The Assessment of Marital Adjustment with Chinese Populations: A Study of the Psychometric Properties of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale

This article presents findings from a study of the psychometric properties of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) with 63 Chinese-Americans. The analysis revealed high internal consistency for DAS scores. Coefficient alpha for the total DAS score was r = .93. Convergent validity was established with the Locke-Wallis Marital Adjustment Scale (LWMAT) (r = .87) and divergent validity by evidence of an inverse relationship with the Marital Disaffection Scale (MDS) (r = –.79). Correlations with each measure were found to be (p = 0.01). The result of factor analysis fail to support the presence of four separate subscales. Results show that the global DAS score is of potential utility with Asian samples.     

道德之一元论与多元论：缘起、内涵与论争

一元论与多元论之争是道德心理学领域近些年最为活跃的理论交锋之一。道德一元论认为所有外在的道德现象与内在的道德结构都可以用一种因素来解释。道德多元论则认为道德不能只用单一因素来解释,而是存在多个不同质的道德维度,且具有文化敏感性。对应道德理论和道德基础理论是这场争议的典型代表。双方就伤害的解释力、道德失声现象、模块化道德与洁净维度独立性等方面展开论争。未来研究应从三个具体方面进一步探索道德之一元论与多元论难题,进而保持道德心理学领域的理论活力。     

New Fathers’ Perceptions of Dyadic Adjustment: The Roles of Maternal Gatekeeping and Coparenting Closeness

Although the association between maternal gatekeeping and relationship functioning has been explored by a few studies, none of these have focused on fathers’ perceptions of these constructs. Given that today's new fathers are challenged by elevated expectations for active parenting and coparenting even as most new mothers remain primary caregivers of infant children, this is a critical omission. This study examined the associations between new fathers’ perceptions of maternal gatekeeping and change in dyadic adjustment as mediated through coparenting closeness. Maternal gatekeeping was reported by 182 fathers at 3 months postpartum, coparenting closeness was reported at 3 and 6 months postpartum, and dyadic adjustment was reported during the third trimester of pregnancy and at 9 months postpartum. Fathers’ perceptions of relative change in coparenting closeness from 3 to 6 months mediated associations between fathers’ perceptions of maternal gatekeeping at 3 months and relative change in dyadic adjustment from the third trimester to 9 months postpartum. In particular, findings indicate that greater perceived maternal gate opening was associated with higher levels of dyadic adjustment through higher levels of coparenting closeness, whereas greater perceived maternal gate closing was associated with lower levels of dyadic adjustment through lower levels of coparenting closeness. This study highlights the importance of studying fathers in the context of the family system and the role of the coparenting relationship at the transition to parenthood in couple relationship functioning.     

Dialogue and Dominance in Couple Therapy for Depression: Exploring Therapists’ Responses in Creating Collaborative Moments

Previous investigations have found specific communication patterns in couples dealing with depression, specifically when depression concurs with conjugal conflicts. The presence of these patterns can reflect couples’ difficulties in engaging in collaborative communication during their sessions, posing a real challenge for therapists. This exploratory study uses a dialogical approach to examine issues of dominance and type of dialogue in two couples who differed in terms of their levels of dyadic adjustment. The therapists’ reactions were explored in order to detect the kinds of responses that were most effective at engendering a collaborative attitude in therapy sessions. The method used to analyze the dialogue was Dialogical Investigations of Happenings of Change (DIHC). Results on dominance indicated that the degree of quantitative and semantic dominance displayed by a different member of the couple in each case was illustrative of their relational dynamics, while in both cases interactional dominance was exercised by the therapists. Results on dialogue revealed that dialogic dialogue might help to coconstruct new shared meanings of depression. The findings indicated that certain responses by therapists as part of the dialogue could be useful in bringing about a reduction in hostility between the members of a couple, provided that the responses are maintained over the course of the session. Some research and clinical implications that emerge from the results are discussed.     

Five Phases of Dyadic Analysis: Stretching the Boundaries of Understanding of Family Relationships

In the last decade, an increasing number of qualitative studies sought to investigate the dynamics of various dyads by conducting in-depth, multiple family member interviews. The emphasis in the methodological literature dealing with this type of research is primarily on the data collection process, and much less on the development of methods suitable for the analysis of the data thus derived, especially with regard to dyads consisting of family members belonging to different systems: families of origin or nuclear families. The purpose of this paper is to propose a model for dyadic analysis based on examining the dynamics of the evolving relationships between key caregivers of a family member with brain injury. The model includes inductive and abductive phases of analysis, and it is based on an ecological-systemic perspective. The benefits of this model are highlighted, and its potential contribution is further discussed.     

