Infidelity in Couples Seeking Marital Therapy.

The revelation of an affair is often an emotionally explosive event for a couple, yet little is known about specific individual and relationship factors that accompany infidelity. The present study examined the qualities of individuals and couples that differentiate couples with (n = 19) and without (n = 115) infidelity using couples from a randomized clinical trial of marital therapy. Findings indicated that couples with infidelity showed greater marital instability, dishonesty, arguments about trust, narcissism, and time spent apart. Gender also proved to be a significant moderator of several effects. Men who had participated in affairs showed increased substance use, were older, and were more sexually dissatisfied. Results offer initial clues to concomitants of affairs for couple therapists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Empirically supported couple and family interventions for marital distress and adult mental health problems.

This article evaluates the efficacy, effectiveness, and clinical significance of empirically supported couple and family interventions for treating marital distress and individual adult disorders, including anxiety disorders, depression, sexual dysfunctions, alcoholism and problem drinking, and schizophrenia. In addition to consideration of different theoretical approaches to treating these disorders, different ways of including a partner or family in treatment are highlighted: (a) partner–family-assisted interventions, (b) disorder-specific partner–family interventions, and (c) more general couple–family therapy. Findings across diagnostic groups and issues involved in applying efficacy criteria to these populations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effectiveness of cotherapists versus single therapists and immediate versus delayed treatment in behavioral marital therapy.

Evaluated the overall effectiveness of behavioral marital therapy (BMT) in aiding distressed couples, and explored the relative effectiveness of (a) cotherapists vs single therapists and (b) immediate treatment vs delayed treatment, which resulted from placing couples on a waiting list. 30 maritally distressed couples (aged 19–59 yrs) were randomly assigned to 1 of 6 treatment conditions, with 5 couples per condition: (a) immediate treatment by Therapist A; (b) immediate treatment by Therapist B; (c) immediate treatment by Therapists A and B as a cotherapy team; (d) delayed treatment by Therapist A; (e) delayed treatment by Therapist B; or (f) delayed treatment by Therapists A and B as a cotherapy team. Ss were administered a battery of tests that included the Marital Adjustment Test and Areas-of-Change Questionnaire. Results indicate that BMT was more effective than no treatment on both self-report measures and 1 of 2 behavioral measures, thus affirming the overall effectiveness of the treatment. A cotherapy team and single therapists were equally effective in producing treatment changes. In addition, overall there were no significant differences between couples receiving therapy immediately and couples treated after a 10-wk waiting period. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding infidelity: Correlates in a national random sample.

Infidelity is a common phenomenon in marriages but is poorly understood. The current study examined variables related to extramarital sex using data from the 1991-1996 General Social Surveys. Predictor variables were entered into a logistic regression with presence of extramarital sex as the dependent variable. Results demonstrated that divorce, education, age when first married, and 2 "opportunity" variables--respondent's income and work status--significantly affected the likelihood of having engaged in infidelity. Also, there were 3 significant interactions related to infidelity: (a) between age and gender, (b) between marital satisfaction and religious behavior, and (c) between past divorce and educational level. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Communication patterns and response to treatment among depressed and nondepressed maritally distressed couples.

Compared 35 maritally distressed couples assigned to 1 of 3 cognitive behavioral marital therapy (BMT) groups. Groups represented (1) couples in which 1 spouse was depressed at pretest, (2) couples in which 1 spouse showed psychopathology other than depression, and (3) couples who showed no symptoms of individual psychopathology. Ss were administered, pre- and posttreatment, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Pretreatment couples in Group 1 were the oldest and the least maritally satisfied, and expressed the most negative communication. 12 wks of BMT was an effective treatment modality for all groups when compared with a group of 12 couples on a wait list. BMT significantly increased marital adjustment for all 3 treatment groups and decreased the rates of negative communication. BMT significantly decreased the level of depression in Group 1 and the level of psychopathology in Group 2. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The language of demand/withdraw: Verbal and vocal expression in dyadic interactions.

