Explore the vast range of titles available.

In consensually non-monogamous relationships there is an open agreement that one, both, or all individuals involved in a romantic relationship may also have other sexual and/or romantic partners. Research concerning consensual non-monogamy has grown recently but has just begun to determine how relationships amongst partners in consensually non-monogamous arrangements may vary. The current research examines this issue within one type of consensual non-monogamy, specifically polyamory, using a convenience sample of 1,308 self-identified polyamorous individuals who provided responses to various indices of relationship evaluation (e.g. acceptance, secrecy, investment size, satisfaction level, commitment level, relationship communication, and sexual frequency). Measures were compared between perceptions of two concurrent partners within each polyamorous relationship (i.e., primary and secondary partners). Participants reported less stigma as well as more investment, satisfaction, commitment and greater communication about the relationship with primary compared to secondary relationships, but a greater proportion of time on sexual activity with secondary compared to primary relationships. We discuss how these results inform our understanding of the unique costs and rewards of primary-secondary relationships in polyamory and suggest future directions based on these findings.

Parental alienation has been an unacknowledged and poorly understood form of family violence. Research on parental alienation and the behaviors that cause it has evolved out of decades of legal and clinical work documenting this phenomenon, leading to what could be considered a “greening,” or growth, of the field. Today, there is consensus among researchers as to what parental alienating behaviors are and how they affect children and the family system. We review the literature to detail what parental alienation is, how it is different from other parent–child problems such as estrangement and loyalty conflicts, and how it is perpetuated within and across different social systems. We conclude by highlighting research areas that need further investigation to develop and test effective solutions for ameliorating the devastating effects of parental alienation that, we posit, should be considered and understood not only as abusive to the child but also as a form of family violence directed toward both the child and the alienated parent.

Background Despite marked improvements over the last few decades, maternal mortality in Tanzania remains among the world’s highest at 454 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Many factors contribute to this disparity, such as a lack of attendance at antenatal care (ANC) services and low rates of delivery at a health facility with a skilled provider. The Wazazi Nipendeni (Love me, parents) social and behavioral change communication campaign was launched in Tanzania in 2012 to improve a range of maternal health outcomes, including individual birth planning, timely ANC attendance, and giving birth in a healthcare facility. Methods An evaluation to determine the impact of the national Wazazi Nipendeni campaign was conducted in five purposively selected regions of Tanzania using exit interviews with pregnant and post-natal women attending ANC clinics. A total of 1708 women were interviewed regarding campaign exposure, ANC attendance, and individual birth planning. Results Over one third of interviewed women (35.1%) reported exposure to the campaign in the last month. The more sources from which women reported hearing the Wazazi Nipendeni message, the more they planned for the birth of their child (β = 0.08, p  = .001). Greater numbers of types of exposure to the Wazazi Nipendeni message was associated with an increase in ANC visits (β = 0.05, p =  .004). Intervention exposure did not significantly predict the timing of the first ANC visit or HIV testing in the adjusted model, however, findings showed that exposure did predict whether women delivered at a health care facility (or not) and whether they tested for HIV with a partner in the unadjusted models. Conclusions The Wazazi Nipendeni campaign shows promise that such a behavior change communication intervention could lead to better pregnancy and childbirth outcomes for women in low resource settings. For outcomes such as HIV testing, message exposure showed some promising effects, but demographic variables such as age and socioeconomic status appear to be important as well.

Research on polyamorous relationships has increased substantially over the past decade. This work has documented how polyamory is practiced and why individuals might pursue such arrangements. However, there is a lack of a systematic investigation of who is in polyamorous relationships and how they might differ from individuals in monogamous relationships. The present study is one of the first to address this by comparing the demographic backgrounds of individuals in polyamorous (N = 2,428) and monogamous (N = 539) relationships in the United States. Compared to participants in monogamous relationships, those in polyamorous relationships were more likely to report minority sexual identities. Despite similar age distributions, individuals in polyamorous relationships were more likely to report being in a civil union, being divorced, and earning less than $40,000 per year compared to individuals in monogamous relationships. People in polyamorous relationships were also more likely to select \"other\" options for most demographic characteristics, suggesting that they tend to choose less traditional response options in general. The current research highlights several demographic differences that need to be considered and potentially controlled for in future comparisons of polyamorous and monogamous relationships.

Polyamory is the practice of having multiple emotionally close relationships that may or may not be sexual. Research concerning polyamory has just begun to determine how relationships among partners in polyamorous arrangements may vary. Most of the research assessing perceptions of polyamorous partners has focused on primary–secondary configurations; however, non-hierarchical configurations exist and can involve having multiple primary partners or having only non-primary partners. The current research is the first to examine perceptions of partners and relationship quality in various polyamorous configurations and compares results for each configuration to monogamous partners. Results from online convenience samples suggest that co-primary and non-primary configurations are common among polyamorous participants, with approximately 38% identifying with one of these configurations in 2013 and 55% in 2017. Furthermore, our results suggest that while relationships with partners in co-primary and non-primary structures still differ in some ways (e.g., investment, acceptance, secrecy, time spent having sex), they are closer to their ideals on several psychologically meaningful indicators of relationship quality (e.g., commitment and satisfaction). In other words, despite rejecting hierarchical primary–secondary labels, many of the same relationship qualities differ systematically among partners in non-hierarchical relationships. Furthermore, pseudo-primary partners and primary partners in these relationships are more comparable to monogamous partners than they are to secondary partners. We discuss how these results inform our understanding of polyamorous and monogamous relationships and suggest future directions based on these findings.

