Detecting, measuring, and testing dyadic patterns in the actor–partner interdependence model.

Family researchers have used the actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) to study romantic couples, parent–child dyads, and siblings. We discuss a new method to detect, measure, and test different theoretically important patterns in the APIM: equal actor and partner effect (couple pattern); same size, but different signs of actor and partner effects (contrast pattern); and zero partner effects (actor-only pattern). To measure these different patterns, as well as others, we propose the estimation of the parameter k, which equals the partner effect divided by the actor effect. For both indistinguishable dyad members (e.g., twins) and distinguishable dyad members (e.g., heterosexual couples), we propose strategies for estimating and testing different models. We illustrate our new approach with four data sets. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Growth curve models for indistinguishable dyads using multilevel modeling and structural equation modeling: The case of adolescent twins' conflict with their mothers.

Growth modeling is a useful tool for studying change over time, and it is becoming increasingly popular with developmental researchers. There is a considerable methodological literature surrounding growth modeling for individuals; however, far less attention has been focused on growth models for pairs of related individuals (i.e., dyads). In this article, the authors consider dyadic growth models for those cases where there are no relevant variables that can empirically distinguish between dyad members (e.g., same-sex twins or best friends). The authors describe how researchers can estimate growth models for indistinguishable dyads using both multilevel modeling and structural equation modeling. Although both approaches can be used to estimate the same underlying models, the authors focus on practical similarities and differences between the two approaches. They illustrate modeling issues using an overtime study of adolescent twins' conflict with their mothers, a substantively important topic given the enduring interest in parent-child relationships during adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examining the validity of self-report assessments of family functioning: A question of the level of analysis.

Family assessment instruments attempt to measure family functioning at a particular level of the family system: individual, dyad, or family as a whole. This article introduces the concept of level validity, that is, whether an assessment measures family functioning at the level that it was intended to measure. The authors argue that whenever higher-order factors (e.g., dyadic subsystems) are the target of a measure, these factors should explain variance that is independent of their lower-order constituents (e.g., individual-level characteristics). Previously published data targeting dyadic subsystems within the family were reanalyzed using a model that controls for lower-order effects. Dyad-level factors rarely emerged independent of individual-level factors and, when they did, they did not replicate across samples. The results suggest that level validity should be tested and reported along with other aspects of construct validity before accepting such measures as valid assessments of family functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enduring vulnerabilities, relationship attributions, and couple conflict: An integrative model of the occurrence and frequency of intimate partner violence.

We tested an integrative model of individual and dyadic variables contributing to intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. Based on the vulnerability-stress-adaptation (VSA) model, we hypothesized that three “enduring vulnerabilities” (i.e., antisocial behavior, hostility, and depressive symptoms) would be associated with a “maladaptive process” (i.e., negative relationship attributions) that would lead to difficulties in couple conflict resolution, thus leading to IPV. Among a community sample of 167 heterosexual couples who were expecting their first child, we used an actor–partner interdependence model to account for the dyadic nature of conflict and IPV, as well as a hurdle count model to improve upon prior methods for modeling IPV data. Study results provided general support for the integrative model, demonstrating the importance of considering couple conflict in the prediction of IPV and showing the relative importance of multiple predictor variables. Gender symmetry was observed for the prediction of IPV occurrence, with gender differences emerging in the prediction of IPV frequency. Relatively speaking, the prediction of IPV frequency appeared to be a function of enduring vulnerabilities among men, but a function of couple conflict among women. Results also revealed important cross-gender effects in the prediction of IPV, reflecting the inherently dyadic nature of IPV, particularly in the case of “common couple violence.” Future research using longitudinal designs is necessary to verify the conclusions suggested by the current results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A general framework for the statistical analysis of sequential dyadic interaction data.

Recent interest in sequential dyadic interactions has motivated researchers to develop methods appropriate for the analysis of such data. After briefly reviewing a series of methodological papers focusing on the analysis of discrete-valued observations, we present a general framework for studying many substantive effects, including dominance and autodependencies, in social interactions measured on dyads. We show how this framework allows a researcher to study dyadic interactions measured at two or more time points on one or more relations. The methods described here are general enough to permit the simultaneous analysis of the sequential relational variables and attribute variables (such as sex of actors or emotional status of the dyad) recorded on either the dyad or the actors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dyadic crisis suicides in mental hospital patients.

