Answering the ethical call of the other: A test of the Strong Relationality Model of Relationship Flourishing.

The philosophical framework of strong relationality has gained greater attention in scholarship and yet empirically testing models built on this important framework are rare. The present study tests predictions made by the Strong Relationality Model of Relationship Flourishing (SRM), which centers on the role of Ethical Responsiveness for relationship health. In doing so, we introduce common fate modeling as a methodological approach for strong relationality research. We used longitudinal data from 1512 couples collected as part of the German longitudinal panel study of families. Results support the Strong Relationality Model's prediction that Ethical Responsiveness (as measured by perceived partner support) positively alters the impact of stress on Gratitude-Recognition (elements of the Responsible Action domain of the SRM), which then increases couples' intimacy (an element of the Relational-Connectivity domain of the SRM). Recommendations for clinical assessment and intervention are given as well as recommendations for future research on the Strong Relationality Model.

The Impact of Family Economic Strain On Work-Family Conflict, Marital Support, Marital Quality, and Marital Stability During the Middle Years.

Over the past few decades, US families have been faced with several economic recessions. The regularity and severity of these economic crises lends to the importance of having an understanding of how these events affect families. The present study investigates the effects of family economic strain on marital quality and marital stability through individual and dyadic models, incorporating work-family conflict and marital support as mediators. The study analyzed secondary data from the Iowa Youth and Families Project (IYFP) and Midlife Transition Project (MTP) collected from 370 middle-aged married couples across a 12-year time period that encompassed the US early 1990s recession and the recession of 2001, which occurred between the years 1989 and 2001. The results support the hypotheses that the impact of economic strain upon marital quality and marital stability is mitigated through a positive perception of work-family conflict and marital support. Implications for future research and for financial practice are discussed.

Family Relational Health, Psychological Resources, and Health Behaviors: A Dyadic Study of Military Couples.

In addition to facing stressors that are typical of life course development (e.g., marital struggles, balancing work/family demands), military families face additional stress attributed to their military context (e.g., deployments, relocations). Using a systems framework and stress process perspective, this study examined military couples' relational health, as a gauge for how couples collectively cope and address challenges as a united front and how their relational health influences crucial health behaviors (sleeping and eating) through the promotion or erosion of psychological resources (N = 236 couples). This study evaluated a latent variable structural equation dyadic model whereby each partner's perspective of their family's relational health was hypothesized to influence their own eating and sleeping behaviors (actor effects), as well as the eating and sleeping behaviors of their spouse (partner effects). The role of psychological resources (high self-efficacy, few depressive symptoms, and minimal anxiety) as a mechanism linking family functioning to health behaviors was also examined. Overall, the findings supported the hypothesized model, particularly for actor (intraindividual) effects. Discussion is provided pertinent to service providers and researchers, including the importance of improving, or maintaining, family relational health, as a means for encouraging positive health behaviors among active duty military members and their spouses.

Who's in our clients' bed? A case illustration of sex therapy with a polyamorous couple.

Polyamory is a term used to describe when individuals pursue multiple concurrent romantic relationships with the permission of their partners. Polyamory is an underrecognized and underresearched area of interest in the mental health field. Therefore, little guidance is available on best practice for couple and sex therapy interventions. The present article explores a case study involving the successful implementation of sensate focus therapy with a polyamorous couple. The unique issues that arose while performing sex therapy with a couple in this type of coupling were explored to provide clinicians with recommendations for practice.