The Importance of Parents' Dyadic Coping for Children

Stress and coping in couples have received increased research attention during the past two decades, particularly with regard to how couples cope with stress. Dyadic coping has emerged as a strong predictor of relationship satisfaction. Less research has focused on the effects of dyadic coping on other outcomes or family members. In the present study, the authors addressed this gap by examining parents' dyadic coping as a predictor of children's internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and prosocial behavior in three independent studies. In Studies 1 and 2 self‐report data were used to assess parents' dyadic coping through the parents' and the children's perspective, and Study 3 included observational data on dyadic coping. Parental dyadic coping was related to children's externalizing symptoms, internalizing symptoms, and prosocial behavior, although results for the latter two outcomes were not consistent across the three studies. The findings suggest that parents' dyadic coping deserves greater consideration within the context of child development.     

Long‐Term Effects of Stressors on Relationship Well‐Being and Parenting Among Rural African American Women*

Abstract: This investigation of the effects of stressful life events on rural African American women’s relationship well‐being, psychological functioning, and parenting included 361 married or long‐term cohabiting women. Associations among stressful events, socioeconomic status, perceived racial discrimination, coping strategies, psychological functioning, relationship well‐being, and parenting were tested. Stressful events were related directly to diminished relationship well‐being and heightened psychological distress and indirectly to compromised parenting. The results can inform research and intervention with African American women.     

The Role of Participant‐Facilitator Demographic Match in Couple and Relationship Education

Offerings of couple and relationship education in recent years have included more diverse populations of participants, as well as more diverse facilitators in community‐based program delivery. As a result, the opportunity has emerged to examine contextual factors that may impact program effects. This study examined the relationship between participant‐facilitator demographic match of ethnicity, sex, education, and relationship status on reported facilitator quality and program outcomes, as well as the relationship between facilitator quality and program outcomes. Results indicated that sex match was related to facilitator quality. Relationship status match was related to change in couple functioning, and education match was related to change in individual functioning. Additionally, facilitator quality was related to program outcomes. Findings suggest the value of adopting an additive approach to program implementation, in which facilitation quality and skills and similarity between participant and facilitator are considered.     

Technology‐Mediated Communication with Siblings During the Transition to College: Associations with Relationship Positivity and Self‐Disclosure

An important task for emerging adults is the effective maintenance of sibling relationships given their importance for well‐being later in adulthood. However, little is currently known about how siblings maintain communication with one another during this developmental stage when they often live apart for the first time, or about whether different communication patterns have unique relational implications. Using a sample of first‐year college students (n = 250), the present study identified four distinct groups of emerging adults who used information and communication technologies differently in communicating with their siblings. Emerging adults who frequently used synchronous communication methods (as opposed to more passive methods) generally had more positive and self‐disclosive relationships with their siblings about a variety of topics, although there were important gender and birth order differences. Implications for college administrators and mental health professionals are discussed.     

Processes of Change in Self‐Directed Couple Relationship Education

Abstract: The current study examined the learning processes involved in professionally supported self‐directed couple relationship education (CRE). Fifty‐nine couples completed Couple CARE, a systematic, self‐directed CRE program designed in flexible delivery mode to be completed at home. Couples watched a DVD introducing key relationship ideas and skills and then completed a structured guidebook. The learning process was supported by telephone‐based coaching sessions from a professional relationship educator. Couples completed the learning tasks associated with the programe and successfully implemented a wide range of relationship self‐change, and most reported continuing implementation of program learning at 6 months follow‐up. These findings suggest that Couple CARE is readily accessible and results in effective skill acquisition for couples.     

