Development, Conjugalities and Sexual Wellbeing

Code:

PDSH06

Acronym:

DCBES

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Psychology

Instance: 2023/2024 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Psychology
Course/CS Responsible:	Doctoral Programme in Human Sexuality

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
PDSH	11	Plano de Estudos em vigor	1	-	3	14	81

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

* familiarize students with different questions inherent to the couples' dialectical process as a whole
* sensitize to situating the couple's life cycle transitions when analyzing dyadic sexuality
* promote a critical view on the specifities inherent to research in this domain, taking into consideration the ethical and methodological questions of dyadic research
* foster a the use of a dynamic perspective between intimacy and sexuality, framing the biological, social and cultural dimensions of sexuality within the dyadic life cycle.

Learning outcomes and competences

1. critical thinking on dyadic research and relationship theories
2. dyadic hypothesis skills
3. specific tools, techniques and strategies used in contemporary research to analyze the relationship between relationship quality and sexuality

Working method

Presencial

Program

1.Sexuality in the context of relationships: intertwined concepts with distinct research traditions

2. The dialectic process of sexuality and its interaction with biological, psychological and contextual (distal and proximal) factors

3. The systemic approach and its importance to the understanding of marital relationships;
3.1. Psychosocial development: identity and intimacy
3.2. Bowen's model: fusion and differentiation
3.3. sexuality within normative transitions, non-normative transitions, and non-events

4. Specificities in formulating research questions, collecting data, ethical considerations, statistical analyses, and discussion of findings when considering the couple as unit of analysis.

Mandatory literature

Butzer, B. & Campbell, L. ; Adult attachment, sexual satisfaction, and relationship satisfaction: A study of married couples. Personal relationships, Personal Relationships, 15 (1), 141-154, 2008
Metz, Michael E., and Barry W. McCarthy; The “Good-Enough Sex” model for couple sexual satisfaction, Sexual and Relationship Therapy 22(3), 351-362, 2007
Deborah L. Tolman; APA handbook of sexuality and psychology. ISBN: 978-1-4338-1369-6 (Vol. 1: Person-based approaches. (pp. 269-315))

Complementary Bibliography

Gameiro José; Entre marido e mulher.... ISBN: 972-99110-5-7
Schulz Marc S. 340; Strengthening couple relationships for optimal child development. ISBN: 978-1-4338-0547-9
Gurman Alan S. 340; Clinical handbook of couple therapy. ISBN: 1-57230-758-7
McGoldrick Monica; The^expanding family life cycle. ISBN: 978-0-205-96806-0

Teaching methods and learning activities

The contact hours with students will have both a theoretical and practical component, involving i) the exposure of contents and discussion with contributes from both the teacher and students; ii) the development of the course project in class, with feedback from the teacher and colleagues. 

keywords

Health sciences > Medical sciences > Medicine > Sexology

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Trabalho prático ou de projeto	100,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

designation	Time (hours)
Elaboração de projeto	27,00
Estudo autónomo	15,00
Frequência das aulas	14,00
Trabalho de investigação	25,00
Total:	81,00

Eligibility for exams

The student must be present in 75% of the given lectures. Approval requires a minimum grade of 10 points.

Calculation formula of final grade

To obtain approval, students (groups of 2) should write the outline of a research project considering the specificities ineherent to the dyadic nature of human sexuality. The theme can be chosen by the team. 

Grades are presented on a 0 to 20 scale.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Follows the general rules of FPCEUP (cf. art. 11).

Classification improvement

Follows the general rules of FPCEUP (cf. art. 11). The improvement of the final mark is possible on the written component.