Search

The number and type of collaborations between researchers and stakeholders has increased significantly. This responds to the demand from policymakers, funders, and citizens that researchers should help to tackle important social issues (e.g. climate change, healthy aging). However, there is little knowledge about how collaboration processes are experienced, how we can theoretically conceptualize them, and how in this way we can develop efficient collaboration methods that contribute to solving urgent societal problems. In this meta-ethnography, we gathered relevant knowledge from carefully selected qualitative studies. A title/abstract analysis of 3422 articles from Web of Science and ProQuest led to the interpretative analysis of qualitative data from eight publications. The results of this study show that despite the need for a better understanding of complex collaborative interactions, the differences (or asymmetry) between organizations to which various partners belong hinder efficient collaboration. Bridging figures (brokers) can play an essential role if they succeed in drawing diverse stakeholders out of their organizational context into a new dimension that allows creativity and mutual understanding, but that also allows conflict and distortion. In ideal circumstances, this leads to a quasi-automatic transfer of knowledge between partners that takes place naturally and in both directions (knowledge diffusion).

Based on the fact that most research drawn from the minority stress theory on the association between minority stress and relationship satisfaction has focused on an individual perspective rather than a dyadic perspective, and the limited evidence of the systemic transactional model (STM) explore the topics of same-sex couples. This study aims to combine both theories to examine the association between perceived discrimination and relationship satisfaction among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people on both partners and test the potential mediating role of dyadic stress and sex difference in this association. Using an actor-partner interdependence mediation model (APIMeM), we analyzed data including a sample of 241 LGB couples (133 female and 108 male same-sex dyads). Results showed that perceived discrimination had no direct actor-partner effects on relationship satisfaction. APIMeM revealed significant indirect partner effects from perceived discrimination on both individuals' and their partners' relationship satisfaction through the partner's dyadic stress. Additionally, the effect of personal dyadic stress on a partner's relationship satisfaction was stronger for women compared to men. These findings demonstrated the utility of the minority stress theory and STM framework for understanding the risk of stressors in damaging LGBs' romantic relationships. Couple interventions should integrate knowledge from a dyadic perspective with attention to sex differences.

Objective: To explore fathers' experiences as biological parents in father–stepmother families. Background: Biological parents play an important role in the formation and development of stepfamily relationships, but little is known about fathers in stepfamilies. Method: In-person interviews were conducted with 10 Belgian fathers. Interviews were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: Three themes emerged from the data: (a) reflecting on children's experiences and transitions, (b) pursuing a shared family understanding, and (c) innovating new ways of doing fatherhood and family. The first theme centers on fathers' concerns about the impact family transitions may have on their children. The second theme centers on fathers' pursuit of a shared understanding that clarifies family roles and expectations within the stepfamily. The last theme addresses the creativity of these fathers as they co-construct new stepfamily and fatherhood identities in the absence of culturally ascribed norms. Conclusion: Given their connecting role as parent and partner, biological fathers in stepfamilies are key to the formation and development of a new family narrative. Findings contribute to family practitioners' understanding of how fathers experience stepfamily life.

BACKGROUND: Up to 2018, the Belgian law stated that transgender people who wanted to change their legal sex had to undergo physical gender affirming treatment. This included gonadectomy to a medically possible and justified extent, which entailed that they had to accept the fact that they could no longer reproduce. However, research has shown that many transgender people desire to have children. AIMS: (1) to describe a cohort of transgender men and their respective cisgender female partners, to share our experiences with their request for donor conception, and to evaluate their disclosure intentions to the child, (2) to explore how the couples approach current and future reproductive options. METHODS: This mixed method study presents data from a retrospective analysis of patient records and from a qualitative interview study. The couples were selected from the group of transgender men who – together with their respective cisgender female partners – applied for sperm donation at Ghent University Hospital between 2002 and 2012. RESULTS: Forty-seven transgender men with a cisgender female partner requested treatment with anonymous donor sperm for a first child as a couple. Forty-one requests were accepted for treatment. We found that most couples requesting treatment intended to disclose the use of donor sperm to their future child (n = 34) while 24 couples were planning to inform the child about the parent’s transgender identity. The six couples we interviewed saw donor conception as the preferred route to become parents. Adoption was seen as less obvious. The couples’ attitudes toward stem cell-derived gametes reflected the significance of the genetic link with the child for both parents. DISCUSSION: Not all participants in our study were aware of their reproductive options. To be able to make a well-informed decision, transgender people should be counseled about all options at the time of transition.

