AFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION: THE ROLE OF COUPLES’ EMOTIONS IN CARDIAC PATIENT HEALTH OUTCOMES Pieczynski, Jessica Research has found emotional expression is related to relationship satisfaction and cardiac health. The association between emotional expression and these outcomes within the context of couple interactions has not been studied. This study examined the role that positive and negative affect have on the relationship satisfaction and cardiac health of couples where one individual has a cardiac illness. Forty four couples were enrolled in the study and emotional expression was coded using naïve raters. The use of naïve raters was found to be reliable for measuring general emotional constructs, but not specific emotions. The results indicated that Empathic Engagement was associated with cardiac patient mental health and physical health, but did not significantly mediate the association between relationship satisfaction and mental health. Partners’ expression of Hostility and Affection were associated with patients’ relationship satisfaction. These results underscore the importance of targeting couples communication for cardiac interventions. M.S. in Psychology, December 2011 Bach, Patricia 2011-12-12 2011-12 Thesis application/pdf islandora:7504 http://hdl.handle.net/10560/2629 PSYCH / Institute of Psychology Illinois Institute of Technology en In Copyright http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/ Restricted Access