Support Processes in Intimate Relationships

"This edited volume brings together an exceptional range of perspectives on social support as it is exchanged in the daily lives of couples. Theories from multiple disciplines are creatively applied by the authors to elucidate the many steps that must be traveled by couples in their struggles to help each other deal with adversity. Applications to clinical work with couples are clearly articulated. Perhaps most exciting is the number of different methods used by the authors to study support processes, including long-term studies of couples over time, collection of data from daily diaries, carefully controlled experimental studies, and even virtual reality simulations. Contextual factors that influence the success or failure of support attempts are carefully analyzed. The mutual influences exerted by intimate partners as they cope with their own challenges and those of their partner are highlighted. New conceptualizations of social support are described, which include mutual celebration of positive events, as well as coping with negative events under the rubric of social support. The book will be of great interest to students and scholars in the fields of psychology, sociology, family studies, communication studies, and social work. It is among the finest collections I have seen of high quality relationship science." Carolyn E. Cutrona, Institute for Social and Behavioral Research, lowa State University

"This book provides a state-of-the-art compendium on social support in intimate relationships. Here the top people in this field provide a superb, up-to-date review of this important and growing field." Andrew Christensen, Professor of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

In the past twenty years or so, research on support processes in relationships has emerged as a distinct development in the field. Researchers have drawn from studies in the fields of communication, social support, and intimate relationships to conduct research examining support processes in relationships on micro and macro levels. Theoretical models of support processes in intimate relationships have been developed and increasingly sophisticated methodologies and data analytic techniques are being used to accumulate considerable and convincing evidence of the importance and complexity of support processes in intimate relationships.

This edited book offers a broad yet coherent view of the field, showcasing novel, state-of-the-art research and theory on support processes in intimate relationships. Cutting-edge scholarly work is compiled in one accessible volume, which is designed to provoke and guide new research on social support. The book is divided into five sections designed to reflect emerging themes in the literature on support processes and intimate relationships. Getting What One Wants: Perceived Support in intimate Relationships highlights the importance of offering support that is consistent with the needs of the recipient. Providing What Partners Need: Interpersonal Aspects of Support focuses on the importance of empathic understanding, validation of support seekers' needs, attachment styles, and the emotional context for effective support provision. Complexities of Support Processes in Individual and Couple Well Being highlights the complex nature of support, presenting research on the effects of partner support on coping with stress, differential responses to daily support, and the importance of providing support for positive events. Support in the Context of Health-related Problems and Behaviors comprises chapters describing the effects of support on health, illness, and injury. Finally, Culture and Gender presents research that explores the role of gender and culture in support processes in couples.

This volume will be a valuable resource for researchers in the fields of social and clinical psychology. Graduate students in these subfields and clinicians who practice couples therapy will also find this book useful.

Kieran Sullivan received her PhD from UCLA in 1997 and is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Santa Clara University. She has published in the areas of prevention for relationship distress and violence, social support in marriage, couple therapy, and religiosity and marriage. Her current research focuses on support, control, and health behavior in intimate relationships and on the longitudinal effects of support in newlywed marriage. Dr. Sullivan is a licensed clinical psychologist.
Joanne Davila received her PhD from UCLA in 1993 and is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Stony Brook University. She has published widely in the areas of adolescent and adult psychopathology and interpersonal functioning, particularly romantic relationships. She is the Director of the Relationship Development Center at Stony Brook University, where her current research focuses on how depression and anxiety can impair romantic functioning, particularly in adolescence, and on how attachment security develops and changes over time and relationships. Dr. Davila has served on the editorial boards of numerous psychology journals and as an Associate Editor at the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. She is a licensed clinical psychologist.