Family Process最新文献

In 2015, the United States Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, setting in motion a sweeping social change for sexual minority people and their romantic relationships. The United States Census Bureau collects demographic data on same-sex couple households, offering an opportunity to better understand the demographic makeup of same-sex marriage today. This knowledge is essential for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers who aim to understand and support same-sex couples' relationships. We used national probability data from the American Community Survey collected in 2021 (the most recent year these data are available) on married and unmarried, cohabiting same-sex and opposite-sex households. Respondents reported their own age, race, ethnicity, education, employment, income, home ownership, and whether they had children living with them in their household. Differences between married and unmarried opposite-sex couples were observed in race, ethnicity, age, and socioeconomic status, consistent with prior research. Many of these demographic gaps also existed for same-sex couples, although these were often smaller. Several of these differences further varied between male and female same-sex couples. Same-sex married couples appear to be more demographically diverse than opposite-sex married couples. However, like opposite-sex couples, same-sex couples from multiple minoritized groups were less likely to be married. Future research is needed to understand drivers of these differences (e.g., different attitudes about marriage or lack of access to marriage) and their impact. Policymakers and clinicians will need to bear these group differences in mind when designing policy and delivering services to support the well-being of sexual minority couples.

This study aims to investigate the associations of caring for grandchildren and/or great-grandparents with depressive symptoms, as well as life satisfaction in Chinese grandparents, and analyze the moderating roles of urban–rural residence and social participation. A nationally representative sample of 2973 grandparents in families with great-grandparents and grandchildren were selected from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CESD-10) and the single-item were used to measure depressive symptoms and life satisfaction. Social participation included participation in social and intellectual activities. The binary logistic regression model was employed to explore the relationship between caring and depressive symptoms, as well as life satisfaction in the whole participants, different urban–rural residence, and social participation groups, respectively. Caring was associated with depressive symptoms and life satisfaction (p < 0.05). A significant interaction existed between caring and urban–rural residence for depressive symptoms (interaction p = 0.029) and life satisfaction (interaction p = 0.027). Significant interactions were also found among caring, urban–rural residence, and social activities with depressive symptoms (interaction p = 0.025). In urban, caring for both was negatively related to depressive symptoms for the non-social activists, while in rural, caring for great-grandparents was positively associated with depressive symptoms for social activists (p < 0.05). Any new policy design related to preventing and reducing the possibility of mental disorders in Chinese grandparents should be tailored to heterogeneous subgroups who live in different rural–urban and social activities participation.

Veteran and intimate partner perceptions of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may differ, and little is known about how agreement or disagreement on symptom severity is related to relationship satisfaction. Veterans and their partners (N = 199 couples) completed a baseline assessment for a clinical trial evaluating two couple-based PTSD interventions. Veterans completed the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). Partners completed the collateral PCL-5 (PCL-5-C), which asked them to rate the severity of the veteran's PTSD symptoms. Both partner and veteran completed the Couples Satisfaction Index (CSI-32). Intraclass correlations (ICC) assessed agreement between PCL-5 and PCL-5-C total and subscale scores, which was low for total PCL and for all subscales (ICC = 0.15–0.46). Actor-Partner Interdependence Models (APIMs; actor-only pattern) tested associations between relationship satisfaction and PTSD symptom severity (total PCL and subscales), and the magnitude and direction of difference between PCL-5 and PCL-5-C (total and subscales). For veterans, more severe total PTSD and negative cognition/mood scores were associated with lower relationship satisfaction, and the direction of discrepancy for negative cognition/mood (i.e., higher veteran-rated PTSD symptoms relative to partner's collateral report) was also associated with lower satisfaction. For partners, more severe collateral-reported symptoms for total PTSD and all four subscales were associated with lower relationship satisfaction; further, a larger discrepancy between veterans' and partners' reports of total PTSD, negative cognition/mood, and hyperarousal were associated with lower satisfaction. These results suggest that partners may have different perceptions of PTSD symptoms, and support the potential of fostering a shared understanding of PTSD symptom severity in couples.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health and well-being of families worldwide, with parents particularly at risk for stress and other psychological symptoms. In this study, we sought to understand the factors contributing to parent stress symptoms during the early stages of the pandemic in 23 European countries (N = 40,138) using the double ABC-X model. We examined whether the relationship between stressor pile-up and perceived stress was mediated by family satisfaction and relationship satisfaction and whether family resiliency beliefs impacted these mediated relationships. Our results showed a direct association between stressor pile-up and parent stress symptoms, but we did not find evidence for the mediating role of family satisfaction or relationship satisfaction in this relationship. We also found that family resiliency beliefs did not moderate the indirect effects of family satisfaction and relationship satisfaction on parent stress symptoms. These findings suggest that the ABC-X model may not fully capture the processes affecting parents' experience of stress during the pandemic and that alternative models such as the vulnerability-stress-adaptation model may be more relevant. Future research should also consider the potential negative impact of resiliency beliefs on mental health and other risk and protective factors such as self-compassion.

