Ann Buysse

• Professor
• Full professor at Ghent University

Objectives: We investigated how internalized homonegativity and dyadic stress predicted relationship satisfaction in same-sex romantic relationships and explored the moderating roles of dyadic coping and relationship duration in the aforementioned associations. Methods: The actor-partner interdependence moderation model (APIMoM) was introduced t...

Objective The present study conducted a meta‐analysis to synthesize the associations between sexual minority stress and relationship satisfaction, as well as to examine actor and partner effects. Background Sexual minority individuals in same‐sex couples experience various distinct and chronic stressors related to their stigmatized identities and...

Onderzoeksrapport in opdracht van de Minister van Gelijke Kansen

Dit onderzoeksrapport bouwt verder op het onderzoek van Joan Lesseliers1, Tina Goethals2 en Inge Blockmans3 rond seksualiteit en relaties aan de vakgroep Orthopedagogiek, Faculteit Psychologie en Pedagogische wetenschappen aan de UGent. Dit rapport bevat de resultaten van een exploratief onderzoek naar de vormgeving en beleving van Relationele en S...

Plastic pollution is both a societal and environmental problem and citizen science has shown to be a useful tool to engage both the public and professionals in addressing it. However, knowledge on the educational and behavioral impacts of citizen science projects focusing on marine litter remains limited. Our preregistered study investigates the im...

Objective This study examined sex and sexual orientation differences in the context of the effects of coping strategies on relationship satisfaction. Background The sex and sexual orientation differences on the association between coping strategies and relationship satisfaction are not yet fully understood. Method The participants were 3,805 Belg...

Coping strategies have been studied as protective factors against stress for individuals. However, the psychometric properties of the most widely used coping self-report questionnaires, the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS-21), have not been examined in a sexual minority population (men and women that identify as lesbian, gay, or bis...

Coastal environments are increasingly shown to have a positive effect on our health and well-being. Various mechanisms have been suggested to explain this effect. However, so far little focus has been devoted to emotions that might be relevant in this context, especially for people who are directly or indirectly exposed to the coast on a daily basi...

The concepts of critical reflection and reflexivity currently occupy a prominent space in social work education. Nevertheless, there is a need for more evidence on how these concepts are conceptualised and enacted in concrete social work teaching contexts. In this paper, we develop a rhetorical approach to critical and reflexive social work educati...

Based on the fact that most research drawn from the minority stress theory on the association between minority stress and relationship satisfaction has focused on an individual perspective rather than a dyadic perspective, and the limited evidence of the systemic transactional model (STM) explore the topics of same-sex couples. This study aims to c...

The number and type of collaborations between researchers and stakeholders has increased significantly. This responds to the demand from policymakers, funders, and citizens that researchers should help to tackle important social issues (e.g. climate change, healthy aging). However, there is little knowledge about how collaboration processes are exp...

There is increasing evidence that blue spaces, particularly coastal environments, are beneficial for well-being. During the first-wave lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium, access to the coast was restricted due to restraint in circulation. Making use of this unique opportunity, this study investigated whether access and visits to the coast...

Background : This study aimed to investigate disparities in sleep quality between sexual minority and heterosexual college students, and to examine the serial multiple mediation effects of interpersonal relationships and depressive symptoms on sexual minority disparities in sleep quality. We also explored the sex differences in the mediating effect...

This paper examines how an intersection of critical cultural disability studies and rhetorical studies can inform a critical education on ‘mental health (problems)’ for psychology students. Building on cultural theories of disability/impairment, a conception of ‘mental health (problems)’ as culturally constituted is introduced. We propose the rheto...

While attachment at an early age is almost exclusively determined by parental behavior, variation in the quality of attachment in adolescence seems strong to be influenced by the complex interplay between the adolescent's internal working model and its environment. To unravel the different sources of variance in adolescent attachment relationships...

Although internalized homonegativity (IH) in lesbian, gay, or bisexual people (LGBs) predicts adverse relationship satisfaction, this association has typically only been examined on an individual level. Moreover, studies often ignore potential mechanisms that underlie sex differences. One of these mechanisms is related to visibility management (i.e...

Globally, there are growing calls for Higher Education Institutions to become more civically engaged and socially relevant while increasing public interest in the impact of universities on their localities and regions. Engaged Learning facilitates students to apply theory to real-world contexts outside of the University and to co-produce knowledge...

Background: Sexual minority status and childhood gender nonconformity have been associated with elevated risks of childhood adversities and poorer mental health. Objective: To explore how abuse and bullying explain the disparities in the associations of sexual minority status and childhood gender nonconformity with adulthood depressive symptoms in...

Minority Stress in lesbian, gay, and bisexual people (LGBs) might have detrimental effects on relationship satisfaction. However, less is known regarding the potential mechanisms among the association above in LGBs’ romantic relationships. In the present study, we investigated the spillover and buffering impact of minority stress on relationship sa...

