Research Handbook on Couple and Family Relationships

This Research Handbook facilitates the integration between two substantial yet often separated fields: the study of couple relationships and the study of family relationships. An array of expert contributors provide an up-to-date understanding of these important bonds, highlighting opportunities for consolidation and growth, and identifying new avenues of research.

The Research Handbook on Couple and Family Relationships examines 12 major themes, each addressed in two companion chapters: one from the perspective of couple research and the other from the perspective of family research. Chapter authors outline different factors that influence couple and family relationships. Topics cover individual characteristics such as attachment, personality, depression, and gender roles; relational processes such as responsiveness, emotion regulation, conflict, aggression, and maltreatment; and external influences such as stress, financial strain, minority stress, neighborhoods, and social context. The companion treatment of these topics reveals key similarities and differences in the theories and methods used to study couple and family relationships, pointing toward potential advancements within each area.

Adopting an innovative cross-disciplinary approach, this Research Handbook is invaluable to students and academics specializing in relationship, family, and gender scholarship, as well as social, developmental, and clinical psychology. Its insights into couple and family relationships are also of interest to mental health practitioners and policymakers.