Biomedical subjects

W Kim Halford

Publications and source records attributed to W Kim Halford.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Do couples at high risk of relationship problems attend premarriage education?

The effectiveness of premarriage education is limited by whether couples at high risk of future marital problems attend such education. In the current study, 374 newly married couples were assessed on a range of risk factors for future marital problems as well as whether they had attended marriage education. Couples with certain indices of relationship risk (nonreligious and premarital cohabitation) were underrepresented in premarriage education. Suggestions are offered to attract more couples, particularly those at high risk for future problems, to relationship education.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

International perspectives on couple relationship education.

This article introduces the special section on international perspectives on couple relationship education. We first describe the theory and research underlying the increased interest in relationship education, with a strong emphasis on social policy issues. We include a discussion of both the benefits and controversies resulting from governments being involved in promoting healthy relationships. We then provide an overview of the four articles included in the special section and show how they illustrate trends occurring in a diverse set of cultural and national contexts. We conclude by highlighting issues and future directions for the relationship education field.

Couples Therapy↗

PubMed2005

Couple relationship education in Australia.

In Australia, the strengthening of marriage through relationship education has received strong governmental policy support and some modest financial support. Couple relationship education services are offered by a variety of community-based, church-affiliated, and church-based providers. There is a strong emphasis on providing programs that are developed locally in response to perceived couple needs and government policies. Available evaluations show that most couples who attend education value the service, but relationship education providers need to do a better job reaching out to couples at high risk for future relationship problems, and more research is needed on the effects of education on long-term marital outcomes. There is significant scope for building on current initiatives to incorporate evidence-based approaches and to expand the program reach to more couples.

Australia↗

PubMed2004

United we stand? The effects of a couple-coping intervention on adjustment to early stage breast or gynecological cancer.

Cancer diagnosis affects the psychological well-being of both patients and their partners, and effective coping has been suggested to be a conjoint process of mutual support. Ninety-four married women with early stage cancer and their partners were randomly assigned to couples-based coping training (CanCOPE), individual coping training for the woman, or a medical education control. Couples' observed support communication and self-reported psychological distress, coping effort, and sexual adjustment were assessed at diagnosis, after cancer surgery, and at 6- and 12-month follow-ups. CanCOPE produced significant improvements in couples' supportive communication, reduced psychological distress and coping effort, and improved sexual adjustment. Training in couples rather than individual coping was more effective in facilitating adaptation to cancer.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2004

Repeating the errors of our parents? Parental violence in men's family of origin and conflict management in dating couples.

Within a social learning model, family-of-origin violence places men at risk for developing negative communication in their adult relationships. Thirty young men exposed to family-of-origin violence (exposed group) and 30 unexposed young men were videotaped discussing a conflict topic with their female dating partners. Relative to the unexposed group, the exposed men and women reported higher relationship aggression and during discussion showed more negative communication, were more domineering, and the men reported more negative affect. There were no differences between the groups on cognition or heart rate. The conflict management deficits and aggression evident in the exposed group suggest that these partners are at high risk for future relationship aggression and distress.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2003

Best practice in couple relationship education.

Relationship education is widely available to couples and is intended to reduce the prevalence of relationship distress, divorce, and the associated personal and social costs. To realize the potential benefits of couple relationship education, it needs to be evidence-based, offered in ways that attract couples at high-risk for relationship problems, and focused on factors that put couples at high-risk for future relationship problems.

Female↗

PubMed2002

Schemata as moderators of clinical effectiveness of a comprehensive cognitive behavioral program for patients with depression or anxiety disorders.

The authors examined the clinical effectiveness of a comprehensive cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) program offered to patients with depression or anxiety disorders. They also tested the prediction, based on Young's schema-focused approach to therapy, that endorsement of maladaptive cognitive schemata predicts poor response to standard CBT. One hundred thirty-four consecutive referrals were assessed on a battery of self-report measures at the commencement of the program, and 121 of these patients (90%) completed the program and provided posttreatment data. Two thirds of the patients showed statistically reliable symptom reduction, and half had large effect size (0.8 standard deviations or more) symptom reduction. Contrary to predictions, greater initial endorsement of schemata did not predict poor therapy response. The CBT program was effective for most patients, including patients with high endorsement of maladaptive schemata.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2002

Couple communication and female problem drinking: a behavioral observation study.

Couples with alcohol and relationship problems often report poor communication, yet little is known about the communication of maritally distressed couples in which the woman abuses alcohol (MDWA couples). Compared with maritally distressed couples without alcohol problems (MDNA) and couples with neither problem (NDNA), MDWA couples showed a distinctive pattern of negative communication. Similar to MDNA men, MDWA men spoke negatively to their partners but listened positively to their partners much like NDNA men. MDWA women listened negatively, much as MDNA women did, but spoke positively, like NDNA women did. The interactions of MDWA couples can be characterized as a male-demand-female-withdraw pattern, which is a gender reversal of the female-demand-male-withdraw pattern often observed in MDNA couples.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Expectations of the effects of drinking on couple relationship functioning: an assessment of women in distressed relationships who consume alcohol at harmful levels.

Based on a cognitive-social learning model of alcohol use, it was hypothesised that women with both alcohol and relationship problems would endorse more positive expectations of the effects of alcohol consumption on their relationship and would report lower relational efficacy than women without relationship or alcohol problems. Measures of relationship-referent alcohol expectancies and relational efficacy were completed by 174 married women with both alcohol and relationship problems (n = 20), alcohol problems alone (n = 26), relationship problems alone (n = 30), or neither problem (n = 98). Women without either alcohol or relationship problems strongly rejected expectations of enhanced relationship functioning (e.g., enhanced intimacy, increased emotional expression) following alcohol consumption, whereas women with both alcohol and relationship problems were ambivalent about these positive expectations. Women with both problems also reported lower relational efficacy than the other groups of women. Negative expectations about the effect of alcohol consumption on relationships in women with low relational efficacy may inhibit harmful drinking.

Affect↗