In dialogue with self and the world: Cape Verdean migrant pregnancy in Portugal

The voices of Cape Verdean migrant student mothers in Portugal are examined in the light of Archer’s (2003) theory on the ‘inner dialogue’. The article frames the mothers as complex social actors who respond to the uncertainties surrounding unplanned pregnancy through self-reflection and dialogue with and about the world, turning the disorientation of unexpected motherhood into a meaningful project. The analysis reveals how the women’s agency is located within the wider influences of kinship and gender norms and how these are already negotiated in the case of unconfirmed pregnancy.

Attachment, infidelity, and loneliness in college students involved in a romantic relationship: the role of relationship satisfaction, morbidity and prayer for partner

This study examined the mediating effects of relationship satisfaction, prayer for a partner, and morbidity in the relationship between attachment and loneliness, infidelity and loneliness, and psychological morbidity and loneliness, in college students involved in a romantic relationship. Participants were students in an introductory course on family development. This study examined only students (n = 345) who were involved in a romantic relationship. The average age of participants was 19.46 (SD = 1.92) and 25 % were males. Short-form UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-8), (Hays and DiMatteo in J Pers Assess 51:69–81, doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa5101_6, 1987); Relationship Satisfaction Scale (Funk and Rogge in J Fam Psychol 21:572–583, doi:10.1037/0893-3200.21.4.572, 2007); Rotterdam Symptom Checklist (De Haes et al. in Measuring the quality of life of cancer patients with the Rotterdam Symptom Checklist (RSCL): a manual, Northern Centre for Healthcare Research, Groningen, 1996); Prayer for Partner Scale, (Fincham et al. in J Pers Soc Psychol 99:649–659, doi:10.1037/a0019628, 2010); Infidelity Scale, (Drigotas et al. in J Pers Soc Psychol 77:509–524, doi:10.1037/0022-3514.77.3.509, 1999); and the Experiences in Close Relationship Scale-short form (Wei et al. in J Couns Psychol 52(4):602–614, doi:10.1037/0022-0167.52.4.602, 2005). Results showed that relationship satisfaction mediated the relationship between avoidance attachment and loneliness and between infidelity and loneliness. Physical morbidity mediated the relationship between anxious attachment and psychological morbidity. Psychological morbidity mediated the relationship between anxious attachment and physical morbidity. The present results expand the literature on attachment by presenting evidence that anxious and avoidant partners experience loneliness differently. Implications for couple’s therapy are addressed. Future research should replicate these results with older samples and married couples.

Estudo de validação do Partner Interaction Questionnaire para fumantes e ex-fumantes

O presente artigo tem por objetivo validar uma versão adaptada do Partner Interaction Questionnaire (PIQ), instrumento que avalia o suporte para deixar de fumar dado pelo parceiro. É apresentada uma versão adaptada do PIQ para fumantes e abstinentes. Participaram no estudo 224 fumantes (52.7% do sexo feminino e 47.3% do sexo masculino; média de idades=28.6 anos; DP=8.69) e 169 ex-fumantes (68.6% do sexo masculino e 31.4% do sexo feminino; média de idades= 43.1 anos; DP=13.02). O instrumento apresentou boa fidelidade (alfa de Cronbach: 0.73) para a subescala positiva e para a subescala negativa (alfa de Cronbach: 0.77). O estudo de validade revelou a presença de dois fatores que explicam 43.36% da variância. O instrumento apresenta boa validade de construto, correlacionando-se positivamente com o ajustamento de casais e a qualidade de vida mental, e negativamente com a depressão. Esta versão adaptada do PIQ reuniu as condições necessárias para a sua aplicação em fumantes e ex-fumantes, podendo ser uma escala útil em programas de intervenção de cessação tabágica e de manutenção da abstinência.

Self-reported psychosocial factors among In Vitro Fertilization patients interviewed alone or with the partner

"Published online: 07 Nov 2015"

Partner relationships during pregnancy in anxious and depressed women and men

To assess anxiety, depression and relationship satisfaction in both women and men during pregnancy, the State Anxiety Inventory (STAI), The Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) and The Relationship Questionnaire (RQ) were administered during the second trimester to a sample of 59 pregnant women and their partners. Anxious pregnant women rated their relationships as less positive. Depressed pregnant women also rated their relationships as less positive. The women’s anxiety scores were predictive of their positive and negative relationship scores. The women and their partners’ negative relationship scores were also predictive of each others’ negative relationship scores. These results highlight the importance of targeting anxiety as well as depression, and pregnant women as well as their partners in prenatal intervention programs.