The Influence of Partnership Dance for Adult Romantic Couples on Intimacy, Trust, and Attachment Style

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Description

Romantic relationship research has focused on various characteristics of individual and partner dynamics including intimacy and trust which are important aspects of relationship success. High levels of intimacy in relationships is associated with commitment, passion, psychosocial identity, and lower self-consciousness.…

Romantic relationship research has focused on various characteristics of individual and partner dynamics including intimacy and trust which are important aspects of relationship success. High levels of intimacy in relationships is associated with commitment, passion, psychosocial identity, and lower self-consciousness. Similarly, trust involves the perception of stability and consistency in partner behavior that is in accordance with one’s best interests. Another aspect of romantic relationships that has been heavily researched is attachment style which has been shown to strongly influence how partners behave in relationships. Couples that face relationship challenges have been found to benefit from dance and movement therapy. Current research does not investigate the interactions of all of these facets of relationships and how they might be improved. Therefore, the present study strives to explore how established research on trust, intimacy, and attachment style can be used to improve relationships in the context of dance and movement. The experimental group consisted of 7 couples who participated in partnership dance lessons over the course of one month. The control group consisted of 9 couples who did not participate in the classes. We predicted that partnership dance classes would increase intimacy and trust in couples. We also investigated how attachment style might be implicated in this change. Results show a significant increase in intimacy for participants in the experimental group who participated in partnership dance classes. There was no significant increase in trust. While some participants did change attachment style throughout the study, the majority of participants retained their attachment style from the beginning of the study. Future research should focus on what types of dance are most beneficial for romantic couples, coding participant emotions during the dance class, and how the approach to teaching impacts participants’ experience.

Date Created
2021-12
Agent

The Influence of Partnership Dance for Adult Romantic Couples on Intimacy, Trust, and Attachment Style

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Description

Romantic relationship research has focused on various characteristics of individual and partner dynamics including intimacy and trust which are important aspects of relationship success. High levels of intimacy in relationships is associated with commitment, passion, psychosocial identity, and lower self-consciousness.…

Romantic relationship research has focused on various characteristics of individual and partner dynamics including intimacy and trust which are important aspects of relationship success. High levels of intimacy in relationships is associated with commitment, passion, psychosocial identity, and lower self-consciousness. Similarly, trust involves the perception of stability and consistency in partner behavior that is in accordance with one’s best interests. Another aspect of romantic relationships that has been heavily researched is attachment style which has been shown to strongly influence how partners behave in relationships. Couples that face relationship challenges have been found to benefit from dance and movement therapy. Current research does not investigate the interactions of all of these facets of relationships and how they might be improved. Therefore, the present study strives to explore how established research on trust, intimacy, and attachment style can be used to improve relationships in the context of dance and movement. The experimental group consisted of 7 couples who participated in partnership dance lessons over the course of one month. The control group consisted of 9 couples who did not participate in the classes. We predicted that partnership dance classes would increase intimacy and trust in couples. We also investigated how attachment style might be implicated in this change. Results show a significant increase in intimacy for participants in the experimental group who participated in partnership dance classes. There was no significant increase in trust. While some participants did change attachment style throughout the study, the majority of participants retained their attachment style from the beginning of the study. Future research should focus on what types of dance are most beneficial for romantic couples, coding participant emotions during the dance class, and how the approach to teaching impacts participants’ experience.

Date Created
2021-12
Agent

Exploring the Within- and Between-Person Effects of Alcohol Use and Discrepant Drinking on Mood and Relationship Functioning

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Description
Alcohol use among romantic partners is known to be related to a variety of detrimental outcomes, such as decreased relationship satisfaction and increases in conflict. However, discrepant drinking among partners may be a stronger predictor of relationship outcomes over and…

Alcohol use among romantic partners is known to be related to a variety of detrimental outcomes, such as decreased relationship satisfaction and increases in conflict. However, discrepant drinking among partners may be a stronger predictor of relationship outcomes over and above the amount of alcohol use. Currently, little is known about potential differences in the within- and between-person effects and discrepancy’s effect on mood, particularly among community samples. The current study investigated the effects of both individual and partner alcohol use, as well as discrepant drinking, on mood and relationship functioning. Data were obtained from 280 heterosexual romantic couples using a measurement burst daily dairy design over the course of one year. Actor Partner Interdependence Model and Dyadic Score Model analyses were used to investigate the effect of alcohol use and discrepant drinking on mood and relationship functioning, both at the within- and between- person levels. Specifically, analyses investigated the effects of no drinking versus moderate drinking, no drinking versus binge drinking, and moderate drinking versus binge drinking. Results revealed that while binge drinking may be related to positive outcomes proximally, the cumulative effects at the between-person level are detrimental. Moreover, discrepant drinking appears most detrimental when women outdrink their partners. These findings have important implications for refining and improving upon couples-based interventions aimed at alcohol-use problems among non-clinical couples.
Date Created
2020
Agent

High-Risk Sexual Behavior and Substance Use During Young Adulthood: Gender-Specific Developmental Trajectories and the Influence of Early Trauma, and Adolescent Peer and Family Processes

