David A Sbarra

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Scholarly Contributions

Chapters

• Sbarra, D. A., Nojopranoto, W., & Hasselmo, K. (2014). Divorce and health outcomes: From Social epidemiology to social psychophysiology. In Interpersonal Relationships and Health(pp 89-108). New York: Oxford University Press.
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  In C.R Agnew and S.C. South (Eds.)
• Sbarra, D. A., & Beck, C. J. (2013). Divorce and close relationships: Findings, themes and future directions. In The Oxford Handbook of Close Relationships(pp 795-824). New York: Oxford University Press.
• Sbarra, D. A., & Beck, C. J. (2013). Divorce: Causes and consequences. In The Oxford Handbook of Close Relationships(pp 795-824). New York: Oxford University Press.
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  In J.A. Simpson & L. Campell (Eds.)
• Sbarra, D. A., & Lee, L. A. (2013). Divorce and relationships dissolution: Causes, context and consequences. In Human Bonding(pp 308-343). New York: Guilford Press.
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  In C. Hazan & M.I. Campa, (Eds.)
• Sbarra, D. A., & Mason, A. E. (2013). The dark side of divorce. In The Oxford Handbook of Social Exclusion(pp 77-91). New York: Oxford University Press.
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  In N.A. DeWall (Ed.)
• Sbarra, D. A., & Whisman, M. A. (2013). Marital and relational discord. In Psychopathology: Bridging the gap between basic empirical findings and clinical practice(pp 393-418). New York: Guilford Press.
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  In L.G. Castonguay & T.C. Oltmanns (Eds.)
• Mason, A. E., & Sbarra, D. A. (2012). Romantic separation, loss, and health: A review of moderators. In The Handbook of Health and Social Relationships(pp 95-120). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
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  In M. Newman & N. Roberts (Eds.)
• Sbarra, D. A. (2012). Marital dissolution and physical health outcomes: A review of mechanisms. In The science of the couple: The Ontario Symposium(pp Vol. 12, pp. 205-227). Florence, KY: Psychology Press.
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  In L. Campbell, J. La Guardia, J. Olson, & M. Zanna (Eds.)
• Sbarra, D. A., & Emery, R. E. (2006). In the presence of grief: The role of emotion in contemporary divorce mediation.. Mahwah, NJ:Erlbaum.
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  ;Full Citation: Sbarra, D.A., & Emery, R.E. (2006). In the presence of grief: The role of emotion in contemporary divorce mediation. M.A. Fine & J.H. Harvey, Handbook of divorce and dissolution of romantic relationships (pp. 553-573). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum;

Journals/Publications

• Beckes, L., & Sbarra, D. A. (2022). Social baseline theory: State of the science and new directions. Current opinion in psychology, 43, 36-41.
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  Social baseline theory (SBT) maintains that the primary human ecology is a social ecology. Because of this fact, the theory predicts that humans will find it easier and less energetically taxing to regulate emotion and act when in proximity to familiar and predictable others. This article reviews new empirical and theoretical work related to SBT and highlights areas of needed research. Among these exciting developments are investigations of the neural mechanisms of social emotion regulation, the creation of a model of social allostasis, and work investigating at the impact of social proximity in real-world contexts. SBT continues to accrue support and inspire new theoretical and empirical contributions.
• Flores, M., Ruiz, J. M., Butler, E. A., & Sbarra, D. A. (2022). Hispanic Ethnic Density May Be Protective for Older Black/African American and Non-Hispanic White Populations for Some Health Conditions: An Exploration of Support and Neighborhood Mechanisms. Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 56(1), 21-34.
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  Hispanic ethnic density (HED) is associated with salubrious health outcomes for Hispanics, yet recent research suggests it may also be protective for other groups. The purpose of this study was to test whether HED was protective for other racial-ethnic groups. We tested whether social support or neighborhood social integration mediated the association between high HED and depressive symptoms (CES-D) and physical morbidity 5 years later. Lastly, we tested whether race-ethnicity moderated both main and indirect effects.
• Sbarra, D. A., & Whisman, M. A. (2022). Divorce, health, and socioeconomic status: An agenda for psychological science. Current opinion in psychology, 43, 75-78.
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  This brief review article discusses marital dissolution and health with a focus on two specific themes. First, we introduce and discuss the search for plausible causal pathways that link the end of marriage to distal health outcomes. Second, we suggest that the socioeconomic status disruptions that follow divorce represent a plausible causal pathway and emphasize the need for more psychological science in this area of study. Although there is substantial literature that demonstrates that divorced adults, especially divorced women, experience significant financial disruptions, the research in this area remains broad and largely the province of family sociology and demography. Research is needed to better understand adults' psychological and behavioral responses to changes in their financial situation after the end of marriage.
• Whisman, M. A., Salinger, J. M., & Sbarra, D. A. (2022). Relationship dissolution and psychopathology. Current opinion in psychology, 43, 199-204.
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  Studies using probability samples have yielded cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between relationship dissolution and psychopathology, including depressive, anxiety, and substance use symptoms and disorders. The present review summarizes theory relevant to the association of relationship dissolution to psychopathology, discusses the time course over which postdissolution psychopathology may be most likely to manifest, and selectively reviews empirical findings regarding main and moderated associations between relationship dissolution and psychopathology. We conclude by acknowledging the need for continued study of the association between relationship dissolution and psychopathology, including research that rules out potential rival explanations (i.e., confounding variables) for this association and examines this association across cultures and types of intimate relationships (e.g., cohabiting relationships).
• Bourassa, K. J., Allen, J. J., Mehl, M. R., & Sbarra, D. A. (2021). Impact of Narrative Expressive Writing on Heart Rate, Heart Rate Variability, and Blood Pressure After Marital Separation. Psychosomatic medicine, 79(6), 697-705.
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  Divorce is a common stressor that is associated with increased risk for poor long-term physical and mental health. Using an experimental design, the current study examined the impact of expressive writing (EW) on average heart rate (HR), HR variability (HRV), and blood pressure (BP) 7.5 months later.
• Farrell, A. K., Stanton, S. C., & Sbarra, D. A. (2021). Good Theories in Need of Better Data: Combining Clinical and Social Psychological Approaches to Study the Mechanisms Linking Relationships and Health. Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 17456916211027563.
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  The study of intimate relationships and health is a fast-growing discipline with numerous well-developed theories, many of which outline specific interpersonal behaviors and psychological pathways that may give rise to good or poor health. In this article, we argue that the study of relationships and health can move toward interrogating these mechanisms with greater precision and detail, but doing so will require a shift in the nature of commonly used research methods in this area. Accordingly, we draw heavily on the science of behavior change and discuss six key methodologies that may galvanize the mechanistic study of relationships and health: dismantling studies, factorial studies, experimental therapeutics, experimental mediation research, multiple assessments, and recursive modeling. We provide empirical examples for each strategy and outline new ways in which a given approach may be used to study the mechanisms linking intimate relationships and health. We conclude by discussing the key challenges and limitations for using these research strategies as well as novel ideas about how to integrate this work into existing paradigms within the field.
• Flores, M., Ruiz, J. M., Butler, E. A., Sbarra, D. A., Garcia, D. O., Kohler, L., Crane, T. E., Corbie-Smith, G., Benavente, V., Kroenke, C. H., Saquib, N., & Thomson, C. A. (2021). Does the Hispanic Mortality Advantage Vary by Marital Status Among Postmenopausal Women in the Women's Health Initiative?. Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.
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  Literature assessing the effect of marital status on mortality has underrepresented, or altogether omitted Hispanics and the potential moderating effect of Hispanic ethnicity on these relationships. Given cultural and network dynamics, marital advantages in older Hispanic women may be greater than other groups given their family-focused, collectivist orientation.
• Hebbar, R., Papadopoulos, P., Reyes, R., Danvers, A. F., Polsinelli, A. J., Moseley, S. A., Sbarra, D. A., Mehl, M. R., & Narayanan, S. (2021). Deep multiple instance learning for foreground speech localization in ambient audio from wearable devices. EURASIP journal on audio, speech, and music processing, 2021(1), 7.
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  Over the recent years, machine learning techniques have been employed to produce state-of-the-art results in several audio related tasks. The success of these approaches has been largely due to access to large amounts of open-source datasets and enhancement of computational resources. However, a shortcoming of these methods is that they often fail to generalize well to tasks from real life scenarios, due to domain mismatch. One such task is foreground speech detection from wearable audio devices. Several interfering factors such as dynamically varying environmental conditions, including background speakers, TV, or radio audio, render foreground speech detection to be a challenging task. Moreover, obtaining precise moment-to-moment annotations of audio streams for analysis and model training is also time-consuming and costly. In this work, we use multiple instance learning (MIL) to facilitate development of such models using annotations available at a lower time-resolution (coarsely labeled). We show how MIL can be applied to localize foreground speech in coarsely labeled audio and show both bag-level and instance-level results. We also study different pooling methods and how they can be adapted to densely distributed events as observed in our application. Finally, we show improvements using speech activity detection embeddings as features for foreground detection.
• Knowles, L. M., Jovel, K. S., Mayer, C. M., Bottrill, K. C., Kaszniak, A. W., Sbarra, D. A., Lawrence, E. E., & O'Connor, M. F. (2021). A controlled trial of two mind-body interventions for grief in widows and widowers. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 89(7), 640-654.
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  Following bereavement, yearning and grief rumination are repetitive cognitive processes that can lead to disordered grief. Mindfulness training (MT) has been shown to reduce maladaptive repetitive thought. The current quasi-randomized controlled trial examined the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of MT for bereavement-related grief. Ninety-five widow(er)s (age = 67.5, 79% women, 98% White) between 6 months to 4 years post-loss were assigned to a 6-week MT intervention or a progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) intervention, or a wait-list condition. Outcome measures were grief severity (Revised Inventory of Complicated Grief), yearning (Yearning in Situations of Loss), rumination (Utrecht Grief Rumination Scale), and decentering (Experiences Questionnaire-Decentering) assessed at baseline, Weeks 2 and 4 of intervention, post-intervention, and 1-month post-intervention. Growth curve analysis examined group differences in rates of improvement in outcomes through follow-up and associations with improvement in grief severity. The MT and PMR groups showed significant rates of decline in grief severity and yearning, though only the PMR group showed a greater rate of decline in grief severity than wait-list. All groups showed significant rates of decline in grief rumination. The PMR and wait-list groups showed significant rates of increase in decentering compared to the MT group. Results support the feasibility and acceptability of MT and PMR for widow(er)s as well as the preliminary efficacy of PMR for improving grief severity in widow(er)s compared to a wait-list control condition. With replication, PMR could be a standalone intervention for non-disordered grief or a component of treatment for disordered grief. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
• Whisman, M. A., Sbarra, D. A., & Beach, S. R. (2021). Intimate Relationships and Depression: Searching for Causation in the Sea of Association. Annual review of clinical psychology.
