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Mattering And Attachment: A Bilateral Association That Underlies Relationship Outcomes In Couples, Jacob Ybarra

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

In this master's thesis, I conducted a quantitative study using data from 100 heterosexual couples in a committed, romantic relationship to better understand the relationship between perceived mattering (PM) and attachment and to explore how mattering relates to various mental health and relationship outcomes. All 200 partners independently completed an online anonymous questionnaire consisting of various quantitative assessments measuring my study variables (e.g., attachment, PM, and relationship and mental health outcomes).

I used dyadic data analysis to examine how study variables related to an individual's outcomes as well as their partner's. Overall, findings from the first analysis highlighted that men …

Physical Aspects Of Sexuality, Attachment, And Sexual Satisfaction, Chelsea Zollinger Allen

Theses and Dissertations

Healthy sexuality includes relational, emotional, and physical elements (Busby et al., 2021). However, there are gaps in what is known about the physical aspects of sexual relationships. Genital acceptance and physical sexual knowledge are two areas of physical relationships that may have an effect on the satisfaction of sexual relationships. Attachment, namely levels of anxious and avoidant attachment, is another factor that has been related to sexual relationships (Allsop et al., 2021; Bennett et al., 2019; Busby et al., 2020). Results from a dyadic sample of 515 couples who had been in a relationship for at least two years were …

Relational And Mental Health Outcomes Of Trauma And Disaster: The Medicating Role Of Grit, Lacey A. Bagley

Theses and Dissertations

Current literature focusing on those exposed to disaster includes calls for more studies with populations who have regular exposure to extreme weather events. The current study reported on a secondary data analysis with a sample of 240 heterosexual couples living in or near coastal regions in the southeast US, who were at risk of experiencing disaster events during the 2019 hurricane season (June-December). An actor-partner interdependence model was fit to the dyadic data via path analysis to test the mediating effect of grit on the relationship dyadic coping (mental health and attachment behaviors) and disaster-related losses, accounting for trauma history. …

Competency-Based Training In The Supervision Of Relational Telemental Supervision, Paul Springer, Richard Bischoff, Nathan C. Taylor, Vanessa Neuhaus, Cassandra Leow

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Supervision has long been considered essential to developing effective mental health practice, especially among COAMFTE accredited training programs. But with telemental health rapidly being accepted as a standard treatment medium for couple and family therapy, there is little guidance about how to supervise clinicians who are engaged in telemental health practice. This paper presents an important step toward increasing the effectiveness of the supervision of therapists who are delivering relational therapies online through the identification of relational competencies unique to this delivery medium. These competencies have been adopted and integrated into a COAMFTE accredited master's degree program that has been …

Predictors Of Paternal Postpartum Depression: A Meta-Analysis, Zachary Joseph Blackhurst

Theses and Dissertations

While major depression is a well-defined mental health condition, it's presentation can be vastly different across individuals and groups, and many factors impact one's vulnerability. A critical period of vulnerability to depression is the postpartum period. Despite the frequent assumption that postpartum conditions solely affect women, prevalence estimates of paternal postpartum depression (PPPD) are comparable with those of women. Similar to mothers, men experience significant biological and psychosocial changes following the birth of a child that contribute to the onset of postpartum depression. A growing body of research has identified many potential variables related to PPPD, yet there is no …

Baby On The Way, Sex Gone Away? A Dyadic Investigation Of Sexual Satisfaction In Pregnancy, David Brent Allsop

Theses and Dissertations

Research indicates that having high sexual satisfaction during pregnancy is difficult for couples. This negative trend is important considering that low sexual satisfaction can negatively affect both relationship satisfaction, psychological health, and child outcomes. However, there is evidence that this trend does not apply to all and different groups of couples exist in terms of their sexual satisfaction in pregnancy. Guided by family systems theory and the biopsychosocial model, the current study explored if different subsets of couples, composed of pregnant wives and husbands, exist in terms of their sexual satisfaction during pregnancy and what factors distinguish potential subsets. Using …

