Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science (JCBS)
Volume 16, April 2020, Pages 199-208
Authors
Adam M. Kuczynski, Jonathan W. Kanter, Chad T. Wetterneck, Fabián O. Olaz, R. Sonia Singh, Eric B. Lee, Tara J. Stowe, Trevor G. Mazzucchelli, Judy Mier-Chairez, Daniel W.M. Maitland, Katherine E. Manbeck, Mariah D. Corey
Abstract
High quality relationships are essential to psychological health and well-being, and relational intimacy is a core feature of these relationships. Decades of research in relationship science have converged on a central model of intimacy wherein individuals develop close, trusting relationships with one another. Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) is a contextual behavioral intervention approach that is well-equipped to target interpersonal processes through the provision of in-session, therapist mediated reinforcement of skillful intimate relating. Single-subject level analyses of FAP's efficacy and mechanism of action are supportive; however, there is a need for group-level research to evaluate its efficacy and generalizability. This paper presents the development of the Awareness, Courage, and Responsiveness Scale (ACRS), a self-report measure of behaviors essential to intimate relating informed by contextual behavioral science principles and Reis and Shaver's (1988) Intimacy Process Model. In this five-part study, functioning of the ACRS is examined in undergraduate student samples (Studies 1–3), an adult community sample (Study 3), non-clinical dyadic relationships (Study 4), and a transdiagnostic clinical sample (Study 5). Strengths and limitations of the final measure are discussed.