Enduring COVID-19 lockdowns: Risk versus resilience in parents' health and family functioning across the pandemic.

Have the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic risked declines in parents' health and family functioning, or have most parents been resilient and shown no changes in health and family functioning? Assessing average risk versus resilience requires examining how families have fared across the pandemic, beyond the initial months examined in prior investigations. The current research examines changes in parents' health and functioning over the first 1.5 years of the pandemic. Parents (N = 272) who had completed general pre-pandemic assessments completed reassessments of psychological/physical health, couple/family functioning, and parenting within two mandatory lockdowns in New Zealand: at the beginning of the pandemic (26 March-28 April 2020) and 17 months later (18 August-21 September 2021). Parents exhibited average declines in psychological/physical health (greater depressive symptoms; reduced well-being, energy and physical health) and in couple/family functioning (reduced commitment and family cohesion; greater problem severity and family chaos). By contrast, there were no average differences in parent-child relationship quality and parenting practices across lockdowns. Declines in health and couple/family functioning occurred irrespective of pre-pandemic health and functioning, but partner support buffered declines in couple/family functioning. The results emphasize that attending to the challenges parents and couples face in the home will be important to mitigate and recover from the impact of the pandemic on parents' and children's well-being.

How far is the reach of personality in relationship functioning during COVID-19? Reply to Pfund and Hill (2022).

Pfund and Hill (2022) suggest that individual resilience factors such as agreeableness and conscientiousness are likely to promote better relationship functioning as couples navigate the pandemic. Although we agree that more fully incorporating individual resilience factors would strengthen our adapted vulnerability-stress-adaptation (VSA) model, neither agreeableness nor conscientiousness reliably predict relationship functioning. In line with the VSA model, we emphasize the importance of a Person × Context approach that examines the potential effects of personality factors within couples' specific situational contexts during and after the pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Depressive Symptoms, External Stress, and Marital Adjustment: The Buffering Effect of Partner's Responsive Behavior.

Guided by theory emphasizing that partner responsiveness underlies well-functioning romantic relationships, we examined whether partners' responsive behavior buffered the degree to which a personal vulnerability (depressive symptoms) and external stress predicted declines in relationship adjustment. Using an existing dataset, we tested whether individuals' depressive symptoms and stress interacted with observer-coded partner responsive behavior during marital conflict discussions to predict change in marital adjustment at the next time point (N = 195 couples Time 1 to Time 2, 158 couples Time 2 to Time 3). Individuals experiencing greater (a) depressive symptoms or (b) stress showed sharper declines in marital adjustment. However, as predicted, the negative effects of both depressive symptoms and stress were attenuated when partners displayed high behavioral responsiveness. These findings underscore the importance of adopting a dyadic perspective to understand how partners' responsive behavior can overcome the harmful effects of personal and situational vulnerabilities on relationship outcomes.

Implications of social isolation, separation, and loss during the COVID-19 pandemic for couples' relationships.

The broad isolation, separation, and loss resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic raise risks for couples' relationship quality and stability. Guided by the vulnerability-stress-adaptation model, we suggest that how pandemic-related loss, isolation, and separation impact couples' relationships will vary depending on the amount and severity of pandemic-related stress, together with enduring personal vulnerabilities (e.g. attachment insecurity), both of which can disrupt adaptive dyadic responses to these challenges. A review of emerging research examining relationship functioning before and during the initial stages of the pandemic offers support for this framework. We draw on additional research to suggest pathways for mitigating relationship disruptions and promoting resilience.

Is Low Power Associated with Submission During Marital Conflict? Moderating Roles of Gender and Traditional Gender Role Beliefs.

Lower power during marital interactions predicts greater aggression by men, but no research has identified women's response to lower power. We tested whether women who experienced lower situational power during conflict exhibited greater submission, especially if they held traditional gender role beliefs and thus accepted structural gender differences in power. Newlywed couples (Time 1 N = 204 couples) completed questionnaires and discussed an area of conflict 3 times over 3 years. Individuals who perceived lower power during couples' discussions evidenced greater submission, but this effect was more pronounced for wives, especially wives who held traditional gender role beliefs. Among those with traditional gender role beliefs, greater submission together with lower power predicted lower marital adjustment over time. These results highlight that the low power-submission link, and associated implications for marital adjustment, need to be evaluated in the context of power-relevant situations, gender, and broader power-related beliefs about gender roles.

