Guy Bodenmann is professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Zurich (Switzerland). He is specialized in research on stress and coping in couples (dyadic coping), longitudinal analyses of relationship evolution, the impact of relationship functioning on mental disorders of partners and children and strengthening couples in relationship education (Couples Coping Enhancement Training: CCET) and coping-oriented couple therapy. Currently he is conducting a longitudinal study on strengthening couples during the transition to parenthood where the effects of relationship education during this vulnerable phase in couples’ life on their relationship functioning, their well-being and children at age 3 and 4 are examined. His major research focus lies on the impact of daily hassles as well as critical life events on couples’ satisfaction, communication, well-being and sexuality and how couples cope together with adversities (dyadic coping). He developed the Dyadic Coping Inventory (DCI) as well as a coding system for assessing dyadic coping in video-taped couple interactions. Address: University of Zurich Department of Psychology Binzmühlestrasse 14/23 CH-8050 Zürich Switzerland
European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education/European journal of Investigation in health, psychology and education, Apr 3, 2024
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Jun 24, 2022
The study of romantic partners’ experiences of stress and coping has exploded with nearly 11,000 ... more The study of romantic partners’ experiences of stress and coping has exploded with nearly 11,000 empirical studies on this topic within the past two decades alone. Despite its prevalence, researchers, clinicians, and policy makers alike are questioning how inclusive is our current knowledge base on partners’ stress and coping? The purpose of this review is to examine literature on this topic from the past two decades to offer perspectives on whose vantage point has the research been conducted and what types of questions have been valued and for whom? To answer these questions, a scoping review was conducted of articles published in the last two decades (2002–2021) that focused on associations of partners’ stress, support, and/or coping with relationship quality and presented research questions on two or more demographic identities. Fifty-six empirical articles met the inclusion criteria. Results were not surprising given the lack of diversity in psychological science; most manuscripts used theories and models that were developed by Western scholars and the research questions focused on general processes independent of peoples’ identities or focused on a singular aspect of identity. Limitations and future directions of this review are presented, specifically as they pertain to the need for a more critical analysis of the types of stressors people may experience and how those with diverse identities, particularly multiple minoritized identities, may experience and cope with such stressors in the context of their relationship.
Background: To understand the effects of pornography consumption onto relationships we need to kn... more Background: To understand the effects of pornography consumption onto relationships we need to know how own and partner consumption is been experienced. Objective: The present study provides an overview of the frequency, attitude, motivation and consequences of pornography consumption in heterosexual couples. Methods: Participants aged between 18 and 60, living in Switzerland (N=1,091) and in a relationship for at least one year filled out an anonymous online survey. Results: Women consume less pornography than man, mainly because of a lack of interest. Men consume because of relationship dissatisfaction and stress, in secret, with guilty feelings and to the displeasure of their partner. Women consume with good feelings and supported by their partners. Conclusions: Gender differences in pornography consumption may lead to relationship conflicts. Thank to a coaching towards less negative attitudes, consumption can have positive effects for couples.
Different forms of dyadic coping are associated with positive outcomes in partner relationships, ... more Different forms of dyadic coping are associated with positive outcomes in partner relationships, yet little is known about dyadic coping in parent-child relationships. The current research explored the association between parent-child dyadic coping and children’s quality of life in 12–18-year old children with a chronic disease (i.e., cystic fibrosis, autoimmune diseases, and children post-cancer treatment). In a sample of 105 parent-child dyads, self-reported forms of dyadic coping (i.e., stress communication, problem-oriented, emotion-oriented, and negative dyadic coping) and children’s quality of life were assessed. Children reported more stress communication and negative dyadic coping than their parents, while parents reported more problem-oriented dyadic coping and emotion-oriented dyadic coping than their children. More stress communication of the child was associated with more emotion-oriented dyadic coping and less negative dyadic coping of the parent. More negative dyadic c...
Many events that cause distress in the lives of individuals who are part of a couple affect both ... more Many events that cause distress in the lives of individuals who are part of a couple affect both individuals, because of their shared concerns, resources, goals, and social ties. Two approaches have been articulated for how couples respond when one or both members need assistance, encouragement, or comfort: the social support approach (e.g., Cutrona, 1996; Pasch & Bradbury, 1998; Sullivan & Davila, 2010) and the dyadic coping approach (e.g., Bodenmann, 1995;Coyne & Fiske, 1992; Delangis & O'Brien, 1990; Revenson, 1994). While these two approaches have considerable overlap, they originated in two different research traditions and evolved relatively independently. The social support approach emerged From research on the effects of stressful IiFe events on health and how these effects were moderated by social resources (e.g., Kaplan, Cassel, & Gore, 1977). Although early studies focused on all sources of support within individuals' social network, over time, interest developedi...
