Communicated Sense-making After Miscarriage: A Dyadic Analysis of Spousal Communicated Perspective-Taking, Well-being, and Parenting Role Salience

Abstract

Grounded in communicated sense-making (CSM) theorizing, we investigated communicated perspective-taking (CPT; i.e., conversational partners' attendance to and confirmation of each other's views) in association with individual and relational well-being in married couples who had miscarried (n = 183; N = 366). Actor-partner interdependence modeling revealed husbands' perceptions of wives' CPT were positively related to husbands' positive affect about the miscarriage and both spouses' relational satisfaction, as well as negatively associated with wives' positive affect. Wives' perceptions of husbands' CPT related positively to their own relational satisfaction and negatively to husbands' negative affect. Analyses revealed identification as a parent to the miscarried child (i.e., "parenting role salience") positively moderated the relationship between CPT and relational satisfaction. Implications for advancing CSM theorizing in health contexts and practical applications are explored.

A relational turbulence theory perspective on women’s grief following miscarriage

“…Compared to other types of bereavement, individuals coping with miscarriage tend to receive less emotional support from family and friends because miscarriage is not generally talked about (Bute & Brann, 2015). As a result, partners often turn to each other for support, such that they may collectively seek to make sense of their loss (Frost et al, 2007; Horstman & Holman, 2018). At the same time, some women report that miscarriage causes tension in their marital relationship (McGreal et al, 1997).…”

Narrative Connection: Applying CNSM Theory’s Translational Storytelling Heuristic

“…Storylistening can also be challenging because bearing witness to others' stories of difficulty or trauma can be a burden to the listener (Shortt & Pennebaker, 1992), resulting in emotional contagion (Miller, Stiff, & Ellis, 1988), emotional exhaustion (Boyas, Wind, & Kang, 2012), and/or compassion fatigue (Figley, 2002), all of which can lead to higher levels of distress. Storylisteners who engage in high levels of communicated perspective-taking may also experience negative outcomes, such as decreased positive affect (for women specifically; Horstman & Holman, 2017) or decreased relational satisfaction (Vorauer & Sucharyna, 2013). Despite these challenges, stress, illness, and relational problems call for storytelling (Frank, 1995).…”

Communicated perspective-taking (CPT) and storylistening: Testing the impact of CPT in the context of friends telling stories of difficulty

“…Research has identified links between CPT and family functioning, perceptions of family supportiveness (Trees & Koenig Kellas, 2009), the positivity of one's own narrative framing (Horstman et al, 2016), and husbands' mental health (Koenig Kellas et al, 2010). This research informed the creation of an other-report survey measure of CPT (OCPT) which has been used to assess friends' perceptions of each other during storytelling interactions (Koenig Kellas et al, 2015) and spouse's marital satisfaction and affect in the context of miscarriage (Horstman & Holman, 2017). Finally, The Communicated Perspective-Taking Rating System (CPTRS, Koenig Kellas et al, 2017) was developed for observational rating of CPT behaviors including attentiveness, agreement, affective tone, validating identity, creating space to talk, and global ratings of CPT attentiveness and confirmation.…”