There is increasing evidence that blue spaces, particularly coastal environments, are beneficial for well-being. During the first-wave lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium, access to the coast was restricted due to restraint in circulation. Making use of this unique opportunity, this study investigated whether access and visits to the coast were positively associated with well-being by using a quasi-experimental design. The emotions of awe and nostalgia were studied as potential mediators between coastal visits and well-being. A total of 687 Flemish adults took part in an online survey that was launched end of April until beginning of June 2020. After controlling for covariates, results showed that access to the coast, but not visit frequency, was positively associated with well-being. More specifically, coastal residents reported less boredom and worry, and more happiness than inland residents. Awe and nostalgia were not significantly associated with coastal visits, but awe was negatively correlated with boredom. The study suggests a potential buffer effect of residential proximity to the coast against negative psychological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting the notion that the coast has a positive impact on well-being. ispartof: PSYCHOLOGICA BELGICA vol:61 issue:1 pages:284-295 ispartof: location:England status: published

The present review examines how stepfamily members without a shared history co-construct a shared family identity and what family processes are relevant in this stepfamily formation. Three databases (Web of Science, PsycInfo, and ProQuest) were systematically searched, resulting in 20 included qualitative studies. The meta-ethnography approach of Noblit and Hare allowed synthesizing these qualitative studies and constructing a comprehensive framework of stepfamilies doing family. Three interdependent family tasks were identified: (a) honoring the past, (b) marking the present, and (c) investing in the future. Stepfamily members' experiences of these family tasks are strongly affected by the dominant societal perspectives and characterized by an underlying dialectical tension between wanting to be like a first-time family and feeling the differences in their family structure at the same time. These findings clearly demonstrate the family work that all stepfamily members undertake and provide a broader context for interpreting stepfamilies' co-construction of a new family identity.

The current study examined the respective role of step- family members' individual characteristics and their dyadic relationships in stepfamily members' percep- tions of mattering to one another. Parents, stepparents, and adolescents from 86 stepfamilies participated. Applying social relations model analyses, several trends emerged regarding the relative importance of individ- ual and dyadic factors. Parents' and adolescents' reports of mattering to one another were mainly driven by individual factors, whereas relational factors were important to understand the reports of mattering in which the stepparent was one of the dyad members. These findings contribute to stepfamily research by highlighting that stepfamily members' sense of belong- ing is at least partly a function of the interpersonal adaptation between the stepparent and other family members.

In this study, we aim to contribute to the field of critical health communication research by examining how notions of mental health and illness are discursively constructed in newspapers and magazines in six European countries and how these constructions relate to specific understandings of mental health literacy. Using the method of cluster-agon analysis, we identified four terminological clusters in our data, in which mental health/illness is conceptualized as “dangerous,” “a matter of lifestyle,” “a unique story and experience,” and “socially situated.” We furthermore found that we cannot unambiguously assume that biopsychiatric discourses or discourses aimed at empathy and understanding are either exclusively stigmatizing or exclusively empowering and normalizing. We consequently call for a critical conception of mental health literacy arguing that all mental health news socializes its audience in specific understandings of and attitudes toward mental health (knowledge) and that discourses on mental health/illness can work differently in varying contexts. publishedVersion

Although intra-familial egg donation has been practiced for more than 15 years in several countries, little is known about family relationships in this family type. Framed within the new kinship studies, this article focuses on the experiential dimension of kinship in sister-to-sister egg donation families: how is kinship 'unpacked' and 'reconstructed' in this specific family constellation? Qualitative data analysis of interviews with receiving parents, their donating sisters and the donor children revealed six themes: (1) being connected as an extended family; (2) disambiguating motherhood; (3) giving and receiving as structuring processes; (4) acknowledging and managing the 'special' link between donor and child; (5) making sense of the union between father and donor; and (6) kinship constructions being challenged. This study showed the complex and continuous balancing of meanings related to the mother-child dyad, the donor-child dyad and the donor-father dyad. What stood out was the complexity of, on the one hand cherishing the genetic link with the child allowed by the sisters' egg donation, while, on the other, managing the meanings related to this link, by, for instance, acknowledging, downsizing, symbolising, and differentiating it from the mother-child bond. (A Virtual Abstract of this paper can be accessed at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_979cmCmR9rLrKuD7z0ycA).