When experiencing personal distress, people usually expect their romantic partner to be supportiv... more When experiencing personal distress, people usually expect their romantic partner to be supportive. However, when put in a situation to provide support, people may at times (still) be struggling with issues of their own. This interdependent nature of dyadic coping interactions as well as potential spillover effects are mirrored in the state-of-the-art research method to behaviorally assess couple’s dyadic coping processes. This paradigm typically includes two video-taped eight-minute dyadic coping conversations in which partners swap roles as sharer and support provider. Little is known about how such dyadic coping interactions may feed back into one another, impacting the motivation and ability to be a responsive support provider. In three behavioral studies, we examined how sharers’ experiences may spill over to affect their own support provision in a subsequent dyadic coping interaction. We hypothesized that the extent to which sharers perceive their partner as responsive to thei...
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 2018
Negative and positive conflict communication predicts long-term relationship satisfaction. Howeve... more Negative and positive conflict communication predicts long-term relationship satisfaction. However, some studies show harmful effects and others show beneficial effects of negative conflict communication on long-term relationship satisfaction. One reason for the heterogeneous results might be that most studies focused on aggregated behaviors across a conflict interaction but neglected the temporal dynamics within such an interaction. This study examined whether individual initial levels and temporal trajectories of negative and positive communications predict long-term relationship satisfaction, and whether self-efficacy beliefs about clarity of other’s feelings (CoF) alter initial levels and temporal trajectories of negative and positive communications. Negative and positive communications were measured based on sequentially coded conflict discussions of 365 couples; self-efficacy beliefs about CoF and relationship satisfaction were measured by self-report questionnaires at baselin...
UNSTRUCTURED Diabetes mellitus Type II (T2DM) is a common chronic disease. To manage blood glucos... more UNSTRUCTURED Diabetes mellitus Type II (T2DM) is a common chronic disease. To manage blood glucose levels patients need to follow medical recommendations for healthy eating, physical activity, and medication adherence in their everyday life. Illness management is mainly shared with partners and involves social support and common dyadic coping (CDC). Social support and CDC have been identified as having implications for people’s health behavior and well-being. Visible support, however, may also be negatively related to people’s well-being. Thus, the concept of invisible support was introduced. It is unknown which of these concepts (visible support, invisible support, CDC) displays the most beneficial associations with health behavior and well-being when considered together in the context of illness management in couple’s everyday life. Therefore, a novel ambulatory assessment application for the open source behavioral intervention platform MobileCoach (AAMC) was developed. It utilize...
European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education/European journal of Investigation in health, psychology and education, Apr 3, 2024
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Jun 24, 2022
The study of romantic partners’ experiences of stress and coping has exploded with nearly 11,000 ... more The study of romantic partners’ experiences of stress and coping has exploded with nearly 11,000 empirical studies on this topic within the past two decades alone. Despite its prevalence, researchers, clinicians, and policy makers alike are questioning how inclusive is our current knowledge base on partners’ stress and coping? The purpose of this review is to examine literature on this topic from the past two decades to offer perspectives on whose vantage point has the research been conducted and what types of questions have been valued and for whom? To answer these questions, a scoping review was conducted of articles published in the last two decades (2002–2021) that focused on associations of partners’ stress, support, and/or coping with relationship quality and presented research questions on two or more demographic identities. Fifty-six empirical articles met the inclusion criteria. Results were not surprising given the lack of diversity in psychological science; most manuscripts used theories and models that were developed by Western scholars and the research questions focused on general processes independent of peoples’ identities or focused on a singular aspect of identity. Limitations and future directions of this review are presented, specifically as they pertain to the need for a more critical analysis of the types of stressors people may experience and how those with diverse identities, particularly multiple minoritized identities, may experience and cope with such stressors in the context of their relationship.
Background: To understand the effects of pornography consumption onto relationships we need to kn... more Background: To understand the effects of pornography consumption onto relationships we need to know how own and partner consumption is been experienced. Objective: The present study provides an overview of the frequency, attitude, motivation and consequences of pornography consumption in heterosexual couples. Methods: Participants aged between 18 and 60, living in Switzerland (N=1,091) and in a relationship for at least one year filled out an anonymous online survey. Results: Women consume less pornography than man, mainly because of a lack of interest. Men consume because of relationship dissatisfaction and stress, in secret, with guilty feelings and to the displeasure of their partner. Women consume with good feelings and supported by their partners. Conclusions: Gender differences in pornography consumption may lead to relationship conflicts. Thank to a coaching towards less negative attitudes, consumption can have positive effects for couples.
