Category: Couples / Close Relationships
McKenzie Roddy, Ph.D.
VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System
Nashville, Tennessee
Karen Rothman, Ph.D.
Graduate Student
Together CBT
New York, New York
Christina Balderrama-Durbin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Binghamton University
Binghamton, NY
Emily Georgia Salivar, Ph.D.
Nova Southeastern University
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
McKenzie Roddy, Ph.D.
VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System
Nashville, Tennessee
Madelyn Whitaker, B.S., M.A.
Graduate Student
Department of Psychology, University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Brynn Meulenberg, PhD
Department of Psychology, University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Despite the fact that humans are inherently social, the majority of psychological research takes an individual approach to mental and behavioral health. On the contrary, dyadic research involves two persons in an existing interpersonal relationship—addressing individual health in a relational context. Dyadic approaches allow researchers to engage persons in care who would not seek it out on their own and in effecting wider-spread change, not only to individuals but to their relationships, peers, and families.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, socialization and interpersonal connection were greatly limited to a few close relationships, or in many cases to whomever lived in one’s home. These limitations resulted in increased isolation and stress—especially for high-risk groups such as older adults and individuals with chronic medical conditions. Given these significant impacts, research on high-risk populations would benefit from expanding their focus from an individual approach to a dyadic one in order to address the needs of these groups within the context of their close relationships.
The abstracts in this symposium will describe novel adaptations of dyadic clinical research methods occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic within high-risk and underserved populations: older adults and diverse adults with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D).
The first abstract will examine the feasibility and effectiveness of OurRelationship (an online program for distressed relationships) for older adults. This work is especially timely due to the consequences of forced isolation among older adults during the pandemic and will address using technology to expand access to care for older adults. The second abstract will examine recruitment outcomes for racially and ethnically diverse dyads invited to participate in a mobile phone-delivered self-care support intervention for T2D. Discussion will highlight how the availability of close interpersonal relationships during the pandemic influenced enrollment in the intervention and implications for generalizability. The third and fourth abstracts, respectively, will discuss the use of community-based participatory research to adapt the CDC's National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP) curriculum to be delivered to romantic dyads and a proposal to adapt the NDPP using community-based participatory research for Latinx families. These talks highlight the use of dyadic and culturally-sensitive methods to expand the reach of an efficacious intervention for T2D.
Abstracts in this symposium highlight the work required to effectively design and adapt interventions for high-risk, underserved communities – including older adults, racial and ethnic minorities, and medical populations – for whom mental health care continues to be limited by logistical barriers and stigma. Additionally, two of the talks highlight the use of mobile delivery and telehealth to combat logistical barriers to care. As such, we feel that the work is particularly relevant to ABCT’s theme.
Presenter: Emily Georgia Salivar, Ph.D. – Nova Southeastern University
Co-author: Madeline Jubran, B.S. – Nova Southeastern University
Co-author: Jillian Crocker, B.S. – Nova Southeastern University
Co-author: Ashley Stripling, PhD – Nova Southeastern University
Presenter: McKenzie K. Roddy, Ph.D. – VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System
Co-author: Merna E-Rifai, MA – Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Co-author: James Aikens, PhD – University of Michigan
Co-author: Ruth Wolever, PhD – Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Co-author: Lindsay S. Mayberry, M.S., Ph.D. – Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Presenter: Madelyn Whitaker, B.S., M.A. – Department of Psychology, University of Utah
Co-author: Monique C. Aguirre, B.S., BSW – Department of Psychology, University of Utah
Co-author: Carmen Ramos, B.S., MS – Office of Wellness and Integrative Health, University of Utah
Co-author: Natalie Klein, B.S., MS – Utah Department of Health
Co-author: Yeny Arones, B.S. – Hispanic Health Care Task Force
Co-author: Jeannette Villalta, CHW – Alliance Community Services
Co-author: Jeanne Munezero Uwizeye – Best of Africa
Co-author: Cathy Wolfsfeld, B.S. – Calvary Baptist Church
Co-author: Marc Wolfsfeld, PhD – Calvary Baptist Church
Co-author: Ed Napia, B.S., MS – Office of American Indian and Alaska Native Health Affairs, Utah Department of Health
Co-author: O. Fahina Tavake-Pasi, MS – National Tongan American Society
Co-author: Kristie L. Hinton, MS – Urban Indian Center of Salt Lake
Co-author: Tamara Sher, Ph.D. – Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
Co-author: Debra L. Simmons, MD, MS, FACE, FACP – Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah and Salt Lake City VA
Co-author: Timothy W. Smith, Ph.D. – Department of Psychology, University of Utah
Co-author: Lauren Clark, Ph.D., RN, FAAN – School of Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles
Co-author: Katherine J.W. Baucom, Ph.D. – Department of Psychology, University of Utah
Presenter: Brynn Meulenberg, PhD – Department of Psychology, University of Utah
Co-author: Sara Carbajal-Salisbury, B.S. – Alliance Community Services
Co-author: Jeannette Villalta, CHW – Alliance Community Services
Co-author: Manuel Gutierrez Chavez, B.S. – University of Utah
Co-author: Madelyn Whitaker, B.S., M.A. – Department of Psychology, University of Utah
Co-author: Anu Asnaani, Ph.D. – University of Utah
Co-author: Ana Sanchez-Birkhead, PhD – University of Utah
Co-author: Katherine J. Baucom, Ph.D. – The University of Utah