Ka Malu a Wa'ahila: Cultivating cultural safety for Native Hawaiian students in university behavioral health.

Ka Malu a Wa'ahila, an Indigenous-centered and student-informed program, was established in 2022 to meet the growing behavioral health needs of Native Hawaiian college students at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. Utilizing a cultural safety foundation and relying on the wisdom of community voices articulated by the Pilinaha framework, clinicians provide prevention, direct intervention, and outreach services. As the program continues to evolve, future plans include expanding to other Pacific Islanders and developing an additional layer of systemic change through building an Indigenous behavioral health training pathway and training curriculum for clinicians serving Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) communities.

Relationships Among Dispositional Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, and Women's Dating Violence Perpetration: A Path Analysis.

Scant research examined mechanisms underlying the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and dating violence (DV) perpetration. Using a cross-sectional design with 203 college women, we examined whether distress tolerance mediated the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and DV perpetration (i.e., psychological aggression and physical assault). Path analyses results revealed indirect effects of mindfulness facets nonjudging of inner experiences and nonreactivity to inner experiences on both psychological aggression and physical assault through distress tolerance. Mindfulness facets observing, describing, and acting with awareness were not linked to DV perpetration through distress tolerance. Results suggest that women who allow internal experiences to come and go without assigning criticism or avoidance are better able to tolerate transient distress and less likely to abuse a dating partner. Future research may examine distress tolerance and dispositional mindfulness facets as potential intervention targets for women who abuse dating partners.

The Effects of a Couples-Based Health Behavior Intervention During Pregnancy on Latino Couples' Dyadic Satisfaction Postpartum.

Many couples tend to report steadily decreasing relationship quality following the birth of a child. However, little is known about the postpartum period for Latino couples, a rapidly growing ethnic group who are notably underserved by mental and physical health caregivers in the United States. Thus, this study investigated whether a brief couples' intervention focused on helping couples support each other while increasing healthy behaviors might improve dyadic functioning postpartum. This study presents secondary analyses of data regarding couple functioning from a larger randomized controlled trial with 348 Latino couples to promote smoking cessation. Portions of the intervention taught the couple communication and problem-solving skills to increase healthy behavior. Couples participated in four face-to-face assessments across 1 year starting at the end of the first trimester. Latent growth curve analyses revealed that the treatment group reported an increase in relationship satisfaction and constructive communication after the intervention, which diminished by 1-year follow-up, returning couples to their baseline levels of satisfaction. Results suggest that incorporating a brief couple intervention as part of a larger health intervention for Latinos may prevent postpartum decreases in relationship satisfaction.

Mindful Mates: A Pilot Study of the Relational Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Participants and Their Partners.

Very little is currently known about how increases in dispositional mindfulness through mindfulness training affect the quality of participants' romantic relationships, and no previous studies have examined how increases in specific facets of mindfulness differentially contribute to relationship health. Additionally, even less is known about how an individual's development of mindfulness skills affects the relationship satisfaction of his or her romantic partner. Thus, the purpose of this pilot study was to examine associations between changes in facets of mindfulness and relationship satisfaction among participants enrolled in a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course and their nonenrolled romantic partners. Twenty MBSR participants and their nonenrolled partners (n = 40) completed measures of mindfulness and relationship satisfaction pre- and post-enrolled partners' completion of an MBSR course. Results indicated that enrolled participants significantly improved on all facets of mindfulness and relationship satisfaction, while nonenrolled partners did not significantly increase on any facet of mindfulness or relationship satisfaction. Moreover, enrolled participants' increases in Acting with Awareness were positively associated with increases in their own and their nonenrolled partners' relationship satisfaction, whereas increases in enrolled participants' Nonreactivity were positively associated with increases in their nonenrolled partners' (but not their own) relationship satisfaction. These results suggest that increasing levels of mindfulness (particularly specific aspects of mindfulness) may have positive effects on couples' relationship satisfaction and highlight mindfulness training as a promising tool for education and intervention efforts aimed at promoting relational health.

Drinking and Dating: Examining the Link between Relationship Satisfaction, Hazardous Drinking, and Readiness-to-Change in College Dating Relationships.

The present study examined the influence of relationship satisfaction on readiness-to-change alcohol use and the influence of hazardous drinking on readiness-to-change relationship issues in college student dating relationships. A sample of 219 college students in a current dating relationship (aged 18-25) completed self-report measures of dating relationship satisfaction, alcohol use, readiness-to-change alcohol use, and readiness-to-change relationship issues via an online survey from August to December 2011. Participants were grouped on the basis of their scores on measures of alcohol use (hazardous drinkers vs. nonhazardous drinkers) and relationship satisfaction (high vs. low). Results indicated that alcohol use was negatively correlated with relationship satisfaction. Furthermore, hazardous drinkers with high relationship satisfaction indicated more readiness-to-change alcohol use than hazardous drinkers with low relationship satisfaction. Alcohol problems were not related to readiness-to-change relationship issues. These findings indicate that highly satisfied dating relationships during college may positively influence readiness-to-change heavy drinking habits among college students.

Relationships among spousal communication, self-efficacy, and motivation among expectant Latino fathers who smoke.

OBJECTIVE: Cigarette smoking is a prevalent problem among Latinos, yet little is known about what factors motivate them to quit smoking or make them feel more confident that they can. Given cultural emphases on familial bonds among Latinos (e.g., familismo), it is possible that communication processes among Latino spouses play an important role. The present study tested a mechanistic model in which perceived spousal constructive communication patterns predicted changes in level of motivation for smoking cessation through changes in self-efficacy among Latino expectant fathers. METHODS: Latino males (n = 173) and their pregnant partners participated in a couple-based intervention targeting males' smoking. Couples completed self-report measures of constructive communication, self-efficacy (male partners only), and motivation to quit (male partners only) at 4 time points throughout the intervention. RESULTS: Higher levels of perceived constructive communication among Latino male partners predicted subsequent increases in male partners' self-efficacy and, to a lesser degree, motivation to quit smoking; however, self-efficacy did not mediate associations between constructive communication and motivation to quit smoking. Furthermore, positive relationships with communication were only significant at measurements taken after completion of the intervention. Female partners' level of perceived constructive communication did not predict male partners' outcomes. CONCLUSION: These results provide preliminary evidence to support the utility of couple-based interventions for Latino men who smoke. Findings also suggest that perceptions of communication processes among Latino partners (particularly male partners) may be an important target for interventions aimed at increasing desire and perceived ability to quit smoking among Latino men. (PsycINFO Database Record