Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy· 2026Q2
Relational Achievement: Clinical Principles for Fostering Mental Health in Voluntarily and Involuntarily Childless Marriages
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- Q2SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Childless couples (n=50) achieve mental health through shared meaning-making, emotion regulation, and boundary management, with younger couples actively negotiating stigma and older couples integrating identity.
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Key points
- Childless couples (n=50) utilize shared meaning-making, emotion regulation, and boundary management for mental health.
- Younger couples (5-10 years) focus on negotiating stigma.
- Senior couples (>10 years) achieve stable identity integration.
- An affirmative-relational framework is proposed, challenging deficit-based perspectives.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
This qualitative study explores relational principles sustaining mental health among 25 childless Indonesian couples (n = 50). Using thematic analysis of dyadic narratives, three mechanisms were identified: shared meaning-making, dyadic emotion regulation, and strategic boundary management. Findings reveal temporal shifts: younger couples (5–10 years) actively negotiate stigma, while senior couples (>10 years) achieve stable identity integration. These results challenge deficit-based perspectives, offering an affirmative-relational framework for couple therapy. Practitioners should emphasize shared meaning and relational autonomy to foster resilience in pronatalist contexts.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Demography
DemographySocial Sciences