BACKGROUND Respect for autonomy is a key principle in bioethics. However, respecting autonomy in practice is complex because most people define themselves and make decisions influenced by a complex network of social relationships. The extent to which individual autonomy operates for each partner within the context of decision-making within marital or similar relationships is largely unexplored....

The dynamics of close relationships is important for understanding the migration patterns of individual life-courses. The bottom-up approach to this subject by social scientists has been limited by sample size, while the more recent top-down approach using large-scale datasets suffers from a lack of detail about the human individuals. We incorporate the geographic and demographic information of...

It is commonly assumed that exposure to pornography harms relationships because changes the way individuals think, feel, and behave in problematic ways. In current research, we contribute a small but growing body of work challenges this assumption by carefully scrutinizing relational context use. contrast dominant theoretical explanations field, argue at least some apparent negative “impacts” u...

People in close relationships foster the development of shared memory schemas of each other. Their constellation of thoughts, feelings and actions shape their cognition, expression and experience of emotions. This shared mental model between the couples may lead to subjective well-being. The present study tries to explore the pattern of transactive memory system and self-construal in a group of...

CONTEXT Most HIV prevention efforts focus on premarital and extramarital sexual behavior, but in areas with high HIV prevalence the protective needs of married and cohabiting couples are just as great and often go unmet. Condom use by these couples is generally low, with resistance from men and cultural norms commonly cited as barriers to increased use. METHODS A household survey was conducte...

Assessments of power in couples' relationships often only survey one partner, but they do not take into consideration both partners' perceptions. Thus, many assumptions about power and equality in relationships have not been quantitatively tested due to a lack of dyadic measures of power. Therefore, the purpose of the Gender and Relationships Study was to develop and test a new scale of equalit...

Postpartum parental depression, even of mild intensity and short duration, has negative consequences on child development, including increased externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Studies revealed that the links between parental depression and child development are mediated by parenting difficulties. On the other hand, the mediating role of problematic family-level relationships, such as l...

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has previously been associated with less satisfaction and success in romantic relationships. This study compares conflict resolution and problem-solving behaviors in young adult romantic couples either having one partner with ADHD combined type (C-couples), having one partner identified with ADHD inattentive type (IA-couples), or in which neither ...

Cross-lagged analysis of panel survey data collected from Taiwanese college students (initially 387 males and 370 females) was used to examine the temporal relationship between problematic Internet use (PIU) and lifestyle changes during the first year in college. We hypothesized that a reciprocal relationship might exist between PIU and lifestyle changes. Structural equation modeling was adopte...

Background Despite considerable advances in reproductive technology, its application is like a double-edged sword, which is associated with numerous challenges. One of the most challenging issues for couples is disclosure of conception circumstances to the offspring. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the decisions of infertile couples undergoing assisted reproductive donation...