Conflict resolution in distressed and nondistressed married couples.

Compared the communication interactions of 12 maritally distressed and 12 nondistressed (as determined by the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test) couples while they engaged in conflict resolution tasks. Analyses of ratings from 2 behavioral observation systems (Interpersonal Behavior Rating System and the Coding Scheme for Interpersonal Conflict) indicated that distressed couples made significantly more negative and fewer positive cognitive and problem-solving acts. Sequential analyses showed that distressed couples evidenced more reciprocity of negative communications as compared with nondistressed couples. The influence of individual spouse, couple type, and other experimental factors on communication patterns were quantified using multivariate analyses. The relationships of these findings to the etiology and treatment of marital distress are discussed. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Si/(Ni-Cr合金)/Cu扩散偶950℃相稳定性

在半导体硅片(Si)-扩散阻挡层(Ni-Cr合金)-金属互连材料(Cu)构成的体系中,Si和Ni-Cr合金之间以及Ni-Cr合金和Cu之间各构成一对扩散偶.通过制备扩散偶试样模拟相应的界面反应,实验测定950℃下界面反应产物的表观序列.从热力学的角度,分别对Cr-Ni-Si和Cr-Cu-Ni三元系中Si/(Ni-Cr)和(Ni-Cr)/Cu两个界面进行反应驱动力分析.计算获得的阶段性生成相表观序列与实验测得结果一致.     

Couple therapy from the perspective of self psychology and intersubjectivity theory.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 25(2) of Psychoanalytic Psychology (see record 2008-03991-018). Throughout the article, "Couples therapy" should read as "couple therapy," and "self-psychology" should read as "self psychology."] Central tenets of self-psychology and intersubjective systems theory (e.g., Stolorow & Atwood, 1992) are applied to the understanding and treatment of couple. The concepts of selfobject needs, unconscious organizing principles, and learned relational patterns are used to conceptualize common couples difficulties. A treatment approach is outlined, involving: (1) listening from within each partner's subjective perspective; (2) establishing a therapeutic dialogue through which each partner's selfobject needs, ways of organizing experience, and patterns of relating can gradually be empathically illuminated and transformed; and (3) facilitating new relational experiences with the couples therapist and eventually between the partners. Four concepts of self psychology that are particularly useful with some of the most challenging aspects of couples work are then discussed. Finally, the judicious use of directive interventions with couples is discussed as consistent with this perspective. A case example is used throughout the paper to illustrate key points. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Couples group psychotherapy: Rebuilding the marital relationship following disclosure of sexual deviance.

Presents an overview of treatment methods for compulsive sexual behaviors as well as the authors' initial treatment efforts (a traditional, individual, intrapsychic model) and movement to a systems framework emphasizing the elements within the marital relationship that impede or promote acting-out. The authors' 3-stage couples group psychotherapy program and the treatment of 11 couples in this group are described. A case example illustrates the therapeutic effect of this group on a 31-yr-old male exhibitionist and his wife. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Retrieval processes in transactive memory systems.

Two experiments examined retrieval processes in transactive memory systems (D. M. Wegner, 1987). In Experiment 1, intimate couples who worked face to face performed better on a knowledge-pooling task than strangers who worked face to face and better than intimate couples who worked via a computer conferencing system. Additional analyses indicated that intimate couples when interacting face to face were better able to determine which partner was correct on questions that only 1 member knew the answer to prior to discussion. In Experiment 2, intimate couples scored significantly better on the knowledge task when they had access to either nonverbal or paralinguistic communication cues than when they had access to neither. Taken together, the results indicate that both nonverbal and paralinguistic communication play an important role in the retrieval of knowledge in transactive memory systems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

局域平衡原理与相图的扩散偶法测定

介绍了局域平衡原理和扩散偶法测定平衡相图的方法要点.扩散偶法是一种高效的、可靠的相图测定方法,它可以大幅度减少实验工作量,减少原材料消耗,加快相图实测进程.此外,这种方法还具有可直接测定相平衡关系、相平衡成分,避免“过冷效应”等优点,特别适合于多组元系统平衡相图的实验测定.     

