Emotional flooding in response to negative affect in couple conflicts: Individual differences and correlates

Considering context: Current relationship satisfaction in a second-generation model of men's physical intimate partner violence

Despite a half-century of scholarship devoted to explicating and disrupting the intergenerational transmission of family violence, it remains a prominent and destructive social force in the United States. Theoretical models have posited a variety of historical and concurrent risk and protective factors implicated in the trajectory from childhood violence exposure to adult perpetration. Using a second-generation model of intimate partner violence (IPV), we integrated social learning and attachment conceptualizations to examine pathways from family-of-origin violence to IPV perpetration among adult men. A sample of mixed-sex couples (N = 233) completed self-report measures related to social learning and attachment-based factors (e.g., violence in past relationships, child exposure, IPV attitudes, adult attachment) and participated in a 10-min conversation about a desired area for change in their relationship. Following, each partner participated in a video-mediated-recall procedure assessing their anger volatility and eliciting attributions of their partners' behavior. We tested mediation pathways (consistent with social learning and attachment theories) between violence in men's families of origin and their adult IPV perpetration as a function of relationship satisfaction. The proposed model fit the data well (CFI = 0.95) but had notable modifications from the hypothesized model. Generally, social-learning pathways were more consistent with the data. Relationship satisfaction interacted with some parameters. Results support theoretical advances in understanding IPV. Although exposure to violence in men's family of origin confers risk for later IPV, and a social learning developmental pathway is consistent with results, some of these effects are altered by relationship context.

Breaking the cycle of emotional flooding: the protective role of women's emotional intelligence in couple's conflict

Introduction

One of the most damaging aspects, both for people's well-being and for close relationships, is conflict. Beyond different stressors, the emotions evoked, their regulation and an appropriate conflict resolution strategy will reduce negative consequences. Emotional Intelligence facilitates social relationships, but little applied research has been done on the relationship with couple conflict and emotional flooding, particularly from the perspective of women. Therefore, the present study analyzes the role of Perceived Emotional Intelligence (PEI) and the mediating effect of Positive Conflict Resolution strategies (PCR) in couples' conflicts from women's perspective, examining its effect on Emotional Flooding (EF) and Satisfaction.

Methods

Through a cross-sectional design, the relationships between variables were analyzed using group comparisons and means of a structural equation model (SEM) in a sample of 692 women.

Results

Significant differences were found between the groups by age, length of relationship, and motherhood. The SEM revealed a good fit. PEI predicted 71.8% of the variance in EF and 35% in Satisfaction through PCR and Conflict.

Contributions of Demand/Withdraw Processes and Alcohol Consumption on Emotional Flooding in Distressed Violent versus Distressed Non-Violent Couples

Purpose

Although alcohol-related intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health problem, the mechanisms underlying this association are poorly understood. For instance, prior research has shown differences in distressed violent (DV) and distressed nonviolent (DNV) couples' demand/withdraw communication and the extent to which they become emotionally flooded (i.e., physiologically aroused) in response to conflict. Additionally, alcohol use is associated with increased demand/withdraw communication, IPV, and emotional flooding. Therefore, the present study sought to clarify the association between demand/withdraw communication and emotional flooding among relationally couples who use alcohol and who do and do not experience IPV.

Methods

Relationally distressed couples (Mage =30.1 years) reported on their physical aggression, demand/withdraw communication, emotional flooding, and total number of drinks during the past six months. Couples were denoted as DV (N = 58) if at least one partner reported IPV and DNV (N = 29) if neither partner reported IPV. Actor-partner interdependence modeling was used to test whether couple type (DV versus DNV) moderates the link between demand/withdraw behavior and emotional flooding.

Results

With one exception, alcohol use was unrelated to any of the processes under investigation in the current study. Moreover, men's and women's report of a woman-demand/man-withdraw pattern and man-demand/woman-withdraw pattern, respectively, were positively associated with each partner's own emotional flooding. Couple type (DV vs DNV) did not moderate these associations.

Conclusions

The present results highlight the need for sensitive measures that can capture the nuanced processes that underlie IPV in couples who use alcohol.

Psychotherapeutic processes associated with couple therapy discontinuance: An observational analysis using the rapid marital interaction coding system

Premature discontinuation presents challenges to couple clients and therapists alike. Although couple therapy has demonstrated efficacy and effectiveness, little is known about the mechanisms that contribute to couple therapy completion. This study presents the results of an observational inquiry into the psychotherapeutic processes associated with treatment discontinuance using clinical data. Using observational coding of the Rapid Marital Interaction Coding System (RMICS) researchers sought to examine differences in in-session interactions between couple members in a matched sample of therapy continuers and discontinuers. Results indicate that specifically for female partners, the absence of positive interactions is linked to therapy discontinuation. Clinical implications of these findings are presented and discussed.