The Couple's Grid: A Tool for Assessing Interpersonal Construction in Couples

In the study of human relationships, interest in interpersonal construction is increasing because of its implications for the quality of the couple's relationship. The processes involved in construing self and others may play a key role. However, a precise methodology to study those processes has not yet been developed. The aim of this article is to present a dyadic assessment tool, the couple's grid (CG), which is inspired from constructivist and systemic perspectives. Derived from Procter's (1985) family grid, the CG is similarly based on the repertory grid technique. The CG assesses perception of self and partner, and their ideals, and also the metaperception of the partner's view (e.g., “What does your partner think about you?”). These two levels of analysis provide measures of perceived similarity, commonality, and sociality. This article describes the development of CG as an assessment tool with a case illustration.     

Assessing Individual Family Members' Constructions of Family Problems

Much contemporary family therapy theory and practice takes into account clients' cognitive constructions of their family problems. Recent calls for therapists to elicit and work with clients' causal explanations and narratives parallel accumulating evidence in the social-clinical literature about the predictive importance of attributions in family relationships. In this article, we introduce the Constructions of Problems Scale (CPS), provide preliminary evidence of its reliability and validity, and suggest ways in which it can be used clinically to reveal new areas for questioning and to generate new ideas. The CPS is a brief questionnaire that can be used to create a profile of each individual family member's private constructions. To complete the CPS, each family member writes a free-form narrative of the presenting problem and then rates his or her perceptions of the contributing causes. The CPS profiles can be used to compare the perspectives of different family members and to assess cognitive constructions at different points in treatment. We discuss its potential for these and other clinical uses.     

Risk and protective factors of dissocial behavior in a probability sample

The aims of this study were to know risk and protective factors for dissocial behavior keeping in mind that the self-report of dissocial behavior is biased by the impression management. A probability sample of adolescents that lived in two neighborhoods with high indexes of gangs and offenses (112 male and 86 women) was collected. The 27-item Dissocial Behavior Scale (ECODI27; Pacheco & Moral, 2010), Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding, version 6 (BIDR-6; Paulhus, 1991), Sensation Seeking Scale, form V (SSS-V; Zuckerman, Eysenck, & Eysenck, 1978), Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale (PACS; Barnes & Olson, 1982), 30-item Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (RAS; Rathus, 1973), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI; Davis, 1983) and a social relationship questionnaire (SRQ) were applied. Binary logistic regression was used for the data analysis. A third of the participants showed dissocial behavior. Belonging to a gang in the school (schooled adolescents) or to a gang out of school and job (total sample) and desinhibition were risk factors; being woman, perspective taking and open communication with the father were protective factors. School-leaving was a differential aspect. We insisted on the need of intervention on these variables.     

Mother's marital satisfaction associated with the quality of mother‐father‐child triadic interaction

Low marital satisfaction has been shown to be a risk factor for early parenthood and parent‐child relationship problems (Erel & Burman, 1995 ; McHale, 1995 ). The aim of this study was to assess how parental reports of marital satisfaction related to family alliance and coordination in the observed triadic interaction. The study group included 120 families. Marital satisfaction was evaluated during pregnancy, at 4 months, and at 18 months using the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS; Busby, Christensen, Crane & Larsson, 1995 ) for both parents. Mother‐father‐child interaction was analyzed in the Lausanne Triadic Play setting and coded using the Family Alliance Assessment Scale (Favez, Lavanchy Scaiola, Tissot, Darwiche & Frascarolo, 2011 ) when the child reached 18 months of age. The mother's higher marital satisfaction at every measuring point was associated with a cooperative family alliance and/or higher family coordination at 18 months. The father's experience of marital satisfaction was not related to family interaction at any assessment point. Our study suggests that a mother's experience of lower marital satisfaction during pregnancy may be an early sign of later problems in family relationships.     