Infidelity and Behavioral Couple Therapy: Optimism in the Face of Betrayal.

Infidelity is a common issue with which distressed couples and their therapists grapple. However, there are no data on the efficacy of commonly used therapies to treat couples in which there has been an affair. In the present exploratory study, the authors examined the therapy outcomes of a sample of infidelity couples (n=19) who had participated in a randomized clinical trial of marital therapy (N=134). Results show that infidelity couples began treatment more distressed than noninfidelity couples; however, evidence suggests that couples who had an affair and who revealed this affair prior to or during therapy showed greater improvement in satisfaction than noninfidelity couples. Implications for therapy with infidelity couples are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment and treatment of couples with abusive male partners: Guidelines for Therapists.

The literature on domestic violence and couple's therapy currently offers few clear guidelines about assessment and treatment with couples with abusive male partners. This article addresses these gaps in the literature, attempts to integrate the divergent feminist, systems, psychodynamic, and behavioral perspectives on working with these couples, integrates an ecological perspective on violence into our framework, and finally, addresses process issues within the therapeutic relationship. Guidelines for assessment include written measures and interviews of each member of the couple separately as the first step in deciding whether or not to work with the couple, depending on the severity of the violence. Treatment should begin only when therapists have thoroughly assessed for violence in the relationship. Finally, it is critical that therapists pay attention to their attitudes and reactions to couples with abusive male partners, and honestly evaluate whether they feel comfortable and competent working with these couples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Réalité actuelle des couples homosexuels: Implications cliniques en contexte de thérapie conjugale.

Despite the fact that a large number of homosexual couples seek professional help when confronted with marital difficulties, relatively little knowledge is available to psychologists working with these clients. Although gay and lesbian couples greatly resemble heterosexual couples on most of the conjugal dimensions, it seems that same sex couples do have a unique reality to their sexual orientation. The present article constitutes an innovative synthesis of the actual knowledge concerning therapeutic intervention with gay and lesbian couples. First, the specific motives for these couples to seek help are discussed (i.e., issues related to homophobia, the lack of conjugal models, the "coming out" process, and the influence of socialization). Then, changes relating to issues relevant to some same sex couples brought to theoretical frameworks in psychology are explored. The frameworks that we examine are psychoanalytic, adlerian and cognitive behavioural. Finally, issues associated with HIV are discussed given its importance for die homosexual population and its impact on gay couples. This article, far from wanting to stigmatize even more homosexual couples, aims to support psychologists in their reflection and search for adequate interventions with this population that still... (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reaction diffusion in the NiCrAl and CoCrAl systems

The oxidation life of a physically vapor-deposited overlay protective coating based on the Ni-Cr-Al or Co-Cr-Al (M-Cr-Al) systems is controlled by aluminum consumption resulting from alumina spalling, erosion, and interdiffusion with the substrate. The rates of these processes are determined by coating and substrate composition, service environment, and temperature. The purposes of this study were 1) to determine the effect of coating and substrate chemistry on the kinetics of interdiffusion and their relation to diffusion-zone constitution and 2) to develop a procedure for analyzing diffusion in multicomponent, multiphase systems. Semi-infinite diffusion couples with MCrAl sources representative of coatings and sinks representative of nickel-or cobalt-base gas turbine alloys were annealed at 1000, 1095, 1150, or 1205°C for as long as 500 h. The couples were examined by optical microscopy and layer growth measurements were made. Parabolic growth constants can be correlated with source aluminum content for a specific sink composition since changes in source aluminum content are more important than changes in chromium content. Sink composition is as important as source composition in determining β-recession kinetics in diffusion couples and life in finite coatings. Nickel-base alloys are more stable sources and stronger sinks than cobalt-base alloys. Total and diffusion activation energies were determined from layer growth constants. By introducing the concept of β source strength which can be determined from the appropriate phase diagrams, the Wagner solution for consumption of a second phase in a semiinfinite couple was successfully applied to the analysis of the MCrAl couples. This provided a method 1) for correlating β-recession rate constants with couple composition, 2) for determining reliable total and diffusional activation energies, and 3) for calculating interdiffusion coefficients.     