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  This article provides a critical review of existing research on intimate (marriage or marriage-like) relationship distress and risk for depression. Using the meta-framework of research triangulation, we seek to synthesize research evidence across several different methodologies and study designs and to draw the most reliable conclusion regarding a potential causal association between relationship distress and depression. Focusing on existing correlational (i.e., observational), genetically informed, and intervention (i.e., experimental) research on the association between relationship distress and depression, we conclude that the existing body of research evidence supports the claim that relationship distress is a causal risk factor for depression. A secondary aim of the article is to highlight a variety of effective methods that, when viewed from the perspective of triangulation, enhance the pursuit of causal inference, including propensity score matching, target trial emulation, directed acyclic graph approach, and Mendelian randomization. Expected final online publication date for the , Volume 17 is May 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
• Whisman, M. A., du Pont, A., Rhee, S. H., Sbarra, D. A., Spotts, E. L., Lichtenstein, P., Ganiban, J. M., Reiss, D., & Neiderhiser, J. M. (2021). Genetically informative analysis of the association between intimate relationship adjustment and health. Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 40(8), 546-555.
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  Prior research has found a positive association between the quality or adjustment of an individual's intimate relationship, such as marriage, and their physical health. However, it is possible that this association may be due, at least in part, to confounding variables (i.e., variables that are causally associated both with relationship adjustment and health and could account for their covariation), including genetically influenced confounds. This study was conducted using a genetically informative sample of twins to examine the association between intimate relationship adjustment and self-rated health, accounting for unmeasured genetic and environmental confounds.
• Bourassa, K. J., Sbarra, D. A., Caspi, A., & Moffitt, T. E. (2020). Social Distancing as a Health Behavior: County-Level Movement in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic Is Associated with Conventional Health Behaviors. Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 54(8), 548-556.
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  Social distancing-when people limit close contact with others outside their household-is a primary intervention available to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The importance of social distancing is unlikely to change until effective treatments or vaccines become widely available. However, relatively little is known about how best to promote social distancing. Applying knowledge from social and behavioral research on conventional health behaviors (e.g., smoking, physical activity) to support public health efforts and research on social distancing is promising, but empirical evidence supporting this approach is needed.
• Manvelian, A., & Sbarra, D. A. (2020). Marital Status, Close Relationships, and All-Cause Mortality: Results From a 10-Year Study of Nationally Representative Older Adults. Psychosomatic medicine, 82(4), 384-392.
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  Becoming widowed is associated with an increased risk of early mortality. Drawing on theoretical literature related to social support and health, the present study evaluated whether the quantity of close relationships might differentially moderate the relationship between marital status (widowed versus married) and mortality risk 10 years later.
• O'Hara, K. L., Grinberg, A. M., Tackman, A. M., Mehl, M. R., & Sbarra, D. A. (2020). Contact with an Ex-partner is Associated with Psychological Distress after Marital Separation. Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 8(3), 450-463.
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  This study examined the association between naturalistically-observed in-person contact with one's ex-partner and separation-related psychological distress (SRPD). 122 recently-separated adults were assessed using the Electronically Activated Recorder (Mehl, 2017) on three occasions across five months. The association between in-person contact with one's ex-partner, as a between-person variable, and concurrent SRPD was not reliably different from zero, nor was the time-varying effect of in-person contact. However, more frequent in-person contact with one's ex-partner predicted higher SRPD two months later, above and beyond the variance accounted for by concurrent in-person contact, demographic, relationship, and attachment factors. Follow-up analyses yielded that this effect was only present for people without children; a one standard deviation increase in in-person contact offset and slowed the predicted decline in SRPD over two months by 112%. Our discussion emphasizes new ways to think about the role of in-person contact in shaping adults' psychological adjustment to separation over time.
• Sur, B., Cleary, A., Rohrbaugh, M. J., Ferrer, E., & Sbarra, D. A. (2020). Beyond the "self" in self-regulation: Family interaction modulates situational self-control by adolescent drug users. Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43), 34(3), 322-332.
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  Prevailing views of adolescent self-regulation (ASR) as a relatively stable disposition or skill that an individual possesses in various degrees stand in contrast to a complementary, situational perspective from family systems theory casting ASR as intertwined with ongoing family processes and malleable depending on interpersonal interactions. Using observational data from a large, ethnically diverse sample of substance-using adolescents ( = 458), the current study examines the social context of ASR across 3 increasingly conflictual family interaction tasks. Coders rated ASR and 3 concurrent family interaction patterns: enmeshment, conflict avoidance, and negative affect. ASR declined across the 3 tasks, and independent of this systematic change, family-level negative affect in the first task exerted a strong lagged statistical effect on subsequent declines in ASR. The findings are consistent with family systems theory in both the context-dependent nature of ASR behavior and the modulating role of family interaction. In addition to its well-established dispositional properties, ASR may be of interest as a context-specific and potentially modifiable dependent variable. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
• Borelli, J. L., Froidevaux, N. M., Yunusova, A., & Sbarra, D. A. (2019). Attachment anxiety and trauma history uniquely and interactively predict adjustment during and following deployment among military partners. Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43), 33(2), 226-233.
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  The psychological impact of military deployment on nondeploying partners of service members is only recently gaining attention in the literature, with preliminary findings suggesting that partners of military service members experience significant mental health consequences of deployment, but with little work examining factors that could heighten or attenuate risk for maladjustment in response to deployment. The current study uses attachment theory as a guide to explore the unique and interactive effects of two factors likely to increase risk for maladjustment among nondeploying partners: attachment anxiety and trauma history. Participants (N = 86) completed assessments 2 weeks prior to and 2 weeks following their partners' deployment departure, as well as 2 weeks following their partners' return. Attachment anxiety and trauma history independently contributed to adjustment during and following the deployment, with partners high in either factor at greatest risk for maladjustment and partners high in both exhibiting the most linguistic signs of threat orientation. Further, low attachment anxiety was associated with better adjustment when trauma history was low or moderate, but not high; similarly, low trauma history was associated with better adjustment when attachment anxiety was at low or moderate, but not high. In terms of postdeployment adjustment, partners with less trauma history reported less distress. Somewhat surprisingly, among those with more trauma history, higher attachment anxiety was associated with less risk for maladjustment. We discuss these findings in terms of their implication for theory and prevention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
• Bourassa, K. J., Ruiz, J. M., & Sbarra, D. A. (2019). Smoking and Physical Activity Explain the Increased Mortality Risk Following Marital Separation and Divorce: Evidence From the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 53(3), 255-266.
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  Marital separation and divorce are associated with an increased risk of early mortality, but the specific biobehavioral pathways that explain this association remain largely unknown.
• Bourassa, K. J., Ruiz, J. M., & Sbarra, D. A. (2019). The impact of physical proximity and attachment working models on cardiovascular reactivity: Comparing mental activation and romantic partner presence. Psychophysiology, 56(5), e13324.
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  Close relationships, especially high-quality romantic relationships, are consistently associated with positive physical health outcomes. Attenuated cardiovascular reactivity is one physiological mechanism implicated in explaining these effects. Drawing on attachment and social baseline theories, this experimental study evaluated two potential affiliative cues as mechanisms through which romantic relationships may attenuate cardiovascular reactivity to a laboratory-based stressor. Prior to a cold pressor task, 102 participants were randomly assigned to either have their partner physically present, call upon a mental representation of their partner, or think about their day during the stressor. Consistent with our preregistered hypotheses, participants in both the partner present and mental activation conditions had significantly lower blood pressure (BP) reactivity during the cold pressor task compared to control participants for both systolic (d = -0.54) and diastolic BP (d = -0.53), but no significant differences emerged for heart rate or heart rate variability. Although participants in the partner present and mental activation conditions had similar BP reactivity to the cold pressor task, those in the partner present condition reported significantly less pain as a result of the task. The difference in BP reactivity by condition was moderated-BP reactivity was greater for people with lower self-reported relationship satisfaction. The results suggest that accessing the mental representation of a romantic partner and a partner's presence each buffer against exaggerated acute stress responses to a similar degree.
• Bourassa, K. J., Sbarra, D. A., Ruiz, J. M., Karciroti, N., & Harburg, E. (2019). Mismatch in Spouses' Anger-Coping Response Styles and Risk of Early Mortality: A 32-Year Follow-Up Study. Psychosomatic medicine, 81(1), 26-33.
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  Research in psychosomatic medicine includes a long history of studying how responses to anger-provoking situations are associated with health. In the context of a marriage, spouses may differ in their anger-coping response style. Where one person may express anger in response to unfair, aggressive interpersonal interactions, his/her partner may instead suppress anger. Discordant response styles within couples may lead to increased relational conflict, which, in turn, may undermine long-term health. The current study sought to examine the association between spouses' anger-coping response styles and mortality status 32 years later.
• Sbarra, D. A., & Borelli, J. L. (2019). Attachment reorganization following divorce: normative processes and individual differences. Current opinion in psychology, 25, 71-75.
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  This paper uses attachment theory as a lens for reviewing contemporary research on how adults cope with marital separation and loss. The first section of the paper discusses the process of normative attachment reorganization, or the psychology of adaptive grief responses following relationship transitions. We argue that changes two processes, in particular, can be uses to track changes in this normative reorganization process: narrative coherence and self-concept clarity. The second section of the paper suggest that individual differences in attachment anxiety and avoidance shape the variability in this normative reorganization process, largely as a result of the characteristic ways in which these styles organize emotion-regulatory tendencies. The paper closes with a series of integrative questions for future research, including a call for new studies aimed at understanding under what contexts anxiety and avoidance may be adaptive in promoting emotion recovery to separation and divorce experiences.
• Sbarra, D. A., Briskin, J. L., & Slatcher, R. B. (2019). Smartphones and Close Relationships: The Case for an Evolutionary Mismatch. Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 14(4), 596-618.
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  This article introduces and outlines the case for an evolutionary mismatch between smartphones and the social behaviors that help form and maintain close social relationships. As psychological adaptations that enhance human survival and inclusive fitness, self-disclosure and responsiveness evolved in the context of small kin networks to facilitate social bonds, promote trust, and enhance cooperation. These adaptations are central to the development of attachment bonds, and attachment theory is a middle-level evolutionary theory that provides a robust account of the ways human bonding provides for reproductive and inclusive fitness. Evolutionary mismatches operate when modern contexts cue ancestral adaptations in a manner that does not provide for their adaptive benefits. We argue that smartphones and their affordances, although highly beneficial in many circumstances, cue humans' evolved needs for self-disclosure and responsiveness across broad virtual networks and, in turn, have the potential to undermine immediate interpersonal interactions. We review emerging evidence on the topic of , which is defined as the ways in which smartphone use may interfere with or intrude into everyday social interactions. The article concludes with an empirical agenda for advancing the integrative study of smartphones, intimacy processes, and close relationships.
• Sbarra, D. A., Cook, C. C., Hasselmo, K., Noon, M. S., & Mehl, M. R. (2019). DNA Methylation Across the Serotonin Transporter Gene Following Marital Separation: A Pilot Study. Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 53(12), 1081-1087.
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  Marital separation and divorce are stressful life transitions associated with increased risk for a range of poor mental and physical health outcomes. A key task for research in this area is to identify individual differences that may index risk for these adverse outcomes.
• Tackman, A. M., Sbarra, D. A., Carey, A. L., Donnellan, M. B., Horn, A. B., Holtzman, N. S., Edwards, T. S., Pennebaker, J. W., & Mehl, M. R. (2019). Depression, negative emotionality, and self-referential language: A multi-lab, multi-measure, and multi-language-task research synthesis. Journal of personality and social psychology, 116(5), 817-834.