Background: Sexual minority status and childhood gender nonconformity have been associated with elevated risks of childhood adversities and poorer mental health. Objective: To explore how abuse and bullying explain the disparities in the associations of sexual minority status and childhood gender nonconformity with adulthood depressive symptoms in men. Participants and setting: We conducted a cross-sectional study using a self-report questionnaire among Chinese adult men (18 35 years) who were identified as heterosexual (n = 873) and sexual minority (n = 858) in Guangzhou from 2017 to 2019. Methods: Structural equation modeling (SEM) were conducted for path analysis. Results: The levels of exposure to childhood maltreatment were higher in sexual minorities than in straight men, and sexual minority status predicted an increased risk of depressive symptoms via childhood maltreatment (indirect effect: beta = 0.026, p = 0.004). Meanwhile, childhood gender nonconformity predicted higher depressive symptoms via both family (indirect effect: beta = 0.042, p < 0.001) and school (indirect effect: beta = 0.028, p < 0.001) victimization, and there was a direct effect (beta = 0.154, p < 0.001) of gender nonconformity on depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Sexual minority status and gender nonconformity are indicators of men's increased risk of childhood victimization and adulthood depressive symptoms. As a result, intervention based on both family and school dimensions needs to be developed.

Visibility management (VM) refers to the regulation of disclosure of one's sexual orientation for the purposes of maintaining privacy as well as minimizing stigma, harm, or marginalization. Research on how lesbian women and gay men (LGs) manage the visibility of their sexual orientation in the workplace is scarce. In this study, we tested a model that investigates the relationships between VM on the one hand, and specific job characteristics, experiencing the work environment as more or less LG friendly, and personal homonegative experiences on the other. In a non-representative sample of 4,080 employees of the Flemish government, 6.3% identified as gay or lesbian. Within this LG subsample (N = 265) we found that specific job characteristics (having a managerial position, or having a tenured or non-tenured position) were not associated with VM. Knowing other LGs within the work environment who are open about their sexual orientation was associated with being more likely to apply open VM strategies, as was perceiving the atmosphere at work as permissive towards LGs. Having witnessed negative events towards LGs at work was associated with taking the characteristics of a social setting (e.g., public or private) into account when deciding to disclose one's sexual orientation. Finally, participants who experienced homonegative events (such as unsolicited sexual innuendo or abusive language) felt less inhibited about disclosure. Potential theoretical as well as practical implications are discussed. ispartof: PSYCHOLOGICA BELGICA vol:59 issue:1 pages:78-95 ispartof: location:England status: published

This study investigated unwanted pursuit behavior (UPB) perpetration in 631 adult ex-partners. UPB involves the unwanted pursuit of intimacy, a widespread and usually less severe form of stalking. The occurrence and various risk factors of UPB perpetration were examined, accounting for differences between male and female ex-partners and same- and opposite-gender ex-partners. Ex-partners showed on average five to six UPBs after their separation. Male and female and same- and opposite-gender ex-partners displayed an equal number of UPBs. The number of perpetrated UPBs was explained by breakup characteristics (ex-partner initiation of the breakup and rumination or cognitive preoccupation with the ex-partner), relationship characteristics (anxious attachment in the former relationship), and individual perpetrator characteristics (borderline traits and past delinquent behaviors). Rumination was a stronger predictor in female than male ex-partners. Borderline traits and anxious attachment positively predicted UPB perpetration in opposite-gender but not in same-gender ex-partners. Implications of these findings are discussed.

This study focused on intimate partner violence (IPV) among non-heterosexuals in Flanders. Prevalence rates were explored and compared with heterosexual IPV using a first representative sample consisting of 1690 heterosexuals and non-heterosexual individuals. A second convenience sample consisting of 2401 non-heterosexual individuals was used to determine differences between women and men and to explore associations between IPV and victims' well-being. Physical and psychological IPV inflicted by the current/former partner were reported by 14.5 and 57.9 % of the non-heterosexuals, respectively. Non-heterosexuals and heterosexuals were equally likely to report physical and psychological IPV. Furthermore, non-heterosexual women and men reported similar physical, sexual, and psychological IPV. However, female victims experienced more frequent acts of psychological IPV. IPV was negatively associated with victims' well-being.

