This study investigated between-person associations among PTSD symptoms, fear of emotion, and perceived couple communication difficulties in a dyadic context among 64 trauma-exposed, mixed gender community couples (N = 128 individuals) using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model. Individuals with higher PTSD symptoms endorsed greater fear of their emotions (β = .72; β = .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSexual intimacy, characterized as the experience between individuals of sharing general affection and sexual activity with one another within the Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships inventory, is positively related to relationship satisfaction and stability. However, many studies of couple therapy have shown that it only results in small-sized (and often non-significant) improvements in sexual intimacy. Furthermore, there are numerous financial, logistical, and psychological barriers to couple therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOnline programs that reduce relationship distress fill a critical need; however, their scalability is limited by their reliance on coach calls. To determine the effectiveness of the online OurRelationship program with varying levels of coach support, we conducted a comparative effectiveness trial with 740 low-income couples in the United States. Couples were randomly assigned to full-coach ( = 226; program as originally designed), automated-coach ( 145; as a stand-alone program with tailored automated emails only), contingent-coach ( 145; as an adaptive program where tailored automated emails are followed by more coaching if couples did not meet progress milestones), or a waitlist control condition ( = 224).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFinancial well-being may be an important context for daily emotional reactivity to relationship tension (e.g., arguments) whose salience varies across historical time or as a function of exposure to economic downturns.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLow-income couples experience increased stress and declines in relationship quality during the perinatal period. They also encounter many barriers to accessing relationship services. Using a subsample of low-income perinatal couples (n = 180) from two randomized controlled trials, the current study examined the impact of online relationship interventions, OurRelationship (OR) and ePREP, in a Bayesian framework.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRomantic partners' accommodation of trauma survivors' posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms (e.g., participating in avoidance and safety behaviors, not expressing one's thoughts and feelings) is a putative mechanism linking PTSD symptoms and partner distress, but this hypothesis has never been empirically tested.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExisting research demonstrated large deteriorations in parent, child, and family well-being within 2 months after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, little is known about the trajectories of families' adjustment in the following months, including what risk factors are associated with changes in families' adjustment. The current study examined (1) change in the parent, child, and family well-being over time; (2) associations of pandemic-related stressors, financial and social distancing-associated stress, with well-being between and within families; and (3) the role of local COVID-19 prevalence, prior participation in family-focused prevention, and parent gender.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLow-income couples are at an increased risk for relationship instability and divorce, which can have residual impacts on coparenting between the two partners. Growing evidence suggests that brief online relationship education programs can be an effective tool for alleviating relationship distress among low-income couples. However, findings remain mixed when it comes to whether benefits from relationship-focused programs not explicitly addressing coparenting spillover to coparenting among those with children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCognitive behavioral conjoint therapy (CBCT) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a 15-session conjoint treatment for PTSD designed to improve PTSD symptoms and enhance intimate relationship functioning. Numerous studies of CBCT for PTSD document improvements in patient PTSD and comorbid symptoms, partner mental health, and relationship adjustment. However, little is known about its effectiveness in real-world clinical settings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Trauma Stress
February 2022
Cognitive-behavioral conjoint therapy (CBCT) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has demonstrated efficacy for improving PTSD and comorbid symptoms and relationship adjustment. To enhance treatment efficiency and scalability, we developed a 2-day, abbreviated, intensive, multicouple group version of CBCT for PTSD (AIM-CBCT for PTSD). Prior work demonstrated that AIM-CBCT for PTSD wasassociated with reductions in PTSD and comorbid symptoms in a sample of 24 post-9/11 active duty military or veteran couples who received the treatment in a retreat format over a single weekend.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLow-income couples are at increased risk for relationship instability and divorce. In response, online relationship education programs such as ePREP and OurRelationship have been developed to more easily reach this population. A previous trial indicated that these programs promote relationship functioning (Doss et al.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDivorce or separation concerns have typically been identified as a common reason why couples seek treatment for their relationship. However, to our knowledge, no study has investigated the breakup process in a help-seeking sample. Using a low-income sample of individuals who broke up with their partner during a large randomized controlled trial investigating the effects of two web-based relationship education programs (NBroke up = 286), and a matched sample of individuals who did not break up (NMatched = 286; NTotal = 572), the current study sought to: (a) examine changes in individual functioning and co-parenting among those who broke up; (b) examine post-breakup differences in changes between those who did and did not break up; and (c) identify moderators of any differential post-breakup functioning between those who did and did not break up.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFam Process
September 2021
Cognitive-behavioral conjoint therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (CBCT for PTSD) is associated with improvements in patients' PTSD symptoms, partners' psychological distress, and relationship satisfaction. However, little is known about whether CBCT for PTSD is associated with changes in other relationship domains that have theoretical and clinical relevance to the relational context of PTSD. The current study is a secondary analysis of relational outcomes from an uncontrolled, within-group trial designed to examine whether an abbreviated, intensive, multi-couple group version of CBCT for PTSD (AIM-CBCT for PTSD) delivered in a retreat during a single weekend was associated with improvements in PTSD symptoms and relationship satisfaction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn increasing body of work documents the roles of religion and spirituality in Black American marriages. We built on this research to examine religious coping as a potential cultural resource for Black marriages using a dyadic analytic approach with longitudinal data. Specifically, we investigated the effects of positive (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRelationship difficulties are common during the transition to parenthood and may persist for years. Strategies that enhance couples' daily relational experiences early in the parenting years may serve a protective role. In general, engaging in a capitalization attempt (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWeb-based relationship programs are effective in improving low-income couples' relationship functioning. However, little is known about: (a) whether parenting couples presenting for relationship help also have difficulties in coparenting and parenting, (b) whether relationship-focused programs can improve these two domains, and (c) whether program effects differ across baseline levels of those domains. We examined these questions in a parenting subsample ( = 934) and a coparenting subsample ( = 342) of low-income couples participating in a randomized controlled trial of two web-based relationship education programs-the OurRelationship (OR) program and the ePREP program.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhen service members manifest symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), intimate partners may engage in behaviors to accommodate their partners' experiences (e.g., helping service members avoid situations that could make them uncomfortable, not expressing own thoughts and feelings to minimize PTSD-related conflict), which may inadvertently serve to maintain or increase PTSD symptoms over time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Consult Clin Psychol
December 2020
Objective: Web-based relationship interventions have been shown to improve relationship functioning for low-income couples, with gains maintained up through 12 months (Doss et al., 2020; Roddy et al., 2020).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHome quarantine may lead to families developing a variety of psychological distress. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychological status of children and their parent during 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in China. Data were collected from children ( = 1360) and their parent ( = 1360) in China using online survey during February 2020.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCognitive-behavioral conjoint therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (CBCT for PTSD; Monson & Fredman, 2012) is efficacious in improving PTSD symptoms and relationship adjustment among couples with PTSD. However, there is a need for more efficient delivery formats to maximize engagement and retention and to achieve faster outcomes in multiple domains. This nonrandomized trial was designed to pilot an abbreviated, intensive, multi-couple group version of CBCT for PTSD (AIM-CBCT for PTSD) delivered over a single weekend for 24 couples that included an active-duty service member or veteran with PTSD who had deployed in support of combat operations following September 11, 2001.
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