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  Depressive symptomatology is manifested in greater first-person singular pronoun use (i.e., I-talk), but when and for whom this effect is most apparent, and the extent to which it is specific to depression or part of a broader association between negative emotionality and I-talk, remains unclear. Using pooled data from N = 4,754 participants from 6 labs across 2 countries, we examined, in a preregistered analysis, how the depression-I-talk effect varied by (a) first-person singular pronoun type (i.e., subjective, objective, and possessive), (b) the communication context in which language was generated (i.e., personal, momentary thought, identity-related, and impersonal), and (c) gender. Overall, there was a small but reliable positive correlation between depression and I-talk (r = .10, 95% CI [.07, .13]). The effect was present for all first-person singular pronouns except the possessive type, in all communication contexts except the impersonal one, and for both females and males with little evidence of gender differences. Importantly, a similar pattern of results emerged for negative emotionality. Further, the depression-I-talk effect was substantially reduced when controlled for negative emotionality but this was not the case when the negative emotionality-I-talk effect was controlled for depression. These results suggest that the robust empirical link between depression and I-talk largely reflects a broader association between negative emotionality and I-talk. Self-referential language using first-person singular pronouns may therefore be better construed as a linguistic marker of general distress proneness or negative emotionality rather than as a specific marker of depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
• Grinberg, A. M., O'Hara, K. L., & Sbarra, D. A. (2018). Preliminary evidence of attenuated blood pressure reactivity to acute stress in adults following a recent marital separation. Psychology & health, 33(3), 430-444.
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  This study explores cardiovascular reactivity during an acute-stress task in a sample of recently separated adults.
• Hasselmo, K., Mehl, M. R., Tackman, A. M., Carey, A. L., Wertheimer, A. M., Stowe, R. P., & Sbarra, D. A. (2018). Objectively Measured Social Integration Is Associated With an Immune Risk Phenotype Following Marital Separation. Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 52(2), 130-145.
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  Close relationships play an integral role in human development, and robust evidence links marital separation and divorce to poor health outcomes. Social integration may play a key role in this association. In many ways, the study of marital separation and divorce provides an ideal model system for a more complete understanding of the association between life stress and physical health.
• Kaplan, D. M., Palitsky, R., Carey, A. L., Crane, T. E., Havens, C. M., Medrano, M. R., Reznik, S. J., Sbarra, D. A., & O'Connor, M. F. (2018). Maladaptive repetitive thought as a transdiagnostic phenomenon and treatment target: An integrative review. Journal of clinical psychology, 74(7), 1126-1136.
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  Maladaptive repetitive thought (RT), the frequent and repetitive revisiting of thoughts or internal experiences, is associated with a range of psychopathological processes and disorders. We present a synthesis of prior research on maladaptive RT and develop a framework for elucidating and distinguishing between five forms of maladaptive RT.
• Mason, A. E., Hecht, F. M., Daubenmier, J. J., Sbarra, D. A., Lin, J., Moran, P. J., Schleicher, S. G., Acree, M., Prather, A. A., & Epel, E. S. (2018). Weight Loss Maintenance and Cellular Aging in the Supporting Health Through Nutrition and Exercise Study. Psychosomatic medicine, 80(7), 609-619.
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  The aim of the study was to determine, within a weight loss clinical trial for obesity, the impact of intervention arm, weight change, and weight loss maintenance on telomere length (TL).
• Milek, A., Butler, E. A., Tackman, A. M., Kaplan, D. M., Raison, C. L., Sbarra, D. A., Vazire, S., & Mehl, M. R. (2018). "Eavesdropping on Happiness" Revisited: A Pooled, Multisample Replication of the Association Between Life Satisfaction and Observed Daily Conversation Quantity and Quality. Psychological science, 29(9), 1451-1462.
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  In the present study, we aimed to replicate and extend findings by Mehl, Vazire, Holleran, and Clark (2010) that individuals with higher well-being tend to spend less time alone and more time interacting with others (e.g., greater conversation quantity) and engage in less small talk and more substantive conversations (e.g., greater conversation quality). To test the robustness of these effects in a larger and more diverse sample, we used Bayesian integrative data analysis to pool data on subjective life satisfaction and observed daily conversations from three heterogeneous adult samples, in addition to the original sample ( N = 486). We found moderate associations between life satisfaction and amount of alone time, conversation time, and substantive conversations, but no reliable association with small talk. Personality did not substantially moderate these associations. The failure to replicate the original small-talk effect is theoretically and practically important, as it has garnered considerable scientific and lay interest.
• Ruiz, J. M., Sbarra, D., & Steffen, P. R. (2018). Hispanic ethnicity, stress psychophysiology and paradoxical health outcomes: A review with conceptual considerations and a call for research. International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology, 131, 24-29.
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  It is not wise to generalize psychophysiological findings from WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) samples to all people and yet this occurs frequently in research. Case-in-point is our understanding of psychophysiological responses to stress which suggest universality despite our knowledge that these pathways are moderated by factors such as ethnicity and culture. Here we discuss the epidemiological phenomenon commonly referred to as the Hispanic health paradox to illustrate the importance of culture in understanding stress. We posit that despite high stress exposure, Hispanics may experience relatively low levels of stress contributing to their paradoxical health advantages. Building on our prior work, we present a new, culturally-tailored stress theory model to illustrate how sociocultural factors may moderate the experience of stress (through appraisals) with downstream effects on psychophysiological mechanisms. We support the model with available data and end this paper with a call for research that more carefully considers cultural and ethnic factors in psychophysiological research.
• Borelli, J. L., Burkhart, M. L., Rasmussen, H. F., Brody, R., & Sbarra, D. A. (2017). SECURE BASE SCRIPT CONTENT EXPLAINS THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ATTACHMENT AVOIDANCE AND EMOTION-RELATED CONSTRUCTS IN PARENTS OF YOUNG CHILDREN. Infant mental health journal, 38(2), 210-225.
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  The secure base script (SBS) framework is one method of assessing implicit internal working models of attachment; recently, researchers have applied this method to analyze narratives regarding relationship experiences. This study examines the associations between attachment avoidance and SBS content when parents recall a positive moment of connection between themselves and their children (relational savoring) as well as their association with parental emotion and reflective functioning (RF). Using a sample of parents (N = 155, 92% female) of young children (53% boys, M = 12.76 months), we found that parental attachment avoidance is inversely associated with SBS content during relational savoring, and that SBS content is an indirect effect explaining the association between attachment avoidance and postsavoring (positive and negative) emotion as well as avoidance and poststressor RF. Findings have implications for understanding attachment and parenting.
• Bourassa, K. J., Memel, M., Woolverton, C., & Sbarra, D. A. (2017). Social participation predicts cognitive functioning in aging adults over time: comparisons with physical health, depression, and physical activity. Aging & mental health, 21(2), 133-146.
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  Several risk and protective factors are associated with changes in cognitive functioning in aging adults - including physical health, depression, physical activity, and social activities - though the findings for participation in social activities are mixed. This study investigated the longitudinal association between social participation and two domains of cognitive functioning, memory and executive function. A primary goal of our analyses was to determine whether social participation predicted cognitive functioning over-and-above physical health, depression, and physical activity in a sample with adequate power to detect unique effects.
• Bourassa, K., & Sbarra, D. A. (2017). Body mass and cognitive decline are indirectly associated via inflammation among aging adults. Brain, behavior, and immunity, 60, 63-70.
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  Inflammatory models of neurodegeneration suggest that higher circulating levels of inflammation can lead to cognitive decline. Despite established independent associations between greater body mass, increased inflammation, and cognitive decline, no prior research has explored whether markers of systemic inflammation might mediate the association between body mass and changes in cognitive functioning. To test such a model, we used two longitudinal subsamples (ns=9066; 12,561) of aging adults from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) study, which included two cognitive measures components of memory and executive functioning, as well as measurements of body mass and systemic inflammation, assessed via C-reactive protein (CRP). Greater body mass was indirectly associated with declines in memory and executive functioning over 6years via relatively higher levels of CRP. Our results suggest that systemic inflammation is one biologically plausible mechanism through which differences in body mass might influence changes in cognitive functioning among aging adults.
• Burkhart, M. L., Borelli, J. L., Rasmussen, H. F., Brody, R., & Sbarra, D. A. (2017). Parental mentalizing as an indirect link between attachment anxiety and parenting satisfaction. Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43), 31(2), 203-213.
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  Attachment anxiety in parents is associated with lower quality parent-child relationships. An inhibited capacity to reflect on children's mental states, referred to as prementalizing, may reduce the pleasure parents derive from their relationships. In the current study, we explored the associations among attachment anxiety, prementalizing, and parenting satisfaction in two groups of participants randomly assigned either to reflect on a positive memory with their child (n = 150) or to reflect on a positive memory not involving their child (n = 150). Narratives were evaluated for positive content using two metrics: coder-rated positivity and frequency of positive emotion words. Results revealed that self-reported prementalizing operated indirectly to link attachment anxiety and self-reported parenting satisfaction for both groups. However, prementalizing only served as an indirect link between attachment anxiety and coded measures of positivity among participants who reflected on parenting experiences, suggesting the specificity of prementalizing in linking attachment anxiety and reduced positivity in the parenting role. The results have implications for understanding influences of attachment and mentalization on parents' perception of parent-child relationship quality. (PsycINFO Database Record
• Heshmati, S., Sbarra, D. A., & Mason, A. E. (2017). The contemptuous separation: Facial expressions of emotion and breakups in young adulthood. Personal Relationships, 24(2), 453-469.
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  The importance of studying specific and expressed emotions after a stressful life event is well known, yet few studies have moved beyond assessing self-reported emotional responses to a romantic breakup. This study examined associations between computer-recognized facial expressions and self-reported breakup-related distress among recently separated college-aged young adults ( = 135; 37 men) on four visits across 9 weeks. Participants' facial expressions were coded using the Computer Expression Recognition Toolbox while participants spoke about their breakups. Of the seven expressed emotions studied, only Contempt showed a unique association with breakup-related distress over time. At baseline, greater Contempt was associated with less breakup-related distress; however, over time, greater Contempt was associated with greater breakup-related distress.
• Holt-Lunstad, J., Robles, T. F., & Sbarra, D. A. (2017). Advancing social connection as a public health priority in the United States. The American psychologist, 72(6), 517-530.
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  A robust body of scientific evidence has indicated that being embedded in high-quality close relationships and feeling socially connected to the people in one's life is associated with decreased risk for all-cause mortality as well as a range of disease morbidities. Despite mounting evidence that the magnitude of these associations is comparable to that of many leading health determinants (that receive significant public health resources), government agencies, health care providers and associations, and public or private health care funders have been slow to recognize human social relationships as either a health determinant or health risk marker in a manner that is comparable to that of other public health priorities. This article evaluates current evidence (on social relationships and health) according to criteria commonly used in determining public health priorities. The article discusses challenges for reducing risk in this area and outlines an agenda for integrating social relationships into current public health priorities. (PsycINFO Database Record
• Kutob, R. M., Yuan, N. P., Wertheim, B. C., Sbarra, D. A., Loucks, E. B., Nassir, R., Bareh, G., Kim, M. M., Snetselaar, L. G., & Thomson, C. A. (2017). Relationship Between Marital Transitions, Health Behaviors, and Health Indicators of Postmenopausal Women: Results from the Women's Health Initiative. Journal of women's health (2002), 26(4), 313-320.