Background Up to 2018, the Belgian law stated that transgender people who wanted to change their legal sex had to undergo physical gender affirming treatment. This included gonadectomy to a medically possible and justified extent, which entailed that they had to accept the fact that they could no longer reproduce. However, research has shown that m...

In this study, we aim to contribute to the field of critical health communication research by examining how notions of mental health and illness are discursively constructed in newspapers and magazines in six European countries and how these constructions relate to specific understandings of mental health literacy. Using the method of cluster-agon...

Background: Mental healthcare is an important component in societies' response to mental health problems. Although the World Health Organization highlights availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of healthcare as important cornerstones, many Europeans lack access to mental healthcare of high quality. Qualitative studies exploring me...

The current study examined the respective role of stepfamily members' individual characteristics and their dyadic relationships in stepfamily members' perceptions of mattering to one another. Parents, stepparents, and adolescents from 86 stepfamilies participated. Applying social relations model analyses, several trends emerged regarding the relati...

Background: The mental healthcare treatment gap (mhcGAP) in adult populations has been substantiated across Europe. This study formed part of MentALLY, a research project funded by the European Commission, which aimed to gather qualitative empirical evidence to support the provision of European mental healthcare that provides effective treatment t...

Objective To explore fathers' experiences as biological parents in father–stepmother families. Background Biological parents play an important role in the formation and development of stepfamily relationships, but little is known about fathers in stepfamilies. Method In‐person interviews were conducted with 10 Belgian fathers. Interviews were ana...

Introduction: A lot of attention has been given to the quest of parents, children and donors to find donor siblings (= half siblings who share the same donor gametes but who are born in different families). However, literature is scarce about the use of the same sperm donor for subsequent children in the same family. Methods: This study included 68...

The way in which heterosexual couples manage information about infertility and donor insemination within their social networks has not yet been explored in-depth. This study focuses on how parents and aspiring parents manage information about infertility and donor insemination within their social networks. Fifteen Belgian couples were interviewed a...

Visibility management (VM) refers to the regulation of disclosure of one’s sexual orientation for the purposes of maintaining privacy as well as minimizing stigma, harm, or marginalization. Research on how lesbian women and gay men (LGs) manage the visibility of their sexual orientation in the workplace is scarce. In this study, we tested a model t...

The family social relations model (SRM) is applied to identify the sources of variance in interpersonal dispositions in families, but the antecedents or consequences of those sources are rarely investigated. Simultaneous modeling of the SRM with antecedents or consequences using structural equation modeling (SEM) allows to do so, but may become com...

Although qualitative research about couples and families is becoming increasingly widespread, the aspect of data analysis remains largely underrepresented in the literature. In this methodological paper, we outline one specific approach to data analysis in the context of multi family member interview studies. Inspired by Interpretative Phenomenolog...

Research has shown that the recipients of donor sperm can experience difficulties finding appropriate language to refer to the donor. Based on two qualitative analysis techniques, namely word count and empirical discourse analysis, we studied the words used to refer to the donor in heterosexual and lesbian (aspiring) parents and in donor conceived...

Support is key to healthy family functioning. Using the family social relations model (SRM), it has already been shown that variability in perceived support is mostly attributed to individual perceiver effects. Little is known, however, as to whether those effects are stable or occasion-specific. Several methods have been proposed within the struct...

The present review examines how stepfamily members without a shared history co-construct a shared family identity and what family processes are relevant in this stepfamily formation. Three databases (Web of Science, PsycInfo, and ProQuest) were systematically searched, resulting in 20 included qualitative studies. The meta-ethnography approach of N...

In literature, disclosure of donor conception in lesbian families has been considered an obvious and straightforward event. However, little is known about the ways in which donor conception is discussed in planned lesbian co-mother families. This study focuses on the process of parent–child communication about the donor conception on a within-famil...

In this study the characteristics of the sexual debut of men who have sex with men (MSM) and men who have sex with women (MSW) age 35 or younger (N = 1,201) were compared with one another. We investigated whether these characteristics were associated with sexual health and behavior, and to what extent. Compared to MSW, MSM tended to be older when t...

Although intra‐familial egg donation has been practiced for more than 15 years in several countries, little is known about family relationships in this family type. Framed within the new kinship studies, this article focuses on the experiential dimension of kinship in sister‐to‐sister egg donation families: how is kinship ‘unpacked’ and ‘reconstruc...

Objectives: Male partners are often involved in induced abortion although they have no legal rights. It is, however, unknown how women's thoughts and feelings regarding the decision for abortion are associated with the decisional experiences of the involved male partners and vice versa. Methods: Flemish women and their involved male partners (IM...

