Predictors of change in relationship satisfaction among Black postpartum mothers.

The transition to parenthood can be a challenging time for the relationships of new parents and result in declines in relationship satisfaction. Although a robust literature has identified characteristics that predict changes in relationship satisfaction during this period, the relationships of Black mothers postpartum remain understudied. To address this gap, we examined a set of relational, individual, and external characteristics as predictors of relationship satisfaction trajectories over the first four months postpartum. First-time Black mothers (N = 93, 22.6% married, 52.7% cohabiting, 24.7% not cohabiting) reported on relational, individual, and external characteristics at 1 week postpartum and their relationship satisfaction at 1, 8, and 16 weeks postpartum. Mothers who reported more commitment and partner support were higher in initial satisfaction, as were mothers who were married or cohabiting with a partner (relative to mothers who were not cohabiting with their partner). Mothers with clinically significant depressive symptoms at 1 week postpartum had lower initial relationship satisfaction than mothers without clinically significant depressive symptoms. Mothers' sleep difficulties and experiences of racial discrimination were associated with changes in relationship satisfaction over time; mothers experiencing more sleep difficulties and racial discrimination experienced larger declines in satisfaction. These findings offer new insights into risk and protective factors associated with relationship satisfaction among Black mothers during the early postpartum period and can inform multicomponent interventions to enhance their relationship functioning.

Parent-child emotion dynamics in families presenting for behavioral parent training: Is there a link with child behavior, parenting, and treatment outcome?

OBJECTIVE: Behavioral parent training (BPT) is the standard of care for early onset behavior disorders (BDs), however, not all families benefit. Emotion regulation (ER) is one potential mechanism underlying BPT outcomes, yet there are challenges in capturing intra- and interpersonal aspects of emotion regulation within parent-child interactions that are central to BPT. This study examined how vocally encoded emotional arousal unfolds during parent-child interactions and how parents and children influence each other's arousal (Aim 1), the links between these emotion dynamics, child behavior, and parenting at baseline (Aim 2), and BPT outcome (Aim 3). METHOD: Families of children with BDs (N = 45) completed two interaction tasks and measures of parenting and child behavior. Parent-child dynamics of vocal fundamental frequency (f0) were modeled using actor-partner interdependence models (APIMs) and coupled linear oscillators (CLOs). RESULTS: When considering relative levels of f0 from one talk turn to the next (APIMs), parents and children showed intrapersonal regulation and synchronizing reactivity to each other's f0. When considering the shape of oscillations (CLOs), parents and children showed intrapersonal regulation but no reactivity. Intrapersonal regulation of f0 during the interaction was slowed for parents with more maladaptive parenting and children with more behavior problems at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary characterization of f0 in families presenting for BPT provides insights into the emotion dynamics potentially underlying parenting behavior and child behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Love Is Not All You Need: Understanding the Association Between Relationship Status and Relationship Dysfunction With Self-Directed Violence in Veterans.

INTRODUCTION: Research indicates that being married is associated with reduced risk of suicide and self-directed violence (SDV) relative to being divorced. Simultaneously, difficulties within relationships predict poorer health outcomes. However, research on relationship status rarely examines relationship functioning, obfuscating the joint contribution of these variables for SDV risk. METHOD: Veterans (N = 1,049) completed a survey that included assessment of relationship status, relationship functioning, and SDV history. Logistic regression models tested how (a) relationship status, (b) relationship dysfunction, and (c) being divorced compared to being in a low- or high-dysfunction relationship were associated with SDV, controlling for several intrapersonal risk factors. RESULTS: Veterans in a relationship did not differ in SDV history compared to divorced/separated veterans. However, more dysfunction within relationships was associated with greater odds of a history of SDV and suicidal cognitions. Finally, SDV histories were more likely among veterans endorsing high-dysfunction relationships compared with (a) low-dysfunction relationships and (b) divorced veterans. CONCLUSION: It may be insufficient to only consider relationship status when evaluating interpersonal risk factors for SDV. A single item assessing relationship dysfunction was associated with enacted SDV and suicidal cognitions over and above intrapersonal risk factors. Integrating such single-item measures into clinical practice could improve identification and subsequent tailored intervention for veterans at greater risk for SDV.

Relationship dysfunction was related to self-directed violence (SDV) history independent of other risk factors.Being in a relationship alone was not related to SDV history relative to being divorced.A single item assessing relationship dysfunction was related to SDV history.

