No abstract

The demand/withdraw (D/W) interaction pattern is a maladaptive cycle of behavior that is associated with a wide range of deleterious individual and relational outcomes. Partners' emotional responding during couple conflict has long been theorized to play a central role in the occurrence of D/W. The interpersonal process model of D/W behavior suggests that each partner's emotional responses are associated with their own as well as the other partner's behavior in the D/W cycle and that the nature of these associations varies across partners. A prior test of the interpersonal process model provided support for sex-and role-specific associations between vocal emotional expression and demanding and withdrawing behaviors. The current study expands the conceptual frame of the interpersonal process model by incorporating subjective emotional experience. Hypothesized associations between subjective emotional experience, emotional expression, and role-specific demanding and withdrawing behaviors were tested in a sample of 59 couples using an actor-partner interdependence model. Results reveal that spouses experience and express nonsignificantly different levels of negative affect but strongly differ in how the experience and expression of those emotions are related to demanding and withdrawing behaviors. High levels of women's demanding behavior were associated with the combination of experiencing and expressing high levels of negative affect, while high levels of men's withdrawing behavior were associated with experiencing high levels of negative affect but expressing low levels of negative affect. Implications of results for understanding emotional processes in maladaptive cycles and for clinical practice are discussed.

Accurately understanding the thoughts and feelings of romantic partners, termed empathic accuracy, is critical for optimal relationship functioning. Empathic failure is linked to common reasons couples seek therapy (Doss, Simpson, & Christensen, 2004;Jacobson & Christensen, 1996) and is either implicitly or explicitly a target of many couple therapies (e.g., Jacobson & Christensen, 1996). More specifically, couple therapies target partners' abilities to accurately understand one another preceding and during conflict, periods characterized by high levels of stress. The current study tests the hypothesis that acute stress can be harmful for empathic accuracy in romantic couples, and tests two competing path models of the impact of stress on accuracy. Results show that an acute stressor affected accuracy of men and women differently, impairing accuracy in women but not observably affecting men's accuracy. The effect of the stressor on empathic accuracy for women was mediated by curvilinear arousal, and men's accuracy was also associated with curvilinear arousal. This pattern of results suggests that moderate arousal is optimal for empathic accuracy for both men and women, but this effect was twice as large for women relative to men. These findings point toward potential avenues to improve existing couple therapies by incorporating strategies to mitigate the effects of stress, thereby increasing couples' ability to accurately understand one another in therapy. These findings also suggest strategies for couples to be optimally productive when having important relationship conversations by attending to their level of arousal.

Social scientists have long utilized observations of human behavior in research designs. For researchers studying couples, observation of romantic partners has led to important discoveries about how such behavior is associated with physical, mental, and family health. Historically, these methods have been used in in-person laboratory paradigms that place notable limitations on reach and inclusion. This has, in turn, restricted the generalizability of such research to couples who may not attend an in-person laboratory assessment. Transferring the observational laboratory into an online format has the potential to expand the capabilities of these methods to include more diverse couples. This article presents two empirical studies that used online methods to conduct observational behavioral research with sexual and gender minority couples, populations that could be difficult to reach using traditional methods in many places. We demonstrate that we were able to reach, recruit, and enroll diverse couples that more closely resemble the population of same-sex couples in the United States than likely would have been reached in-person. Further, we show that the quality of the observational data collected via the internet allowed for over 94% of collected data to be coded, with acceptable interrater reliabilities and convergent validity. These studies provide a proof-of-concept of online observational methods, accompanied by a tutorial for using such methods. We discuss possible extensions of these online methods, their limitations, and the potential to help further the field of close relationships by reaching more diverse relationships and increasing the generalizability of our research.

Cancer and its treatment pose challenges that affect not only patients but also their significant others, including intimate partners. Accumulating evidence suggests that couples’ ability to communicate effectively plays a major role in the psychological adjustment of both individuals and the quality of their relationship. Two key conceptual models have been proposed to account for how couple communication impacts psychological and relationship adjustment: the social-cognitive processing (SCP) model and the relationship intimacy (RI) model. These models posit different mechanisms and outcomes, and thus have different implications for intervention. The purpose of this project is to test and compare the utility of these models using comprehensive and methodologically rigorous methods. Aims are: (1) to examine the overall fit of the SCP and RI models in explaining patient and partner psychological and relationship adjustment as they occur on a day-to-day basis and over the course of 1 year; (2) to examine the fit of the models for different subgroups (males vs. females, and patients vs. partners); and (3) to examine the utility of various methods of assessing communication by examining the degree to which baseline indices from different measurement strategies predict self-reported adjustment at 1-year follow up. The study employs a longitudinal, multi-method approach to examining communication processes including: standard self-report questionnaires assessing process and outcome variables collected quarterly over the course of 1 year; smartphone-based ecological momentary assessments to sample participant reports in real time; and laboratory-based couple conversations from which we derive observational measures of communicative behavior and affective expression, as well as vocal indices of emotional arousal. Participants are patients with stage II-IV breast, colon, rectal, or lung cancer and their spouses/partners, recruited from two NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers. Results will be published in scientific journals, presented at scientific conferences, and conveyed to a larger audience through infographics and social media outlets. Findings will inform theory, measurement, and the design and implementation of efficacious interventions aimed at optimizing both patient and partner well-being.