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Description
High-risk sexual behavior (HRSB) and substance use (SU) are highly prevalent in the general population with adolescents and young adults at high risk for engaging in these behaviors. Unhealthy behavioral patterns established during these developmental periods can have detrimental long-term…

High-risk sexual behavior (HRSB) and substance use (SU) are highly prevalent in the general population with adolescents and young adults at high risk for engaging in these behaviors. Unhealthy behavioral patterns established during these developmental periods can have detrimental long-term effects on physical and mental health. Health care expenditures, related to consequences of these behaviors, have been estimated to reach around $740 billion in the United States, indicating an imminent public health concern. Unfortunately, little is known about trajectories and risk factors of health risk behaviors (HRBs) beyond age 25, which is a critical developmental period regarding these behaviors. This study sought to better understand HRB trajectories throughout young adulthood as well as the mechanisms underlying the initiation and progression of these behaviors. This study used data from a large (n = 998), longitudinal, randomized-controlled trial with intensive measurement of HRBs and peer and family processes. Growth mixture modeling estimated gender-specific trajectories of HRSB and SU (tobacco, alcohol, marijuana) from ages 22-30. Multinomial logistic regression (MLR) then examined how family and peer factors, and trauma exposure during adolescence, both separately and in combination, influenced HRB trajectories. Four unique trajectories resulted for SU (low use class; increasing use class; decreasing use class; high use class) and three for HRSB (low HRSB class; increasing HRSB class; deceasing HRSB class). There were no differences in the number of classes or trajectory patterns between men and women. Results of the MLRs demonstrated that deviant peer affiliation (DP), family conflict, parental monitoring and trauma exposure impacted trajectories of tobacco and marijuana use and HRSB during young adulthood, but that the most salient influences were DP and trauma exposure. Alcohol use trajectories and differences between the increasing, decreasing and high trajectory classes for the other HRBs were difficult to predict. These results suggest that young adults are still at risk for engaging in HRBs, and there are risk factors in adolescence that influence typologies of HRBs during this developmental period. Prevention and intervention programs targeting young adulthood are needed, and better understanding factors that lead to vulnerabilities specific to this developmental period may inform targeted interventions.
Date Created
2019
Agent

Functional impairment, mental disorder symptomatology, and perceived bias among racial and ethnic minorities in the United States

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Description
Mental health disparities in the U.S. among racial and ethnic minorities are a serious public health issue associated with substantial ethical and economic costs as well as negative health outcomes. Compared with Whites, racial/ethnic minorities have been found to have…

Mental health disparities in the U.S. among racial and ethnic minorities are a serious public health issue associated with substantial ethical and economic costs as well as negative health outcomes. Compared with Whites, racial/ethnic minorities have been found to have greater mental disorder symptomatology, however, very little research exists on how this impacts functional outcomes and quality of life. Additionally, research addressing the impact of bias on symptomatology and functional outcomes, especially across racial/ethnic groups, is lacking. Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) Biopsychosocial Model of Disability as a conceptual framework, the current study aims to address the relationship between mental disorder symptomatology and functional impairment across racial/ethnic groups, as well as evaluate the influence of perceived bias on this association. These relationships were examined using data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiological Surveys (CPES) among White, Black, Latinx, and Asian American individuals (N = 10,276). Variables include past-30-day functional impairment, past-year mental disorder symptomatology, and lifetime perceived bias. One-way analyses of variance were conducted to compare mental disorder symptomatology and perceived bias across racial/ethnic groups. Pearson correlation analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between mental disorder symptomatology and functional impairment across racial/ethnic groups. Zero-inflated negative binomial regressions were conducted to evaluate the moderating effect of perceived bias on the relationship between mental disorder symptomatology and functional impairment across racial/ethnic groups. Additional exploratory analyses were conducted to assess the relationships between mental disorder symptomatology, perceived bias, and various domains of functional impairment across racial/ethnic groups. Findings speak to the need for additional research on predictors and correlates of mental health outcomes, such as social support, community, and other resiliency factors. Additionally, the need for broader conceptualizations of how bias, prejudice, stigma, and intersectional identity may impact health and wellbeing across diverse populations is illustrated in this work. Overall, findings indicate the continued existence of disparities in mental health across racial/ethnic groups and reify the need for additional work to address this public health problem.
Date Created
2019
Agent

Ending a Relationship: The Variance in Breakup Factors Across an Age Continuum

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Description
This study investigated reasons for romantic dissolution in 235 participants, ranging from 18-55 years of age, who had experienced a breakup in the past 12 months. Through an online survey on Amazon Mechanical Turk, participants were asked to briefly describe…

This study investigated reasons for romantic dissolution in 235 participants, ranging from 18-55 years of age, who had experienced a breakup in the past 12 months. Through an online survey on Amazon Mechanical Turk, participants were asked to briefly describe their relationship, then rate how true a variety of statements were in regards to the characteristics of their relationship. Participants were then asked to rate how much each characteristic contributed as a reason for their breakup. Pairwise Pearson correlations were used to determine the variance in breakup factors with participant age. A significant positive correlation was found between age and participants attributing their breakup to a lack of intimacy, demonstrating that older participants were more likely to attribute their breakups to this factor. A marginally significant negative correlation was found between age and loss of independence as a reason for dissolution, showing that younger participants were more likely to attribute their breakup to losing their independence than were older participants. The correlation between age and participants' attributing breakups to a partner cheating was marginally significant, such that older participants were more likely to attribute their breakup to cheating than were younger participants. Due to the lack of significant correlations found between the 15 coded breakup factors and age, it was determined that age does not have a major effect on what factors may lead partners to end a romantic relationship.
Date Created
2018-05
Agent

