En-Gendering the Couple-Deity Relationship: Clinical Implications of Power and Process

Spiritual practices are increasingly accommodated by therapists working with religious couples. While research documents potential benefits, spiritual practices such as prayer may invoke an interpretive couple-God relationship distorted by pathogenic processes in one or both spouses. A survey administered to 78 religious couples examined the influence of power/gender as it relates to couples’ harmful triangulation with Deity. Results suggest that harmful triangulation with Deity does occur to some degree in couple relationships, that there are significant differences by gender, and that spouses’ tendencies to triangulate are correlated with one another. We discuss these results from a systemic-feminist perspective, and offer some clinical applications for working with religious couples.

Utilisation des intervalles de confiance au lieu des tests de signification : aspects épistémologiques et pratiques

The use of confidence intervals instead of significance tests is strongly recommended by the fifth edition of the manual of the American Psychological Association (2001). This possibility as well as other improvements in statistical practice are discussed in the framework of the major theoretical options subtending statistical inference and the way they have been applied in psychology for about 50 years. First, the suggestion of a complete ban on statistical testing is examined and rejected. Next, a procedure consisting in measuring the fit of two competing models based on the likelihood ratio is judged interesting and commendable. Finally, the superiority of an approach based on confidence intervals instead of significance tests is assessed and illustrated by its application to an experimental study aiming to demonstrate the absence instead of the presence of an effect of the independent variable.     

Traumatization,Marital Adjustment,and Parenting among Veterans and Their Spouses: A Longitudinal Study of Reciprocal Relations

Despite considerable research on secondary traumatization, the ramifications of veterans’ and their wives’ posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) for the family system remain largely uninvestigated. Beginning to fill this gap, the current study aims to investigate the reciprocal relations between both spouses’ PTSS and marital adjustment, and the implications these bear for their parental functioning. Two hundred and twenty‐five Israeli veterans (mean age = 58.62, SD = 7.6) from the 1973 Yom Kippur War and their wives (mean age = 58.28, SD = 5.79) were examined at two points in time: 30 (T1) and 35–37 years after the war (T2). Analysis included longitudinal actor–partner interdependence modeling and sequential mediation analyses. The results show that higher PTSS among the wives at T1 predicted higher PTSS among husbands at T2, and vice versa, and predicted their husbands’ marital adjustment at T2. Moreover, wives’ PTSS at T1 had a significant effect on parental overinvolvement of both parents at T2, but neither their PTSS nor their husbands’ PTSS had an impact on positive parenting. In the intrapersonal domain, better marital adjustment at T1 predicted positive parenting among both spouses in subsequent measurement. Interpersonally, wives’ lower marital adjustment at T1 predicted husbands’ higher parental functioning, but not vice versa. Furthermore, marital adjustment mediated the association between PTSS and positive parenting for both spouses. The results emphasize the detrimental ramifications of war trauma on the interpersonal domains in veterans’ families. Hence, both marital and parental consequences of trauma should be considered in clinical family interventions.     

Overconfidence at the Keyboard: Confidence and Accuracy in Interpreting Affect in E‐Mail Exchanges

Gesture, voice, expression, and context add richness to communications that increase chances of accurate interpretation. E‐mails lack much of this richness, leading readers to impose their own richness. Three experiments tested the effect of communicator relationship and availability of context on e‐mail writer and reader confidence levels and accuracy. Effects of nonverbal and verbal behavior were also investigated. Results showed that confidence levels for both writers and readers were high, yet somewhat unwarranted based on accuracy rates. Further, writers had more confidence that friends would correctly interpret e‐mails than strangers, although friends showed no more accuracy. Findings suggest that reliance upon friendship and context, as well as verbal and nonverbal cues, to interpret emotion in e‐mail is ineffective, sometimes detrimental.     

Negotiator confidence: The impact of self-efficacy on tactics and outcomes

In a series of four studies, we examined whether and how negotiators’ task-related self-efficacy affects their performance. In the first two studies, we identified two theoretically meaningful self-efficacy constructs—distributive self-efficacy (DSE) and integrative self-efficacy (ISE)—and provided evidence of construct validity. In the third study, task-congruent self-efficacy was positively associated with negotiators’ self-reports of tactical decision-making. In the fourth study, we measured negotiators’ tactics and found that ISE and DSE affected negotiators’ initial choice of tactics. We conclude that ISE and DSE predisposes negotiators to select certain tactics, which then guide the course of the negotiation, and, ultimately, affect the quality of deals.     

The influence of personality on HE students’ confidence in their academic abilities

Students’ confidence in their academic abilities, measured with the Individual Learning Profile (ILP) scale, was examined in relation to their personality traits and grades. To validate the ILP, in Study 1, factor analysis of data from 3003 students extracted six factors (Reading and Writing, Hard IT, Numeracy, Time Management, Speaking, and Easy IT) with good internal reliability. Subsequently, in Study 2, 130 students completed the refined ILP, and scales measuring the Big Five, Perfectionism, Anxiety, and Self-Esteem. Between 10% and 31% of the variance in four ILP factors, but not IT skills, could be predicted by personality traits, but Self-Esteem and Anxiety were not influential. Higher conscientiousness and openness positively predicted higher confidence in reading and writing, while agreeableness and three aspects of perfectionism predicted confidence in numeracy skills. Being introverted and female were predictive of lower confidence in speaking, as were low conscientiousness and the perfectionistic desire to be organised. Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and the perfectionistic desire to be organised were strong predictors of confidence in time-management skills, which in turn predicted first-year GPA. The reliability of the ILP was examined over the course of a one-year interval.     

“Almost There”...Why Clients Fail to Engage in Family Therapy: An Exploratory Study

A great deal of clinical research has sought to describe and suggest remedies for the client dropout phenomenon. However, few studies have addressed the equally pervasive, yet often ignored, non-engagement problem. An exploratory study was conducted to understand why many clients fail to engage in family therapy services after they have completed the initial intake. The results of the study suggest that therapist gender and experience level, clinic policies regarding videotaping sessions, family concerns, and changes in the presenting problem prior to the first session, had an impact on potential clients’ decision to engage in therapy. Implications and future research are discussed.Meng-ning Wang, MA, a doctoral student, and Jonathan Sandberg, PhD, a faculty member in the Marriage and Family Therapy Program at Syracuse University at Syracuse University are co-first authors. Amy Zavada, MA, Tziporah Rosenberg, MA, Aaron Jeffrey, MA, and Justin McPheters, MA, are doctoral students, and Mona Mittal, PhD, and Anne Gosling, PhD, are faculty in the same program.     

Adult Survivors of Child Abuse: An Application of John Gottman’s Sound Marital House Theory

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between child abuse and dysfunctional adult relationship patterns. John Gottman’s Sound Marital House Theory describes different dysfunctional adult relationship patterns including Negative Sentiment Override (NSO), Flooding, and the Distance and Isolation Cascade. In the present study, data analysis indicated that child abuse predicts the experiencing of NSO, NSO predicts the experiencing of flooding, and flooding predicts the experiencing of the distance and isolation cascade. Analysis showed that a subscale of child abuse, negative home environment predicts NSO, flooding, and the distance and isolation cascade.     

Profiling Marital Satisfaction among Graduate Students: an Analysis of the Perceptions of Masters and Doctoral-Students

This study investigated marital satisfaction among graduate students. Using the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-R (MSI-R), 65 graduate students were surveyed. The results revealed multiple common areas of marital concern based on degree program of the student. These findings offer implications for psycho-educational and responsive interventions for clinicians working with this population.