Higher Levels Of Intimacy Research Articles

Friendship Quality in Adolescents with and without an Intellectual Disability

High friendship quality is often defined by high levels of intimacy, companionship, closeness and low levels of conflict. Quality friendships develop over time and may be influenced by both behaviour problems and social skills. Participants were 103, 13-year-old adolescents with or without intellectual disabilities in the United States. Adolescents and their mothers participated in an open-ended interview of friendship quality and completed measures of social skills and behaviour problems. This study addressed differences in friendship quality between children with and without intellectual disabilities and explored early indicators of friendship development. Adolescents with intellectual disabilities (ID) had friendships characterized by significantly lower levels of warmth/closeness and positive reciprocity than their typically developing peers. Likewise, adolescents with ID spent less time with friends outside of school and were less likely to have a cohesive group of friends. Social skills and behaviour problems at age 9 predicted friendship quality at age 13 above and beyond disability status, with higher levels of social skills and lower levels of behaviour problems related to higher ratings on measures of friendship quality. It appears that adolescents with intellectual disabilities have friendships that are characterized by less warmth/closeness and less positive reciprocity than the friendships of their typically developing peers. This discrepancy appears to be impacted by early social skills and behaviour problems in addition to the presence of the intellectual disability.

Interaction intimacy organizes networks of antagonistic interactions in different ways

Interaction intimacy, the degree of biological integration between interacting individuals, shapes the ecology and evolution of species interactions. A major question in ecology is whether interaction intimacy also shapes the way interactions are organized within communities. We combined analyses of network structure and food web models to test the role of interaction intimacy in determining patterns of antagonistic interactions, such as host-parasite, predator-prey and plant-herbivore interactions. Networks describing interactions with low intimacy were more connected, more nested and less modular than high-intimacy networks. Moreover, the performance of the models differed across networks with different levels of intimacy. All models reproduced well low-intimacy networks, whereas the more elaborate models were also capable of reproducing networks depicting interactions with higher levels of intimacy. Our results indicate the key role of interaction intimacy in organizing antagonisms, suggesting that greater interaction intimacy might be associated with greater complexity in the assembly rules shaping ecological networks.

Forms of Aggression, Social-Psychological Adjustment, and Peer Victimization in a Japanese Sample: The Moderating Role of Positive and Negative Friendship Quality

The purpose of these studies was to examine the frequency and stability of relational and physical aggression and their associations with social-psychological adjustment or peer victimization, and how friendships are involved in the relations between forms of aggression and peer victimization in Japanese children. The sample consisted of 452 (Study 1) and 138 (Study 2) children who were in the fourth and fifth grades. Results of Study 1 demonstrated that relational aggression was uniquely and more strongly associated with internalizing adjustment problems than physical aggression. Moreover, Study 2 revealed that relational aggression and physical aggression were stable over a 6-month period and the stability of relational aggression was reinforced by negative friendships (i.e., high levels of exclusivity and friend victimization). Further, the association between relational aggression and relative increases in relational victimization was attenuated by positive friendships (i.e., high levels of intimacy, companionship, and friendship satisfaction). Interestingly, friendships were unrelated to physical aggression and its relation to physical victimization. The age and gender of the children in the two studies were also examined. Cultural and developmental processes involving forms of aggression, friendships, social-psychological adjustment, and peer victimization were discussed.

Dating, marital, and hypothetical extradyadic involvements: How do they compare?

Patterns of extradyadic involvement (EDI) were assessed for 3 samples: an undergraduate dating sample and a community marital sample reporting on an actual experience of EDI, and an undergraduate sample which denied recent EDI and was asked to imagine a hypothetical EDI experience. Good consistency of responses within and between measures was found for the hypothetical EDI sample. Persons reporting on a hypothetical EDI were generally less approving of EDI and imagined that they would experience higher levels of primary relationship satisfaction, overall remorse, and specific types of distress, particularly in comparison to the dating EDI group. Relative to the dating EDI group, the marital EDI group recalled greater dissonance with the EDI behavior, more concern about disapproval from others, and higher levels of intimacy, self‐esteem, and love reasons for the EDI. No differences were found among the groups on the level of emotional closeness with the extradyadic partner.