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  Historically, marital status has been associated with lower mortality and transitions into marriage were generally accompanied by improved health status. Conversely, divorce has been associated with increased mortality, possibly mediated by changes in health behaviors.
• Sbarra, D. A., & Coan, J. A. (2017). Divorce and health: good data in need of better theory. Current opinion in psychology, 13, 91-95.
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  A very large literature links the experiences of marital separation and divorce to risk for a range of poor distal health outcomes, including early death. What is far less clear, however, is the mechanistic pathways that convey this risk. Several plausible mechanisms are identified in the literature, and the central thesis of this paper is that the empirical study of divorce and health will benefit enormously from a renewed reliance on theory to dictate how these mechanisms of action may unfold over time. This review emphasizes the roles of attachment and social baseline theories in making specific mechanistic predictions and highlights the ways in which these perspectives can contribute new empirical knowledge on risk and resilience following marital dissolution.
• Bourassa, K. J., Hasselmo, K., & Sbarra, D. A. (2016). Heart Rate Variability Moderates the Association Between Separation-Related Psychological Distress and Blood Pressure Reactivity Over Time. Psychological science, 27(8), 1123-35.
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  Divorce is a stressor associated with long-term health risk, though the mechanisms of this effect are poorly understood. Cardiovascular reactivity is one biological pathway implicated as a predictor of poor long-term health after divorce. A sample of recently separated and divorced adults (N = 138) was assessed over an average of 7.5 months to explore whether individual differences in heart rate variability-assessed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia-operate in combination with subjective reports of separation-related distress to predict prospective changes in cardiovascular reactivity, as indexed by blood pressure reactivity. Participants with low resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia at baseline showed no association between divorce-related distress and later blood pressure reactivity, whereas participants with high respiratory sinus arrhythmia showed a positive association. In addition, within-person variation in respiratory sinus arrhythmia and between-persons variation in separation-related distress interacted to predict blood pressure reactivity at each laboratory visit. Individual differences in heart rate variability and subjective distress operate together to predict cardiovascular reactivity and may explain some of the long-term health risk associated with divorce.
• Bourassa, K. J., Knowles, L. M., Sbarra, D. A., & O'Connor, M. F. (2016). Absent but Not Gone: Interdependence in Couples' Quality of Life Persists After a Partner's Death. Psychological science, 27(2), 270-81.
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  Spouses influence each other's psychological functioning and quality of life. To explore whether this interdependence continues after a person becomes widowed, we tested whether deceased spouses' characteristics were associated with their widowed partners' later quality of life using couples drawn from a multinational sample of aging adults. Independent subsamples (ns = 221 and 325) were assessed before and after a spouse's death. Regressions revealed that deceased partners' quality of life prior to their death positively predicted their spouses' quality of life after the partners' death, even when we controlled for spouses' prior quality of life to account for environmental factors shared within couples. Further, widowed participants' quality of life was lower than nonwidowed couples' 2 years before and after their partners' death, but was equivalent 4 years prior. Finally, the strength of the association between partners' earlier quality of life and participants' later quality of life did not differ between widowed and nonwidowed participants. These findings suggest that interdependence in quality of life continues after one's partner has passed away.
• Fallon, M. A., Careaga, J. S., Sbarra, D. A., & OʼConnor, M. F. (2016). Utility of a Virtual Trier Social Stress Test: Initial Findings and Benchmarking Comparisons. Psychosomatic medicine, 78(7), 835-40.
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  The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) is one of the most widely used laboratory-based acute psychosocial stressors. However, there may be advantages to conducting the TSST through the virtual world, including reducing the cost and burden (i.e., no need for colocation between the evaluators and participants). The virtual TSST might also increase the standardization between studies and provide the capacity to bring psychology experiments to more settings (e.g., the home, the magnetic resonance imaging scanner).
• Memel, M., Bourassa, K., Woolverton, C., & Sbarra, D. A. (2016). Body Mass and Physical Activity Uniquely Predict Change in Cognition for Aging Adults. Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 50(3), 397-408.
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  Physical activity and body mass predict cognition in the elderly. However, mixed evidence suggests that obesity is associated with poorer cognition, while also protecting against cognitive decline in older age.
• Reed, R. G., Weihs, K. L., Sbarra, D. A., Breen, E. C., Irwin, M. R., & Butler, E. A. (2016). Emotional acceptance, inflammation, and sickness symptoms across the first two years following breast cancer diagnosis. Brain, behavior, and immunity, 56, 165-74.
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  Breast cancer diagnosis and treatment are associated with increased inflammatory activity, which can induce sickness symptoms. We examined whether emotional acceptance moderates the association between proinflammatory cytokines and self-reported sickness symptoms in women recently diagnosed with breast cancer.
• Whisman, M. A., Robustelli, B. L., & Sbarra, D. A. (2016). Marital disruption is associated with shorter salivary telomere length in a probability sample of older adults. Social science & medicine (1982), 157, 60-7.
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  Marital disruption (i.e., marital separation, divorce) is associated with a wide range of poor mental and physical health outcomes, including increased risk for all-cause mortality. One biological intermediary that may help explain the association between marital disruption and poor health is accelerated cellular aging.
• Bourassa, K. J., Memel, M., Woolverton, C., & Sbarra, D. A. (2015). A Dyadic Approach to Health, Cognition, and Quality of Life in Aging Adults. Psychology and Aging, 30, 449-461.
• Bourassa, K. J., Memel, M., Woolverton, C., & Sbarra, D. A. (2015). A dyadic approach to health, cognition, and quality of life in aging adults. Psychology and aging, 30(2), 449-61.
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  Married couples evidence interdependence in their psychological and physical wellbeing across the life span. This is particularly true in aging populations that experience declines in physical health and cognitive ability. This study investigated the effects of partners' physical health and cognition on quality of life (QoL) in a series of bivariate latent curve growth models. The sample included aging married couples (N = 8,187) who participated in the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) study and provided data across 6 years. Results indicated that husbands' and wives' baseline levels and rates of change in QoL covaried significantly over time. In addition, husbands' and wives' physical health and cognition predicted their partners' baseline level of QoL above and beyond their own health and cognition, and these effects were of equivalent size for both men and women. The findings suggest that as couples age, husbands' and wives' QoL, cognition, and health are predictive of their partners' QoL.
• Bourassa, K. J., Memel, M., Woolverton, C., & Sbarra, D. A. (2015). Social participation predicts cognitive functioning in aging adults over time: comparisons with physical health, depression, and physical activity. Aging and Mental Health, 1-14.
• Coan, J. A., & Sbarra, D. A. (2015). Social Baseline Theory: the social regulation of risk and effort. Current Opinion in Psychology, 1, 87-91.
• Hasselmo, K., Sbarra, D. A., O'Connor, M., & Moreno, F. A. (2015). Psychological distress following marital separation interacts with a polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene to predict cardiac vagal control in the laboratory. Psychophysiology.
• Larson, G. M., & Sbarra, D. A. (2015). Participating in research on romantic breakups promotes emotional recovery via changes in self-concept clarity. Spcoal and Personality Psychological Science, 6, 399-406.
• Min, A. A., Sbarra, D. A., & Keim, S. M. (2015). Sleep disturbances predict prospective declines in resident physicians' psychological well-being. Medical education online, 20, 28530.
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  Medical residency can be a time of increased psychological stress and sleep disturbance. We examine the prospective associations between self-reported sleep quality and resident wellness across a single training year.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2015). Divorce and Health: Current Trends and Future Directions. Psychosomatic Medicine, 77, 227-236.
• Sbarra, D. A., Hasselmo, K., & Bourassa, K. J. (2015). Divorce and Health Beyond Individual Differences. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 24, 109-113.
• Borelli, J., Rasmussen, H., Burhart, M., & Sbarra, D. A. (2014). Relational savoring in long-distance romantic relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, published online 21 November 2014. doi: 10.1177/0265407514558960(published online 21 November 2014. doi: 10.1177/0265407514558960), published online 21 November 2014. doi: 10.1177/0265407514558960.
• Borelli, J., Sbarra, D. A., Borelli, J., & Sbarra, D. A. (2014). ). With or without you: Preliminary evidence that attachment avoidance predicts nondeployed spouses’ reactions to relationship challenges during deployment. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 45, 478-487.
• Helm, J. L., Sbarra, D. A., & Ferrer, E. (2014). Coregulation of respiratory sinus arrhythmia in adult romantic partners. Emotion (Washington, D.C.), 14(3), 522-31.
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  Questions surrounding physiological interdependence in romantic relationships are gaining increased attention in the research literature. One specific form of interdependence, coregulation, can be defined as the bidirectional linkage of oscillating signals within optimal bounds. Conceptual and theoretical work suggests that physiological coregulation should be instantiated in romantic couples. Although these ideas are appealing, the central tenets of most coregulatory models await empirical evaluation. In the current study, we evaluate the covariation of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) in 32 romantic couples during a series of laboratory tasks using a cross-lagged panel model. During the tasks, men's and women's RSA were associated with their partners' previous RSA responses, and this pattern was stronger for those couples with higher relationship satisfaction. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for attachment theory, as well as the association between relationships and health.
• Helm, J. L., Sbarra, D. A., & Ferrer, E. (2014). Coregulation of respiratory sinus arrhythmia in adult romantic partners.. Emotion, 14, 522-531.
• Krietsch, K. N., Mason, A. E., & Sbarra, D. A. (2014). Sleep complaints predict increases in resting blood pressure following marital separation. Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 33(10), 1204-13.
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  Although marital separation and divorce are associated with many negative health outcomes, few studies examine the psychophysiological mechanisms that may give rise to these outcomes. This study examined changes in resting blood pressure (BP) as a function of sleep complaints in recently divorced adults.
• Oskis, A., Clow, A., Loveday, C., Hucklebridge, F., & Sbarra, D. A. (2014). Biological Stress Regulation in Female Adolescents: A Key Role for Confiding. Journal of youth and adolescence.
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  Attachment behaviors play a critical role in regulating emotion within the context of close relationships, and attachment theory is currently used to inform evidence-based practice in the areas of adolescent health and social care. This study investigated the association between female adolescents' interview-based attachment behaviors and two markers of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity: cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Unlike the classic stress hormone cortisol, there is very limited investigation of DHEA-a quintessential developmental hormone-in relation to attachment, especially in adolescents. Fifty-five healthy females mean age 14.36 (±2.41) years participated in the attachment style interview. A smaller cortisol awakening response was related to anxious attachment attitudes, including more fear of rejection, whereas greater morning basal DHEA secretion was only predicted by lower levels of reported confiding in one's mother. These attachment-hormone relationships may be developmental markers in females, as they were independent of menarche status. These findings highlight that the normative shifts occurring in attachment to caregivers around adolescence are reflected in adolescents' biological stress regulation. We discuss how studying these shifts can be informed by evolutionary-developmental theory.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2014). Forward Thinking: An Introduction. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 9, 443-444.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2014). Forward Thinking: An Introduction. Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 9(4), 443-4.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2014). New Ideas on Intellectual Ability, Interests, Sex Differences, and Achievement: Three "Integrative" Commentaries on Four Target Articles. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 9(2), 209-210.