In this qualitative study of 10 lesbian couples who built their families through anonymous donor conception, we explore how lesbian parents experience communication about the donor conception within the family. While for these families "disclosure" of donor conception is often seen as evident, the way parents and children discuss this subject and how this is experienced by the parents themselves has not received much research attention. To meet this gap in the literature, in-depth interviews with lesbian couples were conducted. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis showed that this family communication process can be understood within the broader relational context of parent-child relationships. Even though parents handled this family communication in many different ways, these were all inspired by the same motives: acting in the child's best interest and-on a more implicit level-maintaining good relations within the family. Furthermore, parents left the initiative for talking about the DC mostly to the child. Overall, parents aimed at constructing a donor conception narrative that they considered acceptable for both the children and themselves. They used different strategies, such as gradual disclosure, limiting the meaning of the donor, and justifying the donor conception. Building an acceptable donor conception narrative was sometimes challenged by influences from the social environment. In the discussion, we relate this qualitative systemic study to the broader issues of selective disclosure and bidirectionality within families.

Study question: What meanings do lesbian couples construct regarding their sperm donor? Summary answer: Forsome parents, the donor was increasingly presented as a person, whereas for other parents, the donor was seen as an instrument from the moment they received the sperm donation. What is known already: Few studies specifically focus on how lesbian couples deal with the issue of third-party anonymous gamete donation. It is often assumed that they have fewer difficulties than heterosexual couples with the involvement of a male procreator, since their status as a donor conception family is ‘socially visible’ and there is no social father who fears exclusion. Study design, size, duration: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 lesbian couples (20 participants), recruited via the Ghent University Hospital. All couples had at least one child, conceived through anonymous donor insemination, between 7 and 10 years old. Participants/materials, setting, methods: Within the data corpus, a particular data set was analyzed where couples referred to their donor and his position in their family. Step-by-step inductive thematic analysiswas performed resulting in themes that are grounded in the data. All phases of the analysis were followed by team discussion. Main results and the role of chance: This study reveals different donor constructs, indicating different ways of dealing with the third-party involvement in the family. Some parents diminish the role of the donor throughout family life and continue to present him as an instrument: something they needed in order to become parents. Others showan increasing interest in the donor as the children mature, which results in a more personalized account of the donor. Limitations, reasons for caution: In our qualitative cross-sectional study, we collected retrospectively constructed stories. Longitudinal qualitative and quantitative research is required to allow for an extrapolation of the conclusions made. Wider implications of the findings: This study shows how the concept of the donor is constructed within lesbian families and howit is challenged by the child’s developing personality and features.Whencounseling prospective parents, it could therefore be useful to discuss the concept of the anonymous donor beyond the conception phase. Study funding/competing interest(s): The project was funded by the Research Fund of Ghent University, Belgium. There are no competing interests.

The aim of the present study was to investigate (a) how intergenerational influence takes form within families with a child with a disability, and (b) the extent to which positive and negative influence - as perceived by family members - within and across generations, is predictive of family members' subjective quality of life. The study involved 60 two-parent two-child families where one of the children had a disability. Within a round-robin design, family members completed self-report measures of felt influence within their family and subjective quality of life. The main findings suggest that interpersonal influence as perceived by parents and children (a) varies as a function of valence (positive vs. negative) and target (from whom the influence is felt); and (b) is related to subjective quality of life. However, there seem to be differential effects of the distinct dimensions of influence (positive vs. negative; intergenerational vs. intragenerational) depending on whose quality of life is examined. ispartof: Psychologica Belgica vol:53 issue:3 pages:25-47 status: published

Objectives: Male partners are often involved in induced abortion although they have no legal rights. It is, however, unknown how women's thoughts and feelings regarding the decision for abortion are associated with the decisional experiences of the involved male partners and vice versa. Methods: Flemish women and their involved male partners (IMP) filled out a questionnaire on abortion motives and feelings of decisiveness in the abortion centre waiting room (N=106 couples). Actor Partner Interdependence Models investigated whether the decisiveness of one partner was associated with a subjective feeling of autonomy (high internal, low external abortion motivation) and decisiveness of the other partner, above and beyond the own feeling of autonomy and personal vulnerabilities for being uncertain. Results: Partner congruence in motivation and decisiveness was substantial (r=0.23 to 0.42), especially for cohabiting partners. The IMPs were less internally motivated for the abortion than the women but both partners reported more internal than external motives, and they both tended to feel certain. In contrast to the women, a higher subjective feeling of autonomy in the IMPs was not associated with feeling more certain. When accounting for partners' living situation, levels of uncertainty were not only associated with personal vulnerabilities for being uncertain, but were also related to the degree of uncertainty and subjective level of autonomy of the other partner. Conclusions: Partners' thoughts and feelings regarding the decision for abortion partially have an interpersonal basis and mostly run parallel despite an inherent gender difference in level and importance of decision autonomy.

