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Many consider same-sex marriage the civil rights issue of our time. Although support is on the rise, there are some Americans who oppose same-sex marriage. Heterosexual males are a demographic group particularly likely to oppose same-sex marriage. Mass media and education are often thought of as important agents of socialization in American culture. Pornography in particular is a platform often discussed in terms of its impact on males’ sexual attitudes. This study used nationally representative three-wave longitudinal data gathered from adult U.S. males to examine the over-time interplay between pornography consumption, education, and support for same-sex marriage. Support for same-sex marriage did not prospectively predict pornography consumption, but pornography consumption did prospectively predict support for same-sex marriage. Education was also positively associated with support for same-sex marriage. Scientific and social implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Coregulation refers to the process by which relationship partners form a dyadic emotional system involving an oscillating pattern of affective arousal and dampening that dynamically maintains an optimal emotional state. Coregulation may represent an important form of interpersonal emotion regulation, but confusion exists in the literature due to a lack of precision in the usage of the term. We propose an operational definition for coregulation as a bidirectional linkage of oscillating emotional channels between partners, which contributes to emotional stability for both partners. We propose several distinctions and raise unanswered questions that will need to be addressed in order to understand the relevance of coregulation for well-being in adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Transgender and nonbinary (TNB) people experience elevated rates of posttraumatic stress (PTS) due to transphobic violence, discrimination, microaggressions, and minority stress. Nonbinary people in particular experience unique chronic minority stressors (e.g., misgendering, interpersonal invalidation) because of the assumption that gender is inherently binary. Such examples of oppression against TNB people could contribute to complex PTS (c-PTS) symptoms, which arise due to exposure to chronic, cumulative, and interpersonal trauma. This study aimed to examine how misgendering and invalidation may be associated with PTS and c-PTS symptoms among nonbinary people and whether this association is moderated by pride and community connectedness. Cross-sectional data from 610 nonbinary people living in the United States and Canada were analyzed using hierarchical linear regressions. Misgendering and invalidation had significant positive associations with PTS and c-PTS symptoms. However, pride and community connectedness were not significant moderators of these associations. Findings from this study contribute to the conceptualizations of traumatic stress among nonbinary people and provide considerations for more affirming trauma-informed care. Public Significance Statement: The findings of this study suggest that misgendering and invalidation are associated with trauma symptoms among nonbinary people. Results can be applied to inform nonbinary-affirming clinical practice and advocacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This longitudinal study explored the impact of COVID‐19 on individuals in romantic relationships. The sample spans three waves: first confinement (n = 52), deconfinement (n = 49), and second confinement (n = 26). The study tested sociodemographic factors, psychological adjustment (anxiety, depression, stress, well‐being), COVID‐19 threat perception, dyadic coping, and relationship quality. Results from repeated measures ANOVA and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) models revealed a decline in anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms, coupled with improved relationship quality over time. Well‐being and dyadic coping remained stable, while COVID‐19 threat perception increased. QCA models emphasized the predictive power of initial mental states (anxiety, depression, stress, and well‐being at W1) on subsequent adjustment. Notably, shorter relationship duration, healthcare worker status, and not having children, when combined with prior mental states, explained increased symptoms and diminished well‐being. The study underscores the significance of addressing these factors in individuals navigating romantic relationships during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and various sexually and gender diverse (LGBTQ+) people has largely highlighted how experiences of discrimination and marginalization, and mental health outcomes are related. However, it is important that researchers operate from a strength‐based approach to identify how aspects of one's identity may foster resilience. It is crucial that people working with LGBTQ+ individuals have empirically supported and culturally verified measures to assess such constructs. In this regard, the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Positive Identity Measure (LGB‐PIM) developed by Riggle et al. (2014) was aimed to be translated into Turkish, examining its psychometric properties and validity using a sample of 450 LGBTQ+ people from Turkey. Participants' mean age was 22.44 (SD = 4.61; range = 18–47) and most of them were educated. The five‐factor structure of the LGB‐PIM and its five subscales (authenticity, community, intimacy, self‐awareness, and social justice) was validated by the findings of confirmatory factor analyses. Future researchers may wish to use LGB‐PIM in studies that are designed to understand positive aspects among LGBTQ+ individuals such as resilience and coping and their associations with any type of close relationships (i.e., romantic relationships, friendships, family relations). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has spread throughout the world, and concerns about psychological, social, and economic consequences are growing rapidly. Individuals' empathy-based reactions towards others may be an important resilience factor in the face of COVID-19. Self-report data from 15,375 participants across 23 countries were collected from May to August 2020 during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, this study examined different facets of empathy—Perspective-Taking, Empathic Concern, and Personal Distress, and their association with cross-cultural ratings on Individualism, Power Distance, The Human Development Index, Social Support Ranking, and the Infectious Disease Vulnerability Index, as well as the currently confirmed number of cases of COVID-19 at the time of data collection. The highest ratings on Perspective-Taking were obtained for USA, Brazil, Italy, Croatia, and Armenia (from maximum to minimum); on Empathetic Concern, for the USA, Brazil, Hungary, Italy, and Indonesia; and on Personal Distress, from Brazil, Turkey, Italy, Armenia, Indonesia. Results also present associations between demographic factors and empathy across countries. Limitations and future directions are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to assess interpersonal gratitude within the context of the Systemic Transactional Model (STM) which viewed stress and coping as a dyadic process. This model posited that the impacts of individuals' stress crossover to the partner causing him/her stress too. Both partners use various positive and negative coping strategies collectively called dyadic coping (DC). Based on the STM, a new form of gratitude i.e., Dyadic Coping Based Gratitude (DC-G) has been defined as an expression of gratitude on the part of the stressed partner in response to the problem-focused and emotion-focused positive DC behaviors of the non-stressed partner in the times of stress. To operationally define the DC-G, Dyadic Coping Based Gratitude Questionnaire (DC-GQ) has been developed that contains 12 items covering two subscales; emotion-focused DC-based gratitude (six items) and problem-focused DC-based gratitude (six items). For the empirical evaluation of DC-GQ, data were collected from the purposively drawn 600 Pakistani married adults (300 men & 300 women) with the men's age (M = 41.59, SD = 10.96) and women's age (M = 37.16, SD = 9.55) who had been in the marital relationship for at least two years. Results demonstrated the factor structure of the DC-GQ to be consistent with the theoretical framework of the STM and DC-GQ is a reliable and valid measure for use with Pakistani married adults. Implications of the study have been discussed within the cultural context of Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coming out process represents an essential milestone for bisexual identity formation. Bisexual people may face challenges in navigating relationships due to internalized binegativity, i.e., they may struggle with disclosing their sexual orientation to partners or fear being stereotyped or fetishized based on their bisexuality. To our knowledge, no studies deepen the association between the coming out process and internalized binegativity, considering the different forms of couples (same-gender vs. different-gender) in which bisexual women are involved. We reached 157 Italian cisgender bisexual women (Mage = 25.91; SDage = 6.24). Of them, 44% were in a same-gender relationship, while 56% were in a different-gender relationship. A moderated moderation showed that relationship commitment moderates the moderating effect of the type of couple on the association between coming out and internalized binegativity. We found that the coming out process impacts internalized binegativity considering the moderated effects of the type of couple and relationship commitment supports further investigation on coming out and bisexuality. Considering the scarcity of data on the coming out process and internalized binegativity of bisexual women, the present study is an important step forward in understanding bisexual women's well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most people had a perception of COVID-19 as an illness throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and this inevitably resulted in developing psychological symptoms which in the end yielded to lower levels of well-being. These experiences affected the people who were in a relationship during the pandemic, hence the quality of their relationship was influenced by all these individual feelings. Regarding this context, the current study aimed to explore the mediation role of perceived symptom change in the association between well-being and COVID-19 perceptions, controlling for the effect of relationship quality. To achieve this goal, 174 (N = 124 women, N = 49 men) participants were recruited. Results of the study put forth that (1) there was a positive association between COVID-19 illness perception and symptom change, (2) there was a negative association between perceived symptom change and well-being, (3) there was a negative association between COVID-19 illness perception and well-being, (4) relationship quality was positively associated with well-being, and (5) the symptom change mediated the association between COVID-19 illness perception and well-being in the case relationship quality was considered as a covariate. Limitations and recommendations for further research are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turkey is a country that provides limited rights for sexual minority and gender diverse (SMGD) individuals. Given this, it is important to understand how SMGD individuals may experience stress and how this may impact their romantic relationships. Grounded in the minority stress model, this study investigated the negative association between minority-related stressors and perceived relationship quality. Furthermore, given the important role partner support plays in mitigating the deleterious effects of stress on one's relationship, we also examined whether perceived partner support would mediate the negative association between proximal minority-related stress and perceived relationship quality. Results from 117 SMGD individuals living in Turkey supported the