• Whisman, M. A., Li, A., Sbarra, D. A., & Raison, C. L. (2014). Marital quality and diabetes: Results from the Health and Retirement Study. Health Psychology, 8, 832-840.
• Borelli, J. L., Sbarra, D. A., Randall, A. K., Snavely, J. E., K., H., & Ruiz, S. K. (2013). Linguistic indicators of wives' attachment security and communal orientation during military deployment. Family Process, 52(3), 535-554.
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  PMID: 24033247;PMCID: PMC3775280;Abstract: Military deployment affects thousands of families each year, yet little is known about its impact on nondeployed spouses (NDSs) and romantic relationships. This report examines two factors-attachment security and a communal orientation with respect to the deployment-that may be crucial to successful dyadic adjustment by the NDS. Thirty-seven female NDSs reported on their relationship satisfaction before and during their partner's deployment, and 20 also did so 2 weeks following their partner's return. Participants provided a stream-of-consciousness speech sample regarding their relationship during the deployment; linguistic coding of sample transcripts provided measures of each participant's (a) narrative coherence, hypothesized to reflect attachment security with respect to their deployed spouse; and (b) frequency of first person plural pronoun use (we-talk), hypothesized to reflect a communal orientation to coping. More frequent first person plural pronounuse-we-talk-was uniquely associated with higher relationship satisfaction during the deployment, and greater narrative coherence was uniquely associated with higher relationship satisfaction during postdeployment. Discussion centers on the value of relationship security and communal orientations in predicting how couples cope with deployment and other types of relationship stressors. © FPI, Inc.
• Borelli, J. L., Sbarra, D. A., Randall, A. K., Snavely, J. E., St John, H. K., & Ruiz, S. K. (2013). Linguistic indicators of wives' attachment security and communal orientation during military deployment. Family process, 52(3), 535-54.
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  Military deployment affects thousands of families each year, yet little is known about its impact on nondeployed spouses (NDSs) and romantic relationships. This report examines two factors-attachment security and a communal orientation with respect to the deployment-that may be crucial to successful dyadic adjustment by the NDS. Thirty-seven female NDSs reported on their relationship satisfaction before and during their partner's deployment, and 20 also did so 2 weeks following their partner's return. Participants provided a stream-of-consciousness speech sample regarding their relationship during the deployment; linguistic coding of sample transcripts provided measures of each participant's (a) narrative coherence, hypothesized to reflect attachment security with respect to their deployed spouse; and (b) frequency of first person plural pronoun use (we-talk), hypothesized to reflect a communal orientation to coping. More frequent first person plural pronounuse-we-talk-was uniquely associated with higher relationship satisfaction during the deployment, and greater narrative coherence was uniquely associated with higher relationship satisfaction during postdeployment. Discussion centers on the value of relationship security and communal orientations in predicting how couples cope with deployment and other types of relationship stressors.
• Butler, E. A., & Sbarra, D. A. (2013). Health, emotion, and relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 30(2), 151-154.
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  Abstract: Answers to questions at the interface of health, emotion, and relationships (HER) are critical for intervening in medical and social ills ranging from heart disease to aggression. The articles in this special issue report on recent research that targets the HER interface and summarize talks that were given at the 2011 mini-conference of the International Association for Relationship Research held at the University of Arizona. The articles present interdisciplinary approaches for tackling the complexity of HER processes across different relationships, levels of analysis, health domains, and methodologies. The papers report on many new findings but also highlight unanswered (and unasked) questions. In doing so, this work points to areas that are ripe for future cross-disciplinary discussion and investigation. © The Author(s) 2013.
• Butler, E. A., & Sbarra, D. A. (2013). Health, emotion, and relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
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  ISI 2009 5-year journal impact factor = 1.32 (38/60 in Social Psychology)in press in 2012
• McAssey, M. P., Helm, J., Hsieh, F., Sbarra, D. A., & Ferrer, E. (2013). Methodological advances for detecting physiological synchrony during dyadic interactions. Methodology, 9(2), 41-53.
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  Abstract: A defining feature of many physiological systems is their synchrony and reciprocal influence. An important challenge, however, is how to measure such features. This paper presents two new approaches for identifying synchrony between the physiological signals of individuals in dyads. The approaches are adaptations of two recently-developed techniques, depending on the nature of the physiological time series. For respiration and thoracic impedance, signals that are measured continuously, we use Empirical Mode Decomposition to extract the lowfrequency components of a nonstationary signal, which carry the signal's trend. We then compute the maximum cross-correlation between the trends of two signals within consecutive overlapping time windows of fixed width throughout each of a number of experimental tasks, and identify the proportion of large values of this measure occurring during each task. For heart rate, which is output discretely, we use a structural linear model that takes into account heteroscedastic measurement error on both series. The results of this study indicate that these methods are effective in detecting synchrony between physiological measures and can be used to examine emotional coherence in dyadic interactions. © 2012 Hogrefe Publishing.
• McAssey, M. P., Helm, J., Hsieh, F., Sbarra, D. A., & Ferrer, E. (2013). Methodological advances for detecting physiological synchrony during dyadic interactions. Methodology, 9, 41-53.
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  doi: 10.1027/1614-2241/a000053
• Sbarra, D. A., & Borelli, J. L. (2013). Heart rate variability moderates the association between attachment avoidance and self-concept reorganization following marital separation. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 88(3), 253-260.
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  PMID: 22542651;Abstract: Despite substantial evidence indicating that relationships shape people's self-concept, relatively little is known about how people reorganize their sense of self when relationships end and whether this varies as a function of people's beliefs about relationships. In this report, we examine the prospective association between self-report adult attachment style and self-concept recovery among 89 adults following a recent marital separation. People high in attachment avoidance are characterized by the tendency to deactivate (i.e., suppress) painful attachment-related thoughts and feelings, and, following Fagundes, Diamond, and Allen (2012), we hypothesized that highly avoidant people would show better or worse self-concept outcomes depending on their ability to successfully regulate their emotional experience during a divorce-related mental recall task. We operationalized self-regulation using respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and found that highly avoidant people who showed RSA increases across our divorce-related mental activation task (DMAT) evidenced improvements in their self-concept over three months. In contrast, highly avoidant adults who showed RSA decreases during the DMAT showed no improvement (or a worsening) in their self-concept disruptions over the subsequent three months. These results suggest that RSA, an index of heart rate variability, may provide a window into self-regulation that has the potential to shed new light on why some people cope well or poorly following the loss of a relationship. Discussion centers on the potential mechanisms of action that explain why some people are able to successfully deactivate attachment-related thoughts and feelings whereas other people are not. © 2012 .
• Sbarra, D. A., & Borelli, J. L. (2013). Heart rate variability moderates the association between attachment avoidance and self-concept reorganization following marital separation. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 88, 253-260.
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  doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2012.04.004
• Sbarra, D. A., & Coan, J. A. (2013). Theory, method, and prediction in the psychophysiology of relationships. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 88(3), 219-223.
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  PMID: 23768883;
• Sbarra, D. A., Boals, A., Mason, A. E., Larson, G. M., & Mehl, M. R. (2013). Expressive writing can impede emotional recovery following marital separation. Clinical Psychological Science, 1, 120-134.
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  doi:10.1177/2167702612470647
• Sbarra, D. A., Emery, R. E., Beam, C. R., & Ocker, B. L. (2013). Marital dissolution and major depression in midlife: A propensity score analysis.. Clinical Psychological Science, 2, 249-257.
• Borelli, J. L., David, D. H., Rifkin-Graboi, A., Sbarra, D. A., Mehl, M. R., & Mayes, L. C. (2012). Language use in the Adult Attachment Interview: Evidence for attachment-specific emotion regulation. Personal Relationships.
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  Online Early View, doi: 10.1111/j.14756811.2012.01394.x
• Helm, J. L., Sbarra, D., & Ferrer, E. (2012). Assessing Cross-Partner Associations in Physiological Responses via Coupled Oscillator Models. EMOTION, 12(4), 748-762.
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  A host of theoretical frameworks suggest associations of physiological signals between two individuals within a romantic relationship. However, few studies have provided empirical evidence of such associations using physiological reactivity from both partners in the dyad. In this study we use measures of respiration and heart rate from romantic partners recorded across three laboratory tasks. We examine the interrelations of each measure between both dyad members using coupled linear oscillators (Boker & Nesselroade, 2002). These models were used to capture oscillations in respiration and heart rate, and to examine interdependence in the physiological signals between both partners. Results show that associations were detectable within all three tasks, with different patterns of coupling within each task. Discussion centers on ways to investigate the synchrony of physiological responses across within relationships, including the promises of and obstacles for doing so.
• Helm, J. L., Sbarra, D., & Ferrer, E. (2012). Assessing cross-partner associations in physiological responses via coupled oscillator models. Emotion, 12(4), 748-762.
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  PMID: 21910541;Abstract: A host of theoretical frameworks suggest associations of physiological signals between two individuals within a romantic relationship. However, few studies have provided empirical evidence of such associations using physiological reactivity from both partners in the dyad. In this study we use measures of respiration and heart rate from romantic partners recorded across three laboratory tasks. We examine the interrelations of each measure between both dyad members using coupled linear oscillators (Boker & Nesselroade, 2002). These models were used to capture oscillations in respiration and heart rate, and to examine interdependence in the physiological signals between both partners. Results show that associations were detectable within all three tasks, with different patterns of coupling within each task. Discussion centers on ways to investigate the synchrony of physiological responses across within relationships, including the promises of and obstacles for doing so. © 2011 American Psychological Association.
• Mason, A. E., Law, R. W., E., A., Portley, R. M., & Sbarra, D. A. (2012). Facing a breakup: Electromyographic responses moderate self-concept recovery following a romantic separation. Personal Relationships, 19(3), 551-568.
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  Abstract: Romantic breakups arouse fundamental questions about the self: Who am I without my partner? This study examined self-concept reorganization and psychological well-being over an 8-week period in the months following a breakup. Multilevel analyses revealed that poorer self-concept recovery preceded poorer well-being and was associated with love for an ex-partner, suggesting that failure to redefine the self contributes to post-breakup distress. Psychophysiological data revealed that greater activity in the corrugator supercilia facial muscle while thinking about an ex-partner predicted poorer self-concept recovery and strengthened the negative association between love for an ex-partner and self-concept recovery. Thus, the interaction between self-report and psychophysiological data provided information about the importance of self-concept recovery to post-breakup adjustment not tapped by either method alone. © 2011 IARR.
• Mason, A. E., Sbarra, D. A., Bryan, A. E., & Lee, L. A. (2012). Staying connected when coming apart: The psychological correlates of contact and sex with an ex-partner. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 31(5), 488-507.
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  Abstract: Although marital separation is an inherently social experience, most research on adults' psychological adjustment following a romantic separation focuses on intrapersonal characteristics, or individual differences (e.g., attachment style, personality, longing) that condition risk for poor psychological outcomes. We know little about how these individual differences interact with interpersonal processes, such as contact between ex-partners. In the current study, we sought to understand how adults' continued attachment to (and longing for) an ex-partner, and both nonsexual and sexual contact with an ex-partner (CWE and SWE, respectively), are related to adults' post-separation psychological adjustment among 137 (n = 50 men) adults reporting recent marital separations. Data revealed that (1) less separation acceptance was associated with poorer psychological adjustment; (2) among people having CWE, those reporting less acceptance reported significantly poorer adjustment relative to those reporting more acceptance; (3) among people reporting more acceptance, those having CWE reported significantly better adjustment relative to those not having CWE; (4) among people not having SWE, those reporting less acceptance reported significantly poorer adjustment relative to those reporting more acceptance; and (5) among people reporting less acceptance, those having SWE reported significantly better adjustment relative to those not having SWE. We discuss the findings in terms of adult attachment, pairbonding, and the loss of coregulatory processes following marital separation. © 2012 Guilford Publications, Inc.
