Jeremy B. Yorgason

Relational aggression in marriage

Drawing from developmental theories of relational aggression, this article reports on a study designed to identify if spouses use relationally aggressive tactics when dealing with conflict in their marriage and the association of these behaviors with marital outcomes. Using a sample of 336 married couples (672 spouses), results revealed that the majority of couples reported that relationally aggressive behaviors, such as social sabotage and love withdrawal, were a part of their marital dynamics, at least to some degree. Gender comparisons of partner reports of their spouses behavior revealed that wives were significantly more likely to be relationally aggressive than husbands. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that relational aggression is associated with lower levels of marital quality and greater marital instability for both husbands and wives. Implications are drawn for the use of relational aggression theory in the future study of couple conflict and marital aggression.

Economic Pressure and Marital Conflict in Retirement-Aged Couples

Tests of the relationship between economic difficulties and marital distress have generally excluded retirement-aged couples. Given the aging U.S. population and the upcoming retirement of the baby boom cohort, this research gap is problematic.To rectify this omission, this study uses longitudinal data from the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH; N = 3,853) and assesses whether the family stress model operates differently for three retirement-aged groups of couples (one group that retired before the study, one that retired during the study, and one group of retirement-aged couples that did not retire during the study) and a comparison group of younger couples. The family stress model did not operate for married couples that began the NSFH already retired but did operate for the two other retirement-aged couples. The authors discuss the potential mechanisms behind these findings and the implications for the upcoming retirement of the baby boom cohort.

Older couples' management of multiple-chronic illnesses: Individual and shared perceptions and coping in Type 2 diabetes and osteoarthritis.

Using data from interviews with 28 older couples in which 1 spouse was diagnosed with diabetes and osteoarthritis, we examined illness perceptions and coping activities as they relate to illness management and relationship resilience. Qualitative analysis of interview transcripts revealed categories of data related to perceptions, coping, and cross category comparisons. Findings suggest that couples experience both negative and positive perceptions of their illnesses, indicating a balance between the reality of their illness challenges and an optimistic outlook of the future. Coping activities included a variety of tasks and were performed by individuals, by both spouses in a shared effort, and by individuals and shared couple efforts. Findings highlight the complexity of individual and shared couple illness perception and couple efforts in managing multiple-chronic illnesses.

Daily Sleep Predicting Marital Interactions as Mediated Through Mood

Objectives Sleep problems increase in later life. Studies have linked sleep with marital satisfaction, yet mechanisms, such as mood, have not been explored. The current study is innovative in examining sleep and marital interactions among older couples in a daily context, exploring mood as a potential mediator. Method Data were taken from the Life and Family Legacies Daily Experiences Study, involving 191 older couples surveyed across 14 days. Multivariate (dyadic) multilevel models were used to address our research questions. Results Findings indicated significant associations between daily sleep hours, sleep quality, and feeling rested with daily marital interactions. These associations were most consistent for wives. Mediation analyses indicated that positive mood was a common mechanism linking sleep with marital interactions. Also, in some cases, spouse sleep and mood reports were associated with partner marital interactions. Discussion Improving sleep quality among older couples could lead to better daily marital interactions through changes in mood.

A Longitudinal Examination of Women's Perceptions of Marital Power and Marital Happiness in Midlife Marriages

An unequal distribution of marital power has shown to have an impact on overall marital functioning, including marital quality and marital satisfaction. Women tend to have less power in marital relationships. Therefore, it is important for both researchers and clinicians to examine wives’ perceptions of marital power and marital happiness. The current study examined wives’ perceptions of marital power processes and power outcomes in heterosexual midlife marriages in relation to concurrent and subsequent marital happiness across a 15-year period. The results indicated that both marital power processes and power outcomes significantly influenced concurrent marital happiness. Additionally, concurrent marital happiness influenced marital happiness 15 years later, suggesting an indirect relationship between concurrent marital power and subsequent marital happiness. No direct relationship was found between marital power and subsequent marital happiness. The lack of significant findings between marital power and subsequent marital happiness is examined. Immediate and subsequent marital benefits of egalitarian marriages are discussed, and suggestions for effective clinical practice in addressing marital power are given.

