Couples Coping with Stress Lab
Current Projects
Interested in participating? Please email AKRandallLab@gmail.com
CCET-SMS Program: Towards the Development of a Couple's Coping Program for Same-Gender Couples
Supported by the Mental Research Institute
Co-PI: Casey Totenhagen, PhD
Individuals in same-gender relationships experience poorer psychological health compared to heterosexual individuals. A growing literature shows that these disparities are due to the unique chronic sexual minority stress experienced by living in a heterosexist society. Sexual minority stress is also associated with decreased relationship quality, and same-gender couples may experience higher rates of dissolution than heterosexual couples due to these experiences. Although evidence-based relationship education programs may help to promote psychological and relational health, most existing programs are not culturally sensitive for use with same-gender couples and may even intensify the marginalization they experience. Dyadic coping is an important skill that buffers the effect of sexual minority stress on depressive symptoms and is also protective for relationship satisfaction. To reduce the effects of these challenges, we propose to test the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of the Couples Coping Enhancement Training – Sexual Minority Stress (CCET-SMS) relationship education program, designed to reduce individual and relational health disparities among sexual minority couples.
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