• Sbarra, D. A., Hasselmo, K., & Nojopranoto, W. (2012). Divorce and Death: A Case Study for Health Psychology. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 6(12), 905-919.
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  Abstract: Marital separation and divorce are associated with increased risk for early death, and the magnitude of this association rivals that of many well-established public health factors. In the case of divorce, however, the mechanisms explaining precisely why and how some people are at risk for early death remain unclear. This paper reviews what is known about the association between divorce and risk for all-cause mortality, then discusses four emerging themes: the biological intermediaries linking divorce to pathophysiology and disease onset, moving beyond the statistical mean, focusing research on the diathesis-stress model, and studying how opportunity foreclosures may place people on a trajectory toward poor distal health outcomes. These ideas are grounded in a set of public lay commentaries about the association between divorce and death; in this way, the paper seeks to integrate current research ideas with how the general public thinks about divorce and its correlates. Although this paper focuses on divorce, many of the emerging themes are applicable to the study of psychosocial stress and health more generally. Therefore, the study of divorce and death provides a good case study for health psychology and considers new questions that can be pursued in a variety of research areas. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
• Sbarra, D. A., Hasselmo, K., & Nojopranoto, W. (2012). Divorce and death: A case study for health psychology. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 6, 905-919.
• Sbarra, D. A., Smith, H. L., & Mehl, M. R. (2012). When leaving your ex, love yourself: Observational ratings of self-compassion predict the course of emotional recovery following marital separation. Psychological Science, 23, 261-269.
• Whisman, M. A., & Sbarra, D. A. (2012). Marital adjustment and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Journal of Family Psychology, 26(2), 290-295.
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  PMID: 22229879;Abstract: Building on prior research that marital functioning is associated with a variety of health outcomes, we evaluated the association between marital adjustment and a marker of inflammation in a sample of married adults between the ages of 35 and 84 years old (N = 415) from the second wave of the population-based Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS II). Specifically, we evaluated associations between positive (i.e., partner support) and negative (i.e., partner strain) dimensions of marital adjustment and interleukin-6 (IL-6) separately for men and women, and whether these associations were moderated by age. Results indicated that (a) marital adjustment was not associated with IL-6 in men, (b) age moderated the association between marital adjustment and IL-6 in women, (c) partner support and partner strain were associated with IL-6 in younger women, and (d) partner support but not partner strain was uniquely associated with IL-6 in younger women. The associations between marital adjustment and IL-6 in younger women were significant when controlling for demographic variables, health status indicators, health behaviors, depressive symptoms, and perceived stress. These findings suggest that IL-6 may be a useful biomarker for studying health-relevant biological responses within intimate relationships, and that young women, in particular, may exhibit increased inflammation when partner support is low. © 2012 American Psychological Association.
• Borelli, J. L., & Sbarra, D. A. (2011). Trauma history and linguistic self-focus moderate the course of psychological adjustment to divorce. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 30(7), 667-698.
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  Abstract: Divorce is considered to be a significant life stressor, and yet little is known about how early life experiences predict adjustment to marital dissolution in adulthood. Using a sample of 99 recently-separated adults, we examine whether adults' selfreported history of traumatic experiences is associated with increased psychological distress and self-blame following divorce as well as linguistic indices of self-focus while discussing the divorce experience (more first person pronouns). We also evaluate whether among individuals with greater trauma histories, selffocused processing of the divorce experience prospectively predicts increase in psychological distress over 7.5 months. Participants reported on their trauma history and provided four minute speech samples regarding the divorce. At intake and 7.5 months later they reported on the psychological impact of the divorce. Results indicated that adults with greater trauma histories report more psychological distress at Time 1, more self-blame regarding the divorce, and more distress in response to discussing the divorce experience. Further, self-blame mediates the association between trauma history and the psychological impact of the divorce. Among adults with greater trauma histories, greater use of first person singular pronouns when discussing the divorce prospectively predicted increases in psychological distress. Findings are discussed in terms of their contribution to the literature on divorce and trauma. © 2011 Guilford Publications, Inc.
• Borelli, J. L., Sbarra, D. A., Crowley, M. J., & Mayes, L. C. (2011). Mood symptoms and emotional responsiveness to threat in school-aged children. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 40(2), 220-232.
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  PMID: 21391019;PMCID: PMC3073085;Abstract: Clinical accounts of depression underscore its relation to negative emotional experiences; yet few empirical studies examine emotional experiences in adults with depression, with even less work on depression and emotion in children. Using a nonclinical sample of school-aged children (n=89) ages 8 to 12, this study evaluated whether greater mood symptoms were associated with more or less intense emotional reactions (measured via psychophysiology, subjective report, and behavior) in response to a threat paradigm. Results indicated that greater negative mood symptoms were associated with larger startle magnitude responses during threat, increased self-reports of negative emotion, and greater likelihood of crying and stopping the paradigm prematurely. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
• Lee, L. A., Sbarra, D. A., Mason, A. E., & Law, R. W. (2011). Attachment anxiety, verbal immediacy, and blood pressure: Results from a laboratory analog study following marital separation. Personal Relationships, 18(2), 285-301.
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  Abstract: Marital separation and divorce increase risk for all-cause morbidity and mortality. Using a laboratory analog paradigm, this study examined attachment anxiety, language use, and blood pressure (BP) reactivity among 119 (n = 43 men, 76 women) recently separated adults who were asked to mentally reflect on their relationship history and separation experience. A language use composite of verbal immediacy from participants' stream-of-consciousness recordings about their separation experience as a behavioral index of attachment-related hyperactivation was created. Verbal immediacy moderated the association between attachment anxiety and BP at the beginning of a divorce-specific activation task. Participants reporting high attachment anxiety who discussed their separation in a first-person, present-oriented, and highly engaged manner evidenced the highest levels of BP at the start of the divorce-specific task. Results provide a deeper understanding of the association between marital dissolution and health and suggest that verbal immediacy may be a useful behavioral index of hyperactivating coping strategies. Copyright © 2011 IARR.
• Sbarra, D. A., Law, R. W., & Portley, R. M. (2011). Divorce and death: A meta-analysis and research agenda for clinical, social, and health psychology. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6(5), 454-474.
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  Abstract: Divorce is a relatively common stressful life event that is purported to increase risk for all-cause mortality. One problem in the literature on divorce and health is that it is fragmented and spread across many disciplines; most prospective studies of mortality are based in epidemiology and sociology, whereas most mechanistic studies are based in psychology. This review integrates research on divorce and death via meta-analysis and outlines a research agenda for better understanding the potential mechanisms linking marital dissolution and risk for all-cause mortality. Random effects meta-analysis with a sample of 32 prospective studies (involving more than 6.5 million people, 160,000 deaths, and over 755,000 divorces in 11 different countries) revealed a significant increase in risk for early death among separated/divorced adults in comparison to their married counterparts. Men and younger adults evidenced significantly greater risk for early death following marital separation/divorce than did women and older adults. Quantification of the overall effect size linking marital separation/divorce to risk for early death reveals a number of important research questions, and this article discusses what remains to be learned about four plausible mechanisms of action: social selection, resource disruptions, changes in health behaviors, and chronic psychological distress. © The Author(s) 2011.
• Borelli, J. L., Crowley, M. J., David, D. H., Sbarra, D. A., Anderson, G. M., & Mayes, L. C. (2010). Attachment and emotion in school-aged children. Emotion, 10(4), 475-485.
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  PMID: 20677865;Abstract: One of the primary functions of the attachment behavioral system is to regulate emotional experience under conditions of threat. Although research supports this association among infants and adults, few studies examine the relation between emotion and attachment in middle childhood. This study examined the concurrent associations among children's attachment organization and three indices of emotion reactivity/regulation: self- and parent-assessments of emotion, neuroendocrine reactivity, and fear-potentiated startle response. Ninety-seven 8- to 12-year-old children completed the Child Attachment Interview (CAI) and a fear-potentiated startle paradigm on separate occasions, with salivary cortisol assessed before and after each assessment. Greater attachment security was related to greater child-reported positive trait- and state-level emotion, lower pre-CAI cortisol levels, higher initial startle magnitude during threat, and a faster decrease in startle magnitude during threat. The findings provide initial support that attachment security is related to select measures of emotion, though different methods of assessment yielded discrepant findings. The findings are discussed in terms of their contribution to theory and research examining attachment and emotion. © 2010 American Psychological Association.
• Law, R. W., & Sbarra, D. A. (2009). The effects of church attendance and marital status on the longitudinal trajectories of depressed mood among older adults. Journal of Aging and Health, 21(6), 803-823.
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  PMID: 19535821;Abstract: Objective: The present study investigated the potential effects of church attendance and marital status on mood trajectories among older adults and whether these effects varied by gender. Method: Data from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Aging were used to examine the effects of church attendance and marital status on changes in depressed mood. Participants included 791 older adults (42.4% men; mean age at study entry = 75.62) who were interviewed at three time points over 8 years. Results: Using multilevel modeling to assess change, church attendance was found to have a protective effect against the emergence of mood problems among older adults. Also, although becoming married was associated with a decrease in depressed mood, becoming nonmarried was associated with an increase in depressed mood. Discussion: A sense of purpose as a potential explanation for the association between church attendance and changes in depressed mood in old age was discussed. © 2009 The Author(s).
• Sbarra, D. A. (2009). Marriage protects men from clinically meaningful elevations in c-reactive protein: Results from the national social life, health, and aging project (NSHAP). Psychosomatic Medicine, 71(8), 828-835.
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  PMID: 19661186;PMCID: PMC3625249;Abstract: Objective: To examine the association between marital status and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels after accounting for a range of relevant of demographic, subjective, and objective health indicators and psychological variables. Minor elevations in CRP (>3 mg/L) are a nonspecific marker of systemic inflammation and predict the future onset of cardiovascular disease. METHODS:: Data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), a population-based study of community-dwelling older adults in the United States, were used to study CRP elevations. Home-based interviews were conducted with the entire NSHAP sample, a subset of whom provided whole blood samples for the CRP analyses. The final sample consisted of 1715 participants (n = 838 men) with an average age of 69.51 years. Multiple and logistic regression analyses were conducted, using CRP as a continuous and dichotomous outcome variable. RESULTS:: Across the entire NSHAP sample, married men demonstrated the lowest levels of CRP. After adjusting for the competing predictors, marriage remained a unique protective factor against elevated CRP for men (odds ratio = 0.56, 95% Confidence Interval = 0.39-0.79). The absolute risk reduction (for being classified in the high-risk CRP group) associated with being a married man was roughly equivalent to that observed for adults who were normotensive, nonsmokers, and those with a normal body mass index. CONCLUSIONS:: Remaining married in late adulthood affords men unique and robust protection against elevated levels of CRP. The findings are discussed in terms of the pathways linking marital status and health outcomes among older adults. Copyright © 2009 by the American Psychosomatic Society.
