Theses and Dissertations from UMD

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2

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.

Browse

Filters

2010 - 20112

Settings

Subject: search.filters.subject.Couple

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    PARTNER'S CONFLICT BEHAVIOR AND RECIPIENT'S ATTACHMENT STYLE AS PREDICTORS OF PERCEIVED CRITICISM IN CLINICAL COUPLES
    (2011) Savory, Kara Lee; Epstein, Norman B; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The association between critical communication behavior exhibited by one member of a couple during a conversation and the amount of criticism that is perceived by the person's partner was explored. The study investigated whether that association is moderated by the degrees to which the recipient of messages identifies with each of four attachment styles (secure, fearful, preoccupied, and dismissing). The sample was 95 couples who had sought therapy at a university-based couple and family therapy clinic. Each couple engaged in a 10-minute discussion of a conflictual issue in their relationship, which was video-recorded and subsequently coded for constructive and destructive communication behavior, including criticism. For both men and women, the amount of actual criticism predicted the amount perceived. Attachment styles did not directly predict the amount of criticism perceived, but there was evidence that for both genders attachment styles moderated the relationship between the degree of conflict behavior exhibited by the partner and the amount of criticism that the recipient perceived.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Influence of Inhibited Expression of Anger, Perceived Control by Partner, and Withdrawal Cognitions on the Association between Conflict and Relationship Dissolution
    (2010) Jimerson, Kirsten Elizabeth; Epstein, Dr. Norman; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Although there has been a large amount of attention on partners' behavior during conflict and its connection with relationship dissolution, little is known about the individuals' internal experiences during conflict that are associated with relationship instability. The current study investigated whether three internal experiences, the suppression of anger, perceived control by partner, and thoughts about withdrawal, play roles in the relation between conflict and dissolution of couple relationships. The study used assessment data from 69 couples who sought therapy at an outpatient therapy clinic, serving an ethnically and socio-economically diverse population. Analyses tested the main effects of the internal experience variables and their interactions with level of relationship conflict as predictors of steps taken toward relationship dissolution. Findings indicated that the internal experience variables did not play the anticipated moderating role, but they were found to be partial mediators in the relation between conflict and relationship dissolution.