In Love With a Trauma Survivor: When a History of Childhood Abuse Interferes With Relationship Satisfaction Among Couples.

To date, the majority of research examining the effect of childhood abuse on relational aspects in adulthood is almost exclusively based on intraindividual data. The current study explores a moderating-mediating model from a dyadic perspective, examining the mediating effect that perceived intimacy has on the associations between concern couple caregiving and relationship satisfaction. It further investigates whether these mediation paths are moderated by a history of childhood abuse (physical/emotional/sexual). A total of 143 nonclinical couples (n = 286) in enduring relationships were recruited. A moderated mediation actor-partner interdependence model (moderated mediation actor-partner interdependence model (APIM)) comprised of three segments, was conducted. Results indicated that intimacy mediated the link between concern caregiving and relationship satisfaction on the actor's level, with effects applying equally to both husbands and wives. A higher level of intimacy among husbands and wives alike is linked, in turn, with higher relationship satisfaction. The path between actors' concern caregiving and their level of intimacy was moderated by the actors' childhood emotional and physical abuse; specifically, concern caregiving exerts greater effect on intimacy among participants who experienced high levels of emotional abuse, or low levels of physical abuse. Our findings highlight how different types of childhood abuse affect adult romantic relationships differently.

The relationship between narcissistic traits and attitudes toward infidelity: A dyadic analysis.

Previous research suggested that narcissism is associated with infidelity and reduced commitment in relationships. However, the majority of studies supporting this association were conducted among individuals and did not examine dyadic paths and also conceptualized and measured narcissism as a global variable, lacking a nuance perspective of the two traits of narcissism (i.e., grandiose and vulnerable). The present study sought to examine attitudes toward infidelity from a dyadic perspective, using narcissism personality traits (grandiose and vulnerable) as predictors. The effect of narcissism personality traits on attitudes toward infidelity was investigated among 135 couples (N = 270) in enduring relationships. To assess whether attitudes toward infidelity were explained by grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism, we used multivariate multilevel statistical model for matched pairs to evaluate the effect of each partner's characteristics on their own (actor effect) and their partner's (partner effect) attitudes. The results indicate that females' attitudes toward infidelity were positively associated with their own grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism and negatively associated with their partner's grandiose narcissism. Males' attitudes toward infidelity were positively associated with both their own and their partner's vulnerable narcissism but not with their or their partner's grandiose narcissism. The results highlighted the importance of studying different aspects of narcissism in relation to dyadic processes within intimate relationships in general and regarding infidelity in particular. Our findings suggest that more or less favorable attitudes toward infidelity depend not only on the individual's narcissistic traits but on his/her partner's grandiosity and vulnerability as well. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Children under fire: The role of maternal caregiving, reflection functioning, and posttraumatic stress disorder.

OBJECTIVE: The study seeks to examine the psychological maladjustment of children who are exposed to continuous terror attacks. It is hypothesized that maternal posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may hinder mothers' sensitive and responsive caregiving, reflective functioning, and viewing of her child (as "difficult"), which can subsequently negatively impact their children's psychological adjustment. METHOD: A cohort of 235 mother-child dyads participated in the study. The children's (aged 7-11; 43% boys) psychological maladjustment was assessed by the PAQ. The mothers completed the DSM-5 checklist for PTSD, Caregiving System Functioning scale, Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire, and Difficult Child scale. RESULTS: High levels of maternal PTSD, high scores of avoidant caregiving, and low reflective functioning of the mother predicted the child's psychological maladjustment. Maternal levels of PTSD moderated the associations between maternal avoidant caregiving and reflection, and child's maladjustment, whereas perceiving the child as difficult moderated the association between maternal reflection and child maladjustment. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that, to enhance the psychological adjustment of children confronted with stressful life situations, their mothers must be able to process their traumatizing experiences, or else they may struggle to provide their children with emotional regulation and support. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

"I will love you (me) forever"-A longitudinal study of narcissism and emotional adjustment during the transition to motherhood.