An emerging consensus argues for the importance of spousal support in our understanding of how relationships succeed or fail. This report covers two studies that examined support seeking, support provision and support perception in distressed married couples. In Study 1 a total of seventy distressed and seventy non-distressed couples participated in a survey study; in Study 2 twenty distressed and twenty non-distressed couples participated in an observational study. Global self-reports were used in both studies to assess spouses’ support behaviour and perceived support. These measures were supplemented in Study 2 with measures of observed support behaviour and interaction-based perceived support as assessed during specific support interactions. Our self-report and observational measures consistently indicated that distressed marital couples display lower levels of positive support-seeking and emotional or instrumental support provision than non-distressed couples. We also found evidence for higher levels of negative support-seeking and provision behaviour in distressed couples, as compared to non-distressed couples. Distressed spouses also reported lower levels of global and interaction-based perceived support than non-distressed spouses. Practitioner points Assess and evaluate the different support behaviour in couples Explain the interactional support behaviour cycle Increase support skills within the couple Detect and block negative support behaviour

Studies have reported that mediation has higher settlement rates than litigation. The quality of these agreements as experienced by the parties as well as the processes that contribute to this subjective experience remains underexamined, however. In a large, representative, and multidisciplinary study of divorcing couples, we studied the relationship between the practices of lawyers and mediators and the quality of agreements experienced by their clients. We used multiple regression analysis to reveal that divorce mediation is significantly more likely than litigation to produce high-quality divorce settlements. Furthermore, we found that high-quality divorce agreements were more likely to occur when mediators and lawyers were perceived to have worked facilitatively. In addition, we found that pre-divorce conflict levels were inversely correlated with the quality of agreements. Which party initiated the divorce, the parties' gender, and the type of legal divorce did not explain variances in the quality of the agreements. In this article, we also discuss the training and practice implications of our findings.

Divorce is often accompanied by feelings of guilt toward the former spouse. So far, no scale has been available to measure such feelings. For this purpose, the authors developed the Guilt in Separation Scale (GiSS). Content validity was assured by using experts and lay experts to generate and select items. Exploratory analyses were run on samples of 214 divorced individuals and confirmatory analyses on 458 individuals who were in the process of divorcing. Evidence was provided for the reliability and construct validity of the GiSS. The internal consistency was high (alpha = .91), as were the 6-month and 12-month test-retest reliabilities (r = .72 and r = .76, respectively). The GiSS was related to shame, regret, compassion, locus of cause of the separation, unfaithfulness, and psychological functioning.

Background Recent research indicates that different couple and family interventions are effective in the treatment of depressed patients. However, how these psychosocial interventions work, has been less well investigated. In order to better understand the underlying treatment processes, helpful treatment experiences of depressive patients and their partners were examined in a multi-family therapy group. Method 24 patients hospitalized for depression and 20 partners participated in this study. Therapeutic factors were assessed using an open-ended questionnaire. Responses were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological approach (IPA). Results Eight recurring therapeutic factors were reported by both the patients and their partners: (1) Presence of others, (2) cohesion and understanding, (3) self-disclosure, (4) openness, (5) discussion, (6) insights, (7) observational experiences and (8) guidance from the therapist. Limitations Results were not fed back to the participants following analysis and only therapeutic factors that operate on a conscious level could be identified. Conclusions Several important therapeutic factors were identified in multi-family therapy groups for depression. These factors help to gain understanding into the processes, which should be emphasized in treatment and ought to be explored in future outcome and process research.

Former partners comprise the most important subgroup of stalkers. However, contextual factors related to the breakup are hardly examined to explain ex-partner pursuit. In a community sample of 194 separated persons, about one-fifth perpetrated at least one unwanted pursuit behavior in the past 2 weeks. Being female, lowly educated, and socially undesirable raised the number of perpetrated behaviors. Beyond these effects, the number of behaviors increased when the cause of the break was attributed to the ex-partner or external factors and when the ex was appraised as the breakup initiator. Breakup reasons, the ex-partner's lack in meeting family obligations and own infidelity, also related to pursuit behaviors albeit inferior to subjective attributions and appraisals of initiation. Finally, participants who felt more anxious or lonely negative showed more behaviors. The results enlighten that the breakup context gains further attention. Clinical treatment might benefit from fostering cognitive reconstructions and breakup adjustment.

