Theses and Dissertations from UMD

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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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Author: search.filters.author.Larsen, Ashley NicoleSubject: search.filters.subject.commitment

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    Partners' Attributions and Level of Commitment as Predictors of Constructive and Destructive Behavior in Discussions of Relationship Conflicts
    (2004-05-06) Larsen, Ashley Nicole; Epstein, Norman B; Family Studies
    This study investigated whether clinical couples' levels of commitment to their relationship and their tendencies to make negative attributions about their partner are related to their use of constructive and destructive behavior during couple conflict. Secondary analyses were conducted on assessment data from 52 couples who sought couple therapy at a university-based clinic. Based on self-report data and coded observations from a 10-minute communication sample completed by the couple, the results support the hypotheses that greater use of negative attributions is correlated with greater use of destructive behaviors, and increased levels of commitment are related to greater use of constructive behaviors. Contrary to expectations, commitment was not a significant moderator of the relationship between negative attributions and destructive behavior during conflict. The results, including specific gender differences, have important implications for effective couple therapy and future research on couple conflict.