Similar minds in the family: COVID-19 centrality and relationship quality

We examined whether perceived similarity in COVID-19 centrality (i.e., the extent to which one thinks of the pandemic as shaping current and future life) is associated with family relationship quality during the pandemic. Thinking that other family members are similar to oneself regarding the pandemic's centrality may improve the quality of family relationships. We collected data from Turkish family triads (i.e., mother, father, 18–25 years old child) and had 481 participants from 180 families. Participants rated their similarity in COVID-19 centrality with the other two family members and reported the general and daily quality of their relationship with them (relationship satisfaction, closeness, conflict). We analyzed the data using the Social Relations Model. We found that family members who, on average, perceived more similarity in COVID-19 centrality reported higher levels in positive attributes of general relationship quality (i.e., satisfaction and closeness). The effects on conflict and daily relationship quality were less conclusive. This research confirms that family members' reactions during the COVID-19 pandemic are interdependent. Perceiving that other family members are of similar minds about the centrality of the pandemic relates positively to some aspects of relationship quality.     

Parental confirmation as a mitigator of feeling caught and family satisfaction

This study tested parental confirmation as a mitigator of the inverse association between young adults' feelings of being caught and family satisfaction. Participants included 567 young adult children from intact and divorced families. Results indicated that mother's confirmation mitigated the inverse association between feeling caught and family satisfaction for young adults from divorced families. Family satisfaction was lowest in divorced families when young adults felt caught and their fathers were disconfirming, though young adults in intact families reported even less satisfaction in such a communicative context. Importantly, mother confirmation was more predictive of family satisfaction in divorced families than in intact families, whereas father confirmation was more predictive of family satisfaction than mother confirmation for young adults in intact families.     

How One Family Perceives Another: The Relationship Between Social Constructions and Problem-Solving Competence

This paper delineates a rarely studied but important family process: how a family perceives and understands the relationships in other families it knows. We hypothesize that these perceptions of other families are fundamental components of a family's shared construing of its social world. Families differ in how they perceive other families, specifically, and in their approach to construing or apprehending their social world, generally. We have hypothesized that these general differences also play a crucial role in shaping the style and competence of family problem-solving. A family's approach to any problem depends upon how it construes or interprets the social context of that problem. Using these general concepts of family life, we construct specific hypotheses linking family problem-solving and interfamily perception. We describe methods for measuring both family problem-solving and how a family perceives other families. Findings confirm our major hypothesis: A family that searches for underlying and subtle patterns in a problem-solving situation will develop a more differentiated and organized conception of other families.     

Qualitative Grids,the Relationality Corollary and the Levels of Interpersonal Construing

Qualitative grids are powerful tools for mapping interpersonal construing and provide a new method of interviewing, research and intervention into social situations. This article introduces some of their forms after discussing the theoretical framework from which they are derived. Although they are based within personal and relational construct psychology, they can be used within any theoretical approach interested in the study of and intervention in human relationships. Kelly's sociality corollary is a deeply heuristic formulation that presages many similar concepts in contemporary use, such as theory of mind and mentalization. But the corollary is open to critique and further elaboration. As originally stated, it is restricted to the construing of one other person or position in a relationship. This enables us to elaborate the relationality corollary that includes a person's construing of relationships and interactions with two or more others, giving us a deeper understanding of group situations. This involves developing a conception of different levels of interpersonal construing. These can be nicely captured using qualitative grids, and an understanding of this helps the interviewer in designing the grid form suitable for the task in hand.     

Comparison of the function of exchange in couples of similar and differing physical attractiveness

Couples (22 young, married, 18 young unmarried) completed the Exchange Orientation Scale, which measures how much individuals believe equality of exchange should characterize their social relationships, as well as the Norman Personality Trait Scale, which gives measures for the self and ideal-self. Couples also rated their sexual satisfaction, their partners' physical attractiveness, their own attractiveness, and had their photographs evaluated for attractiveness by disinterested raters. Subgroups were formed of physically attractive couples, couples in which the members were of disparate attractiveness, and couples in which the individuals perceived themselves as equal to their partners in attractiveness or as inferior. In accordance with exchange theory, the hypotheses were (1) unmarried men would show higher exchange scores than married men, (2) attractive men in disparately attractive couples would show greater exchange scores than attractive men in both-attractive couples, (3) attractive members of disparately attractive couples would possess lower self-acceptance and (4) experience greater sexual satisfaction than attractive members of both-attractive couples. Results supported all hypotheses in varying extents.     