‘Streaming Physical Love’

‘Streaming Physical Love’

Parenting style and adolescent smoking.

To investigate whether parenting style is an independent risk factor of smoking initiation and experimentation among adolescents, and whether there is a relationship between parenting style and readiness to quit, or nicotine dependence among smokers. The 84-item Health and Smoking Questionnaire, which assesses demographics, smoking status and smoking history, perceptions of risk and risk reduction, risk factors for tobacco use, and parenting style, was administered to 816 adolescents in grades 7 to 12 (mean age, 15.1 years) of whom 22.6% (n = 182) were smokers. Parenting style was measured by the brief, non-retrospective version of the Family of Origin Scale (FOS). Higher scores on the FOS indicated more positive perceived parenting style with high levels of intimacy and autonomy, characteristics of healthy parent-child relationships. Data were analyzed using a model-building approach to logistic regression with demographic and other psychosocial variables in the first two steps, and with parenting style as the last step. Results from two logistic regression models indicate that although parenting style is not a significant risk factor for smoking experimentation [odds ratio (OR) =.998; confidence interval (CI) =.977-1.019; p =.820], it is a significant independent risk factor for smoking initiation (OR =.950; CI =.930-.970; p =.000). Smokers who were more ready to quit had higher parenting style scores than those who were not ready to quit, and smokers who had made a serious quit attempt (an indicator of nicotine addiction) had higher parenting style scores than those who had not made a quit attempt. Moreover, nonsmokers who reported they would smoke a cigarette if their best friend offered had significantly lower parenting style scores than those who reported they would not smoke a cigarette. Additional research on parenting style and its impact on adolescent smoking with a more economically and ethnically diverse sample is warranted. If future research confirms the strength of the relationship between parenting style and adolescent smoking, teaching positive parenting, including facilitating intimate yet autonomous relationships, may be considered as part of smoking prevention and cessation programs.

Child Discipline and Physical Abuse in Immigrant Latino Families: Reducing Violence and Misunderstandings

This article examines common areas of misunderstanding between professionals and low‐income Latino families concerning issues of physical abuse. It argues that low‐income immigrant children deserve the same protection from harsh physical punishment as all other children. This ar ticle suggests culturally competent ways for counselors to work with Latino families to eliminate all forms of violence toward children including corporal punishment. Finally, this article argues that the systemic stresses on low‐income Latino immigrant families must be acknowledged and reduced when addressing child discipline and abuse.

Relationship Uncertainty, Partner Interference, and Intimacy within Dating Relationships

The transition from casual to serious involvement appears to constitute a unique period of relating within courtships. We suggest that the moderate levels of intimacy characterizing this phase correspond with heightened uncertainty about the relationship and greater interference from partners in every-day activities. In a test of these predictions, individuals in dating relationships (N= 341) completed self-report measures of intimacy, relationship uncertainty, partner's influence in the respondent's everyday activities, and partner's interference in those activities. Contrary to our expectations, we observed a negative linear association between intimacy and relationship uncertainty. Although the effect size was small, results indicated support for a curvilinear association between the experience of interference from partners and intimacy; as predicted, interference was greatest at moderate levels of intimacy. In addition, results revealed an ordinal interaction between intimacy and a partner's influence in everyday activities, such that the partner's influence was more positively associated with interference at low levels of intimacy than at high levels of intimacy. The discussion highlights the implications of these findings for conceptualizing the development of romantic relationships.

Are married couples happier in their relationships than cohabiting couples? Intimacy and relationship factors

This study was designed to examine the relationship between dyadic adjustment and intimacy, and to determine how this varies for different types of relationships between males and females, and for relationships of different duration. Eighty-seven heterosexual couples (10 dating, 21 living together, 56 married) participated in the study. The results demonstrated that there was a strong interrelationship between intimacy and dyadic adjustment for both males and females. Those in relationships of longer duration and married couples experienced higher levels of intimacy and relationship satisfaction than other couples. There was a general trend for married couples and those who were living together to have a higher level of agreement on their levels of intimacy and relationship adjustment than couples who were dating. The implication of these findings for obtaining a better understanding of the lifecycle of relationships is discussed.

