The Refined Core and Balance Model of Family Leisure Functioning was used to guide our study of the link between vacation experiences of romantic couples and satisfaction with their relationship life. Results revealed that romantic couples who had more shared or joint experiences during their vacations in the previous year reported higher levels of satisfaction with their relationship life at the end of the year. This association was mediated by relationship functioning (i.e., couple cohesion and flexibility). The number of vacations was not a significant predictor of romantic couples’ satisfaction with relationship life; what mattered most was the extent to which partners were engaged in joint experiences during their vacations such as having fun together, mindful conversations, physical intimacy, and trying new things together. These findings demonstrate the need to continue to study less frequent, extraordinary leisure vacation experiences that may help maintain the love within romantic relationships. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed
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The influence of mutual spousal interrelations in domains such as health and wellbeing has been demonstrated, but little is known about the domain of everyday activities of couples in late life. In the present explorative study, we considered all of the activities participating couples talked about to be their everyday activities. Its aim was to understand, over time, changes in everyday activities as experienced by late-life community-dwelling couples. In a two-year period, 41 individual and joint interviews were conducted with 8 couples, who were purposefully selected from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. Analyses involved the construction of couple narratives and constant comparisons within and across couples. Changing everyday activities in late-life couples was interpreted to be a two-way process of (1) converging, and (2) keeping up, which occurred in three fluid phases. Converging was a slow inward movement with a shift towards diminished everyday activities performed in a smaller world. Keeping up was an outward movement in order to resist the converging process by using everyday activities as a means to keep fit, physically and mentally, and to connect with the wider social world. In the first phase, couples maintained their unique linked activity pattern. In the second phase, spouses resisted converging by keeping up. In the third phase, spouses co-performed everyday activities closely together. The findings support the need to develop couple-oriented interventions that aim to enhance the couples' functioning in the domain of everyday activities.
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Despite limited empirical support, vacations are marketed as beneficial for romantic partners. Using the self-expansion model as a foundation, we tested how self-expanding (e.g., novel, interesting, challenging) vacation experiences are associated with passion, physical intimacy, and relationship satisfaction. Study 1 (n = 238 partners) found that higher individual self-expanding experiences on vacations predicted higher post-vacation romantic passion and relationship satisfaction for couples traveling with their partners, but not those that did not travel together. Study 2 examined 102 romantic dyads that traveled together and found that higher self-expanding experiences on vacations predicted more post-vacation physical intimacy. Our findings advance self-expansion research and provide evidence for the tourism industry to design and promote self-expanding vacation experiences for couples seeking improved relationships and meaningful vacations.
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Vacations offer a break from daily stressors but at the same time introduce challenges away from home. While the positive aspects of vacationing, especially individual benefits, are well documented, the challenges couples face and their psychological mechanisms and outcomes remain unexplored. This study investigated the effects challenges and challenge resolution might have on shared experiences and on relationship quality. We collected data from 100 romantic couples at major tourist destinations in the Netherlands in Spring 2024. Random intercept regression models showed that novelty is positively associated with positive emotions, passionate love, and feelings of connection with partner; and that challenges would take away some of these benefits. Interestingly, challenges were associated with self-expansion, a major predictor of long-term love and passion, especially when partially resolved. Positive emotions mediated some of these relationships. These findings highlight the importance and value of studying challenges and challenge resolution on vacations for relationship and experience quality.
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This study examined associations between support behavior, i.e. active engagement and protective buffering, and relationship satisfaction in both patients with diabetes and their partners. Active engagement refers to supportive behavior characterized by involving one's partner in discussions, asking how the other feels, and problem solving strategies. Protective buffering refers to less supportive behavior characterized by denying fears and worries, and by pretending everything is fine. Furthermore, we examined whether there were interactive effects of these two support behaviors on patients' and partners' relationship satisfaction. At baseline (T1), 205 couples rated to which degree they received active engagement and protective buffering from their partners, and completed a measure of relationship satisfaction. At three follow-up assessments, couples were asked to fill out the same measures. Using dyadic data analytic approaches, we found relationship satisfaction to be positively associated with active engagement, and negatively with protective buffering, in both patients and partners. Moreover, we found a moderating effect, in that the negative association between protective buffering and relationship satisfaction was only present when levels of active engagement were relatively low. Again, these results were found for patients as well as their partners. We were able to replicate the T1 results at the other three assessment points. Our findings illustrate the need to consider adequate and less adequate support behaviors simultaneously, and to study the effects on both patients and partners.
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Informed by the Core and Balance Model of Family Leisure Functioning, we investigated the contribution of one type of family leisure—couple vacations—in enhancing couples’ cohesion and flexibility (i.e., functioning). Studying dyadic data from 112 couples (224 individuals) from across the United States of America, results of multilevel models showed that the variable “shared experiences during vacations” was positively associated with couples’ day-to-day functioning at home. Couples who engaged in higher levels of shared experiences during their vacations, such as effective communication, showing affection, or experiencing new things together, reported higher levels of couple flexibility and cohesion following their vacations, regardless of the number of vacations. We discuss the implications of these results for couples who spend quality time together away from home, as well as future use of our study model when examining benefits of vacationing for families.
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This longitudinal study has examined the associations between perceived supportive and unsupportive spousal behavior and changes in distress in couples coping with cancer. We tested whether people relatively low in their sense of personal control were more responsive to spousal supportive and unsupportive behavior than were people relatively high in personal control. Patients with colorectal cancer and their partners (n = 70) completed questionnaires at two assessment points: 3 (at baseline) and 9 months (at follow-up) after the diagnosis. We assessed perceived spousal supportive (SSL) and unsupportive (SSL-N) behavior, sense of personal control (Pearlin & Schooler's Mastery), and depressive symptoms (CES-D) in both patients and partners. Multilevel analysis (MLwiN) was used to examine changes in distress over time in a dyadic context. Patients and partners who perceived more spousal support reported less distress over time, but this only applied to those relatively low in personal control. Moreover, partners who perceived more unsupportive spousal behavior reported more distress, again only if they were relatively low in personal control. Patients and partners relatively high in personal control reported relatively low levels of distress, regardless of spousal behavior. In conclusion, people relatively low in personal control may be more adversely affected by unsupportive behavior and benefit more from supportive behavior than people relatively high in personal control.
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Mensen zorgen voor elkaar. En dat is altijd zo geweest. Zorg voor zieke familieleden is iets wat vanzelfsprekend behoort tot het privédomein van mensen. In de vorige eeuw is de zorg echter wel geprofessionaliseerd. Verpleging werd niet langer meer als naastenliefde gezien, maar als een beroep. In de huidige samenleving maken zorgvragers, mantelzorgers en professionals gezamenlijk deel uit van het zorglandschap. De nadruk wordt gelegd op zelfredzaamheid en zorg-verantwoordelijkheid van zorgvragers en mantelzorgers. Het lijkt alsof de overhead zich gedeeltelijk terug wil trekken uit de rol die ze in de vorige eeuw naar zich toe heeft getrokken.
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In this episode Dr. Ondrej Mitas and Dr. Moji Shahvali discuss why and how you should travel with your romantic partner, based on scientific research.
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