Concurrent and Prospective Associations Between Communicated Emotional Arousal and Adjustment Among Couples Coping With Cancer.

BACKGROUND: The experience of cancer can create considerable emotional distress for patients and their committed partners. How couples communicate about cancer-related concerns can have important implications for adjustment. However, past research has primarily utilized cross-sectional designs and retrospective self-reports of couple communication. While informative, little is known about how patients and partners express emotion during conversations about cancer, and how these emotional patterns predict individual and relational adjustment. PURPOSE: The current investigation examined how patterns of emotional arousal within couples' communication about cancer was associated with concurrent and prospective individual psychological and relational adjustment. METHODS: At baseline, 133 patients with stage II- breast, lung, or colorectal cancer and their partners completed a conversation about a cancer-related concern. Vocally expressed emotional arousal (f0) was extracted from recorded conversations. Couples completed self-report measures of individual psychological and relational adjustment at baseline and at 4, 8, and 12 months later. RESULTS: Couples who started the conversation higher in f0 (i.e., greater emotional arousal) reported better individual and relational adjustment at baseline. If the non-cancer partner had lower f0 relative to patients, this predicted worse individual adjustment across follow-up. Additionally, couples who maintained their level of f0 rather than decreasing later in the conversation reported improvements in individual adjustment across follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated emotional arousal within a cancer-related conversation may be adaptive for adjustment, as it may reflect greater emotional engagement and processing of an important topic. These results may suggest ways for therapists to guide emotional engagement to enhance resilience in couples experiencing cancer.

Cancer is a stressful experience for patients and their partners. We know that how couples communicate about cancer is important, but we do not know much about how couples express emotion during cancer conversations and how those emotional expressions affect well-being. Our study looked at how couples' emotional arousal within cancer conversations relate to individual and relationship well-being. At the beginning of the study, cancer patients and their partners had a conversation about cancer. Within these conversations, we tracked the emotional arousal expressed in their voices. Couples also completed surveys about their well-being at the beginning of the study and later in time (4, 8, and 12 months later). We found that couples who started the conversation with higher emotional arousal had better initial well-being. Couples who remained higher in arousal later in the conversation improved in their individual well-being over time. We also found that if the non-cancer partner was low in arousal compared with patients, this predicted worse well-being over time. More research is needed, but these findings suggest that being emotionally aroused during conversations about important topics like cancer might be helpful for well-being, potentially because couples are discussing concerns and not backing off when it feels challenging.

Couples' communication quality differs by topic.

Extensive research has demonstrated that couples' communication quality is related to many aspects of couples' lives, including relationship satisfaction. However, the possibility that the quality of couples' communication might vary as a function of the topic of communication and the implications of this variability have received relatively little attention. Accordingly, this study sought to examine (a) within-person variability in communication quality between topics, (b) associations with relationship satisfaction, and (c) associations with stressors focal to specific topics. Black coparenting couples (N = 344) reported on their communication quality around four topics: finances, children, racial discrimination, and kinfolk. Results indicated that communication quality significantly differed across topics. Communication quality was lowest for finances and kinfolk, significantly higher when discussing problems with children, and highest when discussing racial discrimination. Moreover, communication quality when discussing finances, kinfolk, and racial discrimination each uniquely predicted relationship satisfaction, even after controlling for each other and for general communication skills. Experiencing more stress around finances and children was associated with poorer communication quality in the focal area (and for financial stress, in some other communication topics as well), whereas the extent of racial discrimination was not significantly associated with communication quality for any topic. These findings reveal significant variability in couples' communication across topics and demonstrate that considering communication for different topics can offer unique information about couples' relationship satisfaction beyond general communication skills. Further research examining topic-specific communication quality may enhance understanding of and interventions for couples' communication. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Interpersonal stress and nonsuicidal self-injury disorder in veterans: An ecological momentary assessment study.

