Cohabiting couples and couples who cohabit prior to marriage have less stable relationships than married couples who did not cohabit, and these differences in stability may be linked to different processes within the relationships. This research examines the similarity of partners' beliefs about the division of household labor using the National…

The current series of studies was conducted to explore the interplay between death awareness, fear of intimacy, and unsafe sex. In Study 1 (n=73), making mortality salient led to higher willingness to engage in risky sexual behaviors, in comparison to a control condition. In addition, only in the mortality salience condition, lower fear of…

This study explored which risk factors are associated with degrees of relational and purpose development in youth offenders. Results indicate that those with the poorest development particularly struggled with substance abuse, lack of family support, and risky behaviors to self. Several treatment recommendations and clinical strategies are…

Play subtypes of Activity and Pretend have been proposed yet no empirical study has determined the criteria that identify and differentiate these two play subtypes. Children (n=98) and adults (n=38) were shown 10 video examples of human and other primate. Activity and Pretend play and asked to identify which of six criteria (positive affect,…

Serial arguing has been linked to relational difficulties. We extend this research by looking at the relationship between demand/withdraw patterns enacted during argumentative episodes and aversive reactions after the episode has ended in romantic relationships ("N" = 219). We found that individuals who initiated the first confrontation often…

Alcohol use increases the risk of intimate partner violence (IPV), yet little research has examined its role in victimization outcomes (e.g., physical injury, police reporting). This study examined the roles of perpetrator and victim incident-specific alcohol use in IPV outcomes. The sample included 501 men and 1,756 women who had experienced an…

I offer an autoethnographic exploration of my experience with the culture of a marriage and family therapist (MFT) in training. As a beginning therapist I assumed that success would be determined primarily by how well I mastered different theoretical models. This belief shifted during an instance in which I was planning to begin differentiating…

This study examined the association between different types of integration in the gay community and HIV risk among gay male couples. Previous research linking gay community integration and involvement among couples to HIV risk has been equivocal. Each partner in 59 gay couples completed a separate anonymous questionnaire that assessed two types of…

This investigation examined the implications of shift work for parent-adolescent relationship quality--intimacy, conflict, parental knowledge, and involvement--in a sample of 376 dual-earner families. The findings suggested that mothers' relationships with their adolescents were not negatively impacted by their working nonstandard schedules but…

Drawing on attachment theory and constructivist conceptualizations of bereavement, the authors assessed the relation between continuing bonds coping and meaning reconstruction following the death of a loved one and complicated grief symptomatology. Five hundred six young adults in the first two years of bereavement from a variety of losses…

This study investigated the relations between early adolescents' academic motivational orientations and an aspect of quality of friendship: intimacy. Two-hundred and three Jewish-Israeli seventh grade students responded to surveys asking them about their academic achievement goals and about characteristics of their friendships. Variable-centered…

Objective: Child abuse is an important risk for adult psychiatric morbidity. However, not all maltreated children experience mental health problems as adults. The aims of the present study were to address the extent of resilience to adult psychopathology in a representative community sample, and to explore predictors of a good prognosis. Methods:…

Dying persons are encouraged to name as durable power of attorney for health care (DPAHC) someone who will thus be empowered to make end-of-life treatment decisions for them in the event that they become incapacitated. We use data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study to investigate whether and whom older adults designate as their DPAHC. DPAHC…

This article explores what factors contribute to victims' vs. victim advocates' assessments of risk of repeat intimate partner violence. A sample of 169 court-involved victims and the advocates who conducted intake with them were asked to rate victims' risk of repeat abuse. Significant contributors to victim assessments were her level of…

Background: Little is known about the prevalence of partner violence among adolescents, nor of the factors with which it is associated. The objectives of this study were to document prevalence rates for partner violence among high school students in Cape Town, and to explore factors that are associated with such violence. Method: The sample…