Applying relationship science to evaluate how the COVID-19 pandemic may impact couples' relationships.

The coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has profoundly altered people's daily lives and created multiple societal challenges. One important challenge of this unique stressor is maintaining well-functioning intimate relationships, which are inextricably tied to emotional and physical health. Yet research on romantic relationships shows that external stressors such as economic hardship, demanding jobs, and disasters can threaten the quality and stability of couples' relationships. Research within relationship science investigating how external stressors and existing vulnerabilities shape couple functioning can inform predictions about how the current pandemic will impact couples' relationships and which couples in which contexts may be most at risk for adverse relationship consequences. Drawing on theory and research from relationship science, the presented conceptual framework, adapted from the vulnerability-stress-adaptation model (Karney & Bradbury, 1995), suggests that facing COVID-19-related external stress is likely to increase harmful dyadic processes (e.g., hostility, withdrawal, less responsive support), which will undermine couples' relationship quality. These harmful effects are likely to be exacerbated by the broader preexisting context in which couples' relationships are situated (e.g., social class, minority status, age), and their individual vulnerabilities (e.g., attachment insecurity, depression). The framework presented identifies the essential factors that need to be addressed in order to mitigate the potential adverse effects of the current crisis on relationships, and offers key directions for future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Strained Bedfellows: An Actor-Partner Analysis of Spousal Attachment Insecurity and Sleep Quality.

Background: The quality of interpersonal ties-especially closer relationships-appears to be associated with physical health outcomes. Sleep is one pathway through which relationships and health appear to be linked, but this has been inadequately investigated in the context of dyadic attachment. Purpose: The present study examined links between relationship-specific attachment anxiety (which can involve preoccupation with one's partner, negative relationship cognitions, and fear of abandonment) and avoidance (e.g., low emotional investment or intimacy) and sleep quality. Methods: Attachment, assessed using the Experience in Close Relationship (ECR), was used to predict Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Inventory (PSQI)-assessed sleep quality in 92 married heterosexual couples via actor-partner interdependence models. Depression was examined as a potential mediator of this association. Results: Consistent with hypotheses, actors' anxious attachment predicted diminished quality of their own sleep, whereas actors' avoidant attachment was unrelated to their own sleep quality. Results further suggested that couples in which both spouses were higher in attachment anxiety experience better sleep quality (b = -0.74, SE = 0.28, p = .0082, 95% CI [-1.287, -0.196]). Conversely, couples in which both spouses were higher in attachment avoidance showed poorer sleep quality (b = 0.56, SE = 0.23, p = .0188, 95% CI [0.095, 1.016]). These effects were found to be independent of marital satisfaction and depression. Some evidence was also consistent with mediation of links between attachment and sleep quality via depression. Conclusions: Results suggest adult romantic attachment and sleep are associated in complex ways, highlighting the importance of dyadic approaches to the study of relationships, sleep, and health.

Adult attachment and physical health.

This article examines how individual differences in adult attachment shape regulatory strategies and relationship behaviors, which in turn influence health-related responses, behaviors, and outcomes. We review links between attachment and physiological responses to stress (e.g., hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responses, cardiovascular responses, immune responses), health behavior (e.g., substance use, diet), and downstream health and disease outcomes. Recent evidence suggests that attachment insecurity (attachment anxiety and/or attachment avoidance) is associated with dysregulated physiological responses to stress, risky health behaviors, susceptibility to physical illness, and poorer disease outcomes. These associations depend, in part, on the relationship context, including the other partner's attachment style and behavior. We suggest that a dyadic approach considering both partners' attachment styles and behaviors will enhance interventions to promote health.