PARENTAL ALCOHOLISM AS A RISK FACTOR FOR DSM-IV-DEFINED ALCOHOL ABUSE AND DEPENDENCE IN AMERICAN WOMEN: THE PROTECTIVE BENEFITS OF DYADIC COHESION IN MARITAL COMMUNICATION

Important trends in research over the past decade indicate that women are as greatly affected by familial alcoholism as are men. Although it is increasingly recognized that the adverse drinking outcomes predicted for adult children of alcoholics (COAs) are not inevitable, and only a small percentage develop alcohol dependence or grow up to be alcoholic, relatively little knowledge exists regarding moderating factors that reduce their vulnerability. This study identifies a multiple mediator latent structural model of the intergenerational transmission of risk for DSM-IV-assessed alcohol abuse and dependence among women COAs in adulthood. The effects of both parental alcoholism and family environment are estimated at three time points spanning 10 years across 5-year intervals (1984, 1989, and 1994) using data from a subsample of 4449 women in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). Dyadic cohesion in marital communication (greater marital cohesion, harmony, and less verbal disagreement, discord, and conflict) is a proposed moderating factor that may operate in adulthood to lower the risk of female COAs developing alcohol abuse and dependence. Maximum likelihood standardized estimates of the effects of alcohol mediators measured over time indicate that direct parental effects for adverse outcomes decline when COAs are in their late 20s and early 30s. Indirect parental effects through environmental influences dramatically increase the risk of abuse and dependence among COAs at this time if they have one or more alcoholic siblings, especially an alcoholic sister. Dyadic cohesion and positive interpersonal communication patterns were found to moderate effectively the relationship that existed among parental alcoholism, environmental influences, and adverse alcohol consequences. COAs with satisfactory marital communication also evidenced higher levels of intimacy with their partners, perceived the division of housework to be fairer, shared more responsibilities and burdens of the household, and had less conflict over critical domestic issues than other women COAs. The protective benefits of a good marriage against the risks of alcoholism remained when applied to younger and older subjects, across diverse backgrounds, and after adjusting for other factors such as employment status.

Primary care: core values Patient centred primary care

This is the second in a series of six articles reflecting on the core values that will underpin the development of primary care The importance and primacy of the clinician-Fpatient...

Social Networks Among Early Adolescent Zimbabweans in Extended Families

This project examined the impact of extended family organizational patterns on adolescents' perceptions of their social networks. The sample was 13- to 15-year-old Zimbabwean adolescents residing in traditional extended families and modified extended families (N = 128). The instrument used in the investigation was the Network of Relationships Inventory. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance was conducted with sex (boys vs. girls) and type of extended family (modified vs. traditional) treated as between-group factors and type of relationship (mother, father, favorite other adult relative, teacher, best friend, and favorite sibling) as a within-subjects factor. Adolescents in traditional extended families perceived themselves as receiving higher levels of intimacy from their family and conflict/discipline from all members of their social network in comparison to their counterparts living in modified extended families. In contrast, participants in modified extended families rated nonfamily ta...

Intimacy, Fusion and Frequency of Sexual Contact in Lesbian Couples

It is generally accepted in the literature that, of all couple types, lesbian couples tend to have the lowest frequencies of sexual contact. It has been hypothesized that a reason for this is that lesbian couples are more subject than others to fusion. This study examines the relationship between frequency of sexual contact and fusion in lesbian relationships of duration longer than one year. The concept of fusion has, however, not been clearly defined. Although Mencher (1990), for example, states that fusion is akin to, but not the same as, intense intimacy, fusion is treated within the literature as if it lay on a continuum of intimacy. In the design of this study, fusion was thus defined as a very high level of intimacy, as measured on the Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships (PAIR) Inventory. Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated and scatter graphs plotted to explore the possible existence of significant linear and non-linear relationships between fusion and frequency of sexual contact. The results of this study indicate that the conceptualization of fusion as very high intimacy should be questioned. The results suggest that fusion is not synonymous with intense intimacy and this article argues for a clearer definition and operationalizatian of the important concept of fusion.

