Laura M Vowels
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 759740 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Laura M Vowels |
| NOMBRES | Laura M |
| APELLIDO | Vowels |
| FIRMA | VOWELS L M |
| AFILIACIONES | University of Lausanne |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5594-2095 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 23 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 29 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 23 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2020 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 3 |
Help! I need somebody
Research has established distinct categories of support-seeking behaviors, including direct, indirect, emotional, and instrumental support-seeking. However, no existing scale incorporates all four types of support-seeking within romantic relationships in one measure. Understanding how individuals seek support from romantic partners is crucial for managing stress, relationship satisfaction, and well-being. We aimed to create and validate the Roman…
The Role of Artificial Intelligence in the Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence
Intimate partner and sexual violence (IPV/SV) remain pervasive global public health issues. Prevention efforts typically occur at the primary level (promoting consent and healthy relationships), secondary level (encouraging bystander intervention and screening), or tertiary level (supporting survivors through reporting and access to resources). The rapid emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, including large language models (LLMs) su…
From Friends to Lovers
Artificial intelligence (AI) companions are increasingly used for social, emotional, and sometimes romantic fulfillment, raising questions about how people perceive and engage with these technologies. This study explored attitudes toward AI companionship and whether interviewer type (AI, human, or unmoderated) affects disclosure or engagement. A mixed-methods design was employed with 135 adult participants, who completed structured interviews inc…
Attachment, Perceived Partner Phubbing, and Retaliation
OBJECTIVE: We conducted a diary study to investigate the role of adult attachment on responses to daily perceived partner phubbing in a sample of couple members (N = 196). METHOD: We focused on personal and relational well-being as well as reactions to phubbing, retaliation reports, and motives as outcomes. RESULTS: Results showed that on days when participants perceived their partner as phubbing them more, participants higher in attachment anxie…
Couples’ Coparenting and Parent-Child Relationship Quality
This study examined how daily experiences of coparenting relate to parent–child relationship quality using a dyadic daily diary design. Eighty-five heterosexual cohabiting couples (N = 170 individuals), with at least one child under 16, completed daily assessments over seven consecutive days. Participants reported on coparenting cooperation, conflict, and child involvement in conversations, as well as parent-child relationship quality. Actor-Part…
Post‐Therapy Trajectories Following Brief Systemic Couple Therapy for Parents
This study examined post-therapy trajectories among parent couples who received either the Integrative Brief Systemic Intervention (IBSI)-targeting both romantic and coparenting relationships-or Brief Systemic Therapy as usual (BST-as-usual). Based on previous results showing comparable post-treatment improvements across conditions, participants were analyzed together to identify the typical patterns of change couples follow after therapy. We ass…
Investigating Relational Skills in Emerging Young Adults From a Gender Perspective
This study explores relational skills among young adults within a gender-based analytical framework. Gender norms remain deeply embedded in the socialization process, despite being widely debated in the current social context. Five focus groups were conducted with 30 participants aged 18 to 25 (20 cisgender women, 10 cisgender men). Thematic analysis identified three themes: (1) Relational blueprints and the gap between knowing and doing show exp…
Exploring How Large Language Models Understand Sexual Communication in Hypothetical Sexual Situations
Large language models (LLMs), or models which generate human like responses to people's queries, are growing in popularity and may be an additional tool to access information related to sexual communication - including sexual consent and refusals. However, whether LLMs can identify sexual communication in hypothetical situations and how this influences their understanding of whether an encounter could be consensual is unclear, despite the importa…
Placing a child's or partner's needs above my own
Parent couples often struggle to maintain satisfying sex lives perhaps because partners have different priorities to balance including the self, their relationship with each other, and their relationships with their children. Given that parents are increasingly involved in supporting adult children, it is important to examine how prioritization of other's needs over one's own shapes a couple's sexual relationship. In a sample of 179 parent couple…
The impact of non-harmonious goals on partner support and taking on opportunities
Romantic partners often support each other to progress toward goals. However, at times partners’ goals are not in harmony and conflict with partner or relationship needs, leading to negative consequences for couple members. The present study examined whether non-harmonious opportunities were associated with support provider’s and recipient’s behavior, perceived partner support, and goal outcomes. We further examined whether these effects were mod…
Perceived partner phubbing predicts lower relationship quality but partners’ enacted phubbing does not