Mutual Influence? Gender, Partner Pregnancy Desires, Fertility Intentions, And Birth Outcomes In U.S. Heterosexual Couples, Colleen M. Ray, Sela R. Harcey, Julia Mcquillan, Arthur L. Greil

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Competing hypotheses exist with regard to how men’s and women’s pregnancy desires and intentions are associated with births among contemporary heterosexual couples. There are compelling cultural and structural reasons to support either the hypothesis that men’s desires and intentions (patriarchal) or that women’s desires and intentions (matriarchal) will have more influence, or that both partner’s desires and intentions will be associated with births (mutual influence). In addition, patterns of change are likely to differ for couples that have children at wave 1 compared to those who do not. Path analyses of the of heterosexual couples (n = 615) who completed …

Cross-Group Relationship Satisfaction: A Meta-Analysis, Elena Kelsey Henderson

Theses and Dissertations

Cross-group relationships are defined by romantic relationships involving two individuals from distinct racial or ethnic groups. For this paper, the terms “interethnic” and “interracial” are used as specifiers for the umbrella terms, “intergroup” and “cross-group.” Studies examining whether cross-group romantic relationships are more or less satisfying than intergroup romantic relationships have yielded discrepant findings. Through a systematic review and meta-analysis of 27 studies, we found that there are no significant difference between cross-group and intergroup relationship satisfaction (aggregate d = .024, 95% CI [-0.076; 0.123]). Tests of moderation found that the amount of Asian participants included in individual studies on …

Cooking With Couples: A Grounded Theory Study On The Relational Aspects Found In The Cooking Interactions Of Couples, Nicole R. Gordon

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

Cooking is a universal activity which all humans can relate to on some level. Historically, cooking has continued to connect people across cultures and time, simultaneously providing nutritive sustenance as well as socio- and psychological benefits. Medical and mental health practitioners only in recent years have utilized cooking in a therapeutic process, and most of those cooking activities available tend to focus on cooking from an occupational and nutrition-education stance. A gap in the literature pertaining to cooking and its therapeutic applications exists around the relational nature underlying the cooking process, especially as it pertains to couples. While marriage and …

Partner Congruence On Fertility Intentions And Values: Implications For Birth Outcomes, Karina M. Shreffler, Stacy Tiemeyer, Julia Mcquillan, Arthur L. Greil, Tiffany Spierling

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

In heterosexual couples, both partners’ intentions to have a baby (or not) are associated with the likelihood of a subsequent birth, yet most studies only measure women’s intentions. Therefore, little is known about the potential association of couple agreement or disagreement on intentions or on such values as importance of parenthood, career, and leisure and the implications for childbearing. The goal of this article is to assess whether couple-level agreement or disagreement in fertility intentions and values are associated with the likelihood of a subsequent birth. Guided by the Theory of Conjunctural Action, we use couple data from two waves …

Financial Infidelity In Couple Relationships, Michelle Jeanfreau, Kenji Noguchi, Michael D. Mong, Hans Stadthagen

Journal of Financial Therapy

Four hundred and fourteen participants answered questions regarding financial habits within the context of the couple relationship. The Big Five Personality Inventory and a Martial and Life Satisfaction Scale were used to determine the incidence and factors associated with financial infidelity. Results indicated that 27% of participants have kept a financial secret from their partner. Furthermore, both marital and life satisfaction were lower for participants who have experienced financial infidelity than in those who have not. Finally, conscientiousness, a factor from the Big Five Personality Inventory, showed a significant difference, suggesting that more organized individuals were less likely to keep …

Pathways From Religiosity To Couple’S Satisfaction Through Relational Virtues And Equality In Two Cultures, Ilya A. Okhotnikov

