Hint of the Month and News Update - November, 2006
Past Hints
 
Couple closeness really helps

A study of 1,532 older married persons in the USA recently examined the relationships between emotional dimensions of marriage and aspects of personal functioning (Mancini, A & Bonanno, G., Marital Closeness, Functional Disability, and Adjustment in Late Life. Psychology and Aging, 2006, 21, (3), 600-610). 

This study found that high levels of marital closeness were associated with low levels of depression and anxiety and high levels of self-esteem in partners. Marital closeness appeared to buffer the effects of stress and moderated their impact on depression, anxiety, and self-esteem. 

Prepare-Enrich reports include information about couples’ perceptions of their closeness or their couple cohesion.  It is reassuring to see further evidence of the helpful nature of high closeness, as distinct from disengagement. 

It is important to note that high closeness in this study should not to be equated with extreme enmeshment as assessed by the Prepare-Enrich inventories, since high closeness in the study equates more with balanced cohesion. 

It should also be noted that in younger, childless couples, very high levels of closeness (even approaching the unbalanced region of the Couple Map) might still be associated with positive effects.  As couples move on in the life cycle, the benefits of balance between high closeness (rather than enmeshment) and separateness become more significant.
 

 Past Hints  Last Month :  Cautions for Processing: Things Can Go Wrong in the Transit 
 
News Update:  

    The June 2006 issue of the Newsletter, the Prepare Diary, is available on this web site: To read, click on: June 2006 Diary    The next newsletter will be posted in mid-December. 

    PROCESSING FEE WAS INCREASED FROM FEBRUARY 1st 2006  
    As announced in the December 2005 Newsletter, we have reluctantly increased the cost of processing to $44 (including GST) from February 1st next year. This is the first increase in the base cost of processing since 1999.  The $35 processing charge was set then and the GST added to this in June 2000, taking the GST inclusive charge to $38.50. Between June 1999 and June 2005, our net costs have increased by almost 15% due to constant increases in the expenses associated largely with wages, printing and postage. Our aim is to maintain the new processing charge for a lengthy period of time (as we have done before). We always aimed to make the processing cost comparable to that of a modest meal for a couple – we feel sure that $44 (for a couple) is still well and truly within those limits.