Perceptions of partner phubbing can be detrimental for romantic relationship functioning. However, research does not typically focus on couple members' reports of their own phubbing behavior and how this relates to relationship functioning. Our aim was to examine both perceptions of partner phubbing and reports of one's own enacted phubbing behavior in a dyadic diary dataset to better specify their effects on relationship functioning at the daily…
A Machine Learning Approach to Predicting Perceived Partner Support From Relational and Individual Variables
Perceiving one’s partner as supportive is considered essential for relationships, but we know little about which factors are central to predicting perceived partner support. Traditional statistical techniques are ill-equipped to compare a large number of potential predictor variables and cannot answer this question. This research used machine learning analysis (random forest with Shapley values) to identify the most salient self-report predictors…
Beliefs and Attitudes Held Toward Sex Therapy and Sex Therapists
Partner Support and Goal Outcomes
In the meta‐analysis, we combined evidence across studies from different theoretical perspectives addressing the association between partner support (responsive, practical and negative support) and goal outcomes (self‐efficacy, commitment and progress). The sample included 195 effect sizes from 36 samples with 10,130 participants in romantic relationships. The results were analysed using a random‐effects multilevel model and the overall effect si…
What Does It Mean to Be Responsive to a Partner’s Sexual Needs? Toward a Definition of Sexual Need Responsiveness
Being responsive to a partner’s sexual needs in relationships (i.e., sexual need responsiveness) is associated with higher sexual and relationship satisfaction. Previous research has focused on researcher-led definitions of sexual need responsiveness. The purpose of the present study was to develop a participant-informed definition of sexual need responsiveness. A total of 305 individuals responded to five open-ended questions concerning the defi…
Identifying the strongest self-report predictors of sexual satisfaction using machine learning
Sexual satisfaction has been robustly associated with relationship and individual well-being. Previous studies have found several individual (e.g., gender, self-esteem, and attachment) and relational (e.g., relationship satisfaction, relationship length, and sexual desire) factors that predict sexual satisfaction. The aim of the present study was to identify which variables are the strongest, and the least strong, predictors of sexual satisfactio…
Successful negotiation of goal conflict between romantic partners predicts better goal outcomes during Covid-19
When romantic partners' personal goals conflict, this can negatively affect personal goal outcomes, such as progress. In a concurrent mixed methods study, we investigated whether goal conflict and negation of goal conflict were associated with goal outcomes (progress, confidence, motivation) and what strategies partners used during the COVID-19 pandemic to negotiate goal conflict. Survey participants ( n = 200) completed a daily diary for a week …
Partner support and goal outcomes during Covid‐19
During the COVID‐19 pandemic, people have been stuck indoors with their partners for months. Having a supportive partner is likely to be especially important during this time when access to outside sources of support is limited. The present mixed‐methods study aimed to investigate how partner support is associated with goal outcomes during COVID‐19. The survey participants ( n = 200) completed a daily diary for a week and five weekly longitudinal…
Is Infidelity Predictable? Using Explainable Machine Learning to Identify the Most Important Predictors of Infidelity
Infidelity can be a disruptive event in a romantic relationship with a devastating impact on both partners' well-being. Thus, there are benefits to identifying factors that can explain or predict infidelity, but prior research has not utilized methods that would provide the relative importance of each predictor. We used a machine learning algorithm, random forest (a type of interpretable highly non-linear decision tree), to predict in-person and …
Be free together rather than confined together
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many couples are staying at home together for an extended period. This is likely to impact couples as they navigate their responsibilities while maintaining a healthy relationship during uncertain times. We conducted qualitative research to investigate participants' perception on how relationships changed considering COVID-19 and social distancing measures. Data were collected through open-ended surveys ( n = 200) wh…
Sexual consent and sexual agency of women in healthy relationships following a history of sexual trauma
Sexual consent is a crucial component of any healthy sexual relationship. Women who have experienced sexual trauma are uniquely positioned to provide insight into sexual consent given that they have lived through sexual violence in the form of non-consensual sex and can reflect upon the importance of consent. Forty-one women completed an in-depth semi-structured phone interview and their responses were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. …
The Impact of Bisexual Identity on Sexual and Relationship Satisfaction of Mixed Sex Couples
Despite advances in research into minority sexual identities, bisexual identity research has been limited. Studies conducted to date suggest that bisexuality is often perceived as a ‘transitional’ identity and bisexual individuals in relationships are often perceived to be either straight, lesbian, or gay based on the gender of their relationship partner. The current couple-based study focuses on the experiences of bisexual individuals in mixed-s…