Childhood family adversity and adult cortisol response: The role of observed marital conflict behavior.

Childhood family adversity predicts adult interpersonal behavior and physiological responses to interpersonal stress. Additionally, negative marital behaviors (e.g., hostility and distress maintaining attributions) predict maladaptive stress responses and mental health problems, whereas positive marital behaviors (e.g., acceptance and relationship enhancing attributions) predict adaptive physiological and psychological outcomes. The present study examined potential marital behavior mediators and moderators of the link between childhood adversity and cortisol responses to conflict. In a sample of 218 different-sex newlywed couples, we examined (a) actors' marital conflict behaviors as candidate mediators of the link between childhood adversity and cortisol responses to marital conflict discussions, and (b) partners' marital conflict behaviors as candidate moderators of the relation between childhood adversity and cortisol responses to marital discussions. Path analysis using actor-partner interdependence modeling did not confirm mediation. Instead, wives' childhood family adversity directly predicted husbands' attenuated cortisol responses, and wives' negative behavior predicted wives' attenuated cortisol responses. As hypothesized, wives' negative behaviors moderated the association between husbands' childhood family adversity and husbands' cortisol in response to conflict; husbands showed higher cortisol if they had experienced greater family adversity and if their wives displayed more negative behavior. Results suggest that childhood family adversity may carry forward to shape adult cortisol responses to conflict and highlights the importance of wives' negative behavior for both husbands and wives. These findings add to the family psychology literature by further clarifying how the interaction of stressful childhood experiences and conflict behaviors in marriage are associated with adult physiological responses to conflict. (PsycINFO Database Record

Editorial.

In this editorial, the incoming editor expresses his aspirations to continue to support Emotion's primary mission to publish high quality theory-driven, empirical research on emotion and to attract the very best research across all relevant areas of psychology and related fields. (PsycINFO Database Record

Interpersonal mechanisms linking close relationships to health.

Close relationships play a vital role in human health, but much remains to be learned about specific mechanisms of action and potential avenues for intervention. This article provides an evaluation of research on close relationships processes relevant to health, drawing on themes from major relationship science theories to present a broad conceptual framework for understanding the interpersonal processes and intrapersonal pathways linking relationships to health and disease outcomes. The analysis reveals that both social connection and social disconnection broadly shape biological responses and behaviors that are consequential for health. Furthermore, emerging work offers insights into the types of social dynamics that are most consequential for health, and the potential pathways through which they operate. Following from this analysis, the authors suggest several research priorities to facilitate the translation of discoveries from relationship science into relationship-based interventions and public health initiatives. These priorities include developing finer grained theoretical models to guide research, the systematic investigation of potential mediating pathways such as dyadic influences on health behavior and physiological coregulation, and taking into account individual differences and contextual factors such as attachment style, gender, socioeconomic status, and culture. In addition, a pressing need exists for laboratory and field research to determine which types of interventions are both practical and effective. (PsycINFO Database Record

Early Pubertal Timing and Childhood Family Adversity Interact to Predict Newlywed Women's Anxiety Symptoms.

The contextual amplification hypothesis posits that girls' early pubertal timing will predict anxiety and depression symptoms most strongly when early puberty occurs under adverse conditions. Research supporting this hypothesis has consistently linked early pubertal timing occurring in adverse contexts to symptoms during adolescence, but little is known about the link to adult symptoms. The present study examined the extent to which women's reports of early pubertal timing and childhood family adversity interact to predict symptoms of anxiety and depression during the first two years of marriage. Married women (N = 226) completed questionnaires within 7 months into their first marriage (Time 1) and approximately 19 months later (Time 2). Analyses indicated that at both Time 1 and 2, women's reports of earlier pubertal timing predicted anxiety symptoms only when women reported a history of greater childhood family adversity. Additional analyses indicated that the interaction of earlier pubertal timing and greater childhood family adversity predicted symptoms of traumatic intrusions and panic, but not social anxiety, at Time 1, and panic symptoms at Times 1 and 2. These findings expand our understanding of the relation of early pubertal timing to adult emotional health and the family conditions that moderate this relation.

