Kelley Quirk

Toward a More Complete Understanding of Reactions to Hooking Up Among College Women

Hooking up, a relatively common behavior among young adults, refers to a casual sexual encounter, ranging from kissing to sexual intercourse, without an expectation of ongoing physical encounters or relational commitment. Reactions to hooking up have examined psychosocial outcomes as a proxy for specific reactions. The present study examined the reactions of 190 college women, with a specific focus on the effect of hooking up on their social/peer network, their sexual/romantic sense of self, and their academic performance. Results demonstrated large positive effects for sexual/romantic reactions and social/academic engagement reactions in comparison with negative personal reactions. In addition, higher ratings of anxious attachment, loneliness, and relational/intimacy sex motives were related to less positive reactions, highlighting the importance of attachment and motivations behind hookup experiences. Implications for educational practice and future research are offered.

RELATIONSHIP EDUCATION IN COMMUNITY SETTINGS: EFFECTIVENESS WITH DISTRESSED AND NON-DISTRESSED LOW-INCOME RACIAL MINORITY COUPLES

Couple relationship education (CRE) programs are intended to prevent negative couple outcomes, however, some evidence suggests couples in greater distress may still benefit. The current study examined pre- and postchanges in relationship functioning of 362 low-income African American and Hispanic couples. Outcomes (dedication and communication) were assessed by examining differences between two distinct groupings of couples; distressed (both partners reporting clinically significant distress) and nondistressed (neither partner reporting clinically significant distress) couples. Distressed couples at predemonstrated large-sized gains in all outcome variables, as compared to nondistressed couples. Those who participated in the single-couple format demonstrated lower gains in positive communication as compared to those in the group format. Implications for distressed couples in CRE programs are offered.

Group Session Rating Scale: Preliminary psychometrics in substance abuse group interventions

Background: Although ultra-brief outcome and process measures have been developed for individual therapy, currently there are no ultra-brief alliance measures for group therapy. Method: The current study examined 105 clients in group therapy for issues related to substance abuse or with issues related to the substance abuse of a significant other. We tested whether a newly developed group therapy alliance measure – the Group Session Rating Scale would be related to other commonly used group process measures (Working Alliance Inventory, Group Cohesion, Group Climate) and early change (change over the first four sessions of group therapy). Results: The findings provided support for reliability based on Cronbach alphas and test-retest coefficients. Additionally, the GSRS was a one-factor measure that was related to other group process measures as well as predicted early change. Discussion: Clinical implications for how to utilise ultra-brief outcome and alliance measures are provided.

Processes of Change in Relationship Education for Lower-Income African American Couples

The current study examined 181 lower income unmarried African American couples who were expecting or had a child (3 months or younger). All couples received couple relationship education (PREP). We examined whether changes in communication quality and perceived social integration were related to changes in relationship satisfaction and dedication and whether these associations were consistent for men and women. The results demonstrated that mens and womens change in positive communication and social integration were related to higher ratings of their own dedication and relationship satisfaction. Men reported more relationship satisfaction when their partners negative communication decreased and when their partner reported more social integration; however, there was no association between womens rating of relationship satisfaction and mens changes in negative communication or social integration.

Toward an Asset Orientation in the Study of U.S. Latina/o Youth: Biculturalism, Ethnic Identity, and Positive Youth Development

Despite their significant and growing demographic importance, U.S. Latina/o youth are rarely the focus of research and almost never studied from a perspective that reflects counseling psychologists’ emphases on social justice and the strengths of individuals. Such a perspective is likely to result in more effective approaches to the understanding and prevention of adverse outcomes and can expand the understanding of variables that have been traditionally used to study U.S. Latina/o youth. In this study, two specific asset variables—leadership and social responsibility—were used to test hypotheses about the role of biculturalism in adaptive psychological functioning among U.S. Latina/o youth. Results suggest that bicultural identity is meaningfully associated with asset variables, whereas bicultural involvement is not. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Perceptions of Partner's Deception in Friends With Benefits Relationships

Friends-with-benefits relationships combine elements of friendship with sexual intimacy. Using hierarchical regression, the authors examined perceived deception in 310 relationships. In comparison with men, women reported greater deception by their friends-with-benefits partner. Perceived deception was inversely related to awareness of relational risk factors and directly related to anxious attachment, more sexual interactions as compared with friendship interactions in the relationship, and more favorable attitudes toward ambiguous commitment. Awareness of relational risk factors moderated the association between anxious attachment and perceptions of being deceived as awareness of relational risk factors was only negatively associated with perceived deception for those with lower levels of anxious attachment. Last, gender moderated the association between perceptions of being deceived and anxious attachment in that more anxious attachment was related to perceived deception for women, but not men. In particular, anxious attachment did not predict perceptions of deception for men, but greater degrees of anxious attachment for women increased perceptions of deception. Recommendations for assisting young adults to navigate this relational style are offered.