Strategies for Mitigating Sexual Desire Discrepancy in Relationships
Sexual desire discrepancy, when one member of a couple experiences more or less sexual desire relative to their partner, is among the main reasons for couples to seek therapy. A great deal of prior research has examined the complexity of sexual desire and the role of sexual desire discrepancy in long-term relationships, but little research has specifically examined strategies used to mitigate sexual desire discrepancy when it arises. Thus, the pu…
Identifying the strongest self-report predictors of sexual satisfaction using machine learning
Sexual satisfaction has been robustly associated with relationship and individual well-being. Previous studies have found several individual (e.g., gender, self-esteem, and attachment) and relational (e.g., relationship satisfaction, relationship length, and sexual desire) factors that predict sexual satisfaction. The aim of the present study was to identify which variables are the strongest, and the least strong, predictors of sexual satisfactio…
Sexual consent and sexual agency of women in healthy relationships following a history of sexual trauma
Sexual consent is a crucial component of any healthy sexual relationship. Women who have experienced sexual trauma are uniquely positioned to provide insight into sexual consent given that they have lived through sexual violence in the form of non-consensual sex and can reflect upon the importance of consent. Forty-one women completed an in-depth semi-structured phone interview and their responses were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. …
The Impact of Bisexual Identity on Sexual and Relationship Satisfaction of Mixed Sex Couples
Despite advances in research into minority sexual identities, bisexual identity research has been limited. Studies conducted to date suggest that bisexuality is often perceived as a ‘transitional’ identity and bisexual individuals in relationships are often perceived to be either straight, lesbian, or gay based on the gender of their relationship partner. The current couple-based study focuses on the experiences of bisexual individuals in mixed-s…
Be free together rather than confined together
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many couples are staying at home together for an extended period. This is likely to impact couples as they navigate their responsibilities while maintaining a healthy relationship during uncertain times. We conducted qualitative research to investigate participants' perception on how relationships changed considering COVID-19 and social distancing measures. Data were collected through open-ended surveys ( n = 200) wh…
What Does It Mean to Be Responsive to a Partner’s Sexual Needs? Toward a Definition of Sexual Need Responsiveness
Being responsive to a partner’s sexual needs in relationships (i.e., sexual need responsiveness) is associated with higher sexual and relationship satisfaction. Previous research has focused on researcher-led definitions of sexual need responsiveness. The purpose of the present study was to develop a participant-informed definition of sexual need responsiveness. A total of 305 individuals responded to five open-ended questions concerning the defi…
Partner support and goal outcomes during Covid‐19
During the COVID‐19 pandemic, people have been stuck indoors with their partners for months. Having a supportive partner is likely to be especially important during this time when access to outside sources of support is limited. The present mixed‐methods study aimed to investigate how partner support is associated with goal outcomes during COVID‐19. The survey participants ( n = 200) completed a daily diary for a week and five weekly longitudinal…
Is Infidelity Predictable? Using Explainable Machine Learning to Identify the Most Important Predictors of Infidelity
Infidelity can be a disruptive event in a romantic relationship with a devastating impact on both partners' well-being. Thus, there are benefits to identifying factors that can explain or predict infidelity, but prior research has not utilized methods that would provide the relative importance of each predictor. We used a machine learning algorithm, random forest (a type of interpretable highly non-linear decision tree), to predict in-person and …
Strategies for Mitigating Sexual Desire Discrepancy in Relationships
Sexual desire discrepancy, when one member of a couple experiences more or less sexual desire relative to their partner, is among the main reasons for couples to seek therapy. A great deal of prior research has examined the complexity of sexual desire and the role of sexual desire discrepancy in long-term relationships, but little research has specifically examined strategies used to mitigate sexual desire discrepancy when it arises. Thus, the pu…
Beliefs and Attitudes Held Toward Sex Therapy and Sex Therapists
Successful negotiation of goal conflict between romantic partners predicts better goal outcomes during Covid-19
When romantic partners' personal goals conflict, this can negatively affect personal goal outcomes, such as progress. In a concurrent mixed methods study, we investigated whether goal conflict and negation of goal conflict were associated with goal outcomes (progress, confidence, motivation) and what strategies partners used during the COVID-19 pandemic to negotiate goal conflict. Survey participants ( n = 200) completed a daily diary for a week …
Sexual consent and sexual agency of women in healthy relationships following a history of sexual trauma
Sexual consent is a crucial component of any healthy sexual relationship. Women who have experienced sexual trauma are uniquely positioned to provide insight into sexual consent given that they have lived through sexual violence in the form of non-consensual sex and can reflect upon the importance of consent. Forty-one women completed an in-depth semi-structured phone interview and their responses were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. …
