Attachment relationships in infant twins: the effect of co-twin presence during separation from mother

In this study the roles of the mother and the co-twin in inhibiting emotional arousal and reducing manifest distress of a twin who had been isolated in a modified strange situation were compared. The subjects were 15 children, each a member of a twin pair. The subjects were placed in a playroom under three conditions in the following order: (a) mother and twins present; (b) twins together, mother absent; (c) subject isolated from both co-twin and mother. The episodes in which all partners were together were alternated with brief separations. The subjects' distress was minimal when they were separated from the mother with the co-twin present. Upon reunion, stable social behavior was quickly restored. However, separation from the mother and co-twin produced a high level of distress for the subjects. When reunited, the isolated twin initiated physical contact with the mother, soliciting and receiving comfort from her. Furthermore, the distress of the isolated twin was transmitted to the co-twin who had remained with the mother during the isolation period. The nonisolated twin also solicited comfort from the mother. The presence of the co-twin during the reunion following isolation had little effect in reducing the subject twin's distress.     

Treating intimate partner violence among substance-abusing dyads: The effect of couples therapy.

This study examined whether participation in couples therapy, compared with individual therapy, had a differential effect on the day-to-day relationship between substance use and occurrences of intimate partner violence (IPV) among married or cohabiting substance-abusing men. Patients (N = 207) were randomly assigned to either partner-involved behavioral couples therapy (BCT; included non-substance-abusing female partners in conjoint sessions) or individual-based treatment (IBT; male partners only). Couples in BCT reported lower levels of IPV and substance use at a 12-month posttreatment follow-up compared with couples with male partners in IBT. Moreover, treatment assignment was a significant moderator of the day-to-day relationship between substance use and IPV. Likelihood of nonsevere and severe male-to-female partner violence on days of male partners’ substance use was lower among couples who received BCT compared with IBT. These findings indicate couples therapy may play an important role in the treatment of IPV among substance-abusing couples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Change in relationship quality for partners from lesbian, gay male, and heterosexual couples.

Growth curves for relationship quality over the first 10 years of cohabitation, controlling for separation, were estimated on the basis of survey data obtained over part or all of this time interval. Participants were both partners from 95 lesbian, 92 gay male, and 226 heterosexual couples living without children, and both partners from 312 heterosexual couples living with children. Relative to other partners, those from lesbian couples showed the highest levels of relationship quality averaged over all assessments. Pattern of change in relationship quality varied by type of couple. Partners from lesbian and gay male couples showed no change, those from heterosexual couples without children showed an early phase of accelerated decline followed by a leveling off, and those from heterosexual couples with children showed an early phase of accelerated decline followed by a 2nd phase of accelerated decline. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mother-infant separation in the java monkey (Macaca irus).

Studied the behavior of 8 7-8 mo. old Java monkeys separated from their mothers and reunited after 3 wk. Infant playing and related behaviors decreased during separation. Presence of a conspecific unfamiliar adult female mother-substitute did not alleviate the debilitating effects of separation. During reunion, Ss responded differentially to their own mothers regardless of whether they were returned to original or spatially-reoriented home cages. Most behaviors returned to preseparation levels, but the mother-infant relationship was intensified. Separation effects were not attributable to traumatic forceful removal of mothers, since 4 controls separated and immediately returned were minimally affected. Species differences in reaction to maternal separation are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Separation of rhesus monkey juveniles of the same sex.

Studied juvenile-juvenile separations, using 6 like-sexed pairs of rhesus monkeys. A. J. Bowlby (see pa, vol. 36:1hk51b) separation syndrome was observed and compared to mother-infant separations reported elsewhere. Similarities were greatest during the period of separation itself. The differences between the 2 dyads were most marked during reunion. Juvenile monkeys initially ignore or avoid each other during reunion while mothers and infants usually directly return to one another. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship separation for young, at-risk couples: Prediction from dyadic aggression.

Dyadic physical aggression in the relationships of 158 young, at-risk couples was examined as a predictor of relationship separation over the course of 6 years. A high prevalence of physical aggression and a high rate of separation were found, with 80% of couples engaging in physical aggression (as reported by either partner or as observed) and 62% separating over time. As predicted, physical aggression significantly increased the likelihood of relationship dissolution, even after accounting for psychological aggression, prior relationship satisfaction, and relationship contextual factors (length of relationship, relationship type, and children in the household). Of the contextual factors, relationship type was predictive of relationship dissolution: Married couples were least likely to dissolve their relationships compared with cohabiting and dating couples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of multiple peer separation in domestic chicks.