INTRO: Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is associated with marked functional impairment and is a robust predictor of suicide attempts. Prevalence rates of NSSI, and self-directed violence more broadly, are elevated among military veterans. Despite the inclusion of interpersonal difficulty in the diagnostic criteria for NSSI disorder, the relationship between interpersonal risk factors and NSSI is not well-characterized, especially among veterans. This ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study investigated the hypothesis that interpersonal stressors and associated distress would precede and predict NSSI urge and engagement-but not vice versa-via cross-lagged multilevel modeling. METHOD: Forty veterans with NSSI disorder completed a 28-day EMA protocol with three daily prompts assessing NSSI urges, NSSI engagement, the occurrence of interpersonal stressors, and associated subjective interpersonal distress. RESULTS: Interpersonal stressors preceded and predicted subsequent NSSI urges, but not NSSI engagement, whereas subjective interpersonal distress preceded and predicted both NSSI urges and NSSI engagement. CONCLUSION: Results identified interpersonal stressors as a risk factor for NSSI urges, and interpersonal distress as a risk factor for both NSSI urges and NSSI engagement. Findings highlight the importance of temporally assessing interpersonal factors related to NSSI and suggest that interpersonal distress may be a modifiable risk factor for NSSI.

When the loss of positives feels negative: Exploring the loss of positive experiences in committed couples.

Despite romantic relationships being characterized by high positives (e.g., enjoyable activities, positive feelings) early in commitment, many couples experience a loss of positives over time. However, interventions are typically not as effective at enhancing positives as they are at reducing negatives (e.g., hostile conflict). Thus, it is important to understand why positives decrease and how to use interventions to enhance positives optimally. In this article, we present how the field has evolved to (a) heighten focus on positives independent of negatives, (b) identify trajectories of positives over time, and (c) clarify major factors which predict loss of positives. From a cognitive-behavioral couple therapy perspective, we offer therapeutic strategies that may hold promise for enhancing positives in relationships.

The role of intimate partner violence and relationship satisfaction in couples' interpersonal emotional arousal.

To inform interpersonal models of intimate partner violence (IPV), the present study examines patterns of vocally encoded emotional arousal during the conversations of mixed-gender couples who reported on the extent of physical and psychological IPV and degree of relationship satisfaction (N = 149). All couples completed two problem-solving discussions. Emotional arousal was measured continuously during each conversation using vocal fundamental frequency. Contrary to expectations, results demonstrated that trajectories of arousal differed based on gender, IPV, and relationship satisfaction. Within conversations, men demonstrated linear increases in arousal at higher levels of IPV, suggesting that men may either struggle to contain their emotions or use heightened emotional expression as a conflict strategy in relationships with more extensive IPV. Conversely, women exhibited different trajectories of arousal depending on the combinations of relationship satisfaction and couple IPV, except at higher levels of their own satisfaction. Specifically, when women reported being highly satisfied in their relationships, they demonstrated similarly shaped trajectories across all levels of IPV and men's satisfaction. Together, this suggests that women's higher relationship satisfaction may buffer their emotional expression, although this may not always be adaptive within the context of relationships with extensive IPV. Overall, this study offers insight into the dynamic interpersonal processes linked with relationship distress and IPV and implies the need for a more nuanced, interpersonal research agenda for IPV research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

For better or worse: Associations among psychopathology symptoms, interpersonal emotion dynamics, and gender in couples.

Communication has long been associated with the well-being of a couple's relationship, and it is also important to explore associations with individual well-being. This study examined the associations between emotions communicated within couple interactions and each partner's psychopathology symptoms concurrently and up to 3 years later. Vocally-encoded emotional arousal (f0) was measured during couples' (N = 56) conversations. Analyses examined each partner's trajectories of f0 and how each partner influenced the other's f0 across the conversation. The findings indicated that women experienced higher symptoms if they (a) decreased more steeply in f0 overall and (b) returned to their baseline in f0 more quickly. Moreover, women had higher symptoms if they had a steeper return to baseline because of men's elevated f0. In contrast, men experienced higher symptoms when men (a) more slowly returned to baseline and (b) changed their f0 trajectory because of women's elevated f0. That is, women who expressed less emotional arousal, independently and as a result of the influence of their male partner, experienced more symptoms. In contrast, men's symptoms were differentially associated with their own independent experience of emotional arousal (in which he experienced fewer symptoms when changing arousal more quickly) from how they responded to women's arousal. Given how differently men's and women's psychopathology were associated with emotional expression, these findings raise questions about how partners can communicate to protect their own and their partner's mental health in the short- and long-term. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Cognitive-behavioral couple therapy for same-sex female couples: A pilot study.