Parenting Stress,Dinnertime Rituals,and Child Well‐being in Working‐Class Families

This study examined the extent to which family dinnertime rituals serve a protective role for families experiencing high levels of stress. Using data from a longitudinal study of working‐class couples, the role of dinnertime rituals as a moderator of mothers' and fathers' parenting stress and child psychosocial outcomes was investigated. Greater dinnertime rituals reported by fathers moderated the effect of parenting stress on internalizing problems for girls, but not for boys. Fathers' reports of dinnertime rituals were related to fewer behavioral symptoms, internalizing problems and externalizing problems, and greater adaptive skills for girls. No significant interaction effects for mothers' parenting stress or rituals were found, but there were significant main effects of mothers' parenting stress and dinnertime rituals on child outcomes. These findings suggest that dinnertime rituals can potentially moderate the effects of parenting stress on child outcomes and fathers and daughters showed the greatest benefits of these family practices.     

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Relationship Education in the U.S. Army: 2‐Year Outcomes

This study examined the effectiveness of an evidence‐based, community‐delivered adaptation of couple relationship education (CRE) program (specifically, The Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program [PREP]) delivered at two Army installations. The study is a randomized controlled trial with 2 years of follow‐up examining marital quality and stability. Sample composition was 662 married couples with a spouse in the U.S. Army. Analyses yielded no evidence of overall enduring intervention effects on relationship quality, but couples assigned to intervention at the higher risk site were significantly less likely than controls to be divorced at the 2‐year follow‐up (8.1% vs. 14.9%, p < .01). This effect was moderated by ethnic minority status. Specifically, the impact of the intervention on divorce was strongest for minority couples. The findings add to the literature on who may benefit most from CRE.     

青年医师减压需求与对策

目的：研究青年医师的压力状况与减压需求,提出减压对策。方法以某医院为例,对170名青年医师的压力程度、来源、影响及减压需求与服务进行调查。结果发现青年医师在承担工作压力的同时,还面临感情婚姻问题、子女教育问题等;较低职称青年医师压力明显大于较高职称青年医师压力;在青年医师主要压力来源中科研指标排序第一;较多青年医师认为现阶段压力对自身情绪影响大;大部分青年医师认为自己在压力缓解方面需要得到他人帮助。结论关注青年医师需求,提供多层面支持;探索医务小组工作坊,构建互助系统;完善医疗体制,从根本上促进医患关系。     

Associations Between Interparental Relationships and Experiences of Parenting Stress Among Mothers: The Mediating Role of Perceived Control

The current study investigated the potential benefits of relationships between parents whose children were friends (closure relationships) within a sample of 404 mothers. Associations between closure and three domains of parenting stress were explored. Mothers' perceived control was considered as a potential mediator of closure-stress associations. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that higher mean levels of closure were associated with lower levels of parenting stress related to child problem behaviors. Perceived control mediated the association between closure and parenting stress. The benefits of cross-household parental relationships for mothers' psychological wellbeing are discussed.     

Parents' Experiences of Discrimination and Family Relationship Qualities: The Role of Gender

Mothers and fathers in 156 African American families reported on racial discrimination experiences, gendered traits, and warmth and conflict in family relationships. Discrimination was linked with relationship quality, but links differed for mothers and fathers. More expressive parents and less instrumental fathers had more positive relationships in the face of discrimination, but for more instrumental fathers, discrimination-relationship quality links were negative. Findings imply consideration of sociocultural and individual characteristics for family relationships.     

A Person‐Oriented Analysis of Couple and Relationship Education

Couple and relationship education (CRE) has effectively improved communication and relationship satisfaction, but some question its effectiveness for couples who are at risk. Mixed findings may derive from focusing on aggregated sample results. This study explored the benefit of using a person‐oriented analysis for evaluating CRE program effectiveness with low‐income couples and individuals. Couple participants reported moderate improvement in communication and relationship satisfaction, but the magnitude of reported improvement varied for male participants from different ethnic groups. An outcomes‐focused cluster analysis showed that variance in reported improvement can be explained by pre‐workshop outcome measures, with couples starting in the middle range of scores reporting the most improvement. Similar patterns were found for individual participants. Researchers and practitioners should further investigate the use of person‐oriented methods in CRE program evaluation and the use of pre‐workshop assessments to adjust CRE interventions on the basis of the state of participants' relationships at intake.     