Determined if domestic chicks respond to multiple social separations with the cumulative disruption of social development seen in other species. 12 pairs of White Leghorn chicks were separated and reunited 15 times over 7 wks. The 1st 3 separations were 72 hrs each; the remaining 12 each lasted 24 hrs. Reunions were of the same length as the corresponding separations. Daily observations were supplemented with measures of Ss' reactions to unfamiliar conspecifies and environments. As a group, the separates were sensitive to every separation and every reunion. One facet of the separates' social behavior was apparently affected by these separation–reunion episodes: There was a reduction in the degree to which the separates matched one another's food-peck responses, indicating a possible deficit in their social propensities. However, the separates' behavior tended toward control levels within the 72-hr separation periods, across the series of day-long separations, and in the supplemental tests. In sum, no broadly debilitating effect comparable to that found in primates was seen. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associations among experiential avoidance, couple adjustment, and interpersonal aggression in returning Iraqi war veterans and their partners.

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of experiential avoidance (EA) in relationship adjustment, psychological aggression, and physical aggression among military couples. Method: The sample was composed of 49 male soldiers who recently returned from deployment to Iraq and their female partners. As part of a larger study, participants completed self-report measures of emotional avoidance (EA; Acceptance and Action Questionnaire–II), relationship adjustment (Dyadic Adjustment Scale), and conflict (Conflict Tactics Scale–2). Data from men and women were simultaneously modeled with the actor–partner interdependence model. Results: Men's EA was associated with decreases in relationship adjustment and increases in physical aggression perpetration and victimization. For women, relationship adjustment was not associated with EA, but greater EA among women was associated with decreased relationship adjustment for male partners. Associations among EA and psychological aggression were nonsignificant. Conclusions: These data provide evidence that EA may play a critical role in the relationships of couples following deployment and highlight the importance of targeting EA in couple therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trust, variability in relationship evaluations, and relationship processes.

Little is known about why some people experience greater temporal fluctuations of relationship perceptions over short periods of time, or how these fluctuations within individuals are associated with relational processes that can destabilize relationships. Two studies were conducted to address these questions. In Study 1, long-term dating partners completed a 14-day diary study that assessed each partner's daily partner and relationship perceptions. Following the diary phase, each couple was videotaped trying to resolve the most important unresolved problem from the diary period. As predicted, (a) individuals who trusted their partners less reported greater variability in perceptions of relationship quality across the diary period; (b) they also perceived daily relationship-based conflict as a relatively more negative experience; and (c) greater variability in relationship perceptions predicted greater self-reported distress, more negative behavior, and less positive behavior during a postdiary conflict resolution task (rated by observers). The diary results were conceptually replicated in Study 2a, in which older cohabiting couples completed a 21-day diary. These same participants also took part in a reaction-time decision-making study (Study 2b), which revealed that individuals tend to compartmentalize positive and negative features of their partners if they (individuals) experienced greater variability in relationship quality during the 21-day diary period and were involved in higher quality relationships. These findings advance researchers' understanding of trust in intimate relationships and provide some insight into how temporal fluctuations in relationship quality may undermine relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job Loss and Depressive Symptoms in Couples: Common Stressors, Stress Transmission, or Relationship Disruption?

Three models of the linkage between stressors and depressive symptoms were tested in 252 couples after job loss. Data were analyzed to test whether depressive symptoms in both members of the couple were due to common stressors, the transmission of stress from 1 member to the other, or changes in relationship quality. Evidence was found for all 3 processes. Common stressors influenced depressive symptoms in both partners. Anger and depressive symptoms of each partner partially mediated these effects on the other partner, as did reductions in relationship quality. Findings suggest that interventions to help couples cope with the aftermath of job loss may hold promise for preventing depressive reactions to stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

For better or worse? Coregulation of couples’ cortisol levels and mood states.

