Assessing guilt towards the former spouse

Divorce is often accompanied by feelings of guilt toward the former spouse. So far, no scale has been available to measure such feelings. For this purpose, the authors developed the Guilt in Separation Scale (GiSS). Content validity was assured by using experts and lay experts to generate and select items. Exploratory analyses were run on samples of 214 divorced individuals and confirmatory analyses on 458 individuals who were in the process of divorcing. Evidence was provided for the reliability and construct validity of the GiSS. The internal consistency was high (alpha = .91), as were the 6-month and 12-month test-retest reliabilities (r = .72 and r = .76, respectively). The GiSS was related to shame, regret, compassion, locus of cause of the separation, unfaithfulness, and psychological functioning

Support-seeking, support-provision and support-perception in distressed married couples : a multi-method analysis

An emerging consensus argues for the importance of spousal support in our understanding of how relationships succeed or fail. This report covers two studies that examined support seeking, support provision and support perception in distressed married couples. In Study 1 a total of seventy distressed and seventy non-distressed couples participated in a survey study; in Study 2 twenty distressed and twenty non-distressed couples participated in an observational study. Global self-reports were used in both studies to assess spouses' support behaviour and perceived support. These measures were supplemented in Study 2 with measures of observed support behaviour and interaction-based perceived support as assessed during specific support interactions. Our self-report and observational measures consistently indicated that distressed marital couples display lower levels of positive support-seeking and emotional or instrumental support provision than non-distressed couples. We also found evidence for higher levels of negative support-seeking and provision behaviour in distressed couples, as compared to non-distressed couples. Distressed spouses also reported lower levels of global and interaction-based perceived support than non-distressed spouses

Post-breakup unwanted pursuit: a refined analysis of the role of romantic relationship characteristics

This study re-examined the role of romantic relationship characteristics in unwanted pursuit behavior (UPB) perpetration. Relationship characteristics were investigated accounting for the role of breakup characteristics using data from 396 divorced adults and advanced count regressions. The main effects of former relationship characteristics (except conflict) did not contribute explained variance to the frequency of UPBs when controlling for significant breakup characteristics (initiator status and post-breakup negative affect). However, moderator analyses revealed significant effects of relationship satisfaction, alternatives, investments, and anxious attachment in interaction with initiator status and of relationship alternatives in interaction with post-breakup negative affect. These findings illustrate that the association between relationship characteristics and UPB perpetration is more complex than previously thought and are theoretically and clinically valuable

Quality of life in adolescents with a disability and their parents: the mediating role of social support and resilience

The aim of this study was to test whether the effect of the pile-up of demands associated with a disability on quality of life, was mediated by resilience, quantity and quality of social support for adolescents with a disability and their parents. One hundred and thirty two parents, 90 mothers and 42 fathers and 111 adolescents, aged between 16 and 24 years completed measures of the pile-up of demands, social support, resilience and quality of life. Structural equation modeling with the bootstrap resampling method showed that the impact of the disability of their son/daughter on the quality of life of the parents was fully mediated through the parents' resilience and the quantity of social support and that resilience, however only partly, mediates the effect of adaptive skills on the quality of life of the adolescents with a disability. Limitations of the study and clinical implications are discussed

Easing the conscience: feeling guilty makes people cooperate in divorce negotiations

Guilt is an emotion commonly experienced in divorce. Although guilt has been shown to increase cooperative negotiation behavior in organizational contexts, this is the first investigation of the role of guilt in divorce negotiations. Using survey data of 457 divorcing individuals, the authors examined how guilt was related to the most relevant negotiation styles, while controlling for the guilt-overlapping emotions shame and regret. Guilt was related to cooperative negotiation behavior (i.e., more yielding and problem-solving behavior, and less forcing behavior). Shame was related to uncooperative negotiation behavior (i.e., more forcing, more avoiding, less problem-solving behavior), whereas regret had no additional explanatory value

Assessing the impact of the EU Common Agricultural Policy pillar II support using micro-economic data

The paper uses the case of Flemish investment support to make a quantitative analysis of pillar II support based on micro-economic data from the FADN and the administrative dataset of the investment support fund. A dynamic panel estimation quantifies the effect of support for settingup young farmers, structural investment support and support for investments on farm diversification, animal welfare or environmental investments.. The results show that investment support for farm diversification and structural support increase the total output and the income. Environmental investment support increase costs and decrease the farm income without a significant impact on output. The conclusion for the national debate is that the structural and the diversification investment support is effective while the environmental investment support is too low to cover all additional costs in the short run. The conclusion for the international debate is that, except for the structural investment support, the Flemish investment support is not distortive for international agricultural markets.Pillar II, Investment support, decoupled subsidies, dynamic panel estimation, Flanders, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q12, Q18, Q51, Q52.,

Interpersonal influence in families: development and psychometric evaluation of the influence in families questionnaire

The objective of this article was to develop and psychometrically evaluate a self-report instrument that would assess interpersonal influence in families. The Influence in Families Questionnaire (IFQ) was developed as a 16-item scale which assesses both positive and negative influence. The IFQ and its sub-scales, when administered to a sample of 581 adolescents and Young adults, showed high internal consistency and exhibited a promising pattern of convergent, divergent and criterion validity in relation to relevant criteria such as impact messages, family and attachment relationships and interpersonal sense of control. Overall, these results suggest that the IFQ is a useful instrument for measuring interpersonal influence within families

Unwanted pursuit behavior after breakup: occurrence, risk factors, and gender differences

This study investigated unwanted pursuit behavior (UPB) perpetration in 631 adult ex-partners. UPB involves the unwanted pursuit of intimacy, a widespread and usually less severe form of stalking. The occurrence and various risk factors of UPB perpetration were examined, accounting for differences between male and female ex-partners and same- and opposite-gender ex-partners. Ex-partners showed on average five to six UPBs after their separation. Male and female and same- and opposite-gender ex-partners displayed an equal number of UPBs. The number of perpetrated UPBs was explained by breakup characteristics (ex-partner initiation of the breakup and rumination or cognitive preoccupation with the ex-partner), relationship characteristics (anxious attachment in the former relationship), and individual perpetrator characteristics (borderline traits and past delinquent behaviors). Rumination was a stronger predictor in female than male ex-partners. Borderline traits and anxious attachment positively predicted UPB perpetration in opposite-gender but not in same-gender ex-partners. Implications of these findings are discussed