Differentiation of Self, Psychological Distress, and Dyadic Adjustment: Exploring an Integrative Model Through an Actor–Partner Analysis

Cross‐Cultural Validity of Bowen Theory in Southern European Countries

“…The Spanish version of the DSI‐R was validated in relation to the two subscales ER and EC (Rodríguez‐González et al., ), presenting good validity and reliability (Cronbach's alpha ER = .84, EC = .78). These two subscales of the Spanish DSI (Rodríguez‐González et al., ) have some research supporting their construct validity, through their relationships with dyadic adjustment (Rodríguez‐González et al., ) or psychological well‐being (Rodríguez‐González et al., ).…”

Couple Adjustment and Differentiation of Self in the United States, Italy, and Spain: A Cross‐Cultural Study

“…Emotional reactivity is part of the intrapersonal component and refers to the tendency to react emotionally rather than on the basis of objective thought, particularly when anxiety or tension arises in an important relationship. The implications of DoS for intimate relationships are clear-individuals lower in differentiation are less able to self-soothe during relational conflicts and are more likely to respond in an emotionally reactive manner (e.g., cutting off or demanding emotional fusion; Knerr & Bartle-Haring, 2010;Rodr ıguez-Gonz alez, Martins, Bell, Lafontaine, & Costa, 2019). Individuals low in DoS use these strategies rather than maintaining flexibility while tolerating their own distress.…”

Couple relationship satisfaction: The role of recollection of parental acceptance, self-differentiation, and spousal caregiving

“…Studies found support for Bowen's theory, demonstrating how individuals and couples who report high levels of self-differentiation are more satisfied with their relationship and experience less relational conflict than individuals and couples who report lower self-differentiation (Gubbins et al, 2010;Peleg, 2008). Furthermore, one partner's level of differentiation influences not only his or her own relationship quality, but that of their partner, since spouses' relationship systems are interdependent (Brown et al, 2016;Rodriguez-Gonzalez et al, 2019). Moreover, the partners' quality of marital relationship was affected not only by their family-of-origin relations, but also by that of their partner (Brown et al, 2016;Holman & Busby, 2011), since the partners' relationship systems are interdependent.…”

“…Bowen's (1978) systemic theory and its core concept of self-differentiation and attachment theory (Bowlby, 1988) served as the framework for hypotheses about the path from recollection of parental care in childhood to spousal caregiving and relationship satisfaction. Both these theories posit that parental care and acceptance in childhood are passed on into couple relations (Lampis & Cataudella, 2019;Rodriguez-Gonzalez et al, 2019), and spouses' caregiving (Carnelley et al, 1996). Partner effects are an important component of any thorough understanding of relationship processes; namely the influence of one partner (e.g.…”

“…Bowen (1978) posited that highly differentiated couples are also able to maintain complementary degrees of dependency, intimacy, and autonomy while in a romantic relationship. Conversely, poorly differentiated couples are unable to preserve separate identities while remaining intimately connected to one another, and experience emotional distress (Rodriguez-Gonzalez et al, 2019).…”