Coping with work and family: How do dual‐earners interact?

Juggling the demands of both work and family has become increasingly difficult, especially for dual‐earner households; nevertheless, families have developed strategies to deal with work‐family challenges. This paper uses couple level analyses (APIM models) with 100 dual‐earner couples to provide insight about partners' mutual influence on the use of work‐family coping strategies. The results show that women's use of coping strategies is more associated with work‐family conflict and work‐family enrichment than men's coping. In addition, using partner coping, having a positive attitude towards multiple roles, using planning and management skills and avoiding having to cut back on professional responsibilities is associated with better outcomes (more enrichment and less conflict). Surprisingly, the use of childcare facilities is associated with women's conflict and partner effects were only found concerning the use of management and planning skills. These skills, however, have distinct effects for men and women's outcomes: their use by men reduces their own conflict but increases their wives', while their use by women decreases their own conflict and increases their own and their partner's enrichment. These results point to the fact that gender roles continue to be a hallmark of work‐family issues. Our design and results point out the need for new interventions that take couple interdependences into account.     

Perceived dyadic coping,anxiety, depression and satisfaction with life of women diagnosed with fibromyalgia

Women diagnosed with fibromyalgia face a wide range of challenges impacting multiple aspects of their lives, such as their relationship with their partner. This study aims to examine how women diagnosed with fibromyalgia manage stress in their own couple and to investigate the role of dyadic coping in anxiety and depression symptoms, and in life satisfaction. Seventy-three women diagnosed with fibromyalgia and 73 matched women filled questionnaires to examine dyadic coping, anxiety and depression symptoms, and life satisfaction. Results show that women diagnosed with fibromyalgia perceived themselves and their partner as using more negative dyadic coping, more delegated dyadic coping and less common dyadic coping. Moreover, negative dyadic coping predicted higher anxiety symptoms and poorer life satisfaction. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of dyadic stress management in understanding psychological adjustment better in women diagnosed with fibromyalgia and the need to develop better-adapted interventions to support them effectively.     

Hard-working in general but lazy at home? Generalized Big Five traits and relationship-specific traits in romantic couples over time

To acknowledge the significance of contexts for personality, this study focused on personality in romantic relationships and the concept of relationship-specific traits. Specifically, we were interested in how relationship-specific traits (i.e., how people report to be in their relationship) relate to generalized Big Five traits, and whether both constructs codevelop over time. We computed dyadic bivariate latent growth curve models, using data from 551 couples (M_age = 32.23 years) over 1 year. The findings indicated that generalized traits and relationship-specific traits were positively correlated in their intercepts but did not codevelop over time. Furthermore, baseline relationship satisfaction explained variance in traits, particularly in relationship-specific traits. These findings have implications for how to study personality development in the romantic relationship context.     

Multiple Levels of Family Factors and Oppositional Defiant Disorder Symptoms Among Chinese Children

Family factors are closely associated with child developmental outcomes. This study examined the relationship of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms and factors at whole family, dyadic, and individual levels in Chinese children. Participants, who were recruited from 14 primary schools in north, east, and south‐west China, included 80 father‐child dyads and 169 mother‐child dyads. Children in the participating dyads were previously diagnosed with ODD. Results revealed that family cohesion/adaptability was indirectly associated with ODD symptoms via parent–child relationship and child emotion regulation. Parent–child relationship affected ODD symptoms directly and indirectly through child emotion regulation. In addition, the effects of family cohesion/adaptability on parent emotion regulation and child emotion regulation were mediated by the parent–child relationship. The tested model provides a comprehensive framework of how family factors at multiple levels are related to child ODD symptoms and highlights the importance of understanding child emotional and behavioral problems within the family context, more specifically within the multiple levels of family relationships.     

Attention bias in youth: Associations with youth and mother's depressive symptoms moderated by emotion regulation and affective dynamics during family interactions

Recent research has highlighted the potential role of attention bias for emotional stimuli as a possible cognitive risk factor for depression in youth. However, differences in youth emotion regulation or maternal affect may moderate the association between maternal and youth depression and youth attention biases. The current study investigated the relationship between maternal and youth depressive symptoms and youth (aged 11–17 years) attention bias for sad and happy faces in 59 mother–youth dyads, examining whether positive and negative maternal affect observed during structured interaction tasks or youth emotion regulation tendencies moderated associations between maternal and youth depression and attention biases. Youth suppression interacted with maternal and youth depression to predict sad attentional biases in youth, while maternal positive affect interacted with maternal depression to predict happy attention biases in youth.