Journal of Marital and Family Therapy

Informed by integrative models of cultural resilience, the purpose of this study was to (a) explore how parents are promoting their children's emotional and physical health, with a focus on race and ethnic-racial socialization strategies, and (b) identify the barriers and challenges parents are experiencing in supporting their children's health. Ethnically racially matched qualitative interviews were conducted with 33 parents (82% women, 64% Black, 36% Latiné). Results of thematic analysis revealed three overarching themes: (a) Strategies for Promoting Children's Physical and Emotional Health, (b) Challenges Promoting Children's Physical and Emotional Health, and (c) Impact of Racism on Parenting and Children's Health...

As diversity in the United States increases, marriage and family therapists are encountering more multi-heritage couples in therapy. Recent research shows that around 11% of adults are married to someone from a different racial or ethnic group, rising to 19% among new marriages. Multi-heritage couples encompass inherent differences in race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, and culture. This article addresses the unique challenges faced by multi-heritage couples in therapy and explores the strengths and weaknesses of existing assessment tools suitable for their needs...

Since the birth of family therapy, the Milan approach has been known as a foundational systemic model. Nevertheless, following the dissolution of the Milan group, Mara Selvini, alongside Matteo Selvini, Stefano Cirillo, and Anna Maria Sorrentino, began a new trajectory of clinical development, insufficiently examined within the American panorama. After her death, in 1999, the Selvini group continued to adapt and refine her systemic approach which is known today as the systemic-family-individual (SFI) approach...

Family weight talk, in the forms of both family weight teasing and encouragement to diet, has been linked to numerous adverse outcomes, including increased disordered eating, unhealthy weight control behaviors, and body mass index. However, little is known about its role in mental health outcomes, especially for emerging adults. Utilizing structural equation modeling, we examined the role of family weight teasing (FWT) and parental encouragement to diet in anxiety and depression and explored body weight perception as a moderator within a sample of 292 emerging adults...

Desire discrepancies are a common source of relationship conflict and one reason adults may seek couples counseling. Within romantic relationships, adults individually experience sexual and affectionate desire, but also experience desire relative to their partner. If desire discrepancies exist, partners may attempt to resolve these discrepancies. Thus, we examined adults' strategies for managing sexual and affectionate desire discrepancies. Our sample consisted of 300 adults (45% women; Mage  = 29...

The proliferation of technology has accelerated exponentially over the past 50 years. Contemporarily, researchers have explored the influences technology use is having on individuals and relationships. Theoretical frameworks such as the couple, family, and technology (CFT) Framework have been applied to individuals and couples in committed relationships to better understand the implications of technology adoption and use within this relational subsystem. Research examining technology's impact on couple relationships recognizes the potential for technology use to be either helpful or unhelpful to the relationship but fails to fully examine the helpful aspects of technology use...

The connection between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and anxiety disorders is well-documented. Additionally, therapy has been shown to be effective at reducing anxiety symptoms. Yet more needs to be known about how ACEs may shape the process of therapy and the trajectory of anxiety symptoms. This study was designed to compare the trajectory of improvement in anxiety symptoms over the course of 12 sessions of therapy in adults (N = 472), who reported more (greater than four) and fewer (fewer than four) ACEs using a multigroup latent growth curve analysis...

Monitoring the therapeutic alliance throughout treatment can improve client outcomes and lead to improved care. The individual, couple, and family versions of the intersession alliance measure (IAM) were developed to facilitate routine monitoring of the expanded therapeutic alliance. Psychometric properties of the three versions of the IAM were examined using a clinical sample. Participants were drawn from clinics in the United States participating in the Marriage and Family Therapy Practice Research Network...

The study aimed to evaluate the Couples' Closeness-Distance Scale (CCDS), an observational assessment reflecting couples' relational dynamics; based on joint-drawing, it offers measurable dimensions. Forty cohabiting Israeli couples participated in the joint-drawing task and answered self-report questionnaires for attachment, differentiation of self, and relationship satisfaction. The paintings were assessed by trained observers on the CCDS scales (too distant, too close, autonomy, engagement) for both the women's and men's experiences...

Given the religious groundings that support the practice of gender identity change efforts (GICE), we sought to explore the beliefs of Christian religious leaders about this practice and their understanding of marginalized gender identities. Nineteen religious leaders mainly from diverse Mainline Christian Protestant traditions were interviewed. Queer theory-informed thematic analysis revealed two themes related to participants' beliefs about transgender and nonbinary identities: (1) Transgender and nonbinary identities are normative and authentic and (2) God created gender diversity...