Asian Americans, historically oppressed and influenced by White supremacist norms, may internalize anti-Blackness (beliefs of behaviors that minimize, marginalize, or devalue Black individuals) as they navigate White-dominated environments to survive and seek acceptance. However, there is limited research addressing the intergenerational socialization of anti-Blackness within Asian American communities and its impact as a barrier to cross-racial solidarity and involvement in anti-racism efforts. Thus, we tested whether parents' anti-Black messages were associated with fear of Black individuals and lack of empathic reactions to anti-Black racism, and in turn, related to hindrance in the perceived ability to engage in anti-racism advocacy among Asian American emerging adults. With data from 205 participants (Mage = 19.92, SD = 2.64, online convenience sample), we conducted a path analysis of parents' anti-Black messages indirectly associated with perceived ability in advocacy against anti-Black racism through fear of Black individuals and empathic reactions to anti-Black racism. Parents' anti-Black messages were associated with greater fear of Black individuals, which was associated with lower empathic reactions to racism, and in turn, ultimately associated with a lower perceived ability to engage in advocacy against anti-Black racism. This pathway was the best-fitting model compared with an alternative parallel model (fear and empathy as separate mediators) and a model with empathy as the first mediator. Our study suggests that clinicians, educators, and researchers should target parents' anti-Black messages and Asian American emerging adults' emotional responses (fear, empathy) to anti-Black racism in disrupting anti-Blackness at parental/family and individual levels.

This study investigated the relationship between parental psychological wellbeing, parenting, children's psychological difficulties, and prosocial behavior in Kahramanmaraş earthquake-affected families living in Türkiye in 2023. To this end, a mediation model was proposed for parental psychological distress that was hypothesized to exert an indirect effect on a child's psychological difficulties and prosocial behavior through parenting. Participants were 358 preschoolers between 4 and 6 years old and their one parent (father or mother) who completed a set of validated self-report surveys in a cross-sectional design study. Results showed positive associations between parental psychological distress and child's psychological difficulties but negative association with child's prosocial behavior. Furthermore, quality of parenting mediated the association between parental psychological distress and child's psychological difficulties and prosocial behavior. Our findings suggest that positive parenting may serve as a protective mechanism that mediates the association between parental psychological distress and a child's psychological difficulties and prosocial behaviors among families displaced by a natural disaster like an earthquake. These findings point to the need for supporting positive parent–child relationships in addition to decreasing the psychological distress of parents when exposed to potentially traumatizing events like this.

The disruption of the parent–child attachment bond due to parental death (PD) may lead to lingering feelings of unsafety or insecurity that might potentially transfer to adult intimate relationships. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether experiencing childhood parental death (CPD) was associated with adult romantic relationship formation and stability, attachment style, and relationship satisfaction, and whether this is dependent on (in)secure parental bonding. In this cross-sectional study, relationship indicators were assessed using self-report questionnaires in adults (25–45 years old) who experienced PD during childhood (n = 236), in adulthood (n = 301), and who did not experience PD (n = 278). Experiencing CPD was not associated with relationship formation, relationship stability indicators, and relationship satisfaction. However, individuals who experienced CPD reported higher levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance within their current romantic relationship compared to individuals who did not experience (childhood) PD. Furthermore, insecure bonding with the deceased parent was associated with higher levels of attachment anxiety, while this was not the case for the quality of bonding with the surviving parent or new partner of the surviving parent. These findings on the association between CPD and adult attachment insecurity provide new insight in how attachment insecurity to the deceased parent may be related to attachment insecurity in adult relationships, which is important to discuss when working with individuals who experienced CPD.

While Asian American parents are key contributors in racially socializing their children, past research indicates that issues of race are not frequently discussed among Asian American families. Moreover, there is limited research on how Asian American parents' sociocultural factors predict the amount and ways they talk about race to their children. We conducted latent profile analyses among 150 Asian American parents' (M_age = 42.36, range = 26–65 years) racial discussions, and the profiles' association with parents' sociocultural factors (i.e., enculturation, acculturation, internalized racism, collectivism, and loss of face) were examined. Four distinct profiles were identified with distinct levels of awareness of discrimination, avoidance of outgroups, minimization of race, and promotion of equality messages. Findings underscore the importance of Asian American parents engaging in nuanced racial discussions with their children, highlighting the need for culturally responsive interventions, educational programs, and policy initiatives to support families in navigating complex racial landscapes and fostering positive youth outcomes.