Despite comparable levels of relationship satisfaction and intimacy, same-sex couples break up faster and more often than different-sex couples, highlighting a need for quality couple therapy. Research suggests that culturally tailored services are desired by same-sex couples and may be more effective and better received. Although efficacious couple therapies exist to treat relationship distress, they have been overwhelmingly studied with different-sex couples. Sexual minority (SM) affirming couple therapies have not been systematically developed or evaluated. The current study involved developing and pilot testing a couple therapy tailored for distressed same-sex female couples. This treatment integrates the SM stress model with the empirically supported cognitive-behavioral couple therapy framework and is the first culturally tailored couple therapy for same-sex couples to be empirically evaluated. Therapists delivered the treatment in an open-trial format to a pilot sample of 11 same-sex female couples experiencing relationship distress and SM stress. Treatment was delivered with high adherence to the treatment manual. Participants reported high treatment satisfaction. As hypothesized, participants experienced significant decreases in relationship distress and improvements in couple coping with SM stress from pre- to post-therapy. Limitations precluded clear conclusions regarding anticipated improvements in individual mental health. Participants experienced comparable or stronger improvements in relationship functioning compared to couples in a similar benchmark study. Given this is a small pilot study, results are interpreted with caution. Implications for culturally tailoring evidence-based couple therapy for marginalized groups are discussed.

A pesar de los niveles comparables de satisfacción con la relación y de intimidad, las parejas del mismo sexo se separan más rápidamente y con más frecuencia que las parejas de distinto sexo, lo cual destaca la necesidad de una terapia de pareja de calidad. Las investigaciones indican que las parejas del mismo sexo desean recibir servicios adaptados a las culturas, los cuales pueden ser más eficaces y mejor recibidos. Aunque existen terapias de pareja eficaces para tratar el distrés en las relaciones, estas se han estudiado en su mayoría con parejas de distinto sexo. Las terapias de pareja dedicadas a las minorías sexuales no se han desarrollado ni evaluado sistemáticamente. El presente estudio implicó el desarrollo y la prueba piloto de una terapia de pareja adaptada para parejas femeninas del mismo sexo con distrés. Este tratamiento integra el modelo de estrés de las minorías sexuales con el marco de la terapia de pareja cognitivo-conductual respaldado empíricamente, y es la primera terapia de pareja adaptada culturalmente para parejas del mismo sexo que se evalúa empíricamente. Los terapeutas administraron el tratamiento en un formato de estudio abierto a una muestra piloto de 11 parejas femeninas del mismo sexo que sufrían distrés relacional y estrés por minoría sexual. El tratamiento se aplicó con una alta adhesión al manual de tratamiento. Las participantes informaron una alta satisfacción con el tratamiento. Como se planteó en la hipótesis, las participantes disminuyeron considerablemente el distrés relacional y mejoraron en el afrontamiento del estrés por minoría sexual de la pareja después de la terapia respecto de antes de la terapia. Las limitaciones impidieron sacar conclusiones claras con respecto a la previsión de mejorías en la salud mental individual. Las participantes tuvieron mejorías comparables o más marcadas en el funcionamiento de la relación respecto de las parejas de un estudio comparativo similar. Teniendo en cuenta que este es un estudio piloto pequeño, los resultados se interpretan con cautela. Se comentan las implicancias para adaptar culturalmente la terapia de pareja factual para grupos marginados.

Love in the time of COVID-19: A brief report on relationship and individual functioning among committed couples in the United States while under shelter-in-place orders.

The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has changed many aspects of people's daily life, including increased time at home in response to shelter-in-place orders, heightened stress about health effects of COVID-19, and shifts in other domains of life (e.g., employment). These lifestyle changes are likely to impact the well-being of individuals and their romantic relationships. This investigation examined how COVID-19 influenced couple and individual well-being in real-time during the early phase of the pandemic. Data were collected in early May 2020 during shelter-in-place orders in the United States. Participants in committed relationships (n = 332) completed an online survey assessing their experiences currently and before the pandemic. Results suggested that while couple functioning overall maintained or even improved, individual well-being was more negatively impacted by the pandemic. Moreover, some groups who are at higher risk of a poor health outcome from COVID-19 or experience unique challenges as a result of COVID-19 reported worse outcomes (e.g., those whose employment changed) while others did not decline in their psychological and couple functioning (e.g., Black individuals and older individuals). These findings suggest that the pandemic has had varied impacts on couples and individuals, as well as across different virus-related risk factors. Further research is needed to understand the nuanced effects of this pandemic on couples and individuals across time.