The Role of Pessimistic Attributions in the Association Between Anxious Attachment and Relationship Satisfaction

Attributions—the explanations spouses give to each other's behavior—have been consistently linked to relationship satisfaction, but little is known about the origins of attributional tendencies. In this study, an actor–partner interdependence model was tested to examine the relationships among pessimistic attributions, anxious attachment, and relationship satisfaction, using married couples (N = 767) from The German Family Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics (pairfam; Huinink et al., 2011). For husbands and wives, higher levels of anxious attachment predicted more pessimistic attributions 2 years later. These pessimistic attributions, in turn, predicted their own later relationship satisfaction. Husbands' pessimistic attributions also predicted lower wives' relationship satisfaction. Pessimistic attributions fully mediated the relationship between anxious attachment and relationship satisfaction within spouses. It may be beneficial when intervening with couples to facilitate improvement in their attachment security and thereby promote more optimistic attributions and higher relationship satisfaction.     

Daily Poverty‐Related Stress and Coping: Associations with Child Learned Helplessness

This study examined daily poverty‐related stress and parents' efforts to help children cope with stress in relation to learned helplessness for young children attending a Head Start preschool. A total of 750 telephone interviews were conducted with 75 parents concerning their daily stressors and strategies they used to help children cope. A behavioral protocol measured child learned helplessness. Multilevel modeling showed a positive within‐persons relationship between daily stress and coping, and a positive between‐persons relationship between daily stress and child learned helplessness. Implications include understanding the daily processes through which the poverty ecology transmits risk for negative child developmental outcomes and through which parents might offer protection. Specifically, the results suggest that daily poverty‐related stressors may undermine young children's developing sense of control and suggest the importance of further research on how parent coping might promote positive outcomes.     

The “Paradox of Empowerment” in Parent Education: A Reflexive Examination of Parents' Pedagogical Expectations

In an action research project designed to develop a new paradigm for parent education in alignment with the “strengths perspective,” a social constructionist epistemology, and the empowerment discourse, it was found that parents joining two parent groups actually valued and sought expert knowledge. Seeking to empower these parents by adopting a collaborative learning approach—facilitating a reflective discussion of their parenting experience while refraining from meeting their expectation to be taught—we were actually exercising professional power in imposing our ideology of empowerment on the parents. To resolve this “paradox of empowerment,” we came to the see that parent educators cannot avoid meeting parents' pedagogical expectation. They should, however, provide expert knowledge and advice with epistemic reflexivity. Moreover, they need to navigate the micropolitics in the interaction between themselves as “educators” and parents as “learners,” so as to negotiate a power relation that is characterized by collaboration and partnership.     

Demand,Support, and Perception in Family‐Related Stress Among Protestant Clergy

Studies of clergy have emphasized the effects of stressors inherent to the profession and the impact of these on the minister's personal and family life. Hill's (1949) ABC‐X model of family stress was employed to extend the focus to include three classes of variables: demands, social support, and perception. Results of questionnaires from a random sample of 312 Protestant clergy indicated that perception variables are more consistently correlated with outcome than were either demand or support.     

Attachment and Parenting: The Mediating Role of Work‐Family Balance in Portuguese Parents of Preschool Children

Given the increasingly challenging task of balancing multiple adult life roles in contemporary society, this study examined the influences of both conflicting and (positively) synergistic work and family roles in mediating associations between the quality of adult attachment and both parental satisfaction and parenting stress. Participants were 242 Portuguese fathers and mothers involved in dual‐earner relationships and in parenting preschool‐aged children. Structural Equations Modeling analyses yielded findings demonstrating that the paths from romantic attachment (avoidance and anxiety) to parenting stress and satisfaction were fully explained by work‐family dimensions, especially the conflict dimension. Implications of these findings for parent education and intervention are discussed.