Aline G. Sayer

Dating Couples’ Attachment Styles and Patterns of Cortisol Reactivity and Recovery in Response to a Relationship Conflict

This study investigated theoretically predicted links between attachment style and a physiological indicator of stress, salivary cortisol levels, in 124 heterosexual dating couples. Cortisol was assessed at 7 points before and after an experimental conflict negotiation task, creating a trajectory of stress reactivity and recovery for each participant. Growth modeling of cortisol data tested hypotheses that (a) insecurely attached individuals show patterns of greater physiological stress reactions to interpersonal conflict than do securely attached individuals and (b) people with insecurely attached partners show patterns of greater stress in reaction to relationship conflict than those with securely attached partners. Hypothesis 1 was supported, but men and women differed in the type of insecure attachment that predicted stress trajectories. Hypothesis 2 was supported for men, but not for women. The discussion emphasizes the role of gender role norms and partner characteristics in understanding connections between adult attachment and patterns of cortisol responses to interpersonal stress.

Sense of Control Predicts Depressive and Anxious Symptoms Across the Transition to Parenthood

In this study, the authors examined the relationship between sense of control and depressive and anxious symptoms for mothers and fathers during the 1st year of parenthood. Participants were 153 dual-earner, working-class couples who were recruited during the 3rd trimester of pregnancy at prenatal education courses. Data were collected 1 month antenatally and 1, 4, 6, and 12 months postnatally. Sense of control was decomposed into 2 distinct parts: an enduring component and a malleable component that changes with context. Consistent with a cognitive theory of emotional problems, results demonstrated that a sense of control served a protective function for mental health outcomes. A higher sense of enduring control predicted lower levels of psychological distress for new parents, and increases in control over time predicted decreases in depression and anxiety. Findings hold implications for interventions with expectant parents, such as expanding prenatal education courses to include strategies for enhancing and maintaining a sense of personal control.

Psychosocial Development From College Through Midlife: A 34-Year Sequential Study

Two cohorts of alumni, leading-edge and trailing-edge baby boomers, first tested in their college years, were followed to ages 43 (N = 136) and 54 (N = 182) on a measure of Eriksons theory of psychosocial development. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to model the trajectory of growth for each psychosocial issue across middle adulthood. As predicted, the early psychosocial issues (trust, autonomy, and initiative) showed patterns of slow and steady increases in favorable resolution, as did the midlife issue of generativity. Industry, found in earlier investigations on the samples to change to differing degrees by cohort, continued to show cohort differences through midlife. The quadratic terms indicated that growth was curvilinear for both cohorts on identity and intimacy, and ego integrity showed variations by cohort, with the older cohort showing steeper patterns of increases. Gender differences were observed on intimacy, with women receiving higher initial scores, but the curves showed deceleration through midlife. Tests of variations in growth curves by the life history variables of educational attainment, occupational prestige, commitment to a long-term relationship, and parenthood status showed variations by cohort, but a general pattern of catching up emerged in which those who entered early adulthood at a relative disadvantage in terms of psychosocial development were able to attain favorable outcomes by midlife.

Couple perceptions of fibromyalgia symptoms: The role of communication

Summary Significant variability was found across couples in how they rated symptom severity and how much incongruence existed within couples. Interpersonal factors were significantly associated with patient–spouse incongruence. Abstract The objectives of the current study were to describe fibromyalgia patient–spouse incongruence regarding patient pain, fatigue, and physical function; and to examine the associations of individual and interpersonal factors with patient–spouse incongruence. Two hundred four fibromyalgia patients and their coresiding partners rated the patient’s symptoms and function. Multilevel modeling revealed that spouses, on average, rated patient fatigue significantly lower than patients. Couple incongruence was not significantly different from zero, on average, for pain severity, interference, or physical function. However, there was significant variability across couples in how they rated the severity of symptoms and function, and how much incongruence existed within couples. Controlling for individual factors, patient and spouse reports of communication problems were significantly associated with levels of couple incongruence regarding patient fatigue and physical function, albeit in opposing directions. Across couples, incongruence was high when patients rated communication problems as high; incongruence was low when spouses rated communication problems as high. An important within‐couple interaction was found for pain interference, suggesting that couples who are similar on level of communication problems experience low incongruence; those with disparate ratings of communication problems experience high incongruence. Findings suggest the important roles of spouse response and the patient’s perception of how well the couple is communicating. Couple‐level interventions targeting communication or other interpersonal factors may help to decrease incongruence and lead to better patient outcomes.

The role of patient pain and physical function on depressive symptoms in couples with lung cancer: A longitudinal dyadic analysis.