Although a majority of adults live with a close relationship partner, little is known about whether and how partners’ momentary affect and physiology covary, or “coregulate.” This study used a dyadic multilevel modeling approach to explore the coregulation of spouses’ mood states and cortisol levels in 30 married couples who sampled saliva and reported on mood states 4 times per day for 3 days. For both husbands and wives, own cortisol level was positively associated with partner’s cortisol level, even after sampling time was controlled. For wives, marital satisfaction weakened the strength of this effect. Partner’s negative mood was positively associated with own negative mood for both husbands and wives. Marital satisfaction fully moderated this effect, reducing the strength of the association between one’s own and one’s partner’s negative mood states. Spouses’ positive moods were not correlated. As expected, within-couple coregulation coefficients were stronger when mood and cortisol were sampled in the early morning and evening, when spouses were together at home, than during the workday. The results suggest that spouses’ fluctuations in negative mood and cortisol levels are linked over several days and that marital satisfaction may buffer spouses from their partners’ negative mood or stress state. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Drug-abusing patients and their intimate partners: Dyadic adjustment, relationship stability, and substance use.

The dyadic adjustment and substance use of couples with a drug-abusing husband (n?=?94), couples with a drug-abusing wife (n?=?36), couples in which both partners abused drugs (n?=?87), and non-substance-abusing conflicted couples (n?=?70) were examined. For couples with 1 drug-abusing partner, a higher percentage of days abstinent during the year before treatment for drug abuse was associated with a higher level of relationship satisfaction. When both partners abused drugs, the relationship between percentage of days abstinent and relationship satisfaction became stronger and more negative as the time partners spent together using drugs increased. A higher percentage of days abstinent was associated with relationship stability for couples with 1 drug-abusing partner during and 1 year after treatment; for couples in which both partners abused drugs, a higher percentage of days abstinent was associated with relationship instability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interaction of sex role self-concept with relationship quality and relationship beliefs in married, heterosexual cohabiting, gay, and lesbian couples.

Examined the relationship between sex-role self-concept (masculine, feminine, undifferentiated, and androgynous) and relationship quality and dysfunctional relationship beliefs among 44 married (mean age 29.68 yrs), 35 heterosexual cohabiting (mean age 28.68 yrs), 50 homosexual (mean age 31.28 yrs), and 56 lesbian (mean age 31.18 yrs) couples. Ss completed questionnaires on demographic and background information, the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, a relationship beliefs inventory, and relationship quality assessments. Individual partner analyses revealed that relationship quality and relationship beliefs differed by Ss' sex-role self-concept. Androgynous and feminine Ss reported higher relationship quality than masculine and undifferentiated Ss; androgynous Ss had fewer "disagreement is destructive" beliefs than feminine Ss; and androgynous Ss had fewer "partner cannot change" beliefs than undifferentiated Ss. Couple analyses showed a relation between partners' sex-role self-concept only for the heterosexual cohabiting couples. For these couples, masculine men tended to pair with feminine or undifferentiated women, and androgynous partners tended to pair together. Relative to other couples, those in which one or both partners were androgynous or feminine reported the highest relationship quality; couples in which one or both partners were undifferentiated or masculine reported the lowest. These effects did not vary by type of couple. It is concluded that sex-role self-concept is a robust factor in appraisals of relationship quality. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early and Later Adoptions Differently Modify Mother-Pup Interactions.

Life events occurring during the perinatal period have strong long-term effects. In rats, prenatal stress, postnatal maternal separations, or adoptions at different periods are known to affect behavior and reactivity to stress in offspring. To determine the role of maternal factors on differential outcome adoptions, the authors investigated interactions between pups and the adopting mothers by assessing both pups' ultrasound emissions and maternal behavior. Early and late adoptions increased mother care at the moment of adoption and during mother-infant reunion after a separation procedure. However, although early adoption induced a decrease in pups' ultrasound emissions in response to a stressful separation, later adoptions enhanced it. Results suggest a sensitive period during which fostering may change pups' and dams' behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age-specific associations between emotional responses to separation and cognitive performance in infancy.

Associations between emotional responses to maternal separation and cognitive performance were expected to change with cognitive development over the 1st year. In this longitudinal study of 39 infants, measures of separation and reunion distress at 2, 6, and 10 mo were interleaved with measures of sensorimotor coordination at 4, 8, and 13 mo. Separation distress at 2 mo predicted lower sensorimotor scores, whereas separation distress at 6 and 10 mo corresponded with higher scores. Duration of distress in reunion showed the same pattern of associations, when controlled for general emotionality. Infants' positive engagement and physical touch with their mothers at 10 mo predicted higher sensorimotor scores as well. Emotional responses and cognitive performance may be linked by individual differences in self-regulation and attentional engagement, as mediated by age-specific developmental issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social separation in monkeys.