The Impact of Bisexual Identity on Sexual and Relationship Satisfaction of Mixed Sex Couples
Despite advances in research into minority sexual identities, bisexual identity research has been limited. Studies conducted to date suggest that bisexuality is often perceived as a ‘transitional’ identity and bisexual individuals in relationships are often perceived to be either straight, lesbian, or gay based on the gender of their relationship partner. The current couple-based study focuses on the experiences of bisexual individuals in mixed-s…
Strategies for Mitigating Sexual Desire Discrepancy in Relationships
Sexual desire discrepancy, when one member of a couple experiences more or less sexual desire relative to their partner, is among the main reasons for couples to seek therapy. A great deal of prior research has examined the complexity of sexual desire and the role of sexual desire discrepancy in long-term relationships, but little research has specifically examined strategies used to mitigate sexual desire discrepancy when it arises. Thus, the pu…
Partner support and goal outcomes during Covid‐19
During the COVID‐19 pandemic, people have been stuck indoors with their partners for months. Having a supportive partner is likely to be especially important during this time when access to outside sources of support is limited. The present mixed‐methods study aimed to investigate how partner support is associated with goal outcomes during COVID‐19. The survey participants ( n = 200) completed a daily diary for a week and five weekly longitudinal…
Is Infidelity Predictable? Using Explainable Machine Learning to Identify the Most Important Predictors of Infidelity
Infidelity can be a disruptive event in a romantic relationship with a devastating impact on both partners' well-being. Thus, there are benefits to identifying factors that can explain or predict infidelity, but prior research has not utilized methods that would provide the relative importance of each predictor. We used a machine learning algorithm, random forest (a type of interpretable highly non-linear decision tree), to predict in-person and …
Be free together rather than confined together
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many couples are staying at home together for an extended period. This is likely to impact couples as they navigate their responsibilities while maintaining a healthy relationship during uncertain times. We conducted qualitative research to investigate participants' perception on how relationships changed considering COVID-19 and social distancing measures. Data were collected through open-ended surveys ( n = 200) wh…
Partner Support and Goal Outcomes
In the meta‐analysis, we combined evidence across studies from different theoretical perspectives addressing the association between partner support (responsive, practical and negative support) and goal outcomes (self‐efficacy, commitment and progress). The sample included 195 effect sizes from 36 samples with 10,130 participants in romantic relationships. The results were analysed using a random‐effects multilevel model and the overall effect si…
What Does It Mean to Be Responsive to a Partner’s Sexual Needs? Toward a Definition of Sexual Need Responsiveness
Being responsive to a partner’s sexual needs in relationships (i.e., sexual need responsiveness) is associated with higher sexual and relationship satisfaction. Previous research has focused on researcher-led definitions of sexual need responsiveness. The purpose of the present study was to develop a participant-informed definition of sexual need responsiveness. A total of 305 individuals responded to five open-ended questions concerning the defi…
Identifying the strongest self-report predictors of sexual satisfaction using machine learning
Sexual satisfaction has been robustly associated with relationship and individual well-being. Previous studies have found several individual (e.g., gender, self-esteem, and attachment) and relational (e.g., relationship satisfaction, relationship length, and sexual desire) factors that predict sexual satisfaction. The aim of the present study was to identify which variables are the strongest, and the least strong, predictors of sexual satisfactio…
Successful negotiation of goal conflict between romantic partners predicts better goal outcomes during Covid-19
When romantic partners' personal goals conflict, this can negatively affect personal goal outcomes, such as progress. In a concurrent mixed methods study, we investigated whether goal conflict and negation of goal conflict were associated with goal outcomes (progress, confidence, motivation) and what strategies partners used during the COVID-19 pandemic to negotiate goal conflict. Survey participants ( n = 200) completed a daily diary for a week …
The impact of non-harmonious goals on partner support and taking on opportunities
Romantic partners often support each other to progress toward goals. However, at times partners’ goals are not in harmony and conflict with partner or relationship needs, leading to negative consequences for couple members. The present study examined whether non-harmonious opportunities were associated with support provider’s and recipient’s behavior, perceived partner support, and goal outcomes. We further examined whether these effects were mod…
Perceived partner phubbing predicts lower relationship quality but partners’ enacted phubbing does not