Studied 70 cases of completed suicide among male veterans: 50 "dyadic" (precipitated by disruption of interpersonal relations), and 20 controls (precipitated by nondyadic events). Case history and hospitalization factors, personality characteristics of both members of the dyad, characteristics of their interpersonal relationships, stresses immediately prior to the suicide, and patterns of dependency were related. The dyadic suicide group showed more (a) disordered social relationships, (b) suppression or rejection of significant others when young, (c) open dependence in varied areas, and (d) diagnoses of depression. Distinguishable, although overlapping, personality configurations emerged when the dyadic group was broken down into subgroups of strained, broken, and terminated relationships. It is concluded that the dyadic partner should be included in the treatment program of suicidal patients when the main problem is the relationship. (21 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Provider role attitudes, marital satisfaction, role overload, and housework: A dyadic approach.

Treating the marital dyad as the unit of analysis, this study examined the within-couple patterning of 272 dual-earner spouses' provider role attitudes and their longitudinal associations with marital satisfaction, role overload, and the division of housework. Based on the congruence of husbands' and wives' provider role attitudes, couples were classified into one of four types: (a) main-secondary, (b) coprovider, (c) ambivalent coprovider, and (d) mismatched couples. Nearly half of all spouses differed in their attitudes about breadwinning. A series of mixed model ANCOVAs revealed significant between- and within-couple differences in human capital characteristics, spouses' perceptions of marital satisfaction and role overload, and the division of housework across 3 years of measurement. Coprovider couples reported higher levels of marital satisfaction and a more equitable division of housework than the other couple groups. Wives in the ambivalent coprovider couples' group reported higher levels of role overload than their husbands to a greater extent than was found in the other couple groups. As the first study to adopt a dyadic approach that considers the meanings that both spouses in dual-earner couples ascribe to paid employment, these findings advance understanding of how dual-earner spouses' provider role attitudes serve as contexts for marital quality, behavior, and role-related stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A developmental-contextual model of couples coping with chronic illness across the adult life span.

A developmental-contextual model of couples coping with chronic illness is presented that views chronic illness as affecting the adjustment of both the patient and the spouse such that coping strategies enacted by the patient are examined in relation to those enacted by the spouse, and vice versa. The developmental model emphasizes that dyadic coping may be different at various phases of the life span, changing temporally at different stages of dealing with the illness as well as unfolding daily as spouses interact around dyadic stressors. In addition, couples engaged in dyadic coping are affected by broad sociocultural factors (culture and gender) as well as more proximal contextual factors (quality of the marital relationship and the specific demands of the chronic illness). The model provides a framework for understanding how couples coping with chronic illness may together appraise and cope with illness during adulthood and for determining when spousal involvement is beneficial or harmful to both patient and spousal adjustment. The developmental-contextual model to dyadic appraisal and coping has numerous research implications for the field, and the authors conclude with specific recommendations for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resilience to drinking vulnerability in women with alcoholic parents: the moderating effects of dyadic cohesion in marital communication

Data from a subsample of women (N = 4,235) in two waves of the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth (NLSY) are used to examine the relationship between parental alcoholism and alcohol use in adult life. Dyadic cohesion in marital communication (frequency of interaction and agreement on substantive issues that affect couples) is investigated as a resilience factor that could potentially mitigate adverse drinking outcomes in adult children of alcoholics (ACAs). A moderated mediation model is estimated using a Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) regression analysis. The results indicated that an imputed transmission of risk for drinking vulnerability in women ACAs, controlling for nonACA status, was effectively moderated by positive dyadic interaction.     

Dyadic response patterns in married couples, depressive symptoms, and somatic dysfunction.

