were examined over 3 years to assess allostatic processes. Participants were 251 children reporting on marital conflict, baseline RSA, and RSA reactivity (RSA-R) to a lab challenge were recorded, and fluid cognitive performance was measured using the Woodcock-Johnson III. A cross-lagged model showed that higher levels of marital conflict at age 8 predicted weaker RSA-R at age 9 for children with lower baseline RSA. A growth model showed that lower baseline RSA in conjunction with weaker RSA-R predicted the slowest development of fluid cognitive performance. Findings suggest that stress may affect development of physiological systems regulating attention, which are tied to the development of fluid cognitive performance.

Eating regulation styles, appearance schemas, and body satisfaction predict changes in body fat for emerging adults.

Obesity and high body fat percentages are a major public health issue. The percentage of obese and overweight Americans has increased over the past 30 years. On average, overweight individuals with higher percent body fat than normal weight individuals are at increased risk for numerous negative outcomes both physically and mentally. A prime time to investigate changes in body composition and associated psychological influences on decision making is during the emerging adulthood period. The first few years of college are a time when adolescents begin to regulate for themselves their own eating behaviors. Previous research shows that freshmen gain weight and increase in percent body fat during their first year of college. The current study addresses the limitations of previous research by investigating (1) individual growth in percent body fat over a longer period of time in college than previous available research and (2) important psychological and sex differences in this growth. This study measures percent body fat across the first 3 years of college at 8 time points for 542 undergraduates (351 females, 65 %; 191 males, 35 %). Longitudinal data analysis was conducted to identify changes in percent body fat, psychological predictors of those changes, and how changes differ for males and females. Our study found that significant increases exist in percent body fat during undergraduates' college years and that change differs for males and females. In addition, through the use of nested hierarchical models, eating regulation style (autonomous or controlled regulation), appearance schema (self-evaluative salience or motivational salience), and body satisfaction were identified as influential predictors of change in percent body fat. For example, young females, who do not feel in control of their physical appearance yet spend a great deal of time maintaining their appearance, have the highest initial body fat percentage and the steepest increase in percent body fat. Overall, males and females with high autonomous regulation and high motivational salience are likely to maintain (instead of increase) percent body fat over the college years. Knowing the influence of these predictors can be useful for promoting health and intervening with young adults in the college setting and other emerging adults who are not enrolled in postsecondary institutions.

The effects of differentiation of self, adult attachment, and sexual communication on sexual and marital satisfaction: a path analysis.

This article explores the relations among differentiation of self, adult attachment, sexual communication, sexual satisfaction, and marital satisfaction, in a path analysis model. In a sample of 205 married adults, the path analysis results indicated that (a) differentiation of self had no direct effect on marital or sexual satisfaction, although it was significantly related to sexual communication; (b) adult attachment had a direct effect on marital satisfaction, but not on sexual satisfaction; (c) sexual communication is a mediating variable; (d) sexual communication was positively related to sexual satisfaction and marital satisfaction; and (e) no gender differences existed in the model.

Longitudinal relations between marital aggression and alcohol problems.

Relations between couples' (N = 158) marital aggression and alcohol problems were examined across a two-year period. Alcohol problems and aggression were assessed via self-report and partner-reports. Results support bidirectional relations between marital aggression and problem drinking. T1 wife problem drinking was associated with decreased T2 verbal aggression; T1 husband problem drinking was associated with increased T2 physical aggression. T1 physical aggression predicted increased T2 wife problem drinking; it predicted increased T2 husband problem drinking only when wife problem drinking was low. T1 verbal marital aggression predicted increased T2 husband problem drinking only when husbands engaged in greater problem drinking at T1. Results suggest that problem drinking may prevent couples from adequately handling marital disagreements, and that marital problems may lead to drinking as a form of coping with stress; couples in which the husband engages in greater problem drinking than the wife may be at increased risk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of physical and verbal aggression, depression, and anxiety on drinking behavior of married partners: a prospective and retrospective longitudinal examination.

In an ethnically diverse sample of 195 married couples, we conducted a latent factor growth analysis to investigate the longitudinal link (4 time points over 4 1/2 years) between marital aggression (physical and verbal aggression self- and partner-reports) and individual internalizing symptoms (depression and anxiety) as they relate to trajectories of alcohol use among husbands and wives. Alcohol use was operationalized as a latent factor with self- and partner reports of problem drinking as measured by the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test and the Alcohol Dependence Scale. Verbal aggression by husbands or wives, by itself, has no effect on their alcohol use over time. In conjunction with depression, however, verbally aggressive husbands do have elevated drinking levels. The effects of husbands' and wives' physical aggression on their own and their partners' drinking behavior were also significant. This study is one of the first to examine the change over time in alcohol use for marital partners as related to marital aggression and internalizing symptoms. Our results shed light on areas of marital functioning (aggression, internalizing, alcohol use) that have not been investigated in conjunction with each other in a longitudinal design.

Normative developmental trajectories of aggressive behaviors in African American, American Indian, Asian American, Caucasian, and Hispanic children and early adolescents.

