Traumatic bonding in romantic relationships: The roles of psychological aggression and relationship contingent self esteem

This study aims to study the formation of traumatic bonding in the context of romantic relationships in order to better understand what makes people stay in abusive relationships. Traumatic bonding is defined as an intense emotional attachment that forms between a victim and an abuser, and is characterized by continuing emotional attachment to and preoccupation with the abuser as well as cognitive distortions that enable the victim to adapt to the situation. Psychological aggression and relationship contingent self-esteem were examined as possible factors that are related to the formation of traumatic bonding. 253 respondents between the ages of 18-40 years and have been in a romantic relationship for at least six months were recruited online to participate in data gathering. Both psychological aggression and relationship contingent self-esteem were positively correlated with the development of posttraumatic cognitive distortions while relationship contingent self-esteem was positively correlated with continuing emotional investment with one’s partner. Multiple regression was employed in order to study the strength and direction of the relationships of the variables. Results and implications of the study as well as recommendations for future research are discussed

Traumatic bonding in romantic relationships: The roles of psychological aggression and relationship contingent self esteem

The study aims to study the formation of traumatic bonding in the context of romantic relationships in order to better understand what makes people stay in abusive relationships. Traumatic bonding is defined as an intense emotional attachment that forms between a victim and an abuser, and is characterized by continuing emotional attachment to and preoccupation with the abuser as well as cognitive distortions that enable the victim to adapt to the situation. Psychological aggression and relationship contingent self-esteem were examined as possible factors that are related to the formation of traumatic bonding. 253 respondents between the ages of 18-40 years and have been in a romantic relationship for at least six months were recruited online to participate in data gathering. Both psychological aggression and relationship contingent self-esteem were positively correlated with the development of posttraumatic cognitive distortions while relationship contingent self-esteem was positively correlated with continuing emotional investment with ones partner. Multiple regression was employed in order to study the strength and direction of the relationships of the variables. Results and implications of the study as well as recommendations for future research are discussed

Body appreciation around the world: Measurement invariance of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age

The Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2) is a widely used measure of a core facet of the positive body image construct. However, extant research concerning measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across a large number of nations remains limited. Here, we utilised the Body Image in Nature (BINS) dataset - with data collected between 2020 and 2022 - to assess measurement invariance of the BAS-2 across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis indicated that full scalar invariance was upheld across all nations, languages, gender identities, and age groups, suggesting that the unidimensional BAS-2 model has widespread applicability. There were large differences across nations and languages in latent body appreciation, while differences across gender identities and age groups were negligible-to-small. Additionally, greater body appreciation was significantly associated with higher life satisfaction, being single (versus being married or in a committed relationship), and greater rurality (versus urbanicity). Across a subset of nations where nation-level data were available, greater body appreciation was also significantly associated with greater cultural distance from the United States and greater relative income inequality. These findings suggest that the BAS-2 likely captures a near-universal conceptualisation of the body appreciation construct, which should facilitate further cross-cultural research

Exposure and Connectedness to Natural Environments: An Examination of the Measurement Invariance of the Nature Exposure Scale (NES) and Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) Across 65 Nations, 40 Languages, Gender Identities, and Age Groups

International audienceDetachment from nature is contributing to the environmental crisis and reversing this trend requires detailed monitoring and targeted interventions to reconnect people to nature. Most tools measuring nature exposure and attachment were developed in high-income countries and little is known about their robustness across national and linguistic groups. Therefore, we used data from the Body Image in Nature Survey to assess measurement invariance of the Nature Exposure Scale (NES) and the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) across 65 nations, 40 languages, gender identities, and age groups (N = 56,968). While multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA) of the NES supported full scalar invariance across gender identities and age groups, only partial scalar invariance was supported across national and linguistic groups. MG-CFA of the CNS also supported full scalar invariance across gender identities and age groups, but only partial scalar invariance of a 7-item version of the CNS across national and linguistic groups. Nation-level associations between NES and CNS scores were negligible, likely reflecting a lack of conceptual clarity over what the NES is measuring. Individual-level associations between both measures and sociodemographic variables were weak. Findings suggest that the CNS-7 may be a useful tool to measure nature connectedness globally, but measures other than the NES may be needed to capture nature exposure cross-culturally