This study examined the association between congruence in the two partners' perceptions and their relationship satisfaction. We considered congruence between metaperception and partner-perception (meta-partner) and between metaperceptions and self-rated personality (meta-self). The participants were 236 heterosexual couples. Each couple member reported couple satisfaction and personality traits (in terms of self-perception, partner-perception, and metaperception). The actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) revealed that individuals who believed to be viewed by their partner as more agreeable, conscientious, or emotionally stable than their partner saw them, were less likely to have a partner who was satisfied with the relationship...

The literature on marriage supports teaching essential skills to enhance relationship quality and prevent divorce. However, limited marriage and relationship curricula tailored for African cultures, especially within the South African context, are currently available. This study aimed to redress gaps in literature and practice, outlining elements for inclusion into a marriage enrichment program (MEP) grounded on PREP 8.0 (Prevention and Relationship Education Program) and current baseline research conducted in South Africa...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Research has shown that children of undocumented Latinx parents in the United States are at greater risk for negative long-term effects on their mental health and overall well-being. Chief among these concerns are the negative effects of disrupted attachment processes, as deported parents are often taken from their families by force and required to parent from afar, if they can continue parenting at all. Despite the ubiquity of deported families, little is known about the effects of deportation on the attachment of left-behind children and the subsequent potential disruptive effect of deportation on their adult relationships...

Evidence-based indication for targeted interventions is a central approach in the field of child welfare and psychotherapy. This study explored the characteristics of children and families referred to Multisystemic Therapy for Child Abuse and Neglect (MST-CAN) in Switzerland and their associations with treatment outcomes. We sought to identify subgroups of children and families referred to MST-CAN and understand their specific needs and alignment with the program. We identified five distinct subgroups of children: (a) those characterized by clinically significant "social withdrawal" and "anxiety/depression," (b) with multiple clinically significant emotional and behavioral problems, (c) with predominantly externalizing problems, (d) with no pathological findings at all, with parents who were less stressed and had fewer mental health problems, and (e) with mainly internalizing problems and parents whose mental health problems deteriorated during treatment...

African American couples experience greater levels of relationship distress than other racial/ethnic groups, but they are less likely to seek formal couple counseling. Existing literature highlights the importance of community support in the form of church, family, and friends. While the literature suggests that African Americans encounter unique barriers, we do not know how racism and discrimination impact the couple help-seeking process. This study seeks to address this gap and better understand unique barriers in the African American couple help-seeking (AACHS) process via a grounded theory-informed qualitative study...

While hostile attributional bias (a tendency to interpret others' behaviors as intentionally hostile) is associated with negative outcomes in romantic relationships, no measure has been developed specifically for this context. Here, we describe the development and validation of a self-report questionnaire across three studies, named Hostile Attribution in Romantic Relationships Test. Study 1 introduces the development and preliminary validation (N = 152). Study 2 tests the validity and test-retest stability of the modified version revised based on findings in Study 1 (N = 151)...

The aims of the current study are to describe the basic family relationships, parental bonding patterns, and dyadic adjustment of families with offspring diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and to explore the correlations between these variables related to family relations and BPD symptomatology. The sample consisted of 194 participants, including parents from the control (N = 76) and clinical group (N = 76), and patients with BPD (N = 42)...

This study describes the development and tests the validity of the Problem Resolution Scale (PRS)-a single-item measure developed by researchers at Systemic Practice Research Network (SYPRENE) for assessing the degree to which the focal problem of therapy is perceived as resolved. Data were collected at termination from 747 clients seen across 18 therapists. Results suggested good construct validity, supported by a strong correlation between client and therapist perceptions as assessed by the PRS (r = 0...

Cumulative childhood maltreatment (CCM) is associated with relationship difficulties including lower perceived partner responsiveness (PPR)-the degree of feeling cared for, understood, and validated by a person's partner. Attachment theory is understood via its representations of self and others and could offer a better understanding of how CCM effects continue into adulthood and affect PPR. We examined whether CCM is related to PPR via attachment in French-speaking adolescents and young adults. A sample of 427 individuals in a romantic relationship and another sample of 159 couples completed self-report measures...