Using What Premarital Couples Already Know to Inform Marriage Education: Integration of a Gottman Model Perspective

The Marriage Preparation and Preservation Act of Florida stimulated a study of premarital couples. What are the best things that you do in your relationship was asked in a survey of persons seeking marriage licenses. The sample consisted of 962 participants. Responses were examined using Gottman's Sound Marital House (1999) as a theoretical framework. Results indicate that premarital participants view specific aspects of the Sound Marital House as the best things they contribute to their relationship. Responses can be used as a guide to the development of a Gottman-based marriage preparation curriculum.     

The longitudinal and concurrent role of neuroticism for partner relationships

Neurotic characteristics of spouses have often been associated with dissatisfaction with the partner relationship. This article addresses the question whether the link between dissatisfaction with the relationship and neuroticism appears during the partner relationship, or whether it is present before the person enters the relationship. Utilizing data from a Swedish longitudinal project, satisfaction with the partner relationship was linked with neuroticism both in adolescence and in adulthood. Adolescent neuroticism was measured at age 15 with the High School Personality Questionnaire (HSPQ), and adult neuroticism was measured at age 37 with the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-I). Results showed that a lower degree of satisfaction in partner relationships in mid-life was linked with higher concurrent neuroticism scores. Opposing most of the previous studies, this association appeared for both men and women. Higher neuroticism in adolescence was, however, not significantly associated with satisfaction in partner relationships in mid-life.     

The Role of Creativity in Marriage and Family Therapy Practice: A National Online Study

The purpose of this study, using an online methodology, was to investigate therapists' perceptions of the role of creativity in couples' and family therapy. Along with completing a quantitative measure assessing creativity in their work, participants responded to four open-ended questions which addressed the meaning of creativity, characteristics of a creative family therapist, some creative interventions they have used with couples and families, and barriers to their own creativity as a family therapist. A total of 142 marriage and family therapists in 36 states in the United States participated. The findings shed light on the unique importance of creativity in couples and family treatment.     

Influences of Marital Conflict on Child Adjustment: Review of Theory and Research

This review summarizes the literature on the relationship between marital conflict and child maladjustment with an emphasis on variables that qualify, explain the association, or both. Following a historical review, the modest findings on the strength of the association between marital conflict and child maladjustment is explored. The definition of marital conflict is clarified through specification of its various dimensions (frequency, intensity, content, resolution). The role of variables that serve to moderate and/or mediate the relationship between marital conflict and child maladjustment are elaborated. Mediating models include exposure theories (Modeling, Cognitive–Contextual effects: appraisal of threat and blame, and Emotional Insecurity) and changes in the parent–child relationship (Spillover). Variables that moderate or qualify the relationship include children's cognitions and behaviors, contextual factors, and demographic differences. A model is presented summarizing these mechanisms. Research recommendations are proposed and the clinical implications of this literature are addressed.     

A Systems/Dialectical Model of Supervision: A Symbolic Process

Although there has been a proliferation of models of supervision in the marriage and family therapy literature recently, most tend to focus on methods rather than on the process of supervision. The model presented here is grounded in developmental concepts and focuses on student learning through a dialectical process of cognitive and emotional growth and incorporates three stages: 1) developing relationships; 2) breaking impasses, and 3) orchestrating changes. Students discover that supervision becomes isomorphic with relationship issues that arise in their therapy sessions. Dialectical in nature in that each stage is characterized by the resolution of contradictory emotions, the supervision process helps supervisees experience emotional shifts in their interactions with others, referred to as emotional restructuring.     

Fleeting Signs of the Course of Life: Facial Expression and Personal Adjustment

In this article, we consider whether facial expressions of emotion relate in theoretically interesting ways to personal adjustment. We first consider the conceptual benefits of this line of inquiry. Then, to anticipate why brief samples of emotional behavior should relate to personal adjustment, we review evidence indicating that facial expressions of emotion correspond to intrapersonal processes and social outcomes. We then review studies showing that facial expressions relate in theoretically significant ways to adjustment after the death of a spouse, in long-term relationships, and in the context of chronic psychological disorders.     

Androgyny and Adjustment in Later Life: Living in a Veterans' Home

This study builds on literature that suggests that interaction with friends in later life is important to the well-being of older adults and other research that argues that androgynous individuals may have a greater range of social skills with which to further their adjustment. We apply these arguments to later life through interviews from a pilot sample of 27 residents in a state-operated veterans' home. Findings suggest that women, who often hold high expectations for the interpersonal domain, are more likely to experience adjustment problems than are men. Men, who may have lower expectations for friendship and intimacy, seem less likely to report dissatisfaction, regardless of gender characteristics. A typology of adjustment and androgyny in later life is developed.     

Effects of self-efficacy on adjustment to college

This study examined the effects of self-efficacy on adjustment to college among 1385 Japanese college students. The College Adjustment Self-Efficacy Scale (CASES) was constructed in order to evaluate the degree of confidence in the skills necessary for college adjustment. Three subscales were identified in the CASES: judgmental ability based on objective information, self-controlled persistence of activity, and self-adjustment in human relations. There were slight gender differences in the first and the third subscales. The CASES subscale scores were compared between well and poorly adjusted students in each college major. Differences in the score patterns of well adjusted students were compared across 13 college majors. The implications for academic career counseling are discussed.     

Comorbidity in schizophrenia: A prognostic study of personality disorders in recovered and non-recovered schizophrenia patients

Symptoms and outcome in schizophrenia are heterogeneous. Part of the variation in outcome might be due to the coexistence of other forms of psychopathology. In the present study the prevalence of personality disorders in a group of recovered and non-recovered schizophrenia patients was focused to examine the prognostic implications of comorbidity for the outcome of the disorder. The results showed no significant differences in prevalence of personality disorders in the two groups at first admission to the hospital, but the difference at the time of interview was close to significance. Emotional and conduct difficulties in adolescence were significantly more prevalent in the non-recovered group. Schizoid features and emotional and conduct disorders in childhood were also more often reported among the non-recovered subjects. The results confirm that comorbidity contributes to the variation in outcome for schizophrenia patients, but does not confirm its prognostic significance.     

Somali Women's Reflections on the Adjustment of Their Children in the United States

Somali women were interviewed regarding their children's adjustment. Qualitative analysis revealed 5 themes: cultural comparisons, concerns about children, parents' loss of disciplinary authority, available support, and the future. The women discussed changes in their children, such as loss of respect and threats to use law enforcement against parents. They also discussed their loss of parental authority and the lack of support from U.S. institutions. Implications for schools and mental health professionals are presented. Se entrevistó a mujeres Somalíes con respecto a la adaptación de sus hijos. Los análisis cualitativos revelaron 5 temas: comparaciones culturales, preocupaciones sobre los niños, la pérdida de autoridad disciplinaria de los padres, apoyo disponible y el futuro. Las mujeres hablaron sobre los cambios en sus hijos, como la pérdida de respeto y las amenazas de usar las fuerzas del orden contra sus padres. También hablaron de la pérdida de su autoridad paterna y la falta de apoyo por parte de las instituciones de los Estados Unidos. Se presentan las implicaciones para escuelas y profesionales de la salud mental.