• Sbarra, D. A., & Nietert, P. J. (2009). Divorce and death: Forty years of the Charleston Heart Study. Psychological Science, 20(1), 107-113.
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  PMID: 19076315;PMCID: PMC2977944;Abstract: Forty years of follow-up data from the Charleston Heart Study (CHS) were used to examine the risk for early mortality associated with marital separation or divorce in a sample of more than 1,300 adults assessed on several occasions between 1960 and 2000. Participants who were separated or divorced at the start of the study evidenced significantly elevated rates of early mortality, and these results held after adjusting for baseline health status and other demographic variables. Being separated or divorced throughout the CHS follow-up window was one of the strongest predictors of early mortality. However, the excess mortality risk associated with separation or divorce was completely eliminated when participants who had ever experienced a marital separation or divorce during the study were compared with all other participants. These findings suggest that a key predictor of early death is the amount of time people live as separated or divorced. It is possible that the mortality risk conferred by marital dissolution is due to dimensions of personality that predict divorce as well as a decreased likelihood of future remarriage. © 2009 Association for Psychological Science.
• Sbarra, D. A., Law, R. W., Hil, M. P., Lee, L. A., & Mason, A. E. (2009). Marital dissolution and blood pressure reactivity: Evidence for the specificity of emotional intrusion-hyperarousal and task-rated emotional difficulty. Psychosomatic Medicine, 71(5), 532-540.
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  PMID: 19414618;Abstract: Objective: To assess blood pressure (BP) reactivity as recently separated adults completed a laboratory task, asking to mentally reflect on their relationship experiences. Marital separations and the experience of divorce are associated with increased risk for early mortality and poor health outcomes. Few studies, however, have investigated the potential psychophysiological mechanisms that may account for these broad-based associations. Method: Seventy recently separated or divorced community-dwelling adults (26 men) completed self-report measures of divorce-related psychological adjustment. During a laboratory visit, quasi-continuous BP was assessed across four task periods, including a divorce-specific mental activation task (DMAT). A task-rated emotional difficulty (TRED) index was computed based on participants' immediate appraisals of the task demands. Results: After accounting for relevant health-related covariates and depressed mood, participants who reported higher degrees of divorce-related emotional intrusion and physical hyperarousal demonstrated significantly elevated resting BP at entry into the study. When assessing change from a within-person control task to the DMAT, a three-way interaction indicated that men reporting high TRED scores evidenced significant increases in BP, whereas men reporting low TRED scores evidenced significant decreases in BP. Women evidenced, no significant changes in BP across study periods. Conclusions: Results suggest that divorce-related emotional intrusion-hyperarousal and real-time ratings of emotional difficulty (when people think about their separation experience) may play a specific role in BP reactivity, especially for men. These data shed new light on the potential mechanisms that may link marital dissolution and poorhealth. Copyright © 2009 by the American Psychosomatic Society.
• Sbarra, D. A., & Emery, R. E. (2008). Deeper Into Divorce: Using Actor-Partner Analyses to Explore Systemic Differences in Coparenting Conflict Following Custody Dispute Resolution. Journal of Family Psychology, 22(1), 144-152.
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  PMID: 18266541;PMCID: PMC2964495;Abstract: Divorce is an inherently interpersonal experience, yet too often adults' reactions to marital dissolution are investigated as intrapersonal experiences that unfold outside of the relational context in which they exist. This article examines systemic patterns of interpersonal influence between divorced parents who were randomly assigned to either mediate or litigate a child custody dispute in the mid-1980s. Reports of coparenting conflict and nonacceptance of the divorce were assessed 5 weeks after the dispute settlement, 13 months after the settlement, and then again 12 years later. One hundred nine (N = 109) parents provided data over this 12-year period. Fathers reported the highest initial levels of conflict when their ex-partners were more accepting of the divorce. Mediation parents reported decreases in coparenting conflict in the year after dispute settlement, whereas litigation parents reported increases in conflict. Litigation parents evidenced the greatest long-term increases and decreases in coparenting conflict. Mediation is a potent force for reducing postdivorce conflict, and this article highlights the usefulness of adopting a systemic lens for understanding the long-term correlates of marital dissolution. © 2008 American Psychological Association.
• Sbarra, D. A., & Hazan, C. (2008). Coregulation, dysregulation, self-regulation: An integrative analysis and empirical agenda for understanding adult attachment, separation, loss, and recovery. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 12(2), 141-167.
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  PMID: 18453476;Abstract: An integrative framework is proposed for understanding how multiple biological and psychological systems are regulated in the context of adult attachment relationships, dysregulated by separation and loss experiences, and, potentially, re-regulated through individual recovery efforts. Evidence is reviewed for a coregulatory model of normative attachment, defined as a pattern of interwoven physiology between romantic partners that results from the conditioning of biological reward systems and the emergence of felt security within adult pair bonds. The loss of coregulation can portend a state of biobehavioral dysregulation, ranging from diffuse psychophysiological arousal and disorganization to a full-blown (and highly organized) stress response. The major task for successful recovery is adopting a self-regulatory strategy that attenuates the dysregulating effects of the attachment disruption. Research evidence is reviewed across multiple levels of analysis, and the article concludes with a series of testable research questions on the interconnected nature of attachment, loss, and recovery processes. © 2008 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2006). Predicting the onset of emotional recovery following nonmarital relationship dissolution: Survival analyses of sadness and anger. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32(3), 298-312.
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  PMID: 16455858;Abstract: Event onset modeling was used to investigate the time course of breakup-related affective processes. Daily emotion data were collected for 4 weeks from 58 young adults who recently experienced the dissolution of a serious romantic relationship. Using baseline data obtained from individuals in intact dating relationships, sadness and anger recovery were defined as points in time and then modeled as a function of theoretically relevant predictors using Cox's survival analysis. Acceptance of relationship termination mediated the association between attachment security and sadness recovery. Greater levels of love, anger, and attachment preoccupation were associated with a decreased probability of sadness recovery during the study period. Attachment security was associated with an increased probability of anger recovery, whereas ongoing sadness decreased the probability of this event. Discussion centers on the differential functioning of sadness and anger as well as the need to consider emotional change as a multicomponent process. © 2006 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2006). Predicting the onset of emotional recovery following nonmarital relationship dissolution: Survival analyses of sadness and anger.. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
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  ;Full Citation: Sbarra, D.A. (2006). Predicting the onset of emotional recovery following nonmarital relationship dissolution: Survival analyses of sadness and anger. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 298-312.;
• Sbarra, D. A., & Ferrer, E. (2006). The structure and process of emotional experience following nonmarital relationship dissolution: Dynamic factor analyses of love, anger, and sadness. Emotion, 6(2), 224-238.
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  PMID: 16768555;Abstract: Dynamic factor analysis was used to examine the structure and process of daily emotions in a sample of young adults following a romantic breakup. Participants completed a daily diary for 4 weeks reporting on their love/longing for their ex-partner, anger, and sadness. Using a lag-1 process factor analysis model, results revealed that love/longing, sadness, and anger could be reliably distinguished as separate but correlated mood states in a trivariate model. Four emotional dynamics (amplification, reversing, persistence, and cooccurrence) were operationalized and investigated. Differences in these dynamics were observed on the basis of overall adjustment to the separation and attachment styles. Findings are discussed in terms of attachment and contemporary emotion theories, as well as the need to operationalize time-based affective processes. Copyright 2006 by the American Psychological Association.
• Sbarra, D. A., & Ferrer, E. (2006). The structure and process of emotional experience following nonmarital relationship dissolution: Dynamic factor analyses of love, anger, and sadness.. Emotion.
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  ;Full Citation: Sbarra, D.A., & Ferrer, E. (2006). The structure and process of emotional experience following nonmarital relationship dissolution: Dynamic factor analyses of love, anger, and sadness. Emotion, 6, 224-238.;
• Sbarra, D., & Sbarra, D. A. (2006). Predicting the onset of emotional recovery following nonmarital relationship dissolution: survival analyses of sadness and anger. Personality & social psychology bulletin, 32(3).
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  Event onset modeling was used to investigate the time course of breakup-related affective processes. Daily emotion data were collected for 4 weeks from 58 young adults who recently experienced the dissolution of a serious romantic relationship. Using baseline data obtained from individuals in intact dating relationships, sadness and anger recovery were defined as points in time and then modeled as a function of theoretically relevant predictors using Cox's survival analysis. Acceptance of relationship termination mediated the association between attachment security and sadness recovery. Greater levels of love, anger, and attachment preoccupation were associated with a decreased probability of sadness recovery during the study period. Attachment security was associated with an increased probability of anger recovery, whereas ongoing sadness decreased the probability of this event. Discussion centers on the differential functioning of sadness and anger as well as the need to consider emotional change as a multicomponent process.
• Sbarra, D. A., & Emery, R. E. (2005). Co-parenting conflict, nonacceptance, and depression among divorced adults: Results from a 12-year follow-up study of child custody mediation using multiple imputation.. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.
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  ;Full Citation: Sbarra, D.A., & Emery, R.E. (2005). Co-parenting conflict, nonacceptance, and depression among divorced adults: Results from a 12-year follow-up study of child custody mediation using multiple imputation. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 75, 22-37.;
• Sbarra, D. A., & Emery, R. E. (2005). Coparenting conflict, nonacceptance, and depression among divorced adults: Results from a 12-year follow-up study of child custody mediation using multiple imputation. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 75(1), 63-75.
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  PMID: 15709851;PMCID: PMC2964496;Abstract: Using statistically imputed data to increase available power, this article reevaluated the long-term effects of divorce mediation on adults' psychological adjustment and investigated the relations among coparenting custody conflict, nonacceptance of marital termination, and depression at 2 occasions over a decade apart following marital dissolution. Group comparisons revealed that fathers and parents who mediated their custody disputes reported significantly more nonacceptance at the 12-year follow-up assessment. Significant interactions were observed by gender in regression models predicting nonacceptance at the follow-up; mothers' nonacceptance was positively associated with concurrent depression, whereas fathers' nonacceptance was positively associated with early nonacceptance and negatively associated with concurrent conflict.
• Sbarra, D. A., & Emery, R. E. (2005). The emotional sequelae of non-marital relationship dissolution: Analysis of change and intraindividual variation over time.. Personal Relationships.
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  ;Full Citation: Sbarra, D.A., & Emery, R.E. (2005). The emotional sequelae of non-marital relationship dissolution: Analysis of change and intraindividual variation over time. Personal Relationships, 12, 213-232.;
• Sbarra, D. A., & Emery, R. E. (2005). The emotional sequelae of nonmarital relationship dissolution: Analysis of change and intraindividual variability over time. Personal Relationships, 12(2), 213-232.
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  Abstract: This paper examined the emotional sequelae of nonmarital relationship dissolution among 58 young adults. Participants were recruited while in a serious dating relationship, and when it ended, were signaled randomly with beepers for 28 days to complete an emotions diary. Compared to participants in intact dating relationships, dissolution participants reported more emotional volatility, especially immediately following the breakup. Multilevel growth modeling showed a linear decline in love and curvilinear patterns for sadness, anger, and relief. Contact with a former partner slowed the decline for love and sadness, and attachment style and the impact of the breakup predicted the emotional start-points and rate(s) of change over time. The results are discussed in terms of the functional role of postrelationship emotions as well as the importance of understanding patterns of intraindividual variability and differential predictors of emotional change. Copyright © 2005 IARR.