Examined whether information about the couple as a dyad added to the understanding of depressive symptoms and health deficits beyond that obtained by focusing on the individual. Dyadic patterns of emotion response among 30 married couples dealing with the same stressful event were examined. Three dyadic patterns were identified (husband-wife disgusted, worried; wife disgusted, worried; and husband disgusted). Wives who were disgusted, angry, worried, and fearful while their husbands were not were significantly more depressed than wives in the other 2 groups, and the husbands were in significantly poorer physical health than husbands in the other 2 groups. The dyadic patterns added to the variance in these outcomes, above and beyond that provided by the individual's response considered separately. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Where is the relationship in research on the alliance? Two methods for analyzing dyadic data.

Researchers examining the therapy relationship are encouraged "to study both patients' and therapists' contribution to the relationship and the ways in which these contributions combine to impact treatment outcome" (Steering Committee, 2002, p. 443). Research on the therapeutic alliance, however, is dominated by studies that examine the individual contributions of the counselor and client. Relationship researchers have developed alternative ways to analyze dyadic data that do take into account the relationship. One alternative paradigm is to model the interdependence in dyadic alliance data with the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM; D. A. Kashy & D. A. Kenny, 2000). The APIM examines interdependence by modeling the impact of 1 dyad member's alliance ratings on the other member's session impact rating. APIM can also examine how alliance agreement interacts with alliance ratings to predict session impact. The other alternative paradigm is to use the latent group model (R. Gonzalez & D. Griffin, 2002) to examine the individual-level and dyad-level covariance in alliance and session impact ratings. The APIM and latent group models are illustrated with alliance and session impact measures from 53 client-counselor dyads. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Graduate student couples: Dyadic satisfaction in relation to type of partnership and demographic characteristics.

71 married and cohabiting graduate student couples (aged 21–61 yrs) responded individually to questionnaires that queried Ss on demographic characteristics, dyadic satisfaction (DS), and dyadic trust (DT). There were 26 symmetrical couples in which both partners were students and 45 asymmetrical couples in which only 1 partner was a student. No significant results were found for married couples with respect to symmetry on overall relationship satisfaction. Married partners, however, did show significantly greater DT compared with cohabiting couples. The finding that higher income men enjoy greater DS than lower income men suggests that financial security is an important factor for men to experience happiness in their intimate relationships. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reducing psychotherapy dropouts: Maximizing perspective convergence in the psychotherapy dyad.

Reviews 3 decades of research addressing premature termination of psychotherapy. Client, therapist, interpersonal dyadic, and administrative variables have been extensively investigated. Because of a variety of methodological problems, this literature is highly contradictory, and results are difficult to reconcile, with only socioeconomic status (SES) and ethnicity emerging as consistent predictors of dropout. Treatment matching studies have evaluated the effects of maximizing similarity (or convergence) and minimizing perspective divergence within the therapeutic dyad. Research looking at interactive and multidimensional factors such as working alliance, client satisfaction and expectations, client likability, and pretreatment preparation has proven useful. This research suggests that psychotherapy dropouts might be minimized if differences between therapists' and patients' perspectives on therapeutic enterprise are acknowledged and recognized as legitimate targets for intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do people who marry really have the same level of differentiation of self?

In a test of M. Bowen's (1978) hypothesis that people marry at the same level of differentiation of self, both members of 36 heterosexual couples completed the Personal Authority in the Family System Questionnaire (PAFS-Q). The similarity of the actual couples' scores was compared with the similarity of randomly formed couples across 1,000 Monte Carlo replications of the pseudocouple methodology for each of 7 PAFS-Q variables. Several indexes of couple similarity averaged across the replications revealed that the members of the actual couples were more similar than the members of the pseudocouples on just 1 of the spousal measures and none of the measures of intergenerational relationships. In general, these findings do not support the Bowen hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Investigating spousal influence using moment-to-moment affect data from marital conflict.

