Complex assessment of relationship quality within dyads

Reblin, Maija; Vaughn, Allison A.; Birmingham, Wendy C.; Smith, Timothy W.; Uchino, Bert N.; Spahr, Chandler M.

doi:10.1002/jcop.22392

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Recent research has examined ambivalence in marriage and found those who report spousal ambivalent behavior have worse psychological and physiological health [ 29 , 36 – 39 ]. The present study’s finding supports this literature, and we echo previous researchers in urging future studies to include multidimensional measures of relationship quality [ 35 , 106 ]. Additionally, our results extend this literature by exploring a unique method by which to assess the speed at which stress buffering occurs: pupillometry.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Marital quality however is often seen on a unidimensional scale being either supportive (high support, low strain) or aggravating (low support, high strain), yet marriages can contain both high elements of support and high elements of strain concurrently (ambivalence). In a study evaluating 183 couples Reblin, Vaughn, Birmingham et al [35] showed that the inclusion of multiple dimensions of relationship quality improved prediction of marital functioning. Recent research has examined ambivalence in marriage and found those who report spousal ambivalent behavior have worse psychological and physiological health, and worse relationship processes than marriages with supportive behaviors [29,[36][37][38][39].…”

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Spousal emotional support and relationship quality buffers pupillary response to horror movies

et al. 2021

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Being satisfied in marriage provides protective stress buffering benefits to various health complications but the causal mechanisms and speed at which this is accomplished is less well understood. Much of the research on health and marriage has conceptualized marital quality in a unidimensional way, with high levels of either positivity or negativity. This conceptualization may not fully capture the nuanced benefits of marital relationships. Pupillometry is an innovative method which captures the effects of marital stress buffering on the body’s autonomic nervous system in real time; pupil dilation occurs within 200ms to stress exposure. Additionally, this method records hundreds of readings per second, providing precision and sensitivity. This preregistered experiment aimed to conceptually replicate previous pupillometry stress buffering results and extend the previous findings by including a generalizable, real-life stressor—viewing a horror movie—and multidimensional relationship quality effects. Eighty-three couples (166 participants) were quasi-grouped, based on a self-reported multidimensional relationship quality scale, to either supportive or ambivalent marital relationship conditions. They were then randomly assigned to either a spousal support (i.e., handholding) or non-support (spousal absence) condition and watched clips from both horror and nature movies while pupil dilation was measured. Tonic pupillary response results revealed that the horror video clips elicited a stress response and there were significant differences between the support and non-support conditions, as well as marital relationship quality conditions. These results frame the precision, speed, and sensitivity of pupillometry as a potentially fruitful method to investigate the causal mechanisms linking stress buffering and supportive marital relationships.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

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confidence: 99%

Spousal emotional support and relationship quality buffers pupillary response to horror movies

et al. 2021

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“…This study describes both broad and specific measures of support in an end-of-life cancer caregiving context over time. Our findings, similar to work in broader relationship contexts [ 25 , 26 ], suggests that adding additional information about more specific aspects of social interactions adds predictive value compared to more general measures of support.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Hospice Caregivers’ Perception of Family and Non-Family Social Support and Stress over Time: Associations with Reports of General Support

Reblin

Tay

Iacob

et al. 2023

IJERPH

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Social support has been identified as a key factor to protect wellbeing for home hospice cancer caregivers. However, few studies have assessed social support over time in this context, and measures of support are often limited to general assessments of perceived support. Our goal was to (1) describe change in cancer home hospice caregivers’ social support over time during care and into bereavement and (2) explore the impact of perceived stress and support from family and non-family members on caregivers’ perceived general social support. We conducted a secondary analysis of longitudinal prospective questionnaire data. Forty caregivers completed measures of general perceived support, family and non-family support and stress during hospice enrollment and 2 and 6 months post the patient’s death. Linear mixed models were used to determine change in support over time and the contribution of specific support/stress ratings to general support assessments. Caregivers overall had moderate and stable levels of social support over time, though there was significant variation between and within individuals. Family and non-family support and stress from family predicted general perceptions of social support, while no effects were found for non-family stress. This work suggests a need for more specific measures of support and stress, and the need for research to focus on improving baseline levels of caregiver perceived support.

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“…One meta-analysis found that most standard unidimensional measures of marital quality did not adequately distinguish between positive and negative aspects of marital behavior [ 51 ], and may not fully capture the nuances of marital relationships [ 52 ]. Reblin et al [ 53 ] showed that the inclusion of multiple dimensions of relationship quality improved prediction of marital functioning over that of unidimensional scales. Indeed, Birmingham et al [ 39 ] found that despite the positivity in these ambivalent relationships, individuals whose spouses’ or own behavior was ambivalent, did not receive the same cardiovascular protection in the form of lower blood pressure as supportive marriages.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Doing it all: Effects of Family Responsibilities and Marital Relationship Quality on Mothers’ Ambulatory Blood Pressure

Graff,

Birmingham,

Wadsworth

et al. 2023

Annals of Behavioral Medicine

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Background The shared provider responsibility between married couples does not translate to equally shared division of childcare (CC) and household labor. While some marriages contain highly positive aspects, marriages may also simultaneously contain both positive and negative aspects. The negativity in these relationships can negate the positivity and could potentially lead to the detriment of mothers’ health. Purpose We examined mothers’ ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) associated with their marital relationship quality and perceived equity with her spouse on CC and household tasks. Methods We investigate these associations using a mixed multilevel model analysis on a sample of 224 mothers in heterosexual marriages, all of whom had children under the age of 18 years currently living in the home. Results Mothers’ perception of equity in the division of CC responsibilities contributed to lower ABP. Additionally, mothers in supportive marital relationships (low negativity and high positivity) had lower ABP than those in ambivalent relationships (both high negativity and positivity). There was a crossover interaction such that the effect of relationship quality on ABP was moderated by the perception of equity in the division of CC. For mothers who report doing all the CC, they had lower ABP if they had a supportive marital relationship compared with mothers in ambivalent relationships. Whereas mothers who report more equity in CC and have a supportive relationship have higher ABP compared with mothers in ambivalent relationships. Conclusions This study has implications related to dynamics within marital relationships. These results demonstrate important relational influences on mothers’ ABP.

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Complex assessment of relationship quality within dyads

Cited by 7 publications

References 45 publications

Spousal emotional support and relationship quality buffers pupillary response to horror movies

Spousal emotional support and relationship quality buffers pupillary response to horror movies

Hospice Caregivers’ Perception of Family and Non-Family Social Support and Stress over Time: Associations with Reports of General Support

Doing it all: Effects of Family Responsibilities and Marital Relationship Quality on Mothers’ Ambulatory Blood Pressure

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