This study sought to advance the growing body of research on communication and instruction outside of the college classroom by exploring the rhetorical and relational goals of religious leaders facilitating premarital education about sex (i.e., sexuality, sexual health, and intimacy). Specifically, 47 evangelical Christians who had taught…

Partner-assisted emotional disclosure is a couple-based intervention designed to help patients disclose cancer-related concerns to their spouses-partners. We previously found that, compared with an education/support control condition, partner-assisted emotional disclosure led to significant improvements in relationship quality and intimacy for…

This study examines men's domestic aggression as a function of attachment insecurities, considering the mediating roles of the demand-withdraw communication pattern and relationship satisfaction. The sample included 55 Canadian men undergoing counseling for relationship difficulties including aggression. The men completed questionnaires assessing…

Researchers have suggested that one function of touch in mixed-sex interactions is to exert influence over another person. Yet theories offer different explanations as to when women and men will use touch as an influence strategy. The gender politics hypothesis proposes that men touch more as a way to maintain inequalities present in society. In…

Previous research has identified 2 broad components of distress in intimate relationships: overt conflict, or "disharmony", and emotional distance, or "disaffection". Using confirmatory factor analysis, the authors derived 2 broadband scales of disharmony and disaffection from the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised (D. K. Snyder, 1997),…

Among male veterans and their female partners seeking therapy for relationship issues, three violence profiles were identified based on self-reports of physical violence: nonviolent, in which neither partner reported perpetrating physical violence (44%); one-sided violent, in which one partner reported perpetrating violence (30%); and mutually…

Despite the recent emphasis on acceptance in romantic relationships, no validated measure of relationship acceptance presently exists. To fill this gap, the 20-item Frequency and Acceptability of Partner Behavior Inventory (FAPBI; A. Christensen & N. S. Jacobson, 1997) was created to assess separately the acceptability and frequency of both…

Explores the hypothesis that spouses involved in couples counseling will present similar intimacy complaints. Couples (N=100) described their expectations and perceptions of current marital intimacy. Results show that husbands and wives came to counseling with different intimacy complaints. Discusses implications of these results for case…

Explores intimacy enhancement through a psychoeducational method, the Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills (PAIRS) Program. Participants were more distressed and less intimate than general population. Clients' perceptions of intimacy and what maintains intimacy were measured. Findings suggest a multifaceted view of intimacy.…

Examined the process of marital disaffection to determine whether there is a pattern of sequential stages. Developed three-phase model of disaffection from the results of in-depth interviews with 49 highly disaffected spouses. Results suggest that marital therapy must involve different goals and interventions during each phase of disaffection to…

Evaluated effectiveness of marital therapy designed to enhance intimacy through self-disclosure of personal constructs. Couples in therapy (n=22) and controls (n=19) showed significant reduction in symptoms of nonpsychotic emotional illness. Couples in therapy subjectively reported improvement. Found significant pattern of improvement for wives in…

This study investigated demographic, intrapersonal, and interpersonal predictors of treatment response in a randomized clinical trial of 134 distressed married couples, which examined traditional (N. S. Jacobson & G. Margolin, 1979) and integrative (N. S. Jacobson & A. Christensen, 1996) behavioral couple therapy. Results based on hierarchical…

Aspects of intimacy and satisfaction were explored for a volunteer sample of 54 Mexican American and 30 Anglo-American married couples. Data were collected by questionnaire through network sampling. Partner similarity was evident in all three groups, and marital satisfaction was best predicted for all groups by passionate love scores. (FC)

Examined effects of information and discussion among married couples (N=36) in a marriage enrichment program. Found information had little apparent effect on couples, but discussion in groups improved couples' marriage satisfaction and their sexual and intellectual intimacy throughout the study relative to couples not receiving group discussion.…

In-depth interviews with individuals who had experienced marital infidelity revealed a three-stage process following disclosure of an affair. The process starts with an "emotional roller coaster" and moves through a "moratorium" before efforts at trust building are recognized. Implications for the literature on forgiveness and the process of…