Objective: To describe the decisions lesbian couples make when creating a family through donor insemination [DI] and to explore the negotiations between the biological and the non-biological mother. Methods: We included 18 lesbian parents (9 biological and 9 non-biological mothers) with at least one child (7-10 years old) conceived through anony...

Objective: This study aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences of genetic ties in intrafamily oocyte donation families. Background: Previous research has shown that most mothers have a good and stable relationship with their donor. Little is known about the meaning of the difference in genetic ties for parents who conceived throug...

Research about the experience and position of stepfathers in stepfamilies is scarce. Using data from semi-structured interviews with eight stepfathers, we aim to explore how stepfathers experience family life and their relationships with their (step)children and extended family members (biological father and grandparents), as well as how they descr...

Bij gezinstransities moeten grenzen, samenlevingsvormen en rollen heronderhandeld worden. Dat gaat vaak niet vanzelf. Niet in het minst omdat er geen universele norm voor bestaat. Een aantal decennia geleden was scheiding uitzonderlijk en moeilijk zodat het wel vaker aanleiding gaf tot een gevecht met lange, aversieve gerechtelijke procedures waari...

The present study examined how support providers’ empathic dispositions (dispositional perspective taking, empathic concern, and personal distress) as well as their situational empathic reactions (interaction-based perspective taking, empathic concern, and personal distress) relate to the provision of spousal support during observed support interac...

Findings on women’s sexuality across the menstrual cycle are inconsistent. One relatively consistent finding is a mid-cycle and premenstrual peak in sexual desire in freely cycling women. Results on the cycle-related effects of sexual behaviour are less clear. Large proportions of reproductive-aged women use combined oral contraception (COC), but s...

In this qualitative evidence synthesis, we explore how family relationships are experienced by parents who used gamete donation to conceive. We systematically searched four databases (PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and ProQuest) for literature related to this topic and retrieved 25 studies. Through the analysis of the qualitative studies, a comp...

To evaluate changes in body mass index (BMI) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), including an acne parameter, of overweight adult women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) during a lifestyle modification program. Prospective longitudinal within-patient study. Department of Reproductive Medicine of the Ghent University Hospital (Belgium)....

Objectives To identify contraceptive profiles, and factors affecting these, among women of childbearing age, living in Flanders. Methods The prevalence of knowledge and use of the emergency contraceptive pill (ECP) and contraceptive use is assessed in two samples from the SEXPERT-survey ‘Sexual health in Flanders’: (i) a population-based sample (n=...

Abstract This study investigated unwanted pursuit behavior (UPB) perpetration in 631 adult ex-partners. UPB involves the unwanted pursuit of intimacy, a widespread and usually less severe form of stalking. The occurrence and various risk fac- tors of UPB perpetration were examined, accounting for dif- ferences between male and female ex-partners an...

Although children from lesbian families appear to make a distinction between a residential father and a donor, defining these two concepts seems to be a challenge. They need to appeal to more familiar concepts such as the hetero-normative concept of 'mother' to give a definition of the unfamiliar concepts they are confronted with. The study is base...

Gender nonconformity refers to the extent to which a person’s gender identity, gender role and/or gender expression differs from the cultural norms prescribed for people of a particular sex, within a certain society and era. Most data on gender nonconformity focus on the prevalence of gender dysphoria (which also includes a distress factor) or on t...

The aim of this qualitative study was to explore how recipients viewed payment of sperm donors. The study was conducted in Belgium, where, as in many countries, sperm donors receive recompense for their time and expenses. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with 34 heterosexual and lesbian couples who, at the time of data collect...

In the literature, relatively little attention has been paid to the meaning of donor involvement in the intimate couple dyad. The current study aimed to enrich our understanding of couples' meaning-making regarding the anonymous sperm donor and how they dealt with the donor involvement. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine couples, w...

Research shows that experiences with intimate partner violence (IPV) harm victims’ individual well-being. Surprisingly, little is known about how IPV might impact on victims’ well-being at the relationship level. Based on a population-based study in Flanders (the Northern part of Belgium), this study concentrates on how lifetime experience with IPV...

This study focused on intimate partner violence (IPV) among non-heterosexuals in Flanders. Prevalence rates were explored and compared with heterosexual IPV using a first representative sample consisting of 1690 heterosexuals and non-heterosexual individuals. A second convenience sample consisting of 2401 non-heterosexual individuals was used to de...

This study investigated unwanted pursuit behavior (UPB) perpetration in 631 adult ex-partners. UPB involves the unwanted pursuit of intimacy, a widespread and usually less severe form of stalking. The occurrence and various risk factors of UPB perpetration were examined, accounting for differences between male and female ex-partners and same- and o...

How are objective characteristics of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and PCOS-related concerns associated with the sexual and relational satisfaction of PCOS women and their partners? Both objective PCOS characteristics (parity, women's body mass index (BMI) and current unfulfilled wish to conceive) and PCOS-related concerns (women's infertility-r...