Correction to Leone (2008).

Reports an error in "Couple therapy from the perspective of self psychology and intersubjectivity theory" by Carla Leone (Psychoanalytic Psychology, 2008[Jan], Vol 25[1], 79-98). Throughout the article, "Couples therapy" should read as "couple therapy," and "self-psychology" should read as "self psychology." (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2008-00996-006.) Central tenets of self-psychology and intersubjective systems theory (e.g., Stolorow & Atwood, 1992) are applied to the understanding and treatment of couple. The concepts of selfobject needs, unconscious organizing principles, and learned relational patterns are used to conceptualize common couples difficulties. A treatment approach is outlined, involving: (1) listening from within each partner's subjective perspective; (2) establishing a therapeutic dialogue through which each partner's selfobject needs, ways of organizing experience, and patterns of relating can gradually be empathically illuminated and transformed; and (3) facilitating new relational experiences with the couples therapist and eventually between the partners. Four concepts of self psychology that are particularly useful with some of the most challenging aspects of couples work are then discussed. Finally, the judicious use of directive interventions with couples is discussed as consistent with this perspective. A case example is used throughout the paper to illustrate key points. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identification of zero-flux planes and flux reversals in several studies of ternary diffusion

Several past studies of isothermal diffusion in ternary systems have been examined for the identification of zero-flux planes (ZFP) and flux reversals of the individual components. The phenomenon of ZFP initially recognized in the Cu-Ni-Zn diffusion couples has now been identified in several ternary systems including Cu-Ag-Au, Cu-Zn-Sn, Fe-Ni-Co, Fe-Ni-Al, and Co-Ni-Cr. The development of ZFP is dictated by the terminal alloys of the diffusion couples and can occur in both single phase and multiphase assemblies. Discontinuous flux reversals can also occur at interfaces in multiphase systems. The compositions of ZFP’s developed for a couple correspond to the intersections of its diffusion path and the isoactivity lines for the components drawn through the terminal alloy compositions on a ternary isotherm.     

Lesbian couples: The implications of sex differences in separation–individuation.

Addresses the relational dynamic of merging in lesbian couples from an object relations perspective. It is contended that merging in lesbian couples does exist, that it is a function of the fact that 2 women are relating to each other, and that preoedipal gender differences in the intrapsychic process of separation–individuation account for this pattern. It is suggested that gay male couples manifest the opposite pattern—emotional distancing—and that the determining factor is gender not homosexuality. Different patterns in lesbian and gay male couples illustrate crucial gender issues for both homosexuals and heterosexuals, and sex differences in separation–individuation and adult love relationships are discussed. It is concluded that the general nature of each sex's ego development affects the overall pattern of that sex's relational style. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of differentiation of self in marital adjustment.

In the present investigation, Murray Bowen's (1978) theoretical propositions about the relationship between differentiation of self and quality of marital relationships were tested. Couples' levels of differentiation explained substantial variance in marital adjustment: 74% of variance in husband marital adjustment scores and 61 % of variance in wife marital adjustment scores were accounted for by couple differentiation of self-scores. Greater husband emotional cutoff uniquely accounted for husband and wife marital discord. Contrary to family systems theory, actual couples were no more similar on differentiation than were randomly matched couples. Finally, greater complementarity among couples along the specific dimensions of emotional cutoff and emotional reactivity predicted greater marital distress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prevention of marital distress: Results of a German prospective longitudinal study.

This article reports on the development and long-term evaluation of a marital distress prevention program for German couples, the Ein Partnerschaftliches Lernprogramm (EPL, A Couple's Learning Program). The EPL is a 6-session program designed to teach couples effective communication and problem-solving skills. In the current article, the EPL is evaluated in a prospective, quasi-experimental, controlled trial. The results of the 3-year follow-up are reported, contrasting 55 EPL couples with a control group of 17 couples. Significant differences emerged with regard to the couples' dissolution rates, relationship satisfaction, and positive and negative communication behavior favoring the EPL couples. These results demonstrate the utility of the EPL program in assisting happy couples who are preparing for marriage. The implications of the findings for prevention research and for the dissemination of prevention programs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

La cohabitation et le mariage, deux mondes à part? Un examen des caractéristiques démographiques, individuelles et relationnelles.