The Effects of Parental Education and Family Income on Mother–Child Relationships,Father–Child Relationships,and Family Environments in the People's Republic of China

Using a cross‐sectional design with 407 Chinese children aged 3–5 years and their parents, this study examined the effects of socioeconomic status, specifically parents' education and family income, on the children's mother–child relationships, father–child relationships, and the social environment in their families. The results indicated that income negatively predicted conflict in father–child relationships and positively predicted family active‐recreational environments. Income also positively predicted family cohesion among girls but not boys. Maternal education negatively predicted conflict in mother–child relationships and positively predicted closeness in mother–child and father–child relationships, family cohesion, and the intellectual‐cultural and active‐recreational environments in the family. Paternal education positively predicted family cohesion and intellectual‐cultural and active‐recreational environments. Income was found to partially mediate the effects of both maternal and paternal education on family active‐recreational environments. Findings are discussed in the frameworks of the family stress model and the family investment model.     

家庭功能对青少年情绪问题的作用机制

本研究以探索家庭功能发挥过程和发挥结果之间的关系并检验两者对青少年情绪问题的作用大小和机制为目的,采用Skinner等人编制的家庭评价量表(FAM,测量家庭功能发挥过程)和Olson编制的家庭适应性、亲密度量表(FACESⅢ,测量家庭功能发挥结果)、流调中心抑郁量表(CES-D)和焦虑自评量表(SAS)对422名中学生进行匿名问卷施测,通过相关分析、分层回归和结构方程模型统计分析发现:(1)总体上青少年的情绪处于良好状态;(2)家庭功能发挥过程和发挥结果各变量之间呈显著相关;(3)家庭功能发挥过程比家庭功能发挥结果对青少年情绪问题预测作用更大;(4)家庭功能发挥结果是家庭功能发挥过程与青少年情绪问题的部分中介变量。     

Caregiver Social Problem Solving Abilities and Family Member Adjustment Following Congestive Heart Failure

Family members have a considerable impact on the health and well-being of others in the family. The characteristics of family caregivers that relate to care recipients' positive and negative outcomes associated with chronic disease have received scant empirical attention. We reasoned that family caregiver social problem solving abilities would be associated with depression and life satisfaction reported by persons with congestive heart failure (CHF). Correlational analyses found that caregiver negative orientation toward solving problems was significantly predictive of higher depression and with decreased life satisfaction of persons with CHF. These findings indicate that family caregiver problem solving abilities are important factors in adjustment following CHF. Implications for clinical interventions and theoretical models of problem solving are discussed.     

The Retrospective Family Unpredictability Scale: Reliability and Validity

Family unpredictability or inconsistency may be responsible, in part, for the detrimental outcomes associated with parental divorce, parental alcoholism, and family poverty. We assessed behavior patterns and regulatory systems in one’s family of origin for the purposes of developing the Retrospective Family Unpredictability Scale (Retro-FUS). In the first study (N = 416, 89% Caucasian, 59% female), confirmatory factor analysis indicated a six-factor solution was appropriate and the six subscales (meals, money, mother nurturance, father nurturance, mother discipline, and father discipline) were reliable. A second study (N = 305, 82% Caucasian, 77% female) demonstrated that Retro-FUS scores related to other conceptually similar factors. Specifically, Retro-FUS scores were higher among participants reporting these factors while growing up: parental divorce, family economic adversity, more neighborhood crime, and a greater likelihood of parental alcoholism. Thus, the Retro-FUS appears to be a multi-dimensional, retrospective measure of family unpredictability that demonstrates internal consistency and preliminary construct validity. We discuss implications for research and clinical applications as well as ideas for further research using the Retrospective Family Unpredictability Scale.     