Reviews phenomena associated with social separation from attachment objects in nonhuman primates. A biphasic protest–despair reaction to social separation is often seen in monkeys, as in human children. However, upon reunion there is generally a temporary increase in attachment behaviors rather than a temporary phase of detachment, as has been reported in the human literature. Gross factors such as age and sex do not appear to influence the responses to separation or reunion substantially. Rather, behavioral repertoires prior to separation and the nature of the separation and reunion environments appear to be more important determinants of the severity of separation reactions. These findings are consistent with the human literature. Possible long-term consequences of early separations are also discussed. Four theoretical treatments of separation phenomena are presented and evaluated: J. Bowlby's attachment-object-loss theory, I. C. Kaufman's conservation–withdrawal theory, M. E. P. Seligman's learned helplessness theory, and R. L. Solomon and J. D. Corbit's opponent-process theory. (95 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diurnal cortisol secretion and 2-year changes in older adults' physical symptoms: The moderating roles of negative affect and sleep.

Objective: This study examined whether the association between cortisol secretion and changes in physical health symptoms would depend on other factors in a person's life. The authors expected that physical health effects would emerge particularly when cortisol disturbances co-occur in the context of high levels of trait negative affect or poor sleep. Design: Physical symptoms, diurnal cortisol secretion, affective tendencies, and sleep efficiency were assessed in a 2-yr longitudinal study of 184 older adults. Main Outcome Measure: Two-year changes in physical symptoms. Results: High cortisol levels were associated with increases in physical symptoms, but only among participants who experienced high negative affect and poor sleep. Conclusion: Elevated levels of cortisol secretion contribute to older adults' physical symptoms if they co-occur in the context of other emotional and behavioral problems. By contrast, cortisol disturbances may not influence physical symptoms among people who are emotionally well or engage in efficient sleep behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early development of relationship quality in heterosexual married, heterosexual cohabiting, gay, and lesbian couples.

33 heterosexual married, 34 heterosexual cohabiting, 41 gay, and 47 lesbian monogamous couples who were living together and did not have children living with them completed a demographic questionnaire, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, and a relationship beliefs inventory. Comparisons were made among the 4 types of couples at 3 stages of relationship development—blending (Year 1), nesting (Years 2 and 3), and maintaining (Years 4 and 5)—on 5 dimensions of relationship quality: agreement, satisfaction with affection and sex, low tension, shared activity, and beliefs regarding sexual perfection. Findings show that the type of couple did not interact with stage of relationship. Married couples reported less tension than heterosexual cohabitating couples, and a curvilinear relation was found between stage of relationship development and satisfaction with affection and sex, shared activity, and beliefs regarding sexual perfection. The absolute difference between partners' scores varied only by stage of relationship. Blending partners' shared-activity scores were more similar than those of either nesting or maintaining partners. Results suggest that stage of relationship is a robust predictor of relationship quality. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What's love got to do with it? Social functioning, perceived health, and daily happiness in married octogenarians.

This study examined day-to-day links between perceived health and happiness and between time spent with others and happiness in 47 older adult couples over an 8-day period. Marital satisfaction and time spent with others were explored as potential moderators of links between health and happiness. For both men and women, hierarchical linear modeling revealed daily links between more time spent with others and greater happiness. Daily links between time spent with one's partner and happiness were strongly moderated by marital satisfaction. For both men and women, marital satisfaction buffered day-to-day links between poorer perceived health and a decline in happiness, but time spent with others did not. This study provides support for the role of marital satisfaction in protecting older adults' happiness from daily fluctuations in perceived physical health and for the influence of social connections in promoting happiness in the lives of older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Short- and long-term effects of repetitive mother–infant separations on social development in rhesus monkeys.

Rhesus monkey mother–infant dyads were each subjected to 16 4-day physical separations between the infants' 3rd and 9th mo of life. Infants displayed protest behavior following each separation but only minimal signs of despair. Their protest diminished somewhat over repeated separations. The mothers' separation reactions were considerably milder (and changed little) over repeated separations. The separations appeared to retard the development of normal mother–infant relationsips: Relative to nonseparated control dyads, separated infants displayed excessive levels of infantile behaviors, although their mothers did not differ from control mothers in levels of any behavior. Near the end of their 1st yr, all infants were permanently separated from their mothers and housed as peer groups. Over the next 30 wks during peer housing, few behavioral differences emerged between previously separated and control Ss. However, when exposed to their mothers during preference tests, previously separated Ss seemed to avoid their mothers in sharp contrast to the mother-seeking activity displayed by control infants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)