La pandemia de la COVID-19 en los Estados Unidos ha cambiado muchos aspectos de la vida diaria de las personas, por ejemplo, el aumento del tiempo que pasan en sus hogares en respuesta a órdenes de confinamiento, un estrés más elevado por los efectos de la COVID-19 en la salud, y cambios en otros aspectos de la vida (p. ej.: en el empleo). Estos cambios en el estilo de vida probablemente repercutan en el bienestar de las personas y en sus relaciones amorosas. En esta investigación se analizó cómo la COVID-19 influyó en el bienestar de las parejas y de los individuos en tiempo real durante la primera fase de la pandemia. A principios de mayo de 2020 se recopilaron datos durante las órdenes de confinamiento en los Estados Unidos. Los participantes que estaban en relaciones de pareja estables (n=332) contestaron una encuesta en línea donde se evaluaron sus experiencias de ese momento y las anteriores a la pandemia. Los resultados indicaron que, si bien el funcionamiento de la pareja en general se mantuvo o incluso mejoró, la pandemia afectó más negativamente el bienestar individual. Además, algunos grupos que tienen mayor riesgo de resultados desfavorables en la salud como consecuencia de la COVID-19 o enfrentan dificultades singulares como resultado de la COVID-19 informaron peores resultados (p. ej.: aquellos cuyos empleos cambiaron), mientras que otros no tuvieron un empeoramiento de su funcionamiento psicológico y de pareja (p. ej.: las personas de color y las personas mayores). Estos resultados sugieren que la pandemia ha tenido efectos variados en las parejas y en los individuos, así como entre los diferentes factores de riesgo relacionados con el virus. Se necesitan más investigaciones para comprender los efectos sutiles de esta pandemia en las parejas y en los individuos con el transcurso del tiempo.

Couple Communication in Cancer: Protocol for a Multi-Method Examination.

Cancer and its treatment pose challenges that affect not only patients but also their significant others, including intimate partners. Accumulating evidence suggests that couples' ability to communicate effectively plays a major role in the psychological adjustment of both individuals and the quality of their relationship. Two key conceptual models have been proposed to account for how couple communication impacts psychological and relationship adjustment: the social-cognitive processing (SCP) model and the relationship intimacy (RI) model. These models posit different mechanisms and outcomes, and thus have different implications for intervention. The purpose of this project is to test and compare the utility of these models using comprehensive and methodologically rigorous methods. Aims are: (1) to examine the overall fit of the SCP and RI models in explaining patient and partner psychological and relationship adjustment as they occur on a day-to-day basis and over the course of 1 year; (2) to examine the fit of the models for different subgroups (males vs. females, and patients vs. partners); and (3) to examine the utility of various methods of assessing communication by examining the degree to which baseline indices from different measurement strategies predict self-reported adjustment at 1-year follow up. The study employs a longitudinal, multi-method approach to examining communication processes including: standard self-report questionnaires assessing process and outcome variables collected quarterly over the course of 1 year; smartphone-based ecological momentary assessments to sample participant reports in real time; and laboratory-based couple conversations from which we derive observational measures of communicative behavior and affective expression, as well as vocal indices of emotional arousal. Participants are patients with stage II-IV breast, colon, rectal, or lung cancer and their spouses/partners, recruited from two NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers. Results will be published in scientific journals, presented at scientific conferences, and conveyed to a larger audience through infographics and social media outlets. Findings will inform theory, measurement, and the design and implementation of efficacious interventions aimed at optimizing both patient and partner well-being.

Escalation and Regulation of Emotional Arousal in Couples Predicts Relationship Satisfaction Concurrently and 25 Years Later.