Intergenerational Assistance to Adult Children: Gender and Number of Sisters and Brothers

This study considers how the number of sisters and brothers affects the flow of aid from older parents to adult children. Using data from the 2004 Middletown Kinship Survey (N = 338), the authors find that the aid adults receive from their parents varies by the gender composition of the sibship. Adults with more sisters tend to receive less assistance from their older parents. This holds true across a range of helping behaviors, including financial, gifts, transportation, housework and yard work, and technology. The pattern does not hold for brothers. Possible explanations include resource dilution (daughters drawing more on parents’ resources, leaving fewer resources to go around) or cooperative networks created among sisters (thus rendering aid from parents less necessary).

Mental Health and Disrupted Family Processes in the Lives of Court-Involved African American and Caucasian Youth Being Raised by Grandparents

Using data generated from the Global Risk Assessment Device, mental health and disrupted family processes were examined in a sample of 166 court-involved youth being raised by grandparents. Race and gender mean differences were found with regard to both mental health symptoms and disrupted family processes. Specifically, Caucasian male adolescents reported higher mental health symptoms and disrupted family processes than African American males. Also, females in the sample generally reported higher disrupted family processes than males, with African American females reporting significantly higher average disrupted family processes than African American males. Despite mean differences associated with gender and race, when entered as predictors, neither main effects nor interactions of gender or race were related to mental health symptoms. Disrupted family processes were predictive of higher mental health symptoms. Family-targeted interventions with court-involved youth being raised by grandparents would likely benefit the mental health of these adolescents.

Couple Challenges When One Spouse Acquires Hearing Impairment in Later Life: Recommendations From a Focus Group of Marriage and Family Therapists

We conducted an exploratory study of clinical recommendations for working with clients where one spouse has a hearing loss. A focus group with marriage and family therapists indicated themes around couple processes, possible hearing loss situations in therapy, and related aspects of the therapist–client relationship. Specifically, therapists suggested that gender influences, communication processes, and caregiver processes were likely to influence couple dynamics. Therapists identified hearing loss issues to address in therapy, such as alterations in communication routines and coming to an acceptance of the loss. They also recommended intervention techniques, such as treating the hearing loss of one spouse as a systemic challenge and providing psychoeducation. Last, they suggested that clinicians be aware of aspects of the therapist–client relationship that might reflect, or be a parallel process to, couple dynamics related to hearing loss.

Military children's difficulty with reintegration after deployment: A relational turbulence model perspective

This study drew on the relational turbulence model to investigate how the interpersonal dynamics of military couples predict parents’ reports of the reintegration difficulty of military children upon homecoming after deployment. Longitudinal data were collected from 118 military couples once per month for 3 consecutive months after reunion. Military couples reported on their depressive symptoms, characteristics of their romantic relationship, and the reintegration difficulty of their oldest child. Results of dyadic growth curve models indicated that the mean levels of parents’ depressive symptoms (H1), relationship uncertainty (H2), and interference from a partner (H3) were positively associated with parents’ reports of military children’s reintegration difficulty. These findings suggest that the relational turbulence model has utility for illuminating the reintegration difficulty of military children during the postdeployment transition.

The Paradoxical Relation of the Expression of Offense to Forgiving: A Survey of Therapists’ Conceptualizations

Forgiveness is a powerful relationship repair experience, perhaps essential to healing following offense. Therapy intervention and research attention to forgiveness has increased over the past two decades. Conversely, anger and indignation, while endemic to interpersonal offense, is overlooked or negated in relationship repair models; further, the experience or expression of offense is often viewed as antagonistic rather than catalytic to forgiving. Few scholars have conceptualized the facilitative role that the experience and expression of offense may play in forgiving and healing, both for the individual and relationship. Disparate conceptualizations of anger and/or indignation may impede therapeutic progress. This study presents a review of social science literature on forgiveness as well as the results of a statistical analysis of the Indignation and Forgiveness Scale (IFS) administered to a group of relational therapists (N = 98). Therapists expressed a strong belief in the compatibility of anger or indignation and forgiveness. The IFS displayed multidimensionality, with items loading onto four subscales. Greater professional involvement leads to more favorable views of anger or indignation in couple therapy following infidelity. A dearth of theoretical and practical literature on these topics, combined with the potential significance of anger/indignation work to forgiving and healing, recommend research and model development on the role of constructive indignation in forgiveness.