The Relationship between Neural Responses to Rejection and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescent Romantic Relationships: a Dual EEG Acquisition Study

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Description
The research question this thesis aims to answer is whether depressive symptoms of adolescents involved in romantic relationships are related to their rejection sensitivity. It was hypothesized that adolescents who have more rejection sensitivity, indicated by a bigger P3b response,…

The research question this thesis aims to answer is whether depressive symptoms of adolescents involved in romantic relationships are related to their rejection sensitivity. It was hypothesized that adolescents who have more rejection sensitivity, indicated by a bigger P3b response, will have more depressive symptoms. This hypothesis was tested by having adolescent couples attend a lab session in which they played a Social Rejection Task while EEG data was being collected. Rejection sensitivity was measured using the activity of the P3b ERP at the Pz electrode. The P3b ERP was chosen to measure rejection sensitivity as it has been used before to measure rejection sensitivity in previous ostracism studies. Depressive symptoms were measured using the 20-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D, Radloff, 1977). After running a multiple regression analysis, the results did not support the hypothesis; instead, the results showed no relationship between rejection sensitivity and depressive symptoms. The results are also contrary to similar literature which typically shows that the higher the rejection sensitivity, the greater the depressive symptoms.
Date Created
2015-05
Agent

Adolescents' emotional well-being during developmental turning points: help and hindrance from interpersonal relationships

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Description
In two complementary studies, I used an innovative ecological momentary assessment (EMA) design to examine associations between adolescents’ daily interactions with parents and peers and their mood states during two developmentally normative, yet demanding contexts: romantic relationships and the transition…

In two complementary studies, I used an innovative ecological momentary assessment (EMA) design to examine associations between adolescents’ daily interactions with parents and peers and their mood states during two developmentally normative, yet demanding contexts: romantic relationships and the transition to college. The first study examined how adolescents’ daily romantic relationship experiences (e.g., romantic emotionality, conflict, affiliation) were related to negative affective states. Eighty-eight adolescent romantic couples (Mage = 16.74 , SD = 0.96; 44% Latina/o, 42% White) completed short electronic surveys twice-weekly for 12 weeks, which assessed their affective states and their relationship processes (24 total possible surveys). Results indicated that greater conflict and negative romantic emotionality predicted greater within-person fluctuations in same-day negative affect. Greater daily affiliation with a romantic partner predicted slightly lower levels of same-day negative affect; positive romantic emotionality did not significantly predict negative affect.

Study 2 examined first-year college students’ growth trajectories in positive and negative affect across the transition to college (i.e., spanning the entire first semester), predicted said trajectories and daily affective states. Participants were 146 first-year college students from a large southwestern university entering their first semester of college (Mage = 17.8, SD = 0.5). Electronic diary surveys were administered to students twice weekly between July and December of 2014, so as to span the transition to college and the entire first semester, and assessed daily affective states and interpersonal interactions. Results indicated that students decreased in their positive affect gradually across the first semester, but remained stable in their negative affect. Significant variability emerged around these average trends, and was predicted by indices of conflict and involvement with parents and friends. Generally, greater involvement with friends and parents was associated with greater positive and less negative affect, whereas greater conflict with these important social groups predicted greater negative affect. Together, these studies underscore the importance of positive attachments during developmentally-challenging contexts experienced in adolescence.
Date Created
2017
Agent

Examining the neurocognitive underpinnings of coercive conflict in young adult relationships: an actor partner model approach

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Description
The goal of this study was to examine the correlation between the brain's preconscious processing of relationship events and direct observation of couples' behavior during a videotaped discussion task. Although we know about the interaction dynamics within romantic relationships that…

The goal of this study was to examine the correlation between the brain's preconscious processing of relationship events and direct observation of couples' behavior during a videotaped discussion task. Although we know about the interaction dynamics within romantic relationships that portend conflict and dissatisfaction, very little is known about how individuals read interpersonal events within their relationship. Romantic partners participated in a dyadic EEG (electroencephalogram) lab session in which they played a gambling task. The gambling task consisted of three conditions: 1) individual gambling 2) watching their partners gamble and 3) gambling with advice from their partners. Following the gambling tasks, partners were videotaped discussing relationship topics. Neurocognitive reactions to winning and losing a gamble in response to partner's advice were analyzed as an Evoked Response Potential (ERP). The ERP of interest was the P300, which is associated with the brain making sense of unexpected information. Using an actor partner framework, it was found that the females' P300 predicted observed coercive interaction patterns. This finding suggests that for females with an established coercive relationship with their male partners, positive feedback was unexpected compared to losing.
Date Created
2016
Agent
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