The present study examined the prevalence of lifetime experiences of physical and psychological intimate partner violence (IPV) among members of the Turkish ethnic minority population in Flanders. In addition, this study explored how lifetime IPV victimization affects ethnic minority victims’ current mental, relational, and sexual well-being. Using...

In this qualitative study, we explore how lesbian recipients view and experience the selection of their anonymous sperm donor. The study was conducted in Belgium, where fertility centres follow a legal protocol that severely restricts personal choice in donor selection. While previous studies have shown that recipients want greater control and inpu...

In this qualitative study of 10 lesbian couples who built their families through anonymous donor conception, we explore how lesbian parents experience communication about the donor conception within the family. While for these families "disclosure" of donor conception is often seen as evident, the way parents and children discuss this subject and h...

Objective: In this qualitative study, we investigate how lesbian couples experience and deal with the difference in genetic relatedness in their family. Background: Previous research showed that lesbian couples handle the difference with regard to genetic relatedness by, for instance, creating a narrative about physical resemblances or by focusing...

As part of a large sexual health study, we used two different approaches to target Sexual Minority Individuals (SMIs). Firstly, we drew on a probability sample (1,832 respondents aged 14-80) of the Flemish population in Belgium. Secondly, we set up a targeted sampling design followed by an Internet survey. Our focus was to explore how two different...

The actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) has been widely used for the analysis of pairs of individuals who interact with each other. The goal of this article is to detail in a nontechnical way how the APIM for binary or count outcomes can be implemented and how actor and partner effects can be estimated using generalized estimating equations...

What meanings do lesbian couples construct regarding their sperm donor? For some parents, the donor was increasingly presented as a person, whereas for other parents, the donor was seen as an instrument from the moment they received the sperm donation. Few studies specifically focus on how lesbian couples deal with the issue of third-party anonymou...

Research on intimate partner violence (IPV) using national samples is important to guide prevention efforts. However, the latest prevalence estimates for Belgium date from more than ten years ago. Therefore, this study used population-based cross-sectional data (N = 1,472) to assess to what extent adult women and men in Belgium experienced psycholo...

In the social sciences, mediation analysis has typically been formulated in the context of linear models using the Baron & Kenny (1986)2. Baron , R. M. and Kenny , D. A. 1986. The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psycho...

Recent Belgian policy changes led to progressive shared parenting, mediation, and no-fault legislation. However, little is known about the practices and policy preferences of the implicated professionals. The present study surveyed 664 Flemish divorce lawyers, mental health professionals, and mediators. The majority of professionals supports no-fau...

In contrast to mediation outcome studies, there is a lack of research on mediation processes. In response, this article explores mediators' styles and goals and their determinants, such as the mediators' professional background and client characteristics. Survey data of 359 divorce professionals were analyzed with the use of multiple regression ana...

Gender nonconformity refers to the extent to which a person’s gender identity, gender role and/or gender expression differs from the cultural norms prescribed for people of a particular sex, within a certain society and time. Most data on the prevalence of gender nonconformity only focus on the prevalence of gender dysphoria (which also includes a...

An emerging consensus argues for the importance of spousal support in our understanding of how relationships succeed or fail. This report covers two studies that examined support seeking, support provision and support perception in distressed married couples. In S tudy 1 a total of seventy distressed and seventy non‐distressed couples participated...

The aim of the present study was to investigate (a) how intergenerational influence takes form within families with a child with a disability, and (b) the extent to which positive and negative influence - as perceived by family members - within and across generations, is predictive of family members' subjective quality of life. The study involved 6...

Study question It's a preliminary report to clarify motivations of intended surrogate mothers and ?experienced? surrogates and, taking into consideration their background, specify if their main motive is an altruistic wish to help childless people to become parents, either it's all about money, or the surrogates are driven by combination of differe...

Study question What are the UK public's views on the social and ethical impact of making mitochondria replacement techniques (maternal spindle transfer and pronuclear transfer) available to patients? Summary answer The majority of people consider that, if these techniques are proven safe to use, the benefits associated with them outweigh the possi...

Objective The value of mandatory pre-abortion counselling for women seeking abortions has been repeatedly questioned. The aim of this study was to explore the perspectives and feelings of almost 1000 women regarding pre-abortion counselling in Flanders. Methods Participating women (N = 971) - all requesting an abortion at one of the five Flemish ab...

Study question In this study, we will look back on the decision about who will be the biological mother (and thus on the internal distribution of social and genetic parenthood) in lesbian couples ten years after treatment: what decisions did they make and how do they talk about them now? Summary answer Agreements about who would gestate the child...

Study question How do lesbian parents discuss the donor conception with their school-age children? How is this dialogical process between parents and children described by the parents? Summary answer Some lesbian parents participating in this study seem to wait for their children to ask questions about their conception. This guarantees