Relational Aggression, Overt Aggression, and Friendship

This study (n = 315 9-12-year-olds) was conducted to assess whether the social problems that relationally and overtly aggressive children typically experience in the peer group context are also exhibited in the dyadic, friendship context. The qualities of children's friendships (e.g., levels of intimacy) and of the importance of those qualities (e.g., the importance of intimacy) were assessed with self-report instruments adapted from past research. Results indicated that the friendships of relationally aggressive children were characterized by relatively high levels of intimacy, exclusivity/jealousy, and relational aggression within the friendship context. In contrast, the friendships of overtly aggressive children were characterized by engaging together in aggressive acts toward those outside the friendship. In addition, overtly aggressive children placed relatively high importance on these coalitional acts and on companionship with their friends. Implications for our understanding of aggressive children and for our knowledge of children's friendships are discussed.

A Review of Comprehensive Questionnaires Used in Premarital Education and Counseling

A number of recent publications (Fischer & Corcoran, 1994; Fredman & Sherman, 1987; Touliatos, Perlmutter, & Straus, 1990) attest to the ever growing number of self-report questionnaires used by marriage and family researchers and practitioners. However, most publications on the use of questionnaires are designed to help researchers, to help therapists in the diagnosis of marital/familial dysfunction, or to measure the effectiveness of a therapeutic intervention (Fredman & Sherman, 1987). Little has been written about the use of self-report questionnaires primarily for prevention and primarily by family life educators and premarital counselors. This is so despite the fact that probably more individuals are exposed to marriage and family relations concepts in educational and premarital settings such as high school courses, college and university courses, and church and secular premarital counseling sessions and marriage preparation classes than in any other setting. Even widely recognized premarital counseling handbooks (e.g., Stahmann & Hiebert, 1987; Wright, 1992) have not adequately reviewed the variety of premarital assessment questionnaires (PAQs) available to educators and premarital counselors. Our purpose in this article is to describe five PAQs that can be used appropriately in high school, university, and church or secular counseling settings by family life educators and premarital counselors. To accomplish this purpose, there are three sections in this article. First, the theoretical and psychometric criteria on which comprehensive PAQs should be evaluated in educational/ counseling settings are described. Second, the five most widely used PAQs are described and evaluated using these criteria. Finally, recommendations are made for using PAQs in educational and premarital counseling settings. CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING COMPREHENSIVE PREMARITAL ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRES It is our belief that PAQs should be evaluated based on their ability to meet certain basic theoretical and psychometric criteria pertaining to their usefulness in premarital education and counseling. The following criteria are based on characteristics suggested by authorities in the field of premarital questionnaire development and on the authors' experiences as premarital relationship educators and counselors who teach marriage preparation courses and workshops and conduct premarital counseling. An adequate PAQ should: (1) Be designed primarily or exclusively for assessing the premarital relationship. It has been argued recently that marriage relationships are unique compared to other social relationships and, therefore, cannot simply be viewed as one manifestation of public or private relationships such as roommates, friendships, or work groups (Burr, Day, & Bahr, 1993; Constantine, 1986). Accordingly, an instrument that attempts to assess the formation of this unique relationship needs to be sensitive to its special characteristics (Stahmann & Hiebert, 1987), such as expectations of high levels of intimacy, commitment, and permanency. (2) Collect comprehensive data that are relevant to the counseling or educational process. The test administrator and couple should be able to derive information from the instrument on the most critical factors in premarital relationship formation and development that are predictive of later marital satisfaction and stability (Fischer & Corcoran, 1994). Recently, Larson and Holman (1994) reviewed 50 years of published longitudinal and cross-sectional research on premarital factors that predict marital satisfaction and stability. Based on an ecological theory, they concluded that premarital predictors could be organized into three major categories. First, background and contextual factors include family-of-origin dynamics, sociocultural factors like education and race, and support for the relationship from friends and parents. Second, individual traits and behaviors include self-esteem, interpersonal skills, physical health, and conventionality. …

A developmental model of decisions to withhold relational irritations in romantic relationships

