•Romantic attachment styles and alexithymia could predict dyadic adjustment.•Alexithymia ceased to be significant with the introduction of attachment in the model.•Higher scores on attachment ...avoidance were associated with lower dyadic adjustment.•Avoidance was a mediator in the relation between alexithymia and dyadic adjustment.
The present study aimed to investigate if romantic attachment dimensions and alexithymia could significantly predict the dyadic adjustment of individuals in a romantic relationship.
To achieve these goals, 410 participants, who were in a romantic relationship, were asked to complete an anonymous online survey, which included the following measures: Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Experience in Close Relationship Scale and Dyadic Adjustment Scale.
The hierarchical regression analysis revealed that only avoidant attachment dimansion was a significant predictor of dyadic adjustment in the final model. However, alexithymia was found to be negatively and indirectly associated with dyadic adjustment through the effect of avoidant attachment. Indeed, avoidant attachment significantly mediated the association between alexithymia and dyadic adjustment.
We used self-report measures, and we adopted a cross-sectional design. The sample comprised a higher number of women and well-educated participants.
The current findings highlight the importance, from a clinical perspective, of paying attention to the planning of tailored psychological treatments directed at individuals who are in a relationship to reduce the levels of insecure attachment and alexithymia.
While people value a good sense of humor in their potential romantic partners, we know comparatively less about the function of humor in long-term relationships. Using the survey method, we measured ...the production, appreciation, and quality of humor along with humor styles and dyadic adjustment in long-term relationships among 149 heterosexual couples. Men produced more jokes than women, but the sexes responded to their partners' jokes at the same frequency. Men also rated their jokes as funnier than the jokes of their partners. Partners were matched in aggressive and self-defeating humor styles. Laughing and humor quality ratings as well as humor styles had effects for men's and women's dyadic adjustment. We conclude that in long-term, romantic relationships, a sense of humor is part of the mechanisms involved in building relationships.
•In long-term relationships, men produce more jokes than women.•Men rate their jokes as funnier than the jokes of their partners.•Men use more aggressive and self-enhancing humor styles than women.•Aggressive and self-defeating humor correlate between members of the couple.•Joking, laughing, humor ratings and humor styles had effects for dyadic adjustment.
In the 1st year of the post-partum period, parenting stress, mental health, and dyadic adjustment are important for the wellbeing of both parents and the child. However, there are few studies that ...analyze the relationship among these three dimensions. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationships between parenting stress, mental health (depressive and anxiety symptoms), and dyadic adjustment among first-time parents.
We studied 268 parents (134 couples) of healthy babies. At 12 months post-partum, both parents filled out, in a counterbalanced order, the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form, the Edinburgh Post-natal Depression Scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the potential mediating effects of mental health on the relationship between parenting stress and dyadic adjustment.
Results showed the full mediation effect of mental health between parenting stress and dyadic adjustment. A multi-group analysis further found that the paths did not differ across mothers and fathers.
The results suggest that mental health is an important dimension that mediates the relationship between parenting stress and dyadic adjustment in the transition to parenthood.
Attachment styles within dyadic relationships affect multiple levels of the family structure that include: the relationship, the ability to navigate and adjust to change as a couple, as well as the ...implications it has on children. Utilizing data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering MFS-IP, Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling was used to address the correlation between dyadic adjustment and attachment between couples, as well as addressing factors of race on this correlation. Results yielded that higher rates of attachment were associated with better dyadic adjustment, especially if one partner had a higher rate of attachment.
Introduction
Pregnancy is a time of major transition that can be stressful for women. Dispositional mindfulness may protect individuals when they face stress. Recent studies have adopted a ...person-centered approach to examine the role of mindfulness by identifying subtypes of individuals based on their scores in five mindfulness facets. Latent profile analysis was used to identify different mindfulness profiles in a sample of pregnant women, and we explored the relationships between these profiles, depression and anxiety symptoms, and whether dyadic adjustment mediated these relationships.
Method
A total of 535 women aged 18–45 years in their 26th week of pregnancy completed questionnaires regarding mindfulness, dyadic satisfaction and cohesion, and depression and anxiety symptoms.
Results
Three profiles were identified: (1) low mindfulness (53.8%), (2) moderate mindfulness (34.3%), and (3) non-judgmentally aware (11.9%). The most adaptive profile was the non-judgmentally aware profile. Compared to the low mindfulness profile, the non-judgmentally aware profile and the moderate mindfulness profile were related to fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety, and these relationships were partly mediated by dyadic satisfaction.
Discussion
These results suggest that analyzing each pregnant woman’s mindfulness profile can improve the prevention of and interventions for anxiety and depression.
Abstract
Objective
This research evaluated dyadic adjustment and analyzed its contribution to emotional health and interpersonal resources in Spanish couples with reproductive problems undergoing ...assisted reproduction treatment.
Background
Many studies described the psychological challenges of infertile couples experiencing infertility. Social support, particularly in their relationship, protected each couple member's health and quality of life.
Method
Overall, 174 infertile heterosexual couples, selected from several Spanish reference hospitals, completed questionnaires regarding personal and clinical data, emotional health, adaptive resources, and dyadic adjustment.