The aim of this study is to examine the differential implications of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism for women's adjustment during the transition to motherhood. A total of 385 Israeli women participated in the study during their pregnancy (Time 1) and 2 months postpartum (Time 2). Participants filled out a battery of questionnaires assessing their levels of narcissism (Time 1), the body experience during pregnancy (Time 1) and motherhood (Time 2), their attachment to the fetus (Time 1) and to the baby (Time 2), their anticipated maternal self-efficacy (Time 1) and maternal self-efficacy (Time 2), and their subjective well-being (Time 2). Results suggest that grandiose narcissism was associated with higher levels of well-being at Time 2 through the mediation of both attachment to the infant at Time 1 and bonding to the baby at Time 2 and through positive body experience at Time 2. Vulnerable narcissism was associated with lower levels of well-being at Time 2 through the mediation of body experience and maternal self-efficacy at Time 1 and Time 2 and attachment to the infant at Time 2. These findings point to the significant and differential role of vulnerable and grandiose narcissism in the adjustment to motherhood through the mediating role of early motherhood tasks. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Sexual Satisfaction Among Couples: The Role of Attachment Orientation and Sexual Motives.

The mediating effect of sexual motives between attachment orientation and sexual satisfaction and functioning was investigated among 128 couples (N = 256) using the actor-partner interdependence model (Campbell & Kashy, 2002). Actor effects between attachment orientation and sexual satisfaction and functioning, mediated by sexual motives, were found regarding men's sexual satisfaction, sexual intimacy, and orgasmic responsivity. Partner effect revealed two significant paths in which the greater the women's attachment avoidance, the lower the partners' intimacy motivation, which in turn was linked with lower partners' sexual satisfaction and increased lack of sexual intimacy. The analyses did not reveal significant mediation paths affecting women's sexual satisfaction and functioning. These findings emphasize the importance of implementing a dyadic perspective on sexuality within practice. Recommendations for further research and additional clinical implications are discussed.

Involvement and Warmth of Fathers with Mental Illness: The Role of the Caregiving System, Parental Self-Efficacy, Social Support and Child Characteristics.

This study compares the levels and predictors of paternal warmth and involvement of 69 fathers with serious mental illness (SMI) and 69 matched non-clinical (NC) fathers in Israel. Findings show that the NC fathers were more involved with their children, whereas the SMI fathers reported more warmth and perceived their children as less difficult. The interactions that were found in the regression analyses highlight the differences between the two groups. Among the SMI fathers, but not the NC fathers, higher paternal self-efficacy was associated with increased father involvement, and lower family support was associated with decreased warmth.

Minimization of Childhood Maltreatment Is Common and Consequential: Results from a Large, Multinational Sample Using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire.

Childhood maltreatment has diverse, lifelong impact on morbidity and mortality. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) is one of the most commonly used scales to assess and quantify these experiences and their impact. Curiously, despite very widespread use of the CTQ, scores on its Minimization-Denial (MD) subscale-originally designed to assess a positive response bias-are rarely reported. Hence, little is known about this measure. If response biases are either common or consequential, current practices of ignoring the MD scale deserve revision. Therewith, we designed a study to investigate 3 aspects of minimization, as defined by the CTQ's MD scale: 1) its prevalence; 2) its latent structure; and finally 3) whether minimization moderates the CTQ's discriminative validity in terms of distinguishing between psychiatric patients and community volunteers. Archival, item-level CTQ data from 24 multinational samples were combined for a total of 19,652 participants. Analyses indicated: 1) minimization is common; 2) minimization functions as a continuous construct; and 3) high MD scores attenuate the ability of the CTQ to distinguish between psychiatric patients and community volunteers. Overall, results suggest that a minimizing response bias-as detected by the MD subscale-has a small but significant moderating effect on the CTQ's discriminative validity. Results also may suggest that some prior analyses of maltreatment rates or the effects of early maltreatment that have used the CTQ may have underestimated its incidence and impact. We caution researchers and clinicians about the widespread practice of using the CTQ without the MD or collecting MD data but failing to assess and control for its effects on outcomes or dependent variables.

Predictors of Involvement and Warmth of Custodial Fathers in Israel: Comparison with Married and Noncustodial Divorced Fathers.