Different forms of dyadic coping are associated with positive outcomes in partner relationships, ... more Different forms of dyadic coping are associated with positive outcomes in partner relationships, yet little is known about dyadic coping in parent-child relationships. The current research explored the association between parent-child dyadic coping and children’s quality of life in 12–18-year old children with a chronic disease (i.e., cystic fibrosis, autoimmune diseases, and children post-cancer treatment). In a sample of 105 parent-child dyads, self-reported forms of dyadic coping (i.e., stress communication, problem-oriented, emotion-oriented, and negative dyadic coping) and children’s quality of life were assessed. Children reported more stress communication and negative dyadic coping than their parents, while parents reported more problem-oriented dyadic coping and emotion-oriented dyadic coping than their children. More stress communication of the child was associated with more emotion-oriented dyadic coping and less negative dyadic coping of the parent. More negative dyadic c...
Many events that cause distress in the lives of individuals who are part of a couple affect both ... more Many events that cause distress in the lives of individuals who are part of a couple affect both individuals, because of their shared concerns, resources, goals, and social ties. Two approaches have been articulated for how couples respond when one or both members need assistance, encouragement, or comfort: the social support approach (e.g., Cutrona, 1996; Pasch & Bradbury, 1998; Sullivan & Davila, 2010) and the dyadic coping approach (e.g., Bodenmann, 1995;Coyne & Fiske, 1992; Delangis & O'Brien, 1990; Revenson, 1994). While these two approaches have considerable overlap, they originated in two different research traditions and evolved relatively independently. The social support approach emerged From research on the effects of stressful IiFe events on health and how these effects were moderated by social resources (e.g., Kaplan, Cassel, & Gore, 1977). Although early studies focused on all sources of support within individuals' social network, over time, interest developedi...
When experiencing personal distress, people usually expect their romantic partner to be supportiv... more When experiencing personal distress, people usually expect their romantic partner to be supportive. However, when put in a situation to provide support, people may at times (still) be struggling with issues of their own. This interdependent nature of dyadic coping interactions as well as potential spillover effects are mirrored in the state-of-the-art research method to behaviorally assess couple’s dyadic coping processes. This paradigm typically includes two video-taped eight-minute dyadic coping conversations in which partners swap roles as sharer and support provider. Little is known about how such dyadic coping interactions may feed back into one another, impacting the motivation and ability to be a responsive support provider. In three behavioral studies, we examined how sharers’ experiences may spill over to affect their own support provision in a subsequent dyadic coping interaction. We hypothesized that the extent to which sharers perceive their partner as responsive to thei...
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 2018
Negative and positive conflict communication predicts long-term relationship satisfaction. Howeve... more Negative and positive conflict communication predicts long-term relationship satisfaction. However, some studies show harmful effects and others show beneficial effects of negative conflict communication on long-term relationship satisfaction. One reason for the heterogeneous results might be that most studies focused on aggregated behaviors across a conflict interaction but neglected the temporal dynamics within such an interaction. This study examined whether individual initial levels and temporal trajectories of negative and positive communications predict long-term relationship satisfaction, and whether self-efficacy beliefs about clarity of other’s feelings (CoF) alter initial levels and temporal trajectories of negative and positive communications. Negative and positive communications were measured based on sequentially coded conflict discussions of 365 couples; self-efficacy beliefs about CoF and relationship satisfaction were measured by self-report questionnaires at baselin...
UNSTRUCTURED Diabetes mellitus Type II (T2DM) is a common chronic disease. To manage blood glucos... more UNSTRUCTURED Diabetes mellitus Type II (T2DM) is a common chronic disease. To manage blood glucose levels patients need to follow medical recommendations for healthy eating, physical activity, and medication adherence in their everyday life. Illness management is mainly shared with partners and involves social support and common dyadic coping (CDC). Social support and CDC have been identified as having implications for people’s health behavior and well-being. Visible support, however, may also be negatively related to people’s well-being. Thus, the concept of invisible support was introduced. It is unknown which of these concepts (visible support, invisible support, CDC) displays the most beneficial associations with health behavior and well-being when considered together in the context of illness management in couple’s everyday life. Therefore, a novel ambulatory assessment application for the open source behavioral intervention platform MobileCoach (AAMC) was developed. It utilize...
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Papers by Guy Bodenmann