Results
Both partners in couples presenting with infertility showed less emotional maladjustment and more dyadic adjustment than the normative values. Women in couples presenting with infertility reported greater emotional maladjustment and interpersonal resources and fewer personal resources than men. For women, educational level, age, affective expression, and dyadic consensus seem to act as protective factors, predicting less emotional maladjustment and more adaptive resources. For men, the couple's relationship duration, affective expression, dyadic cohesion, and dyadic satisfaction contributed to reduced emotional maladjustment and accounted for greater adaptive resources.
Conclusion
Greater dyadic adjustment appears to protect the emotional health of women and men seeking infertility treatment.
Implications
Support programs targeting dyadic adjustment may be helpful to couples undergoing fertility treatment.
Research highlighted that Stressful Life Events have high incidence among infertile patients and significant impact on physical and medical parameters related to reproductive functions, but their ...potential role among factors influencing the infertile patients' perception of fertility-related Quality of Life (QoL) has not been explored. The present study aims to investigate the associations of Stressful Life Events (Stressful events in the family of origin, In family pre-existing pregnancy difficulties, Health problems in childhood) with perceived fertility-related QoL in women attending infertility treatments, examining the potential moderating role of adopted coping strategies and perceived couple's dyadic adjustment.
A questionnaire consisting of Socio-demographics and Infertility-related characteristics, Stress-inducing events in the couples' lives Questionnaire (FLS), Coping Orientations to Problem Experienced (COPE), Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), and Core and Treatment subscales of Fertility Quality of Life (FertiQoL) was administered to 266 women attending infertility treatments. A descriptive correlational design with cross-sectional comparison was used. Results Logistic Regression Analyses after adjusting for socio-demographic and infertility-related characteristics revealed that women who reported Stressful events in the family of origin and In family pre-existing pregnancy difficulties were more likely to report lower levels of perceived Core QoL, while women who reported Health problems in childhood were more likely to report lower levels of perceived Treatment QoL. Couple's dyadic adjustment and specific coping strategies were significantly associated with perceived Core and Treatment QoL and they also significantly moderated the associations between stressful life events and perceived QoL.
Data provided original evidence on the strong association between stressful life events and perceived fertility-related QoL also highlighting individual and couples' resources to define counselling interventions with women attending infertility treatments.
Background
The study of romantic relationships is based on attachment theory and the Current Relationship Interview (CRI) is a powerful tool that allows the optimal investigation of attachment ...representations toward romantic partners. However, evidence in this field is still unsatisfactory and further research is needed. This study aims to examine the associations between the adult attachment to partner, the style of conflict resolution, and dyadic adjustment.
Methods
We administrated the Italian version of the CRI, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), and the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory questionnaire - Section II (ROCI II) – to a sample of 100 heterosexual couples.
Results
Individuals with preoccupied attachment reported lower levels of dyadic adjustment and men, but not women, with preoccupied attachment reported lower levels of dyadic cohesion. Levels of dyadic adjustment reported by women/men did not vary according to their attachment types. Levels of dyadic adjustment reported by couples and by women did not vary according to the matching status of attachment types between partners. However, men in romantic relationship characterized by a mismatch between attachment types reported higher levels of consensus compared to their counterparts.
Conclusion
The Italian version of the CRI proves an useful tool to investigate processes underlying romantic relationships. The role of current attachment in these processes appears to be highly complex and its investigation might be impacted by methodological issues, calling for additional studies.
Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the most frequent congenital diseases. When expectant fathers and mothers are informed of a CHD during pregnancy, they have to confront a series of individual ...and interpersonal psychological changes. The aim of the study was to evaluate the psychological impact of a prenatal diagnosis of CHD on expectant parents. The sample included 214 participants, mothers and their partners (case group, 57 pregnant women carrying a foetus with CHD and their partners; and control group, 50 pregnant women and their partners).
Administration of BSI-18, DAS and FACES-III following prenatal diagnosis.
Many parents (approximately 83.6%) went through stages of shock and denial in response to the diagnosis of disease that they had to confront and accept. At the individual level, 35.1% of fathers and 47.4% mothers had clinically significant scores of psychological distress. At the couple level, both fathers (77%) and mothers (82.4%) had expressed an idealized dyadic adjustment. Lastly, the perception of the family dynamic by 43.9% of fathers and 42.2% of mothers was in the mid-range.
The results highlight the complexity of the initial stage that these couples were going through.
In romantic relationships, individual differences are determinant factors for relational quality. Specifically, romantic attachment (RA) and difficulties in emotional regulation influence each other ...and may have predictive potential for the perceived dyadic adjustment (DA) level. This paper aims to identify the developmental parallel between behavioral patterns built since childhood and the construction of the emotional regulation skills that characterize them. Our analysis was based on the attachment theory and the concepts of romantic relationship and DA. In this way, we sought to further the understanding of relationship dynamics, beyond the usual focus on a single element and on associative relationships, and by exploring other effects among the different dimensions of relational functioning. In particular, we explored the predictive ability of emotional regulation patterns (more flexible individual characteristics) in discriminating between RA styles (more perennial influences), and their impact on the quality of romantic relationships, in the anticipation of dyadic adjustment variations.
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