Concurrent and prospective associations between HPA axis activity and depression symptoms in newlywed women.

We investigated the extent to which individual differences in activity of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA) are associated with depressive symptoms among newlywed couples. Participants were 218 couples (M age 28.4 years; 94% White) who provided 5 saliva samples (later assayed for cortisol and DHEA-S) before and after participation in a discussion of a major area of disagreement in their relationship. Depressive symptoms were assessed initially, and approximately 19- and 37-months later. Results revealed an interactive effect suggesting that concordant levels of cortisol and DHEA-S (either both high or both low) were concurrently and prospectively associated with higher depression scores. Interestingly, this interactive effect was observed for wives only - not for husbands. These observations underscore contemporary theoretical assumptions that the expression of the association between HPA activity and depression is dependent on factors related to the interaction between characteristics of the person and features of the social environment, and moderated by co-occurring variation in endocrine milieu.

Longitudinal changes in spouses' HPA responses: Convergence in cortisol patterns during the early years of marriage.

OBJECTIVE: Drawing on theories of bidirectional influence between relationship partners (Butler, 2011; Diamond & Aspinwall, 2003), the authors applied dyadic analytic methods to test convergence in cortisol patterns over time in newlywed couples. METHOD: Previous studies of bidirectional influence in couples' cortisol levels (Liu, Rovine, Klein, & Almeida, 2013; Papp, Pendry, Simon, & Adam, 2013; Saxbe & Repetti, 2010) found significant covariation in couples' daily cortisol levels over several days, but no studies have tested whether cortisol response similarity increases over time using a longitudinal design. In the present study, 183 opposite sex couples (366 participants) engaged in a conflict discussion in a laboratory visit about 6 months after their marriage, and again about 2 years into the marriage. At each visit, spouses provided saliva samples that indexed cortisol levels before, during, and after the discussion. This multimeasure procedure enabled modeling of spouses' cortisol trajectories around the conflict discussion. RESULTS: Findings showed significant convergence in couples' cortisol trajectories across the early years of marriage; couples showed significantly greater similarity in cortisol trajectories around the conflict discussion as their relationship matured. Cohabitation length predicted stronger convergence in cortisol slopes prior to the conflict discussion. Couples' relationship dissatisfaction was associated with a greater degree of convergence in spouses' acute cortisol levels during the conflict discussion. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that spouses increasingly shape each other's cortisol responses as their relationship matures. Findings also indicated that increased similarity in acute cortisol levels during conflict may be associated with poorer relationship functioning.

Attachment and Health-Related Physiological Stress Processes.

People who are more securely attached to close partners show health benefits, but the mechanisms underlying this link are not well specified. We focus on physiological pathways that are potential mediators of the connection between attachment in childhood and adulthood and health and disease outcomes. Growing evidence indicates that attachment insecurity (vs. security) is associated with distinctive physiological responses to stress, including responses involving the HPA, SAM and immune systems, but these responses vary with type of stressor (e.g., social/nonsocial) and contextual factors (e.g., partner's attachment style). Taking this more nuanced perspective will be important for understanding the conditions under which attachment shapes health-related physiological processes as well as downstream health and disease consequences.

Congruence between spouses' perceptions and observers' ratings of responsiveness: the role of attachment avoidance.

Although close relationships require partners to depend on one another for mutual responsiveness, avoidantly attached individuals are especially averse to risking such dependency. The authors propose that both avoidant and non-avoidant individuals perceive signs of their own and their partners' responsiveness in ways that reflect motivated perceptions of dependency. The present research examined how the interplay between spouses' attachment avoidance and observed responsive behaviors during marital conflict shaped perceptions of their own and their partners' responsiveness. Newlywed couples attempted to resolve a relationship conflict and then reported perceptions of their own and their partners' responsiveness during the conflict. Observers also coded both partners' responsive behaviors during the conflict. Avoidant spouses perceived themselves as less responsive, especially when observers rated them as more responsive; avoidant spouses also perceived their partners as less responsive. The discussion highlights the role of attachment in understanding links between responsiveness-related perceptions and behaviors.