• Sbarra, D. A., Emery, R. E., Grover, ., & T., . (2005). Divorce mediation: Research and reflections.. Family and Conciliation Courts Review.
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  ;Full Citation: Emery, R.E., Sbarra, D.A., & Grover, T. (2005). Divorce mediation: Research and reflections. Family and Conciliation Courts Review, 43, 22-37. -- Reprinted in International Journal of Family Law (2005). -- Reprinted in Mediation in Practice(2005).;
• Sbarra, D. A., Rimm-Kaufman, S. E., & Pianta, R. C. (2002). The behavioral and emotional correlates of epilepsy in adolescence: A 7-year follow-up study. Epilepsy and Behavior, 3(4), 358-367.
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  Abstract: This 7-year follow-up study examined the behavioral and emotional adjustment of 29 adolescents who experienced regular moderate seizures during middle childhood. Compared with national nonreferred norms on Achenbach checklists, both mothers and adolescents reported clinically significant difficulties in multiple areas regardless of current seizure status. Adolescents who currently experience regular seizures (N = 10) reported no differences on psychological outcomes compared with nonseizing counterparts; in contrast, current seizure status was a strong predictor of mother-reported externalizing problems. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that feelings about having or having had a seizure disorder and mother-adolescent relationship factors were significant predictors of current adjustment over and above current seizure status. Early mother-child relationship process variables and early medical risk were not associated with current adolescent outcomes. The findings are discussed in terms of the multidetermined nature of psychological adjustment to chronic medical illness and factors that may produce versus maintain behavioral and emotional problems in children and adolescents with seizure disorders. © 2002 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.
• Emery, R. E., Laumann-Billings, L., Waldron, M. C., Sbarra, D. A., & Dillon, P. (2001). Child custody mediation and litigation: Custody, contact, and coparenting 12 years after initial dispute resolution. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69(2), 323-332.
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  PMID: 11393609;Abstract: Long-term follow-up data were obtained on families who had been randomly assigned to mediate or litigate their child custody disputes. In comparison with families who litigated custody, nonresidential parents who mediated were more involved in multiple areas of their children's lives, maintained more contact with their children, and had a greater influence in coparenting 12 years after the resolution of their custody disputes. The increased involvement of nonresidential parents who mediated did not lead to an associated increase in coparenting conflict. Parents who mediated also made more changes in their children's living arrangements over the years. For the most part, the changes apparently reflect increased cooperation and flexibility. Satisfaction declined for parents (especially fathers) in both groups over time, but fathers remained much more satisfied if they mediated rather than litigated custody. Few differences in satisfaction were found between mothers in the 2 groups. The 12-year follow-up data indicate that, even in contested cases, mediation encourages both parents to remain involved in their children's lives after divorce without increasing coparenting conflict.
• Sbarra, D. A., & Pianta, R. C. (2001). Teacher ratings of behavior among African American and Caucasian children during the first two years of school. Psychology in the Schools, 38(3), 229-238.
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  Abstract: This article prospectively examines teacher-rated behavior problems and competencies during the first 2 years of formal schooling among African American (n = 190) and Caucasian (n = 350) children. A significant main effect for race was found for both behavior problems and competencies in repeated measures analyses conducted across kindergarten and first-grade teacher ratings. A time × race interaction indicated that teachers rated Caucasian children's competence as stable over time, whereas their African American peers were rated as less competent. According to these data, African American children did not maintain age-appropriate school-based competencies in task orientation and frustration tolerance. No interaction effects were found for a gender × time term for either competencies or behavior problems, suggesting that African American boys do not show more disturbed behavior in the early school years. Behavior trajectories are discussed in terms of the need for competence-enhancing interventions aimed at early school transitions, particularly for African American children. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Proceedings Publications

• Krietsch, K. N., Sbarra, D. A., Mason, A. E., Dawson, S., & Bootzin, R. R. (2012). Sleep moderates the association between divorce-related psychological adjustment and systolic blood pressure over 90 days in women. In Sleep, 35, A423.

Presentations

• Sbarra, D. A. (2014, April). The psychology of divorce: Healing our clients, helping ourselves. Invited workshop at the annual meeting of the Wisconsin Inter-professional Committee on Divorce. Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2014, February). Divorce and death: Understanding mechanisms by studying individual differences. Invited Close Relationships Preconference talk at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Austin, Texas.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2014, January). Divorce and health: Good data in search of better theory. Invited colloquium talk, Teachers College, Columbia University. New York, NY.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2014, June). Psychological stress and health: What lawyers need to know…Or, Why (and how!) worked-related stress may be killing you. Invited talk for Arizona State Bar “Lawyer Stress” Webinar. Tucson, Arizona.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2014, June). Social rejection and the brain: Making sense of irrational conflict. Invited talk at the Arizona Bar Convention, Family Law Section. Tucson, Arizona.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2014, March). Divorce and heath: What do we know and where are we headed?. Herbert Weiner Early Career Award Address at the annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society. San Francisco, California.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2014, October). The relational context of human health: A case study of divorce. Invited health psychology colloquium talk at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. Charlotte, North Carolina.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2014, September). Divorce and health: Back to the future. Invited clinical area colloquium talk at Indiana University. Bloomington, Indiana.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2014, September). The psychology of divorce: What do we know and where are we headed. Invited luncheon talk for the Southern Arizona Psychological Association. Tucson, Arizona.
• Sbarra, D. A., Rohrbaugh, M. J., & Shoham, V. (2014, May). The future of clinical science training: Case simulation methods. Invited talk at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science. San Francisco, California.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2013, June). Why is expressive writing associated with poor outcomes following marital separation?. Symposium paper at the biennial meeting of the Society of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition. Rotterdam, Netherlands.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2013, May). Divorce and major depression: A propensity score analysis. Symposium paper at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science. Washington, DC.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2013, November). Social connections and health: The case of divorce. Invited talk at the 2013 Interdisciplinary Conference on Intimate Relationships. Victoria University Wellington. Wellington, NZ.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2012, April). Divorce and health: Who suffers, who thrives, and why?. Invited paper presented at the 2012 Women’s Mental Health Symposium. Tucson, Arizona.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2012, May). Divorce and health: From social epidemiology to social psychophysiology. Invited paper presented at the 3rd Purdue Symposium on Psychological Science. West Lafayette, Indiana.
• Sbarra, D. A., & Kaszniak, A. W. (2012, April). Contemporary training in clinical psychology: The UA model. Invited presentation given to the Southern Arizona Psychological Association. Tucson, AZ.
• Sbarra, D. A. (2008, 2007-10-01). Understanding divorce adjustment: Interpersonal dynamics have intrapersonal consequences.. Pamela Turbeville Lecture. University of Arizona Department of Family Studies and Human Development, Tucson, AZ.
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  Invited colloquium;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
• Sbarra, D. A., Ferrer, E., Hazan, ., & C., . (2008, 2007-10-01). Co-regulation: The psychophysiology of normative attachment.. The annual meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research. Savannah, Georgia.
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  ;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
• Sbarra, D. A. (2007, 2007-10-01). Understanding divorce adjustment: Interpersonal dynamics have intrapersonal consequences.. Pamela Turbeville Lecture. University of Arizona Department of Family Studies and Human Development, Tucson, AZ.
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  Invited colloquium;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: University;
• Sbarra, D. A., Ferrer, E., Hazan, ., & C., . (2007, 2007-10-01). Co-regulation: The psychophysiology of normative attachment.. The annual meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research. Savannah, Georgia.
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  ;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
• Sbarra, D. A. (2006, 2006-01-01). Predicting the onset of sadness and anger recovery following non-marital relationship dissolution.. The annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Palm Springs, California.
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  Symposium Chair;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
• Sbarra, D. A. (2006, 2006-01-01). Social transitions: Relationships, work, and community.. Arizona Senior Academy. Tucson, Arizona.
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  ;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference/Workshop;
• Sbarra, D. A. (2006, 2006-07-01). Emotional amplification and persistence following non-marital relationship dissolution: Applications of Dynamic Factor Analyses.. The biennial meeting of the International Association of Relationship Research. Rthemno, Greece.
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  ;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
• Sbarra, D. A. (2006, 2006-10-01). The autonomic correlates of social disruptions: The case of divorce.. The annual meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research. Vancouver, Canada.
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  Symposium Co-chair with James Coan;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
• Sbarra, D. A. (2006, 2006-10-01). Understanding marital dissolution: A biopsychosocial model.. The annual meeting of the Arizona Psychological Association. Tucson, Arizona.
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  Invited workshop;Invited: Yes;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;
• Sbarra, D. A., & Law, R. W. (2006, 2006-07-01). Becoming unattached: Psychological and physiological correlates.. The biennial meeting of the International Association of Relationship Research. Rythemno, Greece.
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  ;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
• Sbarra, D. A. (2005, 2005-01-01). Divorce mediation research: Past, present, and future.. The annual meeting of the Arizona Chapter of the American Family and Conciliation Courts. Sedona, Arizona.
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  Invited closing plenary session co-joint with C. A. Beck;Type of Presentation: Invited/Plenary Speaker;
• Sbarra, D. A. (2005, 2005-03-01). The relationship context of chronic pain.. Arizona Pain Institute. Tucson, Arizona.
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  ;Type of Presentation: Invited Lecture;
• Sbarra, D. A. (2005, 2005-09-01). The autonomic correlates of marital dissolution: What does is mean to be resolved about social loss?. The Society for Psychophysiological Research annual meeting. Lisbon, Portugal.
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  ;Type of Presentation: Academic Conference;
• Sbarra, D. A. (2005, 2005-11-01). What does is mean to be resolved about social loss?: Lessons from the Study of Marital Dissolution.. Southern Arizona Psychological Association. Tucson, Arizona.
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  ;Type of Presentation: Professional Organization;

Poster Presentations

• Reinschmidt, K. M., Lohr, A. M., Sbarra, D. A., Ingram, M., & Carvajal, S. C. (2017, Fall). Community-clinic linkages to improve emotional well-being among patients with or at risk for chronic disease: Piloting tools for community-based CHWs. American Public Health Association Annual Meeting. Atlanta, Georgia: APHA.
• Rojo-Wissar, D. M., Dawson, S. C., Davidson, R. D., Sbarra, D. A., Beck, C. J., Mehl, M. R., & Bootzin, R. R. (2013, November). Non-parents recover faster than parents following divorce.. Student Showcase. Graduate and Professional Student Council Showcase University of Arizona.

Creative Productions

• Coan, J. A., & Sbarra, D. A. (2013. Co-edited Special Issue of International Journal of Psychophysiology, 88, 219-352:. Psychophysiology of Relationships.
• Sbarra, D. A., & Butler, E. A. (2013. Co-edited Special Issue of Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 30, 151-214:. Health, Emotions, and Relationships.

Others

• Krietsch, K. N., Sbarra, D. A., Mason, A. E., Dawson, S., & Bootzin, R. (2012). SLEEP MODERATES THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DIVORCE-RELATED PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT AND SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE OVER 90 DAYS IN WOMEN. SLEEP.