One purpose of family assessment is to formulate hypotheses that can guide clinical interventions. Family assessment is based on models about family functioning. In this paper the Social Relations Model (Kenny and La Voie, 1984; SRM) is presented as such a model about family dynamics. Moreover, SRM provides statistical tools to underpin empirical hypotheses about family functioning. An SRM family assessment of a family with a child in child psychiatric care exemplifies the possibilities and limitations of this SRM approach to family assessment. The subject of the family assessment is family members' sense of influence in their family relationships.

Catastrophic thinking about pain has been identified as an important determinant of adjustment to pain, in both adults and children. No study has investigated the prospective and unique role of catastrophizing in explaining later pain and disability in children. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prospective roles of catastrophic thinking about pain, pain intensity, and trait anxiety and their putative relationship with pain and disability tested 6 months later. Participants were 323 schoolchildren. Analyses revealed that the child's pain catastrophizing at baseline had a small but unique contribution to the prediction of pain and disability 6 months later, even when controlling for the initial pain and disability levels. In line with expectations, moderation analyses revealed that the effects of catastrophizing upon pain and disability at follow-up were only true for those children reporting low levels intensity of pain at baseline. The variability in disability and pain complaint could not be explained by trait anxiety. Instead anxious disposition might be best conceived of as a precursor of catastrophizing in children; i.e. children with higher levels of trait anxiety at baseline were more inclined to report higher levels of catastrophizing at follow-up. The findings are discussed in terms of potential mechanisms through which catastrophizing might exert its negative impact upon pain and disability outcomes in children.

Background: Family-based interventions have been shown to be effective in the treatment of depression, but they have seldom been studied in hospitalized depressed patients. This study assesses the value of the additional use of single-family or multi-family group therapy within this patient population. Methods: Eighty-three patients were randomly assigned to: (1) the treatment programme as usual (n = 23), (2) treatment as usual combined with single-family therapy (n = 25) or (3) treatment as usual combined with multi-family group therapy (n = 35). Follow-up assessments were made at 3 months and 15 months. Results: Multi-family group and single-family therapy conditions showed significantly higher rates of treatment responders than the group receiving the usual treatment (49, 24 and 9%, respectively), and higher rates of patients no longer using antidepressant medication (26, 16 and 0%, respectively) at 15 months. Partners taking part in the family treatments were significantly more likely to notice the improvements in the emotional health of the patient early on compared to those in the treatment as usual condition. Conclusions: This study suggests that single-family and multi-family therapy may benefit hospitalized patients with major depression, and may help the partners of the patients to become aware of the patient’s improvement more quickly.

Objective: This study aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences of genetic ties in intrafamily oocyte donation families. Background: Previous research has shown that most mothers have a good and stable relationship with their donor. Little is known about the meaning of the difference in genetic ties for parents who conceived through sister-to-sister oocyte donation. Methods: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was performed and focused on both individual experiences and couple experiences with regard to genetic ties. Ten participants were recruited via an infertility clinic and took part in semistructured couple interviews. Results: Our analysis revealed that the donation was seen as a way to equal genetic parenthood. Participants struggled with this prevailing ideal of genetic parenthood and questioned the legitimacy of their motherhood. Several dynamics were identified when couples tried to deal with the imbalance in genetic ties: they acknowledged each other, convinced one another, or pushed away the difference in genetic ties. Couples also managed the presence of a genetic tie with the donor by negotiating the closeness in their family relationships. Conclusion: The lack of a full genetic tie remained a meaningful absence for some mothers and the way couples dealt with this varied. We plead that the option of post-donation care should be offered to support couples with the complexities they try to deal with.

This study employed a decision making corollary to Kanter’s homologous reproduction theory (1977ab) to examine the intersections of occupational position of decision maker, sex of decision maker and media representations within intercollegiate men’s and women’s sports. Data were gathered from Bowl Championship Series schools across 12 selected sports that published a media guide for the 2003-04 season. Data included two components: 1) 528 total media guides (252 for men; 276 for women) and; 2) corresponding data (n = 528) pertaining to who made the decision regarding how athletes were portrayed on the media guide covers. Descriptive analysis revealed two trends: 1) women were under represented (i.e., “tokens”) as sole decision makers within men’s sports, but not for women’s sports and; 2) a majority of decisions were not made alone, but by a decision-making dyad with both men’s and women’s sports. Logistic regression analysis revealed which factors significantly influenced media portrayals in men’s and women’s sports. Results are framed using mechanisms of gendered social control exercised in sport organisations–homophobia, homologous reproduction, and hegemony. Implications for application and future research are suggested.