Cohabitation is well implemented in conjugal lifestyles. Usually, studies comparing marriage and cohabitation draw a mostly negative picture of cohabitants. However, most studies so far examined cohabitant couples at an early stage of their relationship. That is, the results are not necessarily representative of cohabitation as a long-term choice. The present study aims at comparing cohabitant couples and married couples invested in a long-term relationship. A sample composed of 105 couples (72 married couples and 33 cohabitant couples) participated to a longitudinal study conducted on a four-years period. Individually, each partner completed the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the NEO Five-Factor Inventory, and a demographic questionnaire. Variance analysis showed that both types of couples differ as for demographic and personality variables, while they are similar on the relational sphere. The present study contributes to drawing a more nuanced and positive picture of free union. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attitude of potential users in Sicily towards preimplantation genetic diagnosis for beta-thalassaemia and aneuploidies

This study aims to report the willingness of different populations of high-risk couples to undergo preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) for beta-thalassaemia as an alternative to prenatal genetic diagnosis (PND), and the willingness of infertile couples to undergo PGD for aneuploidies. An information sheet and questionnaire presenting PGD and PND procedures were distributed to four population types: 54 high-risk couples for beta-thalassaemia coming for their first PND (population A); 51 similar couples coming for their second or further PND without previous experience of therapeutic abortion (population B-na); 50 similar couples coming for their second or further PND with previous experience of therapeutic abortion for beta-thalassaemia-affected fetus (population B-ab); and 74 infertile couples undergoing routine in-vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) (population C). Favourable first impressions towards PGD compared with PND were observed in all four populations in the following proportions: 79.6% population A; 76.5% population B-na; 92.0% population B-ab; and 96.0% population C. Willingness to undergo PGD for beta-thalassaemia was as follows: 44.4% population A; 47.1% population B-na; and 72.0% population B-ab. We conclude that previous experience of PND for beta-thalassaemia is a crucial point in the willingness to accept the PGD procedure, and that couples belonging to population B-ab are the most suitable to undergo PGD for beta-thalassaemia. Some 96.0% of infertile couples in population C were ready to undergo PGD for aneuploidies.     

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)     

Marital interactions of alcoholic couples: Comparison with depressed and nondistressed couples.

The marital interactions of 107 couples were observed as they engaged in discussions of personally relevant problems. For 38 couples the husband was alcoholic, for 35 couples the husband was depressed, and for 34 couples neither spouse had a diagnosed psychopathology. Observations were conducted during sessions when alcohol was consumed by spouses and during nondrinking sessions. Nondistressed couples were differentiated from both groups of clinically diagnosed couples through their increased rates of congeniality and positive behavior. Alcoholic couples tended to be more negative (more critical and disagreeable) than depressed and nondistressed couples when drinking but were indistinguishable from other couples when not drinking. The consumption of alcohol led to the increased expression of affective behavior, both positive and negative. Unanticipated three-way interaction effects also differentiated the alcoholic couples and are considered in terms of sex of the participating child and pattern of drinking manifested by the husband (episodic vs steady). The applicability of these results to a family-systems approach to alcoholism is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recruitment and selection of couples for intervention research: Achieving developmental homogeneity at the cost of demographic diversity.

Demographic and relationship quality data were collected from 704 individuals recruited to participate in a randomized study of relationship enhancing interventions. Recruiting at bridal shows produced partners who were more satisfied, earlier in their relationships, and less likely to be parents, with a marginally higher proportion of Latino couples. Radio and television coverage produced more established couples with higher levels of relationship discord. Self-selection effects revealed that couples from demographic groups at greater risk for divorce (those who had not completed high school, those with children at marriage, and African American couples) were more likely to agree to participate. In contrast, imposing a set of common selection criteria served to exclude couples from demographic risk groups and selected for couples with higher marital quality. Implications for recruiting couples to participate in preventive interventions are outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)