Gottman and colleagues proposed using a dynamical systems model to study dyadic interaction in marriage. In this model, each spouse's affect in each 6-s window is described as a function of an uninfluenced linear steady state and a nonlinear influence function of the partner's affect in the previous window. Recently, an alternative parameter estimation procedure for the equations of marriage was introduced, which is based on threshold autoregressive models. We apply this estimation procedure to data from a study of couples (N = 124) and newlyweds (N = 130) to compare different forms of spousal influence using the Bayesian information criterion. Although results show some statistically significant evidence for influence, this is only slightly greater than what would be expected by random association. One model of influence does not fit all couples. This suggests that for many people initial state and emotional inertia dictate the outcome of the conflict discussion far more than the moment-to-moment affect of the spouse. This latter finding is in conflict with most models of couples' interaction, which suggest that the outcome of conflict discussions are determined by the nature of the couples' mutual influence processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Childhood emotional abuse and attachment processes in the dyadic adjustment of dating couples.

In an effort to improve understanding of the mechanisms that link early maltreatment to later outcomes, this study investigated the mediation effects of adult attachment processes on the association between childhood emotional abuse and later romantic relationships among heterosexual couples. College students and their dating partners (N = 310; 155 couples) completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Experiences in Close Relationship Scale, and Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Using the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model (Kenny, Kashy, & Cook, 2006), multilevel modeling results indicated that memories of childhood emotional abuse reported by both students and their partners were significantly associated with attachment strategies, as well as romantic relationship quality. Findings supported hypothesized mediation effects of attachment anxiety and avoidance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intimacy and liking: Mutual influence and the role of unique relationships.

Traditional assumptions (e.g., there are traitlike differences in disclosure) predict that people who are generally liked should generally disclose (e.g., individual-level effects). In contrast, dynamic interactional models predict that significant disclosure–liking effects are apt to be a function of mutual influences in particular dyads (e.g., dyadic–level effects). To directly explore these issues and separately examine individual and dyadic effects, 45 sorority women were asked to indicate how much they disclosed to, received disclosure from, and liked each other. Social relations analysis (D. A. Kenny and L. LaVoie, 1984) revealed significant disclosure–liking effects only at the dyadic level, casting doubts on traditional assumptions and supporting a dynamic interaction model of disclosure–liking effects. Implications for personality and interpersonal relationships are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A partial test of the psychosomatic family model: Marital interaction patterns in asthma and nonasthma families.

The psychosomatic family model (PFM) implicates marital quality in childhood asthma chronicity and exacerbation. The PFM posits that the child's symptomatology varies in relation to parent interaction patterns characterized by conflict avoidance and brief intradyadic engagement. This investigation of 40 families sought to determine if marital dyads show differential conditional likelihoods for these behavioral characterizations as a function of having an asthmatic or nonasthmatic child. Using observational data collected in the home, a series of logit models examined the likelihood of extended dyadic engagement, disagreement, and child solicitation. As predicted, nonasthma couples were more likely to disagree and had longer intradyadic engagements, whereas asthma family couples were more solicitous. Contrary to expectation, marital quality was not a significant predictor of child solicitation in the asthma family couples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Work-to-relationship conflict: Crossover effects in dual-earner couples.

To better understand the outcomes for couples whose work interferes with their relationships, with an emphasis on the crossover effects that can occur in close relationships, we examined experienced work-to-relationship conflict and perceptions of partner's work-to-relationship conflict for both members of 113 dual-earner couples. Outcomes of interests included relationship tension, health symptoms, and relationship satisfaction. Results indicate that personal work-to-relationship conflict and perceptions of partner's work-to-family conflict were related to personal as well as partner outcomes; a variety of direct crossover effects were demonstrated. The actor-partner interdependence model was incorporated to account for issues of interdependent data that naturally occur in relationship dyads, a methodological issue not typically addressed and accounted for in the dyadic work-family interface literature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Leader–member agreement: A vertical dyad linkage approach.

The hypothesis derived from the vertical dyad linkage model of leadership development and investigated in this study is that agreement between a leader and a member regarding the meaning of certain mutually experienced events and situations will vary as a positive function of the quality of their dyadic exchanges. By employing dyadic measurement procedures, 109 university managerial dyads were assessed at 3 separate times with 3-mo intervals between assessments. Two different measures of dyadic agreement were used. Results show moderately high agreement within high- and intermediate-quality dyads and low agreement within low-quality dyads. Results were replicated on an independent sample of 41 managerial dyads. Implications are discussed. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)