Spouses' attachment pairings predict neuroendocrine, behavioral, and psychological responses to marital conflict.

This research investigated how spouses' attachment styles jointly contributed to their stress responses. Newlywed couples discussed relationship conflicts. Salivary cortisol indexed physiological stress; observer-rated behaviors indexed behavioral stress; self-reported distress indexed psychological stress. Multilevel modeling tested predictions that couples including 1 anxious and 1 avoidant partner or 2 anxious partners would show distinctive stress responses. As predicted, couples with anxious wives and avoidant husbands showed physiological reactivity in anticipation of conflict: Both spouses showed sharp increases in cortisol, followed by rapid declines. These couples also showed distinctive behaviors during conflict: Anxious wives had difficulty recognizing avoidant husbands' distress, and avoidant husbands had difficulty approaching anxious wives for support. Contrary to predictions, couples including 2 anxious partners did not show distinctive stress responses. Findings suggest that the fit between partners' attachment styles can improve understanding of relationships by specifying conditions under which partners' attachment characteristics jointly influence individual and relationship outcomes.

Close relationship processes and health: implications of attachment theory for health and disease.

OBJECTIVES: Health psychology has contributed significantly to understanding the link between psychological factors and health and well-being, but it has not often incorporated advances in relationship science into hypothesis generation and study design. We present one example of a theoretical model, following from a major relationship theory (attachment theory) that integrates relationship constructs and processes with biopsychosocial processes and health outcomes. METHOD: We briefly describe attachment theory and present a general framework linking it to dyadic relationship processes (relationship behaviors, mediators, and outcomes) and health processes (physiology, affective states, health behavior, and health outcomes). We discuss the utility of the model for research in several health domains (e.g., self-regulation of health behavior, pain, chronic disease) and its implications for interventions and future research. RESULTS: This framework revealed important gaps in knowledge about relationships and health. Future work in this area will benefit from taking into account individual differences in attachment, adopting a more explicit dyadic approach, examining more integrated models that test for mediating processes, and incorporating a broader range of relationship constructs that have implications for health. CONCLUSIONS: A theoretical framework for studying health that is based in relationship science can accelerate progress by generating new research directions designed to pinpoint the mechanisms through which close relationships promote or undermine health. Furthermore, this knowledge can be applied to develop more effective interventions to help individuals and their relationship partners with health-related challenges.

Does Attachment Get Under the Skin? Adult Romantic Attachment and Cortisol Responses to Stress.

Although many studies indicate that people in low quality relationships are less healthy, precisely how relationships influence health remains unclear. We focus on one physiological pathway that may provide clues to understanding the link between relationships and health: the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Evidence indicates that attachment processes in adult romantic relationships are associated with HPA responses to stress (assessed via cortisol levels). Specifically, attachment insecurity predicts different cortisol patterns than does attachment security, especially when the stressor potentially threatens the relationship. Thus, attachment may get under the skin through biological responses to attachment-relevant stressors, but further work is needed to pinpoint the complete physiological and behavioral pathways through which attachment may influence health and disease outcomes.

Ethos of independence across regions in the United States: the production-adoption model of cultural change.

Contemporary U.S. culture has a highly individualistic ethos. Nevertheless, exactly how this ethos was historically fostered remains unanalyzed. A new model of dynamic cultural change maintains that sparsely populated, novel environments that impose major threats to survival, such as the Western frontier in the United States during the 18th and 19th centuries, breed strong values of independence, which in turn guide the production of new practices that encourage self-promotion and focused, competitive work. Faced with few significant threats to survival, residents in traditional areas are likely to seek social prestige by adopting existing practices of other, higher status groups. Because of both the massive economic success of the frontier and the official endorsement of the frontier by the federal government, eastern residents of the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries may have actively adopted the frontier practices of independence, thus incorporating the frontier ethos of independence to form the contemporary U.S. national culture. Available evidence is reviewed, and implications for further research on cultural change are suggested.