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

To explore relational processes of couple’s satisfaction this study drew on the relational spirituality framework (Mahoney, 2010) in order to test a relational religiosity model to evaluate the effects of public, private, ideological, intellectual, and experiential religiosity that were mediated by relational virtues of commitment, sacrifice, forgiveness, and sanctification and relational equality on couple’s satisfaction in two cultures. Data for this component used convenience samples of English-speaking respondents (hereafter American sample; n = 1,529) and Russian-speaking respondents (hereafter Russian sample; n = 529). Results provided evidence to partially support relational religiosity model; specifically commitment, while a statistically significant intervening element, …

Attitudes, Attachment Styles, And Gender: Implications On Perceptions Of Infidelity, Christian M. Stewart

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Understanding the impact infidelity has on individuals, couples, families, and societies has increasingly become a topic of interest over the last few decades. In recent years, scholars have sought to increase understanding of infidelity through investigating the relationship between infidelity and attachment theory. This research study examines the impact attitudes about infidelity, attachment styles, and gender have on the way in which individuals perceive infidelity. Data was gathered from 310 participants recruited from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and social media. Participants were 18 years of age and older and were, at the time of the study, either in …

Does She Think It Matters Who Makes More? Perceived Differences In Types Of Relationship Arguments Among Female Breadwinners And Non-Breadwinners, Melanie Mendiola, Julia Mull, Kristy L. Archuleta, Bradley Klontz, Farnoosh Torabi

Journal of Financial Therapy

This mixed methods study used a sequential exploratory design and Becker’s (1973) Theory of Marriage to explore how female breadwinners and non-breadwinners perceive types of relationship arguments. Respondents completed an online survey targeted to women about money and relationships. Qualitative analyses using a multiple case study approach explored the contents of arguments among three groups: women who earn more than their partner/spouse, women who earn less, and women who earn the same. Quantitative analyses employed independent t-tests to identify differences between female breadwinners and non-breadwinners for variables related to the identified themes from the qualitative analyses. Findings from this mixed …

Prospective And Dyadic Associations Between Expectant Parents’ Prenatal Hormone Changes And Postpartum Parenting Outcomes, Robin S. Edelstein, William J. Chopik, Darby E. Saxbe, Britney M. Wardecker, Amy C. Moors, Onawa P. Labelle

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

During the transition to parenthood, both men and women experience hormone changes that are thought to promote parental care. Yet very few studies have explicitly tested the hypothesis that prenatal hormone changes are associated with postpartum parenting behavior. In a longitudinal study of 27 first-time expectant couples, we assessed whether prenatal hormone changes predicted self and partner-reported parenting outcomes at three months postpartum. Expectant fathers showed prenatal declines in testosterone and estradiol, and larger declines in these hormones predicted larger contributions to household and infant care tasks postpartum. Women whose partners showed larger testosterone declines also reported receiving more support …

Preparing Future Child Welfare Professionals To Strengthen Couple Relations, Ted G. Futris, David G. Schramm, Jeneé Duncan

Human Development and Family Studies Faculty Publications

This study evaluates the potential value of integrating a family science-focused course on strengthening couple and coparenting relationships into the training of social work students and future child welfare professionals. The 15-week graduate course offered 30 MSW students an opportunity to learn and practice relationship and marriage education (RME) skills in order to teach relevant concepts to clients and to support future integration of these skills in their careers. Evaluation data showed that students demonstrated improvements in multiple domains of knowledge and self-efficacy and applied the concepts learned with clients within six months of completing the course. Implications for future …

Contextualizing Couples: Three Essays On Inequality, Stress, And Dyadic Functioning As A Longitudinal And Reciprocal Process, Deadric T. Williams

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this dissertation, I use an integrated theoretical and conceptual model that consists of several theoretical frameworks to examine the following questions: (1) is there a longitudinal and reciprocal association between parental stress/distress and dyadic functioning? (2) does the association change over time? (3) does the association vary across social contexts (e.g., marital status, race/ethnicity, and poverty)? In order to explore these questions, I use longitudinal and dyadic data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study, which follows a cohort of children and their parents from birth to five years of age. Through three separate analytic studies, the results …