Associations between vocally expressed emotional arousal, influence tactics, and demand/withdraw behavior were examined in a treatment-seeking sample of 130 seriously and stably distressed, married, heterosexual couples and in a community sample (N = 38) of 18 married heterosexual and 20 dating heterosexual couples. Fundamental frequency was used to measure emotional arousal, and computational linguistics were used to measure influence tactics. Higher levels of demand/withdraw behavior were associated with greater use of manipulative and controlling influence tactics, higher levels of emotional arousal, and less frequent use of cooperative and compromising influence tactics. Overall, demanders tended to express more arousal and to use more influence tactics than withdrawers. Both influence tactics and emotional arousal were uniquely associated with demand/withdraw behavior. Implications of results are discussed for refining theories of demand/withdraw interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Altering the course of marriage: The effect of PREP communication skills acquisition on couples' risk of becoming maritally distressed.

This longitudinal study predicted marital outcome from communication skills gained from participation in the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP; H. J. Markman, S. L. Blumberg & S. M. Stanley, 1989; Stanley et al., 2001) by 39 women and 38 men. Results were in the expected direction for men but not for women. Men's pre- to posttest decrease in negative communication and increase in positive communication predicted decreased risk of marital distress onset in men. Women's pre- to posttest increase in positive communication, which was related to self-reported avoidance of problem solving, predicted an increased risk of male and female distress onset. Couples with men relatively high on premarital risk factors demonstrated a greater benefit from men's positive communication skills acquisition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Growth study of AlGaAs using dimethylethylamine alane as the aluminum precursor

We present a comprehensive study on the growth of AlGaAs by using an alternative Al precursor, dimethylethylamine alane (DMEAA), and a Ga coprecursor, either triethylgallium (TEG) or trimethylgallium (TMG). The growth rate of AlAs determined by using in situ reflectometry was studied as a function of the growth temperature, V/III ratio, growth pressure, and rotation speed of the substrate. The presence of gas phase reactions of DMEAA with arsine and TEG was indicated, and their reduction was achieved at a lower growth pressure, lower V/III ratio, or a lower growth temperature. Negligible pre-reaction of DMEAA with TMG was observed. Excellent material uniformity of AlGaAs was achieved on a 2″ diameter wafer. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy measurements revealed extremely low C and O contents in the AlAs layer grown by DMEAA. Photoluminescence measurements suggested the presence of some non-radiative defects in the as-grown DMEAA AlGaAs layers.     

Independent masculinity and femininity scales on the California Psychological Inventory.

Obtained California Psychological Inventory responses of 159 male and 128 female college students. A 4-fold typology of sex roles was constructed: The minimum raw scores for males high on MSC (masculinity) and FMN (femininity) were 46 and 28, respectively; for females, 33 and 35. Maximum scores for males low on MSC and FMN were 38 and 23; for females, 29 and 31. The high-masculine/low-feminine person is regarded as the most psychologically healthy of the 4 types. This view resembles the notion of androgyny, with emphasis on balance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Observed emotional involvement and overinvolvement in families of patients with bipolar disorder.

Many studies have examined the construct validity of the criticism component of expressed emotion, but little work has been done on clarifying the emotional overinvolvement (EOI) construct. In a sample of 115 recently episodic patients with bipolar disorder, the authors of the present study examined the construct validity of an observational coding system for both appropriate and inappropriate emotional involvement that permitted separate ratings for relatives' intrusiveness, self-sacrificing behaviors, and distress related to the patient's well-being. Findings support the measure's reliability and convergent validity and are moderately supportive of the measure's discriminant validity. Results also suggest that Camberwell Family Interview (C. E. Vaughn & J. P. Leff, 1976) EOI ratings do not discriminate among the different dimensions of the emotional involvement construct (or their appropriateness or inappropriateness) as revealed in laboratory-based interactions. The findings suggest that clinicians working with such families might consider differentiating among the various ways in which family members are involved with the patient and helping them learn to judge under what circumstances such involvement is appropriate and inappropriate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)