Relationship distress and divorce are major risk factors for the development or exacerbation of psychopathology and psychosocial impairments. Given that heightened negative emotions within couples' interactions may portend negative relationship outcomes, it is critical to understand how emotions unfold across a conversation and how partners may influence each other's immediate emotional experiences. This study examined whether these regulatory dynamics within one interaction predicted relationship satisfaction concurrently and 25 years later. Vocally-encoded emotional arousal (f0 ) was measured during couples' (N = 25 couples) conversations about a relationship issue. Across different analytical strategies, results demonstrate that one partner's f0 dynamics had immediate and long-term associations with the other partner's satisfaction. Partners were less satisfied if the other partner (a) expressed higher f0 overall and (b) escalated more in f0 across the conversation. Yet, partners were more satisfied when their f0 escalated across the conversation. Also, women specifically were more satisfied if their f0 remained elevated longer before regulating back to their emotional baseline. Thus, higher f0 was associated with higher satisfaction in the same partner, but associated with less satisfaction in the other partner-particularly when these emotions come from women. It may be that partners have to decide whether to prioritize expressing their emotions fully or limit expression in the service of their partner's happiness. These findings challenge us to think of ways to address this "win-lose" scenario so that couples can balance both partners' emotional needs and preserve relationship quality across the life span.

El distrés relacional y el divorcio son grandes factores de riesgo para el desarrollo o la exacerbación de alteraciones psicopatológicas y psicosociales. Teniendo en cuenta que las emociones negativas intensificadas dentro de las interacciones de las parejas pueden predecir consecuencias negativas en las relaciones, es fundamental comprender cómo se revelan las emociones a lo largo de una conversación y cómo los integrantes de la pareja pueden influenciar las experiencias emocionales inmediatas del otro. Este estudio examinó si esta dinámica reguladora dentro de una interacción predijo la satisfacción con la relación inmediatamente y 25 años después. Se midió la codificación vocal de la excitación emocional (f0 ) durante las conversaciones de las parejas (N = 25 parejas) acerca de un problema en la relación. Entre diferentes estrategias analíticas, los resultados demuestran que la dinámica de la f0 de uno de los integrantes de la pareja tuvo asociaciones inmediatas y a largo plazo con la satisfacción del otro integrante de la pareja. Los integrantes de la pareja se sentían menos satisfechos si el otro integrante de la pareja (a) expresaba una f0 más elevada en general y (b) escalaba más en la f0 durante la conversación. Sin embargo, los integrantes de la pareja estaban más satisfechos cuando su f0 escalaba a lo largo de la conversación. También, las mujeres estaban específicamente más satisfechas si su f0 se mantenía elevada más tiempo antes de regularla para volver a su momento basal emocional. Por lo tanto, una f0 más elevada se asoció con una mayor satisfacción en el mismo integrante de la pareja, pero se asoció con una menor satisfacción en el otro integrante de la pareja, particularmente cuando estas emociones vienen de las mujeres. Es posible que los integrantes de la pareja tengan que decidir si priorizar la expresión completa de sus emociones o limitar la expresión al servicio de la felicidad de su pareja. Estos resultados nos plantean el desafío de pensar en maneras de abordar esta situación en la que "se gana o se pierde", de manera que las parejas puedan equilibrar las necesidades emocionales de ambos integrantes de la pareja y conservar la calidad de la relación durante su tiempo de vida.

The Messenger Matters: Invalidating Remarks From Men Provoke a More Negative Emotional Reaction Than Do Remarks From Women.

Despite negative consequences of emotional invalidation, research has not examined the effect of gender on responses to validation or invalidation or how an invalidating comment from a male versus a female confederate may influence affective responses. We used a two-study quasi-experimental design to examine variables that influence the emotions of individuals validated or invalidated for their emotions. Male and female undergraduates received either validating or invalidating remarks from a gender-ambiguous confederate (Study 1) or invalidating remarks from either a male or female confederate (Study 2). Results showed that invalidation from a gender-ambiguous confederate produced more negative emotional reactions than validation regardless of participants' gender. Furthermore, being invalidated by a man rather than by a woman provoked a specifically more negative emotional response. Interpersonal interventions should explore ways to reduce invalidation and particularly strive to mitigate the effects of invalidation from men, whose criticisms may provoke heightened negative responses from others.

The Association between Symptom Accommodation and Emotional Coregulation in Couples with Binge Eating Disorder.

