Romantic disengagement as a developmental process that contributes to marital distress and decline

Barry, Robin A.

doi:10.17077/etd.pvpyubqb

Cited by 1 publication

(3 citation statements)

References 208 publications

(331 reference statements)

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A modified version of the Romantic Disengagement Behavioral Coding system (Barry, 2010) was used to code each partner's behavioral disengagement during the video-recorded conflict interaction. The original measure included 17 codes capturing important components of disengagement suggested in previous research (Hess, 2002;Heyman & Vivan, 2000;Parkinson & Totterdell, 1999;Smith et al, 1990); however, based on the author's previous use of the measure (e.g., Barry, 2010), these 17 codes were reduced to six codes for this study. These six codes were chosen because they demonstrated higher reliability and validity in the original development of the coding system; furthermore, scores on these codes yielded greater variability (i.e., certain codes rarely observed were dropped; Barry, 2010).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The original measure included 17 codes capturing important components of disengagement suggested in previous research (Hess, 2002;Heyman & Vivan, 2000;Parkinson & Totterdell, 1999;Smith et al, 1990); however, based on the author's previous use of the measure (e.g., Barry, 2010), these 17 codes were reduced to six codes for this study. These six codes were chosen because they demonstrated higher reliability and validity in the original development of the coding system; furthermore, scores on these codes yielded greater variability (i.e., certain codes rarely observed were dropped; Barry, 2010). These six codes included (a) avoiding the discussion (e.g., refusing to talk about an issue), (b) shutting out the partner behaviorally (e.g., refusing to make eye contact), (c) showing low evidence of listening to the partner (e.g., showing few/no verbal and nonverbal behaviors occurring in response to a speaker's words), (d) brushing off the partner (e.g., verbally expressing denial, disinterest, or giving up), (e) showing low evidence of interest in the discussion (e.g., asking few/no questions that express genuine interest), and (f) low levels of verbal engagement (e.g., less frequently speaking and giving appropriate time for partner to respond).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Women’s Disengagement Behaviors During Couple Conflict: Investigating Risk Indicators of Intimate Partner Violence

Franz

Smethurst

Barry

et al. 2023

J Interpers Violence

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Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health concern, leading to prevention efforts focused on identifying risk indicators of escalating conflict between partners. Certain behaviors during conflict discussions have been uniquely linked to IPV, and there is evidence that disengagement behaviors—an emerging construct—are associated with IPV as well. However, research on disengagement and IPV has largely been limited to self-report, and available observational research is largely cross-sectional. Addressing these limitations, this study prospectively examined the association between observed disengagement behaviors during couple’s conflict discussions and IPV 1 year later, using a sample of 83 heterosexual married or cohabitating partners. Behavioral coding was used to assess each partner’s observed disengagement behaviors and each partner’s psychological and physical IPV was assessed via questionnaire 1 year later. Linear regressions were used to investigate links between indicators of engagement (i.e., listening, questions, eye contact) and psychological and physical IPV perpetration and victimization. Less question asking and higher eye contact by women were associated with greater psychological and physical IPV perpetrated by both women and men 1 year later. Lower listening behaviors by women were associated with greater psychological (but not physical) IPV perpetrated by men 1 year later. In contrast, no disengagement behaviors displayed by men were significantly related to IPV. Applying a latent change score framework using baseline IPV data, findings indicated replicability of results, though with less consistency, suggesting that women’s disengagement behaviors may reflect a larger pattern of abuse that predates and follows disengaged couple interactions. Findings suggest that a unique blend of verbal and nonverbal indicators of women’s disengagement during couple conflict provides a meaningful signal of the emotional climate of the relationship.

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