AbstractIntimacy in romantic relationships is argued to influence both the outcomes of decisions about whether to withhold relational irritations from partners and the role of various conflict avoidance motives in these decisions. A study of college students involved in dating relationships revealed a curvilinear association between perceptions of intimacy and the frequency of decisions to withhold irritations. Specifically, intimacy was negatively correlated with the proportion of Unexpressed irritations across low and average levels of intimacy; however, intimacy was unrelated to decisions to withhold irritations across higher levels of intimacy. Length of involvement in a relationship was negatively correlated with the proportion of unexpressed irritations within relatively non intimate relationships only. Finally, the effect of three conflict avoidance motives on decisions to withhold irritations varied with the perceived intimacy of relationships. In particular, reporting a lack of intimacy in the relationship as a reason for withholding irritations was positively correlated with the proportion of unexpressed irritations when intimacy was low, but negatively correlated with the proportion of unexpressed irritations when level of emotional commitment was high. In contrast, reporting either fear of consequences or the lack of importance of the problem as motives for withholding irritations was unrelated to the proportion of unexpressed irritations when intimacy was low, but was positively Correlated with withholding when intimacy was high. These results suggest that the phenomenological experience of conflict management decisions changes in substance throughout the life of the romantic relationship.

Relation between Intimacy and Humor

A number of studies have shown that humor is associated with interpersonal competence so it was hypothesized that a high level of intimacy is associated with a high level of humor. The Measures of Psychosocial Development (used to measure intimacy) and the Situational Humor Response Questionnaire were given to 103 undergraduates. The high intimacy group of 52 scored significantly higher on humor than the low intimacy group of 51. Humor apparently helps people succeed in intimate relationships because it allows them to handle the stress within those relationships. Also pursuing studies of the relationship between humor and such Eriksonian psychosocial characteristics such as identity, generativity, and integrity, seems worthy.

Acquiring Assistance from Others The Effect of Indirect Requests and Relational Intimacy on Verbal Compliance

This research examines the effectiveness of indirect requests in attaining assistance from intimate and nonintimate others. Prior research indicates that people are inclined to make requests using indirect forms. However, help-seeking research has neglected to consider request forms, and research on indirect requests has focused mainly on issues of interpretation. The results of this study indicate that the directness of a request increases request force and also interacts with relational intimacy to influence verbal compliance. Directness is more effective at eliciting verbal compliance at higher levels of intimacy. The experimental findings highlight issues concerning the definition of indirectness and also the utility of merging interpretation and compliance in language research.

Rural small towns: an environmental context for aging

Following a brief review of sociological and psychological definitions of rurality, this paper illustrates the uses of an empirically-derived taxonomy of environmental perceptions for understanding the rural experiences of older residents of small towns in the midwestern United States. Specifically, variations in perceptions of twelve dimensions of rural environments were examined (1) among older residents of small towns of different sizes (populations 100–500, 501–1500 or 1501–2500), and (2) among four groups of older residents ( n = 898) displaying differing profiles of subjective social and psychological well-being. Reliable town- size differences in environmental perceptions were found for eight of the 12 environmental attributes. Illustratively, residents of smaller towns reported lower levels of community satisfaction and community involvement, higher levels of intimacy and consensus on town issues, and fewer barriers to services and activities than residents of larger towns. Reliable differences in environmental perceptions were found for ten of the attributes for older residents differing in well-being. For example, more frail residents were less satisfied with their communities, and felt more constricted and isolated by physical barriers and social norms; they were less involved in their communities and less aware of available community services. The advantages of the application of person-environment taxonomies to research and intervention in rural environments are discussed. Chief among these is the refinement gained in the understanding of individual differences in ecological adaptation.

Disclosure reciprocity and liking as a function of gender and personalism

Evidence is presented that: (1) Liking and reciprocal disclosure for males and females are mediated by personalistic attributions; however, the predicted pattern was obtained for females on a willingness-to-disclose measure and for males on an appropriateness-to-disclose measure. (2) Females disclosed at higher levels of intimacy than males. Specifically, two studies are presented that show that the effect of disclosure intimacy and attribution on reciprocity and liking are influenced by subject sex, and may include sex differences in subjects' perception of the sex of the recipients of their liking and disclosure. An appropriateness-of-disclosure higher order interaction in Study II involved partner sex, intimacy, and attribution. It seemed that disclosers were careful in choosing their audience. When appropriateness of disclosing is the question, it is not so important who is doing the disclosing as who is receiving the disclosure. These findings may help to clarify the mixed evidence regarding sex differences in self-disclosure behaviors.