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ViewAttendees 5

Individual Oral Paper

Couples / Close Relationships

Investigating Intimate Relationships

2 - (IOP 25) Charting the Pathways of Relationship Change: Exploring How Shifts in Relationship Processes Might Interconnect to Shape Change over Time with Network Analysis

Friday, November 21, 2025
10:15 AM - 10:30 AM CST
Location: Celestin B, Level 3
Keywords: Couples / Close Relationships, Self-Help, Mindfulness
Recommended Readings: Rogge, R. D., Macri, J. A., & Okwudili, K. (2024). Connection at your fingertips: A first look at the Agapé app’s contributions to healthy relationships. Journal of Family Psychology, 38(1), 1-20.,   Daks, J. S., Rogge, R. D., & Fincham, F. D. (2021). Distinguishing the correlates of being mindfully vs. mindlessly coupled: Development and validation of the Attentive Awareness in Relationships Scale (AAIRS). Mindfulness, 12(6), 1361-1376.,   Daks, J. S., & Rogge, R. D. (2020). Examining the correlates of psychological flexibility in romantic relationships and family dynamics: A meta-analysis. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 18, 214-238.,   ,  

Background: Over the last 60 years, couples research has identified a wide array of key cognitive and behavioral processes that help to shape the course of romantic relationships over time. Identified simply as adaptive processes within the Enduring-Vulnerability Stress-Adaptation model (Karney & Bradbury, 1995), these processes have often been examined in isolation or as indistinguishable components of larger CBT interventions. Thus, the questions of how these processes might interact with one another and how they might be mechanistically linked remain largely unexamined. The current project sought to address that by using data from two large-scale online samples to explore the unique proximal links within a diverse set of 16 distinct relationship processes (e.g., negative conflict, emotional support, quality time spent together, relationship discussions, gratitude, mindful awareness, self-reflection, emotional responsiveness, physical affection, and sexual intimacy).

Methods: Study 1 tracked naturally occurring change by having 867 online respondents in relationships (80% non-Latinx White, 77% female, M = 52yo, 60% married, 37% dissatisfied/distressed) complete a baseline and 1-month survey. Study 2 tracked change linked to dyadic use of a relationship wellness app by following 405 couples (N = 810; 68% non-Latinx White; 50% female; M = 29yo; 50% cohabiting; 31% married; 33% dissatisfied/distressed) through the first month of using the Agape app. The baseline and 1-month surveys of both studies assessed the same 16 distinct processes using well-validated scales (e.g., CSI, QSI, PN-RQ, PPRI, AAIRS, SIRRS). Network analyses were used to: (1) uncover the proximal connections amongst the processes, (2) reveal possible mechanistic pathways, and (3) highlight key points of intervention.

Results: Results in both samples identified changes in quality time with a partner as one of the most central processes, (including strong proximal links to changes in relationship satisfaction), suggesting that increases in quality time were linked to corresponding improvements on many other relationship processes. A number of other processes also emerged a fairly central and influential across both samples, including relationship gratitude and partner responsiveness, suggesting they might serve as proximal mechanisms linking changes in more distal processes (e.g., relationship discussions, mindful awareness of the relationship, emotional support, physical affection) to corresponding changes in relationship satisfaction.

Conclusions: The findings of these two studies offer novel insights into the proximal links within a core set of relationship processes across time, suggesting potential mechanistic models to be explored in future multiwave studies.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, the learner will be able to:
  1. Describe the relationship processes that emerged as key intervention targets for relationship strengthening interventions (i.e., most central and most likely to exert influence).