Some psychological experiments require placement of visual and auditory stimuli on predefined frames in a videotape. We introduce STIVID (STImuli on VIDeo) as a method of performing this task STIVID can add images, words, simple shapes, and audio tones to specific frames of existing video files created in AVI format. STIVID is written in Visual Basic and uses VBScripts to modify the AVI files. Three applications of this program are discussed: adding stimuli for reaction time experiments with couples watching a relational conflict, use of distractors in ADHD experiments, and placing eye masks on actors in existing videotapes to manipulate perceptibility of the target's facial expression during the mind-reading process.

Objective To evaluate changes in body mass index (BMI) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), including an acne parameter, of overweight adult women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) during a lifestyle modification program. Design: Prospective longitudinal within-patient study. Design Prospective longitudinal within-patient study. Setting Department of Reproductive Medicine of the Ghent University Hospital (Belgium). Participants Thirty-three overweight (BMI > 25 kg/m 2 ) women with PCOS between age 18 and 43 years. Methods Participants followed a 24-week lifestyle modification program consisting of a diet, exercise, and psychological subprogram. BMI was assessed at Weeks 0, 8, 16, and 24 of the program. The HRQoL was measured at Week 0, 12, and 24 of the program using the PolyCystic Ovary Syndrome Questionnaire (PCOSQ) and a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) to evaluate the influence of acne on HRQoL. Results During a 24-week period no significant decrease in BMI occurred (mean difference = 1.71, 95% confidence interval [CI] [-1.38, 4.81]. During that period, there was a significant positive evolution of the total PCOSQ score, F (2, 37.5) = 23.7, the emotions, F (2, 37.9) = 4.2, weight, F(2, 42.1) = 24.8, body hair, F (2, 35.6) = 3.3, and infertility problems domain scores, F (2, 43.1) = 15.64, of the PCOSQ, as well as of the acne VAS score, F (2, 29.3) = 4.2. These effects primarily occurred during the first 12 weeks. Conclusion In spite of no significant changes in BMI, the HRQoL of overweight adult women with PCOS significantly improved during a 24-week lifestyle modification program.

Gender nonconformity refers to the extent to which a person's gender identity, gender role and/or gender expression differs from the cultural norms prescribed for people of a particular sex, within a certain society and era. Most data on gender nonconformity focus on the prevalence of gender dysphoria (which also includes a distress factor) or on the number of legal sex changes. However, not every gender nonconforming individual experiences distress or applies for treatment. Population-based research on the broad spectrum of gender nonconformity is scarce and more information on the variance outside the gender binary is needed. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of gender incongruence (identifying stronger with the other sex than with the sex assigned at birth) and gender ambivalence (identifying equally with the other sex as with the sex assigned at birth) based on two population-based surveys, one of 1,832 Flemish persons and one of 2,472 sexual minority individuals in Flanders. In the general population, gender ambivalence was present in 2.2 % of male and 1.9 % of female participants, whereas gender incongruence was found in 0.7 % of men and 0.6 % of women. In sexual minority individuals, the prevalence of gender ambivalence and gender incongruence was 1.8 and 0.9 % in men and 4.1 and 2.1 % in women, respectively. With a current Flemish population of about 6 million, our results indicate a total of between 17,150 and 17,665 gender incongruent men and between 14,473 and 15,221 gender incongruent women in Flanders.

Research shows that experiences with intimate partner violence (IPV) harm victims’ individual well-being. Surprisingly, little is known about how IPV might impact on victims’ well-being at the relationship level. Based on a population-based study in Flanders (the Northern part of Belgium), this study concentrates on how lifetime experience with IPV impacts on victims’ relational and sexual well-being with their current partner. Ten percent of the population was confronted with physical violence and 56.7 % with psychological violence. Higher levels of IPV victimization corresponded with an adverse mental, relational (relationship satisfaction, attachment), and sexual (sexual satisfaction, sexual dysfunction, sexual communication) well-being in both women and men but except for the latter correlates, the effects were more pronounced for women than for men.