The current 5-year accelerated longitudinal investigation modeled the developmental trajectories of aggressive behaviors in 10,107 predominantly minority (>70%; African American, American Indian, Asian American, and Hispanic) children and early adolescents (Kindergarten through 8th grade, 49% female youth) from lower to lower-middle socioeconomic strata. Based on a two-part latent growth model, findings suggest that the probability and frequency of aggressive behavior use decreases slightly (linear) through the elementary school years and then increases as children move into middle school (quadratic). Though mean level differences were found across ethnic and racial groups, socioeconomic strata, and particularly by sex at initial status, rates of change over time across all groups were invariant. Findings suggest that potential socialization differences, if any, occur pre-Kindergarten in all groups.

Predicting the developmental course of mother-reported monitoring across childhood and adolescence from early proactive parenting, child temperament, and parents' worries.

Change in mothers' reported monitoring and awareness of their children's activities and companions across Grades 5, 6, 8, and 11 were examined with the use of latent factor growth modeling. Proactive parenting and resistant-to-control (RTC) child temperament assessed prior to kindergarten, as well as parents' worries about their children's behavior in Grades 5 and 8, were tested as factors associated with change in monitoring over time. Higher proactive parenting, lower RTC temperament, and the mounting of a successful campaign to change their children's behavior were associated with higher monitoring scores overall. Monitoring levels decreased across time, but the rate of decline was steeper among mothers with high RTC children and slower among mothers who mounted a campaign and judged it to be effective. These findings shed light on factors contributing to continuity and change across development in a key domain of parenting.

Multiple-family group intervention for incarcerated adolescents and their families: a pilot project.

The Multiple-Family Group Intervention (MFGI) was developed to address the need for an effective and yet affordable treatment for reducing recidivism for incarcerated adolescents and altering the families' coercive interactional patterns from an affect regulation and attachment perspective. The 8-week MFGI program was conducted in two Indiana juvenile correctional institutions. The research study utilized pre- and postintervention assessments and a 6-month follow-up assessment. Data from both male (n = 43) and female (n=30) adolescents were combined, yielding a total sample of 140 respondents (73 adolescents, 67 caretakers). The 6-month follow-up assessment indicated a recidivism rate of only 44% compared to the national norm of 65-85%. Linear growth models were fit to determine the nature of the changes in adolescent behavior over the three assessments. Adolescents and caregivers reported that adolescents' externalizing behaviors significantly declined over time. Adolescent-reported internalizing symptoms as well as their alcohol and drug use significantly declined over the follow-up period, while caregiver reports of these behaviors showed no change over time. Adolescent-reported attachment to their parents, particularly mothers, increased significantly as did both adolescent and caregiver-reported functional affect regulation.

Secure Base Narrative Representations and Intimate Partner Violence: A Dyadic Perspective.

This study aimed to understand the relationship between secure base phenomena and dating violence among couples. Within a relationship, a secure base can be defined as a balancing act of proximity-seeking and exploration at various times and contexts with the assurance of a caregiver's availability and responsiveness in emotionally distressing situations. Participants were 87 heterosexual couples. The Actor-Partner Interdependence Model was used to examine the relationship between each partner's scores on secure base representational knowledge and intimate partner violence. Findings demonstrated that women's secure base representational knowledge had a significant direct negative effect on the victimization of both men and women, while men's secure base representational knowledge did not have any significant partner or actor effects. Therefore, findings suggest that women with insecure attachments may be more vulnerable to being both the victims and the perpetrators of.

Survival analysis in family research.

Within the field of family psychology, questions regarding the risk of event occurrence may be common. Such questions, about whether and when events occur and what predicts these occurrences, pose particular methodological challenges and are often best addressed via a statistical method known as survival analysis. This article provides a brief overview of that method, explicating through a data example the major components of a discrete-time survival analysis. Readers not familiar with this method are encouraged to use this article as an introduction to survival analysis and recognize its potential usefulness within the field of family psychology.

Multiple-Family Group Intervention for Incarcerated Male Adolescents Who Sexually Offend and Their Families: Change in Maladaptive Emotion Regulation Predicts Adaptive Change in Adolescent Behaviors.

The multiple-family group intervention is an effective, yet affordable, 8-week treatment that is conducted in a juvenile correctional institution in Alabama with adolescents who sexually offend and their families. Data from 115 incarcerated male adolescents and their male and female caregivers collected at pre-, post-, and 1-year follow-up were used to determine that problem behaviors (internalizing, externalizing) decreased over pre- and posttest and the significant decreases in maladaptive emotion regulation predicted those changes. Adolescent-reported anxiety over abandonment and attachment dependence on parents increased significantly; these changes were predicted by decreases in maladaptive emotion regulation. Linear growth models were also fit over the 3 time points and indicate decreases in adolescent problem behavior and maladaptive emotion regulation.

Developmental trajectories of adolescents' depressive symptoms: predictors of change.

