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Biomedical subjects

D H Baucom

Publications and source records attributed to D H Baucom.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Understanding infidelity: correlates in a national random sample.

Infidelity is a common phenomenon in marriages but is poorly understood. The current study examined variables related to extramarital sex using data from the 1991-1996 General Social Surveys. Predictor variables were entered into a logistic regression with presence of extramarital sex as the dependent variable. Results demonstrated that divorce, education, age when first married, and 2 "opportunity" variables--respondent's income and work status--significantly affected the likelihood of having engaged in infidelity. Also, there were 3 significant interactions related to infidelity: (a) between age and gender, (b) between marital satisfaction and religious behavior, and (c) between past divorce and educational level. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Religion and the science of relationships: is a happy marriage possible?

The current article is a commentary on the 4 articles included in this issue regarding religion and the family. Recommendations are made regarding the methodological strategies that might be followed in enhancing the science of religion and family. The 4 articles in this issue are used as examples of how the field can fruitfully proceed in the future. Foremost among the recommendations is that specific hypotheses be developed to explore explicit ways in which certain aspects of religious life might relate to specific aspects of family/marriage functioning.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1999

The interaction between marital standards and communication patterns: how does it contribute to marital adjustment?

Couples' cognitions about marriage and their communication patterns have both been found to be highly associated with marital distress. To examine the relationships among marital cognitions, communication, and marital adjustment, we had a sample of 387 community couples complete three self-report measures: the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Inventory of Specific Relationship Standards, and the Communication Patterns Questionnaire. Results indicated that the correlation of communication with marital adjustment is higher for women with more relationship-focused standards than for women with less relationship-focused standards; this interaction does not occur for men. The implications of the interaction and the gender difference as well as the importance of teaching communication skills, and working with associated cognitions are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

The application of behavioral couples therapy to the assessment and treatment of agoraphobia: implications of empirical research.

The present review was undertaken to examine the literature regarding the role of the marital relationship in treatment of agoraphobia from a behavioral couples therapy (BCT) perspective. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted to evaluate (a) whether marital quality predicts treatment responsiveness and (b) how best to include the spouse in treatment of agoraphobia. Regarding the assessment of agoraphobics' relationship quality, it is recommended that subjectively experienced "satisfaction" with the relationship be distinguished from more descriptive measures of general and agoraphobia-specific relationship "adjustment." Treatment can include the partner as a "co-therapist" to assist with interventions directly targeted at the agoraphobia, or use BCT interventions to modify relationship interactions that might impede treatment gains. The application of BCT for these couples poses a number of challenges, including (a) the need to maintain a balanced treatment approach in an "unbalanced" system, (b) the need to target interventions at more than one treatment goal, and (c) the task of combining couple-focused interventions with those aimed at reducing phobic symptoms.

Agoraphobia↗
PubMed1998

Empirically supported couple and family interventions for marital distress and adult mental health problems.

This article evaluates the efficacy, effectiveness, and clinical significance of empirically supported couple and family interventions for treating marital distress and individual adult disorders, including anxiety disorders, depression, sexual dysfunctions, alcoholism and problem drinking, and schizophrenia. In addition to consideration of different theoretical approaches to treating these disorders, different ways of including a partner or family in treatment are highlighted: (a) partner-family-assisted interventions, (b) disorder-specific partner-family interventions, and (c) more general couple-family therapy. Findings across diagnostic groups and issues involved in applying efficacy criteria to these populations are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Understanding betrayals in marriage: a synthesized model of forgiveness.