The Process Of Couples' Experiences In A Brief Intervention, D. Jim Mock

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Many couples struggle with their relationship, but resist seeking professional assistance due to concerns about time commitment, financial expense, and/or fear of stigma associated with treatment. To address these concerns the relationship checkup has been developed. Though there has been limited research of this format, there is still much to be explored. This study presents the findings from semi-structured interviews of ten couples who participated in a form of this intervention and their corresponding clinicians. Each interview was analyzed for commonalities among the responses and distilled into two sets of themes: the couples' and the clinicians'. Themes for the couples …

Seeking A Better Understanding Of Cyber Infidelity: Applying Sternberg's Triangular Theory Of Love To An Atheoretical Field, Lauren Elizabeth Hardy

Theses and Dissertations

The recent phenomenon of cyber infidelity is greatly increasing due to the availability and technology. But, current research is atheoretical, lacking a common language as to how cyber infidelity affects the face-to-face couple. Applying Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love (1986) is a step in defining aspects of the effects of cyber infidelity. Language among existing research is strikingly comparable to Sternberg's theory. Applying this theory and making the applications using Sternberg's components shows that this theory has the strong potential to create a common language concerning the effects cyber infidelity has on the face-to-face couple.

Book Review: How To Give Financial Advice To Couples, Alycia Degraff, D. Bruce Ross

Journal of Financial Therapy

How to Give Financial Advice to Couples is a financial advisor’s must-read text. Kingsbury allows the reader to become familiar with the daunting area of couple dynamics in this unintimidating and easy read.

Maximizing Benefits And Minimizing Impacts: Dual-Earner Couples’ Division Of Household Labor, Matthew W. Carlson

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Several socio-structural theoretical approaches attempt to explain the gendered division of household labor, but the dyadic process of dividing labor has gone largely unexplored. Therefore, a grounded theory approach was taken with 20 dual-earner married couples to uncover the process of dividing household labor between spouses. The theory that emerged indicated that couples seek to maximize benefits in their distribution of labor, and do so by dividing tasks according to personal preferences and proficiencies. When a household task goes unclaimed by both spouses’ preferences and proficiencies, containment and outsourcing are the strategies employed to minimize the impact of the unclaimed …

The Post-Combat Couple Adjustment Questionnaire: A Preliminary Validation, Valerie Maine

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation presents the results of a psychometric study regarding the preliminary validation of The Post-Combat Couple Adjustment Questionnaire (PCCAQ). This measure was designed to assess post-combat and post-deployment adjustment for male veterans and their female partners. The measure was created using existing literature on veterans, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and couples. The PCCAQ consists of four domains of couple functioning, including: (a) redefining roles, expectations, and division of household responsibilities; (b) managing strong emotions; (c) abandoning emotional constriction and creating intimacy in relationships; and (d) creating a sense of shared meaning surrounding the deployment experience. The PCCAQ was compared …

Couple Communication As A Mediator Between Work-Family Conflict And Marital Satisfaction, Sarah J. Carroll

Theses and Dissertations

Using a sample of married individuals employed full-time (N = 1,139), this study examined the mediating effects of constructive and destructive communication between partners on the relationship between work-family conflict and marital satisfaction. Results from structural equation modeling revealed that work-family conflict was significantly and negatively related to marital satisfaction. This relationship became insignificant when constructive and destructive communication were added to the model, evidence for full mediation. This was confirmed with Sobel's test for mediation. Results suggest that teaching communication skills may be a potent point of intervention for couples who experience high levels of work-family conflict.