Prenatal Representations of Family in Parents and Coparental Interactions as Predictors of Triadic Interactions During Infancy

In this study, we explored the predictive role of family interactions and family representations in mothers and fathers during pregnancy for postnatal mother–father–infant interactions during the first 2 years after birth. Families (N = 42) were seen at the fifth month of pregnancy and at 3 and 18 months after birth. During pregnancy, parents were asked to play with their baby at the first meeting by using a doll in accordance with the procedure of the prenatal Lausanne Trilogue Play (LTP; A. Corboz‐Warnery & E. Fivaz‐Depeursinge, 2001; E. Fivaz‐Depeursinge, F. Frascarolo‐Moutinot, & A. Corboz‐Warnery, 2010). Family representations were assessed by administering the Family System Test (T. Gehring, 1998). Marital satisfaction and the history of the couple were assessed through self‐reported questionnaires. At 3 and 18 months, family interactions were assessed in the postnatal LTP. Infant temperament was assessed through parent reports. Results show that (a) prenatal interactions and child temperament are the most important predictors of family interactions and (b) paternal representations are predictive of family interactions at 3 months. These results show that observational assessment of “nascent” family interactions is possible during pregnancy, which would allow early screening of family maladjustment. The findings also highlight the necessity of taking into account paternal representations as a significant variable in the development of family interactions.     

Self-Construction and Interpersonal Distances of Juveniles Living in Residential Communities

Within the framework of constructivism, and more specifically personal construct psychology, the current research aims at exploring self-construction and interpersonal relationships of juveniles living in residential communities. It proposes a method of doing so that is coherent with the framework adopted. Repertory grids were used with 59 youths, ages 9 to 20 years, and 176 significant others (father, mother, houseparent, and a teacher or employer); interpersonal distances were measured. Identification with others and an authority, perceived change, self and social acceptance, social negativity, self-fulfillment, commonality, and sociality led to the discrimination of different profiles that indicate different (inter)personal configurations.     

Mothers' and Fathers' Parenting Quality and Toddlers' Interactive Behaviours in Dyadic and Triadic Family Contexts

Based on a family systems perspective, this research examined the role of parental gender and family play context in parent–toddler interactions and how behaviours of family members influence each other. Sixty‐seven mostly White, middle‐class families consisting of a mother, father and toddler were videotaped in three separate sessions: mother–child, father–child and both parents–child at a university laboratory setting. The results indicated that there were significant main effects of both parent gender (mother versus father) and context (dyadic versus triadic) on parents' positive and negative parenting and children's engagement and negativity toward parents. Higher levels of mutual engagement between mothers and toddlers were associated with lower levels of fathers' positive parenting and children's engagement with fathers, when moving from the dyadic to the triadic play context. However, fathers' mutual engagement with toddlers was not associated with mothers' parenting quality and child interactive behaviours with mothers. There were also interaction effects of parent gender and context on parents' negative parenting and children's engagement and negativity toward parents. This study adds unique insights to the differences and similarities of parent–child dyadic and triadic interactions during toddlerhood. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Relationship of Temperament Scores to the Way Young Adults Adapt to Change

Temperament has been suggested as affecting the way individuals adapt to changes. This study examined the relationship of temperament, as measured by the Dimensions of Temperament Scale (Lerner, Palermo, Spiro, & Nesselroade, 1982), to three aspects of adaptation for 167 students starting post-secondary education. Loneliness was measured using Schmidt and Sermat's (1983) Differential Loneliness Scale, involvement was measured using Scales of Satisfaction and Activity (Vinsel, Brown, Altman, & Foss, 1980), and affect was measured using the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist (Zuckerman & Lubin, 1965a). In the sample, feelings of loneliness were related to temperament differentially with regard to friends, romantic-sexual relationships, groups, and family. Involvement was best predicted by the approach/withdrawal dimension, whereas affect was best predicted by the dimensions of mood. The results are consistent with earlier work with children and lend support to the view of temperament as an active mechanism by which the individual adapts to life changes.