Forgiveness is an issue that is problematic for many couples, particularly those in marital therapy. However, little attention has been paid to this construct in the psychological literature. The purpose of this article is to describe a synthesized model of forgiveness using constructs from multiple theories, including forgiveness, trauma recovery, cognitive-behavioral, family systems, and insight-oriented theories. Forgiveness is conceptualized as a process consisting of three stages, each of which has cognitive, behavioral, and affective components. Furthermore, these stages seem to parallel a person's natural response to traumatic stress. First, there is a response to the initial impact; second, there is an attempt to give the event some kind of meaning, or put it into context; and finally, the person begins to move forward and readjust. Forgiveness is conceptualized as attaining: (a) a realistic, nondistorted, balanced view of the relationship; (b) a release from being controlled by negative affect toward the participating partner; and (c) a lessened desire to punish the participating partner. Implications for marital therapy also are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1997

Autonomy and relatedness in marital functioning.

The current investigation expands the focus of cognitive behavioral formulations of marriage by exploring the constructs of autonomy and relatedness in marriage. One hundred forty-one married couples matched to the 1990 U.S. census data on age, race, and income completed a number of self-report marital inventories including the Autonomy and Relatedness Inventory (Schaefer, Edgerton, & Burnett, 1991). Autonomy was measured by evaluating spouses' perceptions of the extent to which partners encouraged a sense of independence and individuality for the spouses. Relatedness was measured by evaluating spouses' perceptions of the amount of closeness that partners provided. It was found that autonomy and relatedness were significantly positively correlated with each other, as well as with marital adjustment for both males and females. It was found that for females, the provision of relatedness (as reported by their husbands) was significantly related to the standards that they held for the relationship. In addition, it was found that for females, the provision of relatedness (as reported by their husbands) was significantly related to the standards that husbands held for the relationship. However, no significant relationships were found between husbands' standards and relatedness (either as reported by wives or by husbands). It was concluded that it is appropriate to help couples think of autonomy and relatedness as being two important aspects of marriage that can exist together and are related to a satisfying marriage. Implications of the findings suggest that marital therapists could expand the conceptualization of marital therapy beyond being primarily relationship focused to include attention to individual needs of the spouses.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Role of femininity and masculinity in distressed couples' communication.

The relationship between sex role identity and marital communication of maritally distressed couples was examined. Interactional behavior of 60 maritally distressed couples was coded with the Marital Interaction Coding System and examined in relation to the level of femininity and masculinity of the spouses. Base-rate analyses indicated that femininity was positively related to greater rates of negative behavior among husbands and wives. As predicted, sequential analyses supported that wives' femininity was associated with greater negative reciprocity of the wives. Men's femininity was associated with husbands' tendency to terminate fewer negative sequences of behavior in comparison with their wives. High masculinity of the wives was associated with shorter sequences of negative behavior. Implications of the findings and future directions for research are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Supplementing behavioral marital therapy with cognitive restructuring and emotional expressiveness training: an outcome investigation.

The current study investigated whether the effectiveness of behavioral marital therapy (BMT) would be increased by the addition of cognitive restructuring (CR) and/or emotional expressiveness training (EET) for maritally distressed couples. Sixty such couples were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 therapists and 1 of 5 treatment conditions (BMT Alone, CR + BMT, BMT + EET, CR + BMT + EET, or waiting list) for 12 weeks of conjoint marital therapy. Within each treatment condition, couples typically improved on the variables focused on in treatment. However, comparisons among active treatment conditions showed few significant differences among treatments; the treatments were equally effective in increasing marital adjustment. Thus, the addition of CR and EET did not appear to increase the overall effectiveness of treatment. Possible reasons for the current findings are provided, and suggestions for future marital outcome investigations are outlined.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1989

The role of cognitions in marital relationships: definitional, methodological, and conceptual issues.

Although there have recently been numerous investigations exploring the role of couples' cognitions in an attempt to understand marital distress, at present there is little cohesion and direction in the study of how couples think about their relationships. The current article asserts that this lack of direction results from at least three factors: (a) a lack of delineation of the important cognitive variables to be considered in marital functioning, (b) conceptual and methodological difficulties that arise in attempts to operationalize cognitive variables, and (c) a dearth of models of marital functioning that incorporate cognitions in a detailed manner. These three factors are discussed, along with a review of empirical investigations supporting the importance of cognitions in intimate relationships.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1987

Attribution processes in distressed and nondistressed couples: 4. Self-partner attribution differences.

