Convergence and divergence among multiple methods for assessing adolescent romantic relationships

Abstract

The problem solving conversations of 92 adolescent romantic couples were analyzed using two innovative techniques for capturing the meaning-making processes in couples' interactions. Couples were coded using the narrative coding system developed by the Family Narrative Consortium (Fiese & Sameroff, 1999), yielding measures of narrative coherence for each couple member and an assessment of couples' capacity to engage in the interaction in a coordinated and mutually respectful manner. In addition, a video-recall procedure captured couple members' own subjective understanding of their own and their partners' behaviors during the interaction. Moderate associations were observed between trained coders', boyfriends', and girlfriends' perspectives, with more consistent links in some domains between girlfriends' ratings and observers' codes. In addition, indices of the quality of the interaction were linked to couple member global self reports of both positive and negative relationship quality, with many associations between observed interaction and global self reports of relationships quality achieving moderate effect sizes.Researchers from varying methodological traditions have devoted much effort over the past decade to improving understanding of developmental processes, significance, and functioning in adolescent romantic relationships (e.g., Florsheim, 2003;. Many prominent adolescent romantic relationship researchers have roots in the study of family and peer relationships (Laursen & Collins, 2004;Powers & Welsh, 1999;Rosén, Furman, & Hartup, 1988;Shulman, & Ben-Artzi, 2003;Welsh, Galliher, & Powers, 1998), and have adapted both theory and methods for the purpose of understanding the development and salience of romantic relationships during adolescence. A rich history of the use of observational methodologies to understand relationship processes in the family, peer, and marital literatures has served as a foundation for much of the developing body of knowledge regarding adolescent romance (e.g., Aspland & Gardner, 2003;Gottman, Swanson, & Swanson, 2002;Goudena & Vermande, 2002;Noller & Feeney, 2002;Patterson, Dishion, & Bank, 1984). Observational procedures have generated a wealth of information about behaviors, and patterns of behavior, associated with optimal individual and relationship functioning, both concurrently and over time.Address correspondence to Renee V. Galliher, Ph.D., Dept. of Psychology, Utah State University, 2810 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. NIH Public Access NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author...

Informative Disagreements: Associations Between Relationship Distress, Depression, and Discrepancy in Interpersonal Perception Within Couples

“…Self‐ratings of affiliation and autonomy behavior were moderately correlated with partner ratings, as has been found previously (Cui, Lorenz, Conger, Melby, & Bryant, ; Galliher, Enno, & Wright, ). Interestingly, couples tended to agree more about friendly versus hostile behaviors than they did about enmeshed versus differentiated behaviors.…”

Discursos socioculturais sobre o amor em Portugal: Um percurso geracional?

“…Assim, investigadores de diferentes tradições metodológicas têm--se dedicado à análise da dimensão desenvolvimental das relações amorosas --os processos específicos envolvidos no estabelecimento, desenvolvimento e qualidade das relações românticas dos/das adolescentes, o seu significado e funcionamento (e.g., Furman & Shomaker, 2008;Galliher, Enno, & Wright, 2008).…”

“…Apesar da conclusão partilhada de que existem especificidades nas interações românticas dos/das adolescentes comparativamente às outras relações que estabelecem (e.g., Furman & Shomaker, 2008) e continuidade entre as experiências relacionais adolescentes e as adultas (Raley, Crissey, & Muller, 2007), os resultados são díspares: alguns apontam para interações que se caracterizam pela maior conflitualidade, menor responsividade afetiva face ao parceiro e menores competências comunicativas (Furman & Shomaker, 2008); outros indicam interações globalmente positivas e com evitamento de tópicos potencialmente conflituosos e sentimentos negativos nas suas interações (Galliher et al, 2008). No entanto, a maioria aponta para uma minimização das interações negativas e para uma tendência de os/as adolescentes avaliarem positivamente as suas relações amorosas e os comportamentos do parceiro (Furman & Shomaker, 2008;Galliher et al, 2008), na tentativa de "proteger" as suas relações, principalmente os/as adolescentes mais novos/as (Galliher et al, 2008).…”

“…No entanto, a maioria aponta para uma minimização das interações negativas e para uma tendência de os/as adolescentes avaliarem positivamente as suas relações amorosas e os comportamentos do parceiro (Furman & Shomaker, 2008;Galliher et al, 2008), na tentativa de "proteger" as suas relações, principalmente os/as adolescentes mais novos/as (Galliher et al, 2008).…”

“…Como vimos, há estudos que se centram na "formalização" do amor, analisando--o no contexto da constituição, manutenção, sucesso/insucesso e qualidade das relações, principalmente as maritais (no caso dos adultos) e as de namoro (no caso dos adolescentes) -o amor é apenas considerado como variável que leva à união/casamento ou cuja diminuição/ ausência acarreta a dissolução das relações/divórcio. Além disso, mesmo quando se procura analisar o fenómeno ao longo das várias etapas da vida ou se focam fases específicas (como a adolescência), a dimensão sociocultural do fenómeno tem sido obscurecida -os poucos estudos existentes (e.g., Furman et al, 2008;Galliher et al, 2008) procedem a uma abordagem comparativa ou referem especificidades mas, na sua maioria, sem uma análise aprofundada do seu enquadramento cultural que contribui para as diferenças ou especificidades encontradas.…”