This study compared the levels and predictors of paternal warmth and involvement of 218 custodial fathers to 222 married fathers and 105 noncustodial (NC) divorced fathers in Israel. The examined predictors were fathers' perceptions of their own fathers; their own caregiving behaviors and parental self-efficacy; and child characteristics and coparental coordination. Results indicated that being a custodial father was associated with more involvement than being a married or NC divorced father. Regression analyses revealed that experience of care with own father predicted fathers' involvement, whereas own father control was related to lower paternal warmth. Lower avoidant caregiving and high paternal self-efficacy predicted both paternal involvement and warmth, whereas perceiving the child as more difficult predicted lower paternal warmth. Higher levels of coparental coordination were associated with more paternal involvement, whereas low coparental coordination was associated with less involvement, primarily among NC divorced fathers. These interactions highlight the distinct paternal behavior of custodial fathers. Unlike married and NC divorced fathers, they showed more warmth, regardless of their avoidant caregiving. Results are discussed in light of the different roles played by fathers in the three groups.

The factors influencing decision making on children's psychiatric hospitalization: a retrospective chart review.

Indications and criteria for psychiatric hospitalization(PH) continue to be questioned and assessed. We investigated the major clinical criteria affecting child psychiatrists' decision to recommend hospitalization. Records of 80 children (aged 7­13 years) treated at the Geha Mental Health Center's (GMHC's) outpatient clinic were reviewed.The patients' files were divided into three groups: admitted to PH (n = 20), candidates for PH who, ultimately, were not hospitalized (n = 20) and 40 patients for whom PH was nota consideration. Three groups of criteria were chosen to evaluate the decision for PH (type and severity of the psychiatric disorders, family's level of distress and parental capacity to contain the child). These criteria were rated quantitatively by using CGI-S. Highly significant inverse association was found between the level of parental capacity to contain the child and the decision to hospitalize in a psychiatric pediatric institution. The correlations between severity of the psychiatric disorders and family's level of distress was also found significant, but to a lesser extent.Parental capacity to contain the child, with its various components, is a major factor in the decision making process,when referring children to PH. This is the first study,demonstrating a strong association between parental-capacity components and the rate of hospitalization.

Young adult sibling relations: the effects of perceived parental favoritism and narcissism.

The present study examined predictors of siblings' relations in 202 young adults (aged 21-32 years), who completed the Adult Sibling Relationship Questionnaire and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Results indicate that warmth between siblings is explained by gender (with women feeling closer), perceived paternal favoritism, low levels of narcissism, and an interaction suggesting that paternal favoritism moderates the link between narcissism and sibling warmth. Conflict between siblings was explained by gender (sisters), age, parental favoritism, high levels of narcissism, extreme levels of similarity or dissimilarity between siblings, and interactions indicating that older age is a predictor of conflict between siblings among women but not among men. The impact of parental favoritism and narcissism on sibling relationships in young adulthood was discussed.

Predictors of stress-related growth in parents of children with ADHD.

This study was designed to investigate stress-related growth in 71 parents of children with ADHD, compared with 80 parents of non-clinical children. Adopting Tedeschi and Calhoun's (2004) theoretical framework for predicting personal growth, the study investigated the contribution of emotional intelligence (individual characteristics), social support (environmental factors), parental self-efficacy and perceptions of parenting as a challenge vs. a threat (cognitive processing). Results indicated that emotional intelligence was the main predictor of stress-related growth, particularly for parents of ADHD children, emphasizing that this personal trait is especially relevant to coping with on-going parental strain; whereas social support made a greater contribution to growth for the control group than for parents of children with ADHD. Path analysis confirmed our research model, suggesting that parents' sense of competence and of parenthood as a challenge vs. a threat mediates between emotional intelligence and social support on the one hand, and growth on the other.

The role of depression and anxiety in impulsive and obsessive-compulsive behaviors among anorexic and bulimic patients.

Eating disorders are believed to range across a spectrum of varying degrees of obsessive-compulsive and impulsive behavior. Sixty anorexic (mean age = 19.8; sd = 5.9) and 109 bulimic (mean age = 26.9; sd = 11.3) female patients completed self-report questionnaires assessing obsessive-compulsiveness, impulsivity, depression and anxiety, as well as two eating disorder scales. Results yielded significantly higher levels of impulsivity and negative body image in the bulimic compared to the anorexic group. Regression analysis predicting impulsivity showed that bulimia and negative body image were the main contributors. Regression analysis for predicting obsessive-compulsive behavior suggested that depression and anxiety obscure the link between anorexia and obsessive-compulsive behavior, and a high BMI intensifies the association between anxiety and obsessive-compulsive behavior. The high rates of both impulsivity and obsessive-compulsiveness found in both groups, and their association with the severity of the eating disorder, may suggest that impulsivity and obsessive-compulsiveness are not mutually exclusive and can both be found among anorexic and bulimic patients.