The importance of the self-other distinction for understanding the relation between attributions and marital satisfaction is examined in two studies. In Study 1, causal attributions for naturally occurring behavior by the self and spouse were investigated. Study 2 examined both causal and responsibility attributions for hypothetical behaviors. In both studies, the attributions of spouses seeking therapy were investigated in relation to those of happily married persons in the community. The results showed that self-other attribution differences varied as a function of marital distress. Nondistressed spouses showed a positive attribution bias by making more benign attributions for partner behavior as opposed to self-behavior, whereas distressed spouses showed a negative attribution bias by making less benign attributions for partner behavior than for self-behavior. These findings suggest that self-attributions may, in part, determine the impact of attributions for spouse behavior on marital satisfaction. The clinical relevance of the results and their implications for research on actor-observer attribution differences are outlined.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1986

Peers' granting of control to women with different sex role identities: implications for depression.

This investigation is one of a series of studies seeking to determine the degree of control given to women with different sex role identities. This study focused on the extent to which peers were willing to grant control to women with different sex role identities if working individually with each woman on various two-person tasks. The results indicated that women with different sex role identities were granted different amounts of control by their peers as a function of the type of two-person task under consideration. Women rated high on masculinity were granted greater control on enjoyable and creative tasks, whereas women rated low in masculinity were given more control on methodical and less enjoyable tasks. Women judged high in femininity were given control on tasks requiring interpersonal skills. These findings were discussed within the context of learned helplessness theory as a possible aid in understanding why more women than men become depressed.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Relation between testosterone concentration, sex role identity, and personality among females.

Eighty-four undergraduate female students completed Baucom's Masculinity and Femininity Scales, the Bem Sex Role Inventory, and the Adjective Check List. Testosterone concentration was determined from saliva samples provided by the women. The results indicated that sex role type was related to level of testosterone concentration. More specifically, undifferentiated females had much higher levels of testosterone concentration than did the feminine-sex-typed females. Also, females with high levels of masculinity (androgynous and masculine-sex-typed females combined) had somewhat higher testosterone levels than did feminine-sex-typed females. Adjectival correlates indicated that females with higher testosterone concentrations perceive themselves as self-directed, action-oriented, resourceful individuals; women with lower testosterone concentration view themselves as conventional, socialized individuals, possessing a caring attitude coupled with an anxious and dejected mood.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Sex role identity and sex-stereotyped tasks in the development of learned helplessness in women.

Eighty undergraduate females participated in a study investigating the relation of sex role identity and sex-stereotyped tasks to the development of learned helplessness in women. Half of the women from four sex role identity groups received bogus feedback and were forced to fail on a concept formation task described to them as either a male- or a female-stereotyped task; the other 40 women succeeded on the task. Failure on the concept formation task produced dysphoric mood in the women, regardless of their sex role identity and regardless of how the concept formation task was described. However, cognitive/motivational symptoms of helplessness were found only among low-masculine women who failed on a male-stereotyped task. These results are compared with previous findings and suggest that feminine-sex-typed women may be particularly susceptible to some helplessness symptoms in contexts defined as male appropriate.

Achievement↗
PubMed1983

Sex role identity and the decision to regain control among women: a learned helplessness investigation.

In an investigation focusing on women's attempts to regain control of their environments, women from four sex role identity groups underwent either an initial loss of control (helpless) or control (nonhelpless) experience. Subsequently, they were allowed to choose their role in a team problem-solving task. They could either (a) have total control over the team's decisions, (b) have no control over the team's decisions, or (c) not participate in the task. Compared to women low on masculinity, women high on masculinity chose to be in control of team problem-solving in both the helpless and nonhelpless conditions. Particularly striking, none of the 14 feminine-sex-typed women chose to control the team's decisions in the helpless condition, whereas 10 of the 14 masculine-sex-typed women made this choice. Results are discussed relative to the high rates of depression among women.

Decision Making↗