Past research indicates females prefer the use of indirect over direct forms of aggression, whereas the opposite pattern has been found for males. We investigated a specific form of aggression: parental alienating behaviors. Parents who alienate their children from another parent utilize both direct and indirect forms of aggression. We examined whether there are gender differences in the use of these behaviors by analyzing data from two samples: interviews with parents who have been the target of parental alienating behaviors, and family law appellate court rulings in which parental alienation was found. In both studies, mothers used significantly more indirect than direct parental alienating strategies. In contrast, fathers tended to use similar levels of both indirect and direct parental alienating strategies. Further, fathers did not use more direct forms of this type of aggression than mothers. Better standards of practice for the assessment of parental alienation must be developed to prevent misdiagnoses and gender biases.

Emotional reactions to a partner’s extradyadic romantic interests are assumed to be negative and characterized by jealousy, an emotional state that arises over a perceived threat to one’s relationship. Yet, reactions may also be positive, and involve compersion, or taking joy in one’s partner’s pleasure in other sexual and relational encounters. Although some have argued that compersion is the opposite of jealousy, research suggests that compersion and jealousy may not be opposing constructs, despite being treated this way in both theoretical and empirical research. Using a convenience sample of polyamorous ( N  = 3530) and monogamous ( N  = 1358) individuals, we draw on theories of jealousy, emotional ambivalence, and emotional forecasting to examine people’s anticipated affective responses to hypothetical situations involving a partner’s extradyadic relations and assess whether experience with having a partner engage in extradyadic relations was associated with anticipating less jealousy and more compersion. Results suggest that people in polyamorous relationships report less jealousy and more compersion with their partners, and that personal experience involving a partner’s extradyadic romantic interests predicted more compersion and less jealousy, with experience predicting greater increases in compersion among monogamous than polyamorous participants. Finally, while anticipated compersion was associated with greater relationship satisfaction, neither jealousy nor ambivalence was associated with relationship satisfaction. These results further demonstrate that individuals can experience both positive and negative reactions to a partner’s extradyadic relations, both based on actual experience and projection of responses to future events, and that real-life experiences are important in anticipating these emotions.

Rising rates of HIV in Nepal signal an impending epidemic. In order to develop culturally appropriate and effective actions and programmes to reduce HIV transmission, it is necessary to understand attitudes, behaviours and norms surrounding sexual networking and safer-sex practices in Nepal. Nepali women are thought to be at increased risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV, sexual violence and exploitation and other sexual health disparities due to cultural scripts limiting access to education, ability to control sexual relationships and acceptability in discussing sex and sexual health. The present study comprises a series of interviews with 25 women living in Kathmandu (13 individual interviews and 2 focus-group discussions) about their knowledge and experiences related to sex and sexual health. Interviews were translated and transcribed and two independent coders conducted a thematic analysis. Overall, the women described sex as primarily a male domain. Sex and sexual health were viewed as taboo discussion topics and formal sex education was perceived as minimally available and far from comprehensive in its scope. This formative study can inform future interventions aimed at reducing the spread of STIs/HIV in Nepal and empowering women on issues of sexual health and well-being.

The purpose of this study was to develop and test the feasibility of conducting a sexual health intervention for women in Nepal, a country with high political and economic instability and strong patriarchal systems. Of the 88 women enrolled, 100% retention was obtained over three sessions, and 85% completed a 1-month follow-up. Recruitment was so effective that some women were placed on a waitlist. All participants embraced the content and actively engaged in the intervention. Baseline results indicate HIV knowledge of the sample of educated women was low, and they did not often speak to other women about sex. Low knowledge about HIV and being comfortable discussing sex were associated with less frequent communication with others about sex. This study identified a great need for sexual health programs for women in Nepal, and we were able to effectively develop and implement an intervention to target this need.

Objective. The skillinformation–motivation–behavioral s model was used to investigate which factors were associated with condom accessibility among undergraduate college aged adults. Our aim was to also examine moderating effects of erotophobia/erotophilia and alcohol use, as these have been related to sexual risk and prevention behaviors among young adults. Method. Participants completed survey questionnaires on personal computers. Results. Support was found for the paths of the skillinformation–motivation–behavioral s model. Alcohol use moderated the mediating effect of behavioral skills between motivation and condom accessibility, and erotophobia/erotophilia moderated the effect of motivation and behavioral skills on condom accessibility. Higher alcohol use was associated with a lower likelihood of having condoms accessible, and individuals with higher levels of erotophobia had weaker paths between motivation and behavioral skills than those with lower levels. Discussion. Discussion centers on the role of individual differences on protective behaviors that require planning and how intervention efforts can be tailored to promote these changes.