hypotheses. Specifically, distal minority-related stress directly predicted proximal minority-related stress. Proximal minority-related stress directly predicted perceived partner support and indirectly predicted perceived relationship quality, as mediated by perceived partner support. Findings and implications for future research and practice are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of relationship science began with understanding the role of attraction and has expanded to examine factors associated with relationship initiation, development, and maintenance. Despite the growth of the field, recent reviews of topics present in relationship science have revealed a dearth of literature examining sociocultural contexts that may impact relational processing, especially for traditionally underrepresented groups in science. Notably, given the theories, frameworks, and methods applied in these disciplines, counseling psychology and relationship science are at the forefront of examining such contexts. To this end, the goal of the special issue was to bring together scholars whose work is either an application of or showcases how the contemporary foci of counseling psychology, including but not limited to intersectionality, social justice, cultural competence/humility, identity, strengths‐based approaches, and social power hierarchies are applicable to the study of relationships broadly defined. This editorial synthesis provides a brief summary of the four articles that are included in this special issue and ends with recommendations for future research that intersects counseling psychology and relationship science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latinx young adults' experiences of discrimination are associated with high levels of depressive symptoms and examining protective factors that buffer the negative consequences of discrimination is important. In a sample of 195 Latina college students, predominately of Mexican origin, we examined associations between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms, and how sisters' dyadic coping behaviors and familism values moderated this association. We conducted hierarchical regression analyses to test our study hypotheses. We found that Latina college students who were older sisters reported more conflictual and antagonistic sibling relationships, or who perceived higher levels of discrimination also reported the most depressive symptoms, which supports prior research. Importantly, Latina college students who strongly endorsed supportive, obligatory, and referent familism values reported fewer depressive symptoms. Supportive familism values weakened the association between perceived discrimination and Latina college students' depressive symptoms but strengthened associations between sisters' negative dyadic coping behaviors and depressive symptoms. Furthermore, sisters' negative dyadic coping behaviors strengthened the positive association between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms. Our findings highlight the importance of familism values for Latinx young adults' well‐being, as well as the harmful effects of perceived discrimination, particularly in the context of sisters' negative dyadic coping behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about social changes that have impacted the functioning and dynamics of couples in a romantic relationship, arising from the overwhelming amount of added stress they have endured. Specifically, the divorce rate in Portugal has increased after lockdown, which underscores the adverse consequences of COVID-19 on couples. A lower quality of the couple's relationship may worsen the emotional representation of COVID-19; however, the literature suggests that perceived partner dyadic coping responses have a great influence on adverse events. The aim of the present study was to assess the mediating role of partner coping in the association between relationship quality and emotional representation of COVID-19. We also sought to observe whether the length of the relationship moderates this association. Methods: Participants (N = 528) were adults living in Portugal (84.7% female) currently in a romantic relationship with their current partner for at least 1 year. Online data collection. Results: We found that relationship quality predicted COVID-19 emotional representation, but this association was fully mediated by total dyadic coping. This association was especially significant in couples with a shorter length of time in the relationship. Conclusions: We point out the importance of dyadic coping as a protective factor against emotional distress to cope with the ongoing stressors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. These data suggest the need for relationship education programs that promote positive coping between partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals across the U.S. reported experiencing high levels of stress that negatively impacted their overall mental health and well-being; levels that have undoubtedly increased since this time. Despite the interest in understanding how stress can impact individual and relational wellbeing, there are no validated measures that examine chronic and acute stressors experienced by individuals in a romantic relationship. Using self-report data from 327 individuals in the U.S., the present study evaluated and validated the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Chronic and Acute Stress Index (CASI) for use with individuals in a romantic relationship. Results indicated that the English version of the CASI demonstrated good reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity. Implications for relationship researchers and mental health practitioners working with individuals are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Couples' experiences of daily stress can be detrimental for partners' individual and relational well‐being, specifically their identity as a couple, their relational satisfaction, and their life satisfaction. Grounded in the Systemic Transactional Model, this study aimed at analyzing factors that may