Perceptions of partner phubbing can be detrimental for romantic relationship functioning. However, research does not typically focus on couple members' reports of their own phubbing behavior and how this relates to relationship functioning. Our aim was to examine both perceptions of partner phubbing and reports of one's own enacted phubbing behavior in a dyadic diary dataset to better specify their effects on relationship functioning at the daily…
A Machine Learning Approach to Predicting Perceived Partner Support From Relational and Individual Variables
Perceiving one’s partner as supportive is considered essential for relationships, but we know little about which factors are central to predicting perceived partner support. Traditional statistical techniques are ill-equipped to compare a large number of potential predictor variables and cannot answer this question. This research used machine learning analysis (random forest with Shapley values) to identify the most salient self-report predictors…
Beliefs and Attitudes Held Toward Sex Therapy and Sex Therapists
Placing a child's or partner's needs above my own
Parent couples often struggle to maintain satisfying sex lives perhaps because partners have different priorities to balance including the self, their relationship with each other, and their relationships with their children. Given that parents are increasingly involved in supporting adult children, it is important to examine how prioritization of other's needs over one's own shapes a couple's sexual relationship. In a sample of 179 parent couple…
Investigating Relational Skills in Emerging Young Adults From a Gender Perspective
This study explores relational skills among young adults within a gender-based analytical framework. Gender norms remain deeply embedded in the socialization process, despite being widely debated in the current social context. Five focus groups were conducted with 30 participants aged 18 to 25 (20 cisgender women, 10 cisgender men). Thematic analysis identified three themes: (1) Relational blueprints and the gap between knowing and doing show exp…
Exploring How Large Language Models Understand Sexual Communication in Hypothetical Sexual Situations
Large language models (LLMs), or models which generate human like responses to people's queries, are growing in popularity and may be an additional tool to access information related to sexual communication - including sexual consent and refusals. However, whether LLMs can identify sexual communication in hypothetical situations and how this influences their understanding of whether an encounter could be consensual is unclear, despite the importa…
Help! I need somebody
Research has established distinct categories of support-seeking behaviors, including direct, indirect, emotional, and instrumental support-seeking. However, no existing scale incorporates all four types of support-seeking within romantic relationships in one measure. Understanding how individuals seek support from romantic partners is crucial for managing stress, relationship satisfaction, and well-being. We aimed to create and validate the Roman…
The Role of Artificial Intelligence in the Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence
Intimate partner and sexual violence (IPV/SV) remain pervasive global public health issues. Prevention efforts typically occur at the primary level (promoting consent and healthy relationships), secondary level (encouraging bystander intervention and screening), or tertiary level (supporting survivors through reporting and access to resources). The rapid emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, including large language models (LLMs) su…
From Friends to Lovers
Artificial intelligence (AI) companions are increasingly used for social, emotional, and sometimes romantic fulfillment, raising questions about how people perceive and engage with these technologies. This study explored attitudes toward AI companionship and whether interviewer type (AI, human, or unmoderated) affects disclosure or engagement. A mixed-methods design was employed with 135 adult participants, who completed structured interviews inc…
Attachment, Perceived Partner Phubbing, and Retaliation
OBJECTIVE: We conducted a diary study to investigate the role of adult attachment on responses to daily perceived partner phubbing in a sample of couple members (N = 196). METHOD: We focused on personal and relational well-being as well as reactions to phubbing, retaliation reports, and motives as outcomes. RESULTS: Results showed that on days when participants perceived their partner as phubbing them more, participants higher in attachment anxie…
Couples’ Coparenting and Parent-Child Relationship Quality
This study examined how daily experiences of coparenting relate to parent–child relationship quality using a dyadic daily diary design. Eighty-five heterosexual cohabiting couples (N = 170 individuals), with at least one child under 16, completed daily assessments over seven consecutive days. Participants reported on coparenting cooperation, conflict, and child involvement in conversations, as well as parent-child relationship quality. Actor-Part…
Post‐Therapy Trajectories Following Brief Systemic Couple Therapy for Parents
This study examined post-therapy trajectories among parent couples who received either the Integrative Brief Systemic Intervention (IBSI)-targeting both romantic and coparenting relationships-or Brief Systemic Therapy as usual (BST-as-usual). Based on previous results showing comparable post-treatment improvements across conditions, participants were analyzed together to identify the typical patterns of change couples follow after therapy. We ass…
Psychology (17 obras) · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics (16 obras) · Social Psychology (15 obras) · Developmental psychology (11 obras) · Social Psychology (7 obras) · Family Dynamics and Relationships (5 obras) · Medicine (5 obras) · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (4 obras) · Clinical Psychology (4 obras) · Computer Science (4 obras)