Study question How are objective characteristics of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and PCOS-related concerns associated with the sexual and relational satisfaction of PCOS women and their partners? Summary answer Both objective PCOS characteristics (parity, women's body mass index (BMI) and current unfulfilled wish to conceive) and PCOS-related concerns (women's infertility-related and acne-related concerns) were associated with sexual and/or relational satisfaction, although some associations differed for PCOS women and their partners. What is known already There is some evidence indicating an association between objective PCOS characteristics and sexual satisfaction of PCOS women, but this evidence is conflicting, scarce, and often validated questionnaires have not been used to evaluate sexual satisfaction. No evidence is available about the association of: (i) PCOS with relational satisfaction; (ii) PCOS-related concerns with sexual and relational satisfaction; and (iii) PCOS with sexual and relational satisfaction as experienced by partners of PCOS women. Study design, size, duration We set up a cross-sectional study from April 2007 until April 2009, including 31 overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m(2)) women with PCOS and at a reproductive age as well as their partners with whom they had a committed intimate relationship at the time of recruitment. Participants/materials, setting, methods The study was performed at the fertility center of the Ghent University Hospital. Objective PCOS characteristics were registered and PCOS-related concerns were evaluated by the PCOS Questionnaire. Sexual (SS) and relational (RS) satisfaction were measured by the Maudsley Marital Questionnaire (MMQ). Dyadic statistical analyses were performed using linear mixed models (α Main results and the role of chance A lower parity tended to be associated with higher levels of sexual and relational satisfaction, with a significantly stronger association in PCOS women than in their partners (p(SS) = 0.015 and p(RS) = 0.009). A higher BMI tended to be associated with lower and higher satisfaction levels (sexual and relational) in PCOS women and their partners, respectively, with a significantly stronger association in the partners (p(SS) = 0.029 and p(RS) = 0.021). The presence of a current unfulfilled wish to conceive and a higher level of infertility-related concerns was significantly more strongly associated with a higher level of relational satisfaction for PCOS women than for their partners (p(RS) = 0.021 and p(RS) = 0.011, respectively). Higher levels of acne-related concern were significantly associated with lower levels of sexual satisfaction in both PCOS women (p(SS) = 0.025) and their partners (p(SS) = 0.002). Limitations, reasons for caution The fact that this study was performed in a sample of PCOS women who were all overweight and the small sample size are important limitations. Data were partially missing in some couples but this limitation was dealt with by using linear mixed models. Wider implications of the findings Our results suggest a differential association of PCOS with sexual and relational satisfaction between PCOS women and their partners. This should be kept in mind during the psychological guidance of couples dealing with PCOS. Study funding/competing interests V.D.F. is holder of a Special PhD Fellowship of the Flemish Foundation for Scientific Research (FWO-Vlaanderen). P.D.S. is holder of a fundamental clinical research mandate of the Flemish Foundation for Scientific Research (FWO-Vlaanderen). This research also received financial support by Merck Serono and Artevelde University College Ghent. There are no competing interests.

The present study examined the prevalence of lifetime experiences of physical and psychological intimate partner violence (IPV) among members of the Turkish ethnic minority population in Flanders. In addition, this study explored how lifetime IPV victimization affects ethnic minority victims’ current mental, relational, and sexual well-being. Using a population-based representative sample, data from 392 adult Turkish women and men were investigated. Lifetime experiences of physical violence were reported by 14.3% of the Turkish respondents, while 66.0% reported at least one incidence of psychological abuse. Women were much more likely than men to report physical IPV victimization, but no gender differences were found for psychological IPV. With regard to the impact of IPV, it was found that lifetime IPV experiences do not appear to affect victims’ current mental health. However, higher levels of physical and/or psychological IPV victimization were related to increased levels of relationship dissatisfaction, anxious and avoidant attachment orientations, sexual dissatisfaction, sexual dysfunction (with distress), and to decreased levels of sexual communication. These adverse relational and sexual outcomes of IPV victimization were mainly present among women but were also, to a lesser degree, relevant for men.

Expanding on current advancement in divorce and family dispute resolution research, an integrative and process-oriented model is presented. This article explores the extent to which, and how, individual, trajectory, and arrangement factors are related to post-divorce personal wellbeing. Questionnaire data were collected from a sample of 423 individuals who divorced through mediation or litigation. A subsample of 112 respondents provided extra information on the personal qualities of divorce professionals. A series of multiple regression analysis demonstrated that: (1) gender, (2) experienced facilitative problem solving behaviors and the Rogerian personal qualities of professionals, and (3) the quality of divorce arrangements all directly relate to post-divorce wellbeing. No significant associations emerged for other individual characteristics (i.e., age, having children or not, pre-divorce conflict levels, relationship duration, initiator-status), or trajectory features (i.e., type of professional and type of legal procedure). Path analytic procedures did not show any indirect effect from problem solving behaviors or Rogerian attitudes of lawyers and mediators on post-divorce wellbeing through its effect on the quality of divorce arrangements. The implications for mediation practice are discussed.