safeguard partners and their relationship from detrimental effects of internal stress (i.e., stress that originates inside the relationship). We examined the buffering effect of partners' positive dyadic coping and internal problem resolution. Daily diary data were collected across 7 days from 82 heterosexual couples. Multilevel dyadic analyses showed that internal stress was negatively associated with partners' individual and relational well‐being. Positive dyadic coping moderated the association between partners' internal stress and couple satisfaction for both partners, but not life satisfaction and couple identity. Moreover, for partners who reported a resolution to the internal problem, the negative associations of internal stress with life satisfaction, couple satisfaction, and couple identity were significantly lower than for those who did not resolve the internal problem. This study confirms the negative role of internal stress on well‐being, shows the associations between internal stress and couple identity, and highlights the protective role of dyadic coping and internal problem resolution in couples' daily lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better understand individual differences in the expression of emotion within intimate relationships, we evaluated and compared patterns in facial expressions of joy against patterns in self-reported expressions of emotions in romantic couples. Using conversational data from 44 heterosexual romantic couples discussing four different topics, we examined the impact of stress on emotion expression, similarity in emotion expression between partners, and the influence of one partner's facial expressions on the self-reported expressions of the other partner. Overall, we found large differences between patterns in facial expressions of joy and patterns in self-reported emotions. First, using social relations analysis and generalizability analysis, we found that self-reported positive and negative emotions changed between stressful and non-stressful conversational topics, whereas facial expressions of joy remained stable. Second, we found similarities between romantic partners were common for self-reported positive emotions, less common for self-reported negative emotions, and uncommon for facial expressions. Finally, using Actor-Partner Interdependence Models, we found facial expressions of joy were unrelated to self-reported positive and negative emotions, and were non-significant predictors of partner's self-reported emotions. Our results challenge the use of only one methodology when measuring emotional experiences, as patterns observed for self-reported emotional data and facial expression data were not the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals ( hereafter people with minoritized sexual orientation and/or gender identities) have limited legal rights and access to resources because of their marginalized status in society. These limitations are associated with notable health disparities and increase experiences of minority stress. For those in a romantic relationship, being able to communicate and cope with one's partner-dyadic coping-can help buffer stress' deleterious effects on well-being. Given the promise of understanding how dyadic coping can mitigate experiences of sexual minority stress, the Dyadic Coping Inventory-Sexual Minority Stress (DCI-SMS) was recently created and validated with those living in the United States to assess how partners cope with sexual minority stress. Answering a global call to expand psychological science beyond a U.S. centric perspective, the purpose of this study was to validate the DCI-SMS in German and Italian using samples from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, respectively. Confirmatory factor analysis results, along with tests of convergent and discriminant validity, and measurement invariance, suggest that the DCI-SMS is a valid measure of stress communication and dyadic coping behaviors for those in a same-gender relationship in the countries sampled. Important future directions include examining its efficacy in other countries, such as those with more adverse sociopolitical climates for people with minoritized sexual orientation and/or gender identities in a same-gender relationship. Limitations and future directions for research and clinical practice are presented. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Declared a global pandemic in March 2020, COVID-19 is unequivocally changing individuals' daily lives. Research suggests that for many people, the current pandemic is stressogenic, propelling myriads of disturbing affective experiences resulting in greater symptoms of depression and anxiety. Little is known, however, about how this ecologically grounded stress is experienced and managed within people's romantic relationships. Guided by the systemic transactional model of dyadic coping, the current study tested 4 preregistered hypotheses examining the effects of dyadic coping processes on partners' daily mood and relational outcomes near to the outbreak of COVID-19 (During May 2020). Using daily diary data collected from 72 Israeli couples over 21 days, the results showed COVID-related stress to be associated with lower daily positive, and higher daily negative, mood. Stress communication (i.e., disclosing stress to one's partner) was not associated with mood or relational outcomes; however, perceived positive and negative forms of dyadic coping (perceived partner's constructive and destructive behaviors in response to one's stress) were associated with poorer daily relational outcomes. Negative dyadic coping also exacerbated the effect of stress on one's negative mood. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the effects of daily dyadic coping and COVID-related stress on people's affective and relational outcomes. The findings may shed light on the ways in which partners can help each other to adaptively cope with global health crises. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Investigations into the intimate relationships of sexual minorities are proliferating, but often adopt a deficit-oriented and US-centered perspective. In this tri-nation online study with sexual minority participants from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland (N = 571), we (i) assessed the construct validity of the German version of a well-known measure for positive minority identity aspects (the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Positive Identity Measure; LGB-PIM), and (ii) explored associations between these aspects (self-awareness, authenticity, community, capacity for intimacy, and social justice) and self-reported relationship quality. Model fit of the German version of the LGB-PIM was deemed acceptable. Higher levels of positive minority identity aspects showed small to moderate associations with higher levels of relationship quality in bivariate analyses, but only capacity for intimacy was linked to relationship quality in higher-order models (controlling for country, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, relationship length, and psychological distress). Results remained robust in several sensitivity analyses. Our results highlight the differential role of positive identity aspects for relationship functioning, with capacity for intimacy as a fruitful leverage point for therapeutic work., Competing Interests: Competing InterestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

The COVID-19 restrictions have impacted people's lifestyles in all spheres (social, psychological, political, economic, and others). This study explored which factors affected the level of anxiety during the time of the first wave of COVID-19 and subsequent quarantine in a substantial proportion of 23 countries, included in this study. The data was collected from May to August 2020 (5 June 2020). The sample included 15,375 participants from 23 countries: (seven from Europe: Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Russia; 11 from West, South and Southeast Asia: Armenia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey; two African: Nigeria and Tanzania; and three from North, South, and Central America: Brazil, Canada, United States). Level of anxiety was measured by means of the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and the 20-item first part of The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)-State Anxiety Inventory (SAI). Respondents were also asked about their personal experiences with COVID-19, attitudes toward measures introduced by governments, changes in attitudes toward migrants during a pandemic, family income, isolation conditions, etc. The factor analysis revealed that four factors explained 45.08% of variance in increase of anxiety, and these components were interpreted as follows: (1) personal awareness of the threat of COVID-19, (2) personal reaction toward officially undertaken measures and attitudes to foreigners, (3) personal trust in official sources, (4) personal experience with COVID-19. Three out of four factors demonstrated strong associations with both scales of anxiety: high level of anxiety was significantly correlated with high level of personal awareness of the threat of COVID-19, low level of personal reaction toward officially undertaken measures and attitudes to foreigners, and high level of presence of personal experience with COVID-19. Our study revealed significant main effects of sex, country, and all four factors on the level of anxiety. It was demonstrated that countries with higher levels of anxiety assessed the real danger of a pandemic as higher, and had more personal experience with COVID-19. Respondents who trusted the government demonstrated lower levels of anxiety. Finally, foreigners were perceived as the cause of epidemic spread., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Burkova, Butovskaya, Randall, Fedenok, Ahmadi, Alghraibeh, Allami, Alpaslan, Al-Zu’bi, Al-Mseidin, Biçer, Cetinkaya, David, Donato, Dural, Erickson, Ermakov, Ertuğrul, Fayankinnu, Fisher, Al Gharaibeh, Hocker, Hromatko, Kasparova, Kavina, Khatatbeh, Khun-Inkeeree, Kline, Koç, Kolodkin, MacEacheron, Maruf, Meskó, Mkrtchyan, Nurisnaeny, Ojedokun, Adebayo, Omar-Fauzee, Özener, Ponciano, Rizwan, Sabiniewicz, Spodina, Stoyanova, Tripathi, Upadhyay, Weisfeld, Yaakob, Yusof and Zinurova.)

The importance of interdependence processes of patients' and therapists' affect experiences (AEs) over the course of treatment has been highlighted by numerous therapeutic orientations. Yet, most studies have focused on snapshot observations and there is a dearth of knowledge regarding session-to-session patient-therapist AE interdependence, through which the dynamics of AE across treatment can be explored. Using actor-partner interdependence model analysis in a sample of 70 patient-therapist dyads across 16 sessions of psychodynamic treatment, the present study investigated whether (a) at the sample level, patients' and therapists' changes in positive and negative AEs are interdependent throughout treatment, and (b) whether individuals' differences in AE interdependence can be explained by patients' anticipated or general ability to form a strong therapeutic alliance, and by the actual alliance with the therapist during treatment. Findings suggest that patients' and therapists' changes in positive and negative AEs are interdependent throughout treatment. Moderation analysis suggests that when patients report stronger anticipated ability to form a strong alliance, an increase in therapists' negative AE from one session to another predicts a greater decrease in their patients' negative AE in the following session. Additionally, focusing on patients' actual alliance with the therapist during treatment, when patients report a stronger alliance with their therapist, a subsequent increase in therapists' positive and negative AEs from one session to another predicts greater subsequent increases in their patients' positive and negative AEs in the next session. Taken together, findings suggest that patients' and therapists' AEs are interdependent throughout treatment, though individual differences exist. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).