Although the research regarding military infidelity is sparse, the existing research suggests that military service members and veterans are at higher risk for infidelity. Reasons may include being geographically separated during deployment and/or military stress and culture. Research outside of the military context has identified key psychological variables that may relate to intentions to remain faithful, but this has not been studied in a military context. The goal of the current study is to apply the Theory of Planned Behavior to predict intentions to remain faithful in a sample of male Army service members. Specifically, I will analyze the degree to which attitudes regarding infidelity, norms regarding infidelity, and perceived behavioral control predict intentions to remain faithful. All the data was collected from participants who were recruited for the Army Marriage Project, a clinical trial of relationship education for Army couples. The results will helps us understand the factors that may increase the risk of infidelity and/or the intentions of remaining faithful for male military service members.

Even in healthy relationships, partners sometimes harm or betray each other. Wronged partners often seek social support from close others, yet the benefits of the positive role of confidants as sources of social support has been understudied. This descriptive study examined people’s expectations when disclosing wrongdoing to trusted confidants. What kinds of wrongdoing lead people to seek out confidants? What do wronged partners hope or expect when confiding in another person? How do their feelings change after seeking out a confidant? 200 participants described serious wrongdoing that they disclosed to a confidant, rated the severity of the wrongdoing, described desirable confidant responses, reported confidants’ responses to their disclosure, and reported the psychological consequences of that disclosure. Three-quarters of the participants experienced emotional or physical infidelity and approximately one-third experienced physical or emotional abuse. Over half of the sample sought advice, allyship, and emotional support, and about half wanted the confidant to “take their side.” Confidants frequently met these expectations by calming the wronged partner down, lifting their spirits, and taking both partners’ sides. In eight of ten cases, there was a match between the confidants’ responses and the wronged partner’s expectations. Furthermore, disclosing to a confidant reduced negative affect and improved positive affect. Results suggest that confidants are underappreciated and understudied as a source of social support when relationship conflict arises, and future research should examine the costs confidants incur when providing support.

In 2019, about 4.1 million children were living with at least one undocumented parent (American Immigration Council, 2019). Deportation or detention of a parent is a form of forced separation, as well as parental incarceration. There are more than 1.7 million minor children who have a parent incarcerated (Turanovic, J. J., et. al, p. 916, 2012). These numbers only reflect the needs of children who are impacted. Considering the limited scope of resources for the present study, it was not possible to recruit a sample of children impacted by deportation or detention of a parent. Due to this, the present study focuses on children who are part of families where there is an incarcerated parent. Caregivers of children with an incarcerated parent accept new responsibilities and face a variety of accompanying challenges. As mentioned in a qualitative analysis by Turanovic and colleagues, along with emotional distress and economic instability, caregivers struggle with their own coping mechanisms and with helping children understand incarceration. This study helps address the question regarding the influence of the caregiver’s well-being on the child’s well-being. The current study works to address how caregiver well-being plays a role in children’s ability to cope with a parent’s incarceration. The present study will focus on data from participants who are between 2-6 years of age, and who have an incarcerated mother or father. It is critical to research and investigate effective methods of support for caregivers as they provide direct care for children impacted by a parent’s incarceration.

Interracial friendships are relationships individuals have with someone from a different racial or ethnic group. In studying interracial friendships, it is important to look at the quality (i.e., trust, dependability, and empathy) and quantity of relationships (i.e., number of interracial friends) to understand how an individual perceives themselves. Interracial friendships have been found to influence an individual's desire to identify and learn more about their own racial or ethnic group (i.e., ethnic, or racial identity; Umana-Taylor, Yazedjian, Bamaca-Gomez, 2004). Research has shown that the quality and quantity of interracial friendships change an individual's racial identity and improves their physical health, mental well-being, and feelings of acceptance by other ethnic group members (Yipi, 2010; Page-Gould, 2014). The hypothesis of the proposed study is that positive connections between interracial friendship quality and quantity will influence ethnic identity and psychological well-being. In the Fall semester, approximately 350 participants will be recruited from a southern California University. Surveys will be developed using validated scales on friendship quality and quantity, ethnic identity, and psychological well-being (i.e., open-mindedness, feelings of distress and enthusiasm). In the Spring semester, analysis will be conducted (e.g., correlation, multiple regression) to test the hypotheses.

In this study, we investigated the role that self-esteem and attachment-related anxiety play in shaping individuals’ responses to positive and negative events in their romantic relationships. Our hypothesis was that relative to individuals with high self-esteem or low attachment-related anxiety, individuals with low self-esteem or high attachment-related anxiety would be more likely to engage in a pattern of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses that is harmful to their personal and relationship well-being. 137 individuals who were involved in romantic relationships were asked to imagine various specific positive and negative relationship events. Participants’ cognitive (rumination), emotional (positive and negative emotions), and intended behavioral responses (acting with hostility; engaging in behaviors towards their partner that they will later regret) to the events were measured via their responses to a survey. We found that individuals with low self-esteem and high attachment-related anxiety were more likely to ruminate about both negative and positive events within their romantic relationships and overthink their handling of these events. Individuals with low self-esteem and high attachment-related anxiety were more likely to experience negative emotion after both negative and positive events within their romantic relationships and experience less positive emotion in response to positive relationship events. When responding to a negative relationship event, those with low self-esteem and high attachment-related anxiety were more likely to indicate that they would act with hostility towards their romantic partner and engage in behaviors they will later regret. Implications of these findings for personal and relationship well-being will be discussed.