Clients’ Experiences Of Spirituality In Couple’S Therapy: A Phenomenological Approach, Jillian M. Puckett

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

While spirituality has been an increasingly researched topic within the field of marriage and family therapy, it has been largely overlooked within the context of couple’s therapy. The goal of the present study is to enhance the understanding of the role of spirituality in therapy by describing clients’ experiences of spirituality in couple’s therapy. The study utilized a phenomenological approach to come to a better understanding of the essence of clients’ experiences of spirituality in couple’s therapy. Semi-structured interviews with couples enrolled in couple’s therapy were conducted and analyzed. Four major themes emerged: spiritual experiences in couple’s therapy, perception of …

A Typology Of Coping In Couples Undergoing Fertility Treatment, Brennan Peterson, Matthew Pirritano, Lone Schmidt

Marriage and Family Therapy Faculty Presentations

Poster presentation about the use of cluster analysis to identify clinically meaningful groups of infertile couples, and how such profiles can be used by medical and mental health professionals.

Who's Doing The Dirty Work? Development And Preliminary Validation Of A Measure Of Housework, Jocelyn Nicole Petrella

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study developed a new instrument for measuring couples' attitudes and behaviors regarding housework. This study was conducted in two phases. The first phase focused on developing reliable subscales that would reflect various dimensions of housework. Phase one consisted of 199 individual participants in committed relationships who were working at least 20 hours per week and shared a single home address with their partner. Participants answered questions related to housework through an online survey. An exploratory factors analysis (EFA) revealed eight dominant factors from the housework questionnaire, labeled as: 1) Fairness, 2) Value of Housework, 3) Gender Role Attitudes, …

Hostility In Marital Interaction, Depressive Symptoms And Physical Health Of Husbands And Wives, Stanley D. Hall

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine how hostility from either partner in a marital interaction affected marital partners' perceived general physical health, while investigating for indirect effects of partners' depression. A total of 296 married couples who participated in Waves 1 and 2 of the Flourishing Families Project were videotaped while completing a marital discussion task. Their interaction was coded for hostile behaviors using the Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scales, IFIRS. Structural equation modeling was used to examine how hostility in marital interactions at Wave 1 was related to partners' self-reports of physical health as measured by the …

Face To Face Versus Computer-Mediated Communication: Couples Satisfaction And Experience Across Conditions, Martha Perry

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

This mixed method study examined differences in how face to face (FtF) and computer-mediated communication (CMC) were experienced for individuals communicating with their romantic partner. Forty-four individuals (22 couples) engaged in discussions in both FtF and CMC conditions in a laboratory environment, measuring communication satisfaction as an indicator of experience. Eight couples were also randomly selected to participate in interviews and their reports were used to add depth to the analyses and further inform the findings. Participants reported similar levels of satisfaction across communication conditions, which extends previous literature suggesting that users are able to adapt to text-based channels of …

Marital Problems And Marital Satisfaction: An Examination Of A Brazilian Sample, Nalu De Araujo Nunes

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study is to examine the types of problems faced by Brazilian couples in the sample, the gender differences in the perception of marital problems, and the associations between marital problems and marital satisfaction. The sample used in this study was part of the third wave of data collection of a longitudinal study of 126 families living in Porto Alegre, a city in southern Brazil. The RDAS was the instrument used to assess marital satisfaction. Marital problems were identified by asking participants to check the problems they perceive in their marriage from a list of common marital …

Sacrifice In Marriage: Motives, Behaviors, And Outcomes, Kevin Shitamoto Figuerres

Theses and Dissertations

Today's society appears to have become focused on the individual and his/her exclusive needs in relationships. Self-sacrifice has seemingly become a forgotten value and behavior. The motives for sacrificing for another can widely vary for each individual. This study examined the effects of couples' sacrificing behaviors and the motives for sacrificing on the couples' marital quality. In this research, a random sample of 138 couples from Oakland, CA; Phoenix, AZ; Ogden, UT; and Atlanta, GA were assessed on these variables using the Self Perception of Sacrifice, Partner Perception of Sacrifice, Motives for Sacrifice, Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale, and Personal Assessment …