In a sample of 240 adolescents assessed annually in Grades 6 through 11, the developmental trajectories of their depressive symptoms were examined using latent factor growth modeling. Growth in mother-reported adolescent depressive symptoms was quadratic; growth in adolescent-reported symptoms was linear. In the model with gender and maternal depression, girls reported a greater increase in depressive symptoms over time than boys, and adolescents of mothers with histories of mood disorders had higher initial levels of depressive symptoms than offspring of never-depressed mothers. After gender and maternal depression were controlled, initial levels of negative attributions and stressors significantly predicted initial levels of adolescent- and mother-reported depressive symptoms. Attributional styles that were increasingly negative across time were associated with significantly higher initial levels (mother reported) and increasing growth (adolescent reported) of depressive symptoms. Reciprocal models in which development of depressive symptoms predicted the development of attributions and stress also were examined.

Differential risks of covarying and pure components in mother and teacher reports of externalizing and internalizing behavior across ages 5 to 14.

In a sample of 585 children assessed in kindergarten through 8th grade, we fit a confirmatory factor model to both mother- and teacher-reported symptoms on the Achenbach checklists (CBCL, TRF) and determined that a covariation factor of externalizing and internalizing behaviors existed, in addition to the pure-form factors of externalizing and internalizing for each reporter. In 3 structural equation models, between 8 and 67% of the variance in these 6 latent factors was accounted for by a set of antecedent child, sociocultural, parenting, and peer risk variables. Each of the 6 latent factors, taken 2 at a time, was predicted by a unique set of risk variables; however, there were some patterns that held for both mother- and teacher-report symptom factors: Child temperamental unadaptability and female gender were predictors of higher internalizing symptoms; child temperamental resistance to control, parental harsh punishment, male gender, low SES, and peer rejection were related to higher externalizing symptoms whereas child temperamental unadaptability was related to lower externalizing symptoms; and peer rejection and family stress were also related to the covarying, externalizing-plus-internalizing component of both mother and teacher reports.

The Cultural Genogram: experiences from within a marriage and family therapy training program.

The purpose of this article is to illustrate and demonstrate the use of the Cultural Genogram (CG) in a graduate-level course in gender and culture for family therapists-in-training at a large Midwestern university's accredited program in family therapy. Although the importance of the CG as a training tool is delineated by Hardy and Laszloffy, very little information exists about the actual implementation and usefulness of this tool within a training program for family therapists. In this article, we present a qualitative research study of the lived experiences of a class of women from diverse cultures as they constructed and presented their CGs. We discuss the basic curriculum and structure of the course in which the CG was used, the process the class members developed to create and present their CGs, the effects of presenting the CGs, and a set of recommendations and ideas for further exploration.

Intimate Relationship Aggression in College Couples: Family-of-Origin Violence, Egalitarian Attitude, Attachment Security.

Dating violence among college aged couples has become a growing concern with increasing prevalence. The current study investigated the interplay among witnessing violence during childhood (both parental conflict and parent to child aggression), attachment insecurity, egalitarian attitude within the relationship, and dating aggression. Participants of this study included 87 couples. Results from the structural equation model indicated that the proposed model provided a good fit to the with a χ2 to df ratio of 1.84. In particular, both female and male participants who reported higher levels of attachment insecurity were more likely to be victim of dating aggression in their relationships. Furthermore, female participants who reported having witnessed parental conflict were more likely to be victimized by their partners. In conclusion, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of intimate relationship violence with dyadic data showing, for both genders, attachment insecurity is a crucial factor in both victimization and perpetration of aggression.

Dyadic research in marriage and family therapy: methodological considerations.

With training that emphasizes relationship systems, marriage and family therapists are uniquely attuned to interpersonal dynamics, interdependence, and the influence of relationships on individuals' perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes. While recent statistical advances have contributed to a proliferation of resources designed to introduce researchers to dyadic data analysis, guidelines related to the methodological aspects of dyadic research design have received less attention. Given the potential advantages of dyadic designs for examining couple and family relational and therapeutic processes, the purpose of this article is to introduce marriage and family therapy researchers to dyadic research methodology. Using examples from our own research, we discuss methodological considerations and lessons learned related to sampling, measurement, data collection, and ethics. Recommendations for future dyadic research are provided.

Marital conflict and growth in children's internalizing symptoms: the role of autonomic nervous system activity.

We assessed trajectories of children's internalizing symptoms, indexed through anxiety and depression, with a focus on the role of interactions between interparental marital conflict, children's sympathetic nervous system activity indexed by skin conductance level (SCL), and parasympathetic nervous system activity indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) as predictors of growth. Children participated in 3 waves of data collection with a 1-year lag between each wave. At T1, 128 girls and 123 boys participated (M age = 8.23 years; SD = 0.73). The most important findings reveal that girls with either low RSA in conjunction with low SCL (i.e., coinhibition) at baseline or with increasing RSA and decreasing SCL in response to a challenging task (i.e., reciprocal parasympathetic activation) are susceptible to high or escalating anxiety and depression symptoms, particularly in the context of marital conflict. Findings support the importance of concurrent examinations of environmental risk factors and physiological activity for better prediction of the development of anxiety and depression symptoms.