Breaking Bad: Commitment Uncertainty, Alternative Monitoring, and Relationship Termination in Young Adults

Commitment uncertainty represents an ongoing state of conflicted feelings or thoughts about the future of a relationship. It is currently an underexplored dynamic within romantic relationships and may be a key component of young adult relationships that may influence the likelihood of relationship termination. When commitment is uncertain, individuals may engage in serious monitoring of relationship alternatives. The authors examined the associations between commitment uncertainty, serious alternative monitoring, attachment style, and relationship termination. Results supported the hypothesis that higher levels of commitment uncertainty are related to greater likelihood of termination. Interestingly, serious monitoring of alternatives was not related to relationship termination. Implications are offered for the management of these important relational processes.

Co-workers with benefits: The influence of commitment uncertainty and status on employee engagement in romantic workplace relationships

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relation between employee engagement, decisions to be in a relationship with a co-worker, and commitment uncertainty in a sample of adults who identified they were currently working with their romantic partner. Design/methodology/approach – Because workplace romance can be a taboo topic among working adults, we recruited participants anonymously from online social media websites (n=68). The use of non-experimental design limits the ability to draw causal references in relation to the variables of interest. Findings – Participants who reported they were motivated to be in a romantic relationship with a co-worker to increase status also reported lower levels of engagement, even after controlling for other relationship (e.g. relationship adjustment) and workplace variables (e.g. intent to turnover). Practical implications – Romantic relationships within the workplace will most certainly transpire yet the topic remains underexplored in the management liter...

Testing the convergent and discriminant validity of the Systemic Therapy Inventory of Change Initial scales

Abstract Objective: The Systemic Therapy Inventory of Change (STIC®) is the first multi-systemic and multi-dimensional measurement and feedback system designed for assessment in family, couple, and individual functioning. Patients fill out the STIC Initial before the first session to identify treatment targets and provide starting values for subsequent assessments of trajectories of change. This study tested the construct validity of five of the six STIC Initial scales. Methods: We administered both the STIC Initial and a set of validity measures to a relatively large sample of patients. Convergent and discriminant validity were tested using both an examination of observed correlations and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results: The correlations among the observed measures showed that the convergent validity coefficients were generally large, whereas the discriminant validity coefficients were moderate to small. Similarly, CFAs suggested that the STIC total scales and subscales are good indicators of the factors they were intended to measure and that the STIC total scales and subscales are weakly related to the factors they were intended to not measure. Conclusion: The results supported the convergent and discriminant validity of the five scales of the STIC Initial. Clinical or methodological significance of this article: The clinical significance of this article is that it demonstrates that the STIC Initial should be useful for identifying treatment targets including both which systems, in addition to the facets within each system, that require targeting. The methodological significance is twofold. First, the use of CFA for testing convergent and discriminant validity is still relatively rare. Second, we demonstrated how to use CFA for a more stringent test of discriminant validity compared with the original approach described by Cole (1987).

In here and out there: Systemic alliance and intersession processes in psychotherapy

The processes clients engage in between therapy sessions (referred to as intersession processes; ISPs) are empirically supported as influential factor in psychotherapy. The current study examined the impact of the therapeutic alliance—both the individual alliance and the systemic alliance—on client engagement in ISP-thoughts, ISP-actions, and client perceptions of therapy progress. Eighty-one therapy clients provided responses regarding these therapy process variables, and results revealed that higher ratings of client/therapist alliance (referred to as “self-alliance”), and higher ratings of alliance between one’s social network and therapy (referred to as “other-alliance”) were related to greater engagement in ISP-actions, but not ISP-thoughts. In addition, an interaction factor was supported wherein those who reported high self-alliance and high other-alliance also engaged in greater ISP-actions, but this association was not found when other-alliance was reported to be low. Clients’ positive perceptions of therapy progress were associated with greater engagement in ISP-thoughts, ISP-actions, and higher ratings of self- and other-alliance. Discussion and implications are offered for how therapists may be more effective at monitoring and promoting engagement in ISPs and aligning with clients’ many systems.