From emotional abuse in childhood to psychopathology in adulthood: a path mediated by immature defense mechanisms and self-esteem.

The present study examined the course traveled from childhood emotional abuse to adulthood psychopathology. One hundred ninety-six undergraduate students age 20 to 45 (M = 27; SD = 8.17), answered self-report questionnaires assessing emotional abuse in childhood (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire), parental attitudes (Parental Bonding Instrument), psychopathological symptomatology (Brief Symptom Inventory), self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale), and defense mechanism organization (Defense Style Questionnaire). Results indicated that reported psychopathological symptomatology highly exceeded the Israeli norm. Structure Equation Modeling provided a statistically significant explanation (52%) of the target variable of psychopathological symptomatology. According to the path model, emotional abuse in childhood and perceptions of controlling and noncaring parents had an indirect effect on the psychopathology. This was mediated by immature defenses and low self-esteem. We conclude that the manifest psychopathology among adults who suffered emotional abuse in childhood is produced by the detrimental effect of abuse on personality, and takes the form of immature defense organization and damaged self-representation.

ADHD, temperament, and parental style as predictors of the child's attachment patterns.

This study investigates the impact of temperament and parenting styles on attachment patterns in children with ADHD. The study included 65 children aged 7-15 and their parents. Children diagnosed as Combined or Predominantly Hyperactive Impulsive Type had significantly higher scores than those diagnosed as Predominantly Inattentive Type in anxious and avoidant attachment, emotionality, and activity dimensions of temperament, and their parents reported higher levels of controlling styles. Hierarchic regressions indicated that parental promotion of autonomy with children with temperamental emotionality predicted anxious attachment, while parental restriction of autonomy with children with high levels of temperamental activity predicted avoidant attachment.

Posttraumatic stress disorder reactions among children with learning disabilities exposed to terror attacks.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) reactions were examined among adolescents exposed to terror attacks. In the first stage, 56 children with learning disabilities (LDs) were compared with 48 nonclinical controls aged 14 to 18 years. Posttraumatic stress disorder in children with LD was significantly higher than in the control group. Next, hierarchic regression predicting PTSD reactions among children with LD was performed. Results revealed that personal exposure to terror, past personal threatening life events, avoidant and anxious attachment, and the anxious attachment x threatening past events interaction contributed significantly to the explained variance of PTSD. Examination of the source of this interaction revealed that adolescents high in anxious attachment who underwent more threatening past life events were more prone to PTSD when exposed personally to terror attacks. The findings suggest that adolescents with LD have difficulties in cognitive processing of traumatic events. This group of adolescents is in double jeopardy for developing PTSD symptoms if they personally experienced threatening events in the past and are characterized by anxious attachment. The anxious attachment damages their self-regulation, intensifies their distress, and exacerbates the risk for PTSD. Hence, special attention and specific intervention are needed for youth with LD to enhance their coping strategies.

The drug-user husband and his wife: attachment styles, family cohesion, and adaptability.

This study which assesses the association between the attachment styles of drug-user husbands (n = 56) and their wives (n = 56) and their perceptions of family dynamics was conducted in 1998. The population study included heroin (52.9%) and multidrug detoxified outpatients. All subjects completed the Adult Attachment Style Scale and the FACES III. Results indicated that the perceptions of family adaptability and cohesion among the drug-user husbands and their wives did not differ from the Israeli norm. Most of the drug users (60.7%) were characterized by the avoidant attachment style, followed by the secure style (26.8%), and the anxious/ambivalent style (12.5%). Half the wives (53.6%) were characterized by the secure style, followed by the avoidant style (42.9%) and the anxious/ambivalent style (3.6%). A secure style in husband and wife was associated with higher levels of family cohesion and adaptability, and the anxious/ambivalent style with a lower perception of family cohesion and adaptability. These findings have important implications for rehabilitation prospects and for planning intervention programs.