Matthew A. Diemer, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Professor of Education at the University of Michigan received an MRI grant to examine relational processes more closely and deeply in couples (i.e., male partner processes impacting female partner processes, and vice versa) in Mozambique, via a dyadic structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. Dr. Diemer repurposed existing measures of partner support, trust in medical professionals, and internalized HIV stigma – which were developed and validated in North America – to the Mozambican context. He hypothesized they, along with partner empathy, are likely important mediators of the relationships between the HoPS+ intervention (which emphasizes male partner involvement) and key child and maternal health outcomes. Because Mozambique has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world, this work holds the potential to address this critical problem.

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Laura Miller-Graff, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology and Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and Kathryn Howell, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Memphis, used an MRI grant to support additional data collection related to an ongoing NICHD-funded study evaluating the effectiveness of such an intervention. The study is ongoing, but Drs. Miller-Graff and Howell are reporting some very exciting preliminary results.

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Laura Jobson, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology at The Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, and her team have been exploring the cultural differences in social support on the symptoms of PTSD…

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Dr. Kirby Deater-Deckard, Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his team have completed their research, “Quantifying cohesion in the parent-child relationship in a complex family system.” In this project they developed several methods and tools for operationalizing parent-child/teen [3- 16yrs old] cohesion (e.g. closeness, communication) in their relationships, by examining "similarity" in and "consistency" of relational/social behavior to identify patterns that promote or impede cohesion and that may influence mental and behavioral health.

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Dr. Jenalee Doom, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Denver, and Dr. Christopher Rozek, Assistant Professor of Education at Washington University in St. Louis, have completed their research developing, testing, and implementing interventions for helping high school students cope with social and emotional problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their research, supported by an MRI grant, has produced interesting and very positive results.

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As we enter into 2023, we would like to thank you for being part of the MRI community, and we hope that you have been able to stay safe and connected during these challenging times.

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Interethnic relationships and same sex relationships continue to grow in the U.S., but they remain understudied. In a new MRI funded dissertation study, Sree Sinha, MA, a doctoral student in the Department of Counseling Psychology at the University of Denver, aims to investigate queer people of color (QPOC), examining their individual and relational health through couple-level minority stress theory (CLMS). CLMS addresses unique stressors experienced in a relationship that is societally marginalized, such as interethnic or queer relationships and is associated with dyadic and individual health outcomes.

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Bullying is a significant problem for students in the U.S., peaking in middle school. The STAC intervention is a brief bullying bystander intervention developed by Aida Midgett, Ed.D. to train middle school students how to defend students who are targets of bullying. STAC stands for the four bullying intervention strategies: “Stealing the Show,” “Turning it Over,” “Accompanying Others,” and “Coaching Compassion.”

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Findings indicate that virtual services may help Thriving Families reach underrepresented populations even more. With these results, Dr. Rhoades and her team expanded their virtual services beyond the Denver metro area…

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Dr. Papp and her team are working to determine the extent to which partner factors contribute to an individual’s increasing risk of opioid misuse in the short-term following a new prescription. Their hypothesis is that the romantic relationship context is a robust predictor of opioid misuse risk and problematic prescription behaviors. This study will augment an ongoing study of 80 adults (and their partners) who receive a new prescription for non-chronic pain during an emergency department (ED) visit.

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Dr. Harry Reis, Professor of Psychology at the University of Rochester, and his team, have completed their very interesting and important Couples in Everyday Life Study addressing this research deficit. Consistent with MRI’s focus, the project conceptualizes emotion regulation as a dynamic, interactional process. And although the focus of partner emotion regulation appears to be on the target, emotion regulation can be beneficial for both the target as well as the regulator. A regulator’s enthusiastic response to positive emotions can help targets feel more positive emotion, and their effort in alleviating a target’s negative emotions in a stressful situation can help buffer them from also experiencing stress.

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James R. Muruthi, PhD, at The University of Oregon, is conducting research that they hope will increase the understanding of the informal support for better psychological health among aging Kenyans by clarifying the significant characteristics of support associated with good health. They will also demystify the pathways through which informal support impacts the relationship between SES induced stress and psychological distress. Such clarification will in the future inform the creation of peer-based intervention to enhance psychological health among aging Kenyans.

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Suicide is the leading cause of death of youth worldwide and there is evidence that it may be worsening. To help reverse this trend we need new methods to identify teens and pre-teens who are at risk of suicide. Widespread cell phone use among these youth combined with their willingness to divulge personal feelings online often before telling families or anyone else directly make cell phones a potentially valuable tool to identify these troubled youth.

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Brett J. Peters, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology and Abriana M. Gresham, Ph.D. Student at Ohio University, have shared preliminary findings of the very interesting longitudinal study that they and their team (Drs. Gery Karantzas, Linda D. Cameron, and Jeffry A. Simpson) conducted, “Examining prospective associations between COVID-19 stressors, IPV, and health behaviors.”

The study had two primary hypotheses. The first was that greater COVID-19 stressors (financial anxiety, social disconnectedness, COVID-19 related health concerns, and perceived COVID-19 stress and impact) would predict increases in interpersonal violence (IPV) victimization over time. The second was that increases in IPV victimization would predict residual increases in movement outside the home and substance abuse and decreases in physical and mental health over time. Measurements were taken at two periods of time, described as Wave 1 and Wave 2.

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Doctor Laura Jobson, from Monash University, one of Australia’s leading universities, was granted $23,300 to explore cultural differences in social support and quality of social networks following adverse life events.

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As this year is ending, we would like to thank you for being part of the MRI community. It is our privilege to be able to count you among our friends, supporters, and grantees.

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The goal of the program is to address the emotional needs of mothers and infants as well as mother-infant interactions. The curriculum will empower mothers to explore their past relationships and how they may influence their current emotional experiences and interpersonal interactions. It is postulated that when mothers become more emotionally available to and attuned with their infant, stronger mother-infant relationships ensue and form the basis for optimal development trajectories for infants.

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Dr. Jenalee Doom, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Denver, using an MRI grant, is the first to examine whether siblings may buffer stress responses across both childhood and adolescence. She is trying to understand whether sibling relationships may be effective buffers of stress responses. Dr. Doom hypothesizes that siblings may be effective buffers because, unlike peers, there is less pressure to feel accepted and liked by them. As a result, siblings may be more comforting in adolescence than either parents or peers during stressful situations.

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Research has shown that psychosis is not only detrimental to the individual, but it is also highly disruptive to the family system. Early comprehensive and evidence-based interventions for psychosis, that target both the individual and their support system, increase the likelihood of long-term positive outcomes.

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With an MRI grant Dr. Hardy and his team are comparing how systemic interventions perform against traditional behavioral interventions in couple relationship education. They hypothesize that systemic interventions will more strongly benefit couples around their common conflictual issues to a greater degree than skills training.

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