Drawing on the Developmental-Contextual Model (Berg & Upchurch, 2007), we examined the association between changes in patient physical health (pain severity and physical function) and changes in depressive symptoms in couples with lung cancer over a 12-month period. Patients and their spouses or partners (n = 77) were recruited using rapid case ascertainment and completed five waves of data collection (baseline, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months). Multilevel modeling was used to examine aggregate and time-varying effects of patient physical health on depressive symptoms. Results indicated that for patients and spouses, patient-rated mean pain severity was significantly positively associated with patient and spouse depressive symptoms and patient-rated mean physical function was significantly negatively associated with patient and spouse depressive symptoms. More importantly, increases in patient pain severity and declines in patient physical function were significantly associated with increases in patient depressive symptoms. However, only declines in patient physical function were significantly associated with increases in spouse depressive symptoms. These time-varying effects remained even when controlling for patient gender, patient age, patient stage of disease, spouse physical health, and relationship quality. Findings suggest the importance of examining the changing illness context on the couple as a unit and the complexity of interpersonal processes in the presence of a life-threatening illness.

Multilevel Modeling Approaches to the Study of LGBT-Parent Families: Methods for Dyadic Data Analysis

While obtaining information from multiple members of a family can enhance researchers’ understanding of families, it can also present complications when trying to analyze the data, as most traditional statistical methods assume that data originate from independent sources. An additional problem arises when examining data from partners in same-sex couples, which are often “indistinguishable” as they cannot be distinguished on the basis of some characteristic (e.g., gender) meaningful to the analysis. This chapter introduces approaches to analyzing data from “indistinguishable” partners using multilevel modeling for both cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis. It also discusses ways to examine data from multiple informants—for instance, when both mothers in lesbian-parent families report on their child’s well-being. Examples are drawn from the authors’ recent projects to illustrate the statistical concepts and difficulties.

Division of Household and Childcare Labor and Relationship Conflict Among Low-Income New Parents

We examine the relationships among the division of housework and childcare labor, perceptions of its fairness for two types of family labor (housework and childcare), and parents’ relationship conflict across the transition to parenthood. Perceived fairness is examined as a mediator of the relationships between change in the division of housework and childcare and relationship conflict. Working-class, dual-earner couples (n = 108) in the U.S Northeast were interviewed at five time points from the third trimester of pregnancy and across the first year of parenthood. Research questions addressed whether change in the division of housework and childcare across the transition to parenthood predicted mothers’ and fathers’ relationship conflict, with attention to the mediating role of perceived fairness of these chores. Findings for housework indicated that perceived fairness was related to relationship conflict for mothers and fathers, such that when spouses perceived the change in the division of household tasks to be unfair to either partner, they reported more conflict, However, fairness did not significantly mediate relations between changes in division of household tasks and later relationship conflict. For childcare, fairness mediated relations between mothers’ violated expectations concerning the division of childcare and later conflict such that mothers reported less conflict when they perceived the division of childcare as less unfair to themselves; there was no relationship for fathers. Findings highlight the importance of considering both childcare and household tasks independently in our models and suggest that the division of housework and childcare holds different implications for mothers’ and fathers’ assessments of relationship conflict.

Convergence in patient–therapist therapeutic alliance ratings and its relation to outcome in chronic depression treatment

Abstract Objective: This study tested whether discrepancy between patients’ and therapists’ ratings of the therapeutic alliance, as well as convergence in their alliance ratings over time, predicted outcome in chronic depression treatment. Method: Data derived from a controlled trial of partial or non-responders to open-label pharmacotherapy subsequently randomized to 12 weeks of algorithm-driven pharmacotherapy alone or pharmacotherapy plus psychotherapy. The current study focused on the psychotherapy conditions (N = 357). Dyadic multilevel modeling was used to assess alliance discrepancy and alliance convergence over time as predictors of two depression measures: one pharmacotherapist-rated (Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms-Clinician; QIDS-C), the other blind interviewer-rated (Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression; HAMD). Results: Patients’ and therapists’ alliance ratings became more similar, or convergent, over the course of psychotherapy. Higher alliance convergence was associated with greater reductions in QIDS-C depression across psychotherapy. Alliance convergence was not significantly associated with declines in HAMD depression; however, greater alliance convergence was related to lower HAMD scores at 3-month follow-up. Conclusions: The results partially support the hypothesis that increasing patient–therapist consensus on alliance quality during psychotherapy may improve treatment and longer term outcomes.

Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Household Income in Relation to Sleep in Early Childhood

OBJECTIVE : Sleep health is critical for children to adapt to evolving cognitive-socioemotional contexts. Given that sleep timing in early childhood is instituted under caregiver control, the family context likely has an influential role on childrens sleep. This study investigated links between maternal depressive symptoms and variability in childrens sleep, and whether household income moderated this relation.  METHOD : 90 children (Mage = 53 ± 9 months) wore actigraphs to objectively measure sleep for 4-16 days. Mothers reported income and depressive symptomatology. RESULTS : Higher maternal depressive symptoms were related to greater variability in 24-hr sleep duration. Income moderated this relation. Lower income, but not maternal depressive symptoms, was linked to greater variability in sleep onset time.  CONCLUSIONS : Findings demonstrate important relations between maternal depressive symptoms, income, and childrens sleep. Understanding distal and proximal family characteristics that may be related to childrens developing sleep schedules could help identify populations and strategies for promoting optimal sleep health.