Intense negative emotions and maladaptive behavioral strategies to reduce emotional distress occur not only in patients with various forms of psychopathology but also in their committed partners. One common strategy to reduce distress is for partners to accommodate to the symptoms of the disorder, which reduces distress short term but maintains symptoms long term. Accommodation is believed to be motivated by the partner reacting behaviorally to the patient's emotions, but the emotions of the partner in this context have yet to be examined. This pilot study examined how partner accommodation related to specific patterns of emotional coregulation between patients with binge eating disorder (BED) and their partners, before and after a couple-based intervention for BED. Vocally encoded emotional arousal was measured during couples' (n = 11) conversations about BED. As predicted, partners' emotional reactivity to patients' emotional arousal was associated with high accommodation before treatment. Thus, partners may use accommodation as a strategy to reduce both the patients' and their own distress. After treatment, partners' arousal was no longer associated with the patients' emotional arousal; instead, partners showed greater emotional stability over time, specifically when accommodation was low. Additionally, patients were less emotionally aroused after treatment. Therefore, treatment may have decreased overall emotionality of patients and altered the association between accommodation and partners' emotional reactivity. If replicated, this understanding of the emotional context associated with accommodation in BED can inform couple-based treatment by targeting specific emotional precipitants of behaviors that maintain symptoms.

La emociones negativas intensas y las estrategias conductuales desadaptativas para reducir el distrés emocional se producen no solo en pacientes con varias formas de psicopatología, sino también en sus parejas estables. Una estrategia común para disminuir el distrés es que las parejas se adapten a los síntomas del trastorno, lo cual reduce el distrés a corto plazo pero mantiene los síntomas a largo plazo. Se cree que la adaptación está motivada por la reacción conductual de la pareja a las emociones del paciente, pero las emociones de la pareja en este contexto aún no se han analizado. Este estudio piloto examinó cómo la adaptación de la pareja está relacionada con patrones específicos de corregulación emocional entre los pacientes con trastorno por atracón de alimentos y sus parejas, antes y después de una intervención en la pareja por trastorno por atracón de alimentos. Se midió la excitación emocional codificada en la voz durante conversaciones de las parejas (n = 11) acerca del trastorno por atracón de alimentos. Como se anticipó, la reacción emocional de las parejas a la excitación emocional de los pacientes estuvo asociada con una alta adaptación antes del tratamiento. Por lo tanto, las parejas pueden usar la adaptación como estrategia para reducir tanto el distrés de los pacientes como el propio. Después del tratamiento, la excitación de las parejas dejó de estar asociada con la excitación emocional de los pacientes. En cambio, las parejas demostraron una mayor estabilidad emocional con el tiempo, específicamente cuando la adaptación fue baja. Además, los pacientes estuvieron menos excitados emocionalmente después del tratamiento. En consecuencia, el tratamiento pudo haber disminuido la emocionalidad general de los pacientes y modificado la asociación entre la adaptación y la reacción emocional de las parejas. Si se reproduce, esta comprensión del contexto emocional asociada con la adaptación en los trastornos por atracón de alimentos puede fundamentar el tratamiento basado en la pareja abordando precipitantes emocionales específicos de conductas que mantienen los síntomas.

Confronting the "F" Word: The Effects of Gender, Ambiguity, and Individual Difference Variables on Non-Targets' Confrontation of Heterosexist Comments.

The present study used an experimental setting to examine individual and situational variables that influence the confronting of heterosexist remarks by non-target heterosexuals. College student participants (n = 120) responded to a heterosexist comment made in an online setting in which the ambiguity of the heterosexist remark was manipulated. Results indicated that the effect of the ambiguity of the comment on confronting behavior was moderated by individual differences in optimism. Confronting was also affected by sexual prejudice and experience with gay and lesbian individuals. In addition, females confronted more often and more strongly than males, especially following negative affective responses to the comment.

The impact of validation and invalidation on aggression in individuals with emotion regulation difficulties.

For individuals with difficulty regulating their emotions, aggression has been found to be a particularly problematic interpersonal behavior. Invalidation (i.e., rejection of one's emotional experience) is thought to play a role in the etiology of disorders of emotion regulation, and it may be a trigger for aggressive behaviors. The present study experimentally manipulated validation and invalidation after a sad mood induction among individuals with few versus many difficulties regulating their emotions. Subsequent aggression was measured using an in-laboratory behavioral task. Results indicate that, among individuals with many difficulties regulating their emotions, validation led to significantly less aggression than did invalidation. However, among individuals with few difficulties regulating their emotions, aggressive behaviors were generally low and did not differ after validation as compared with invalidation. The findings suggest that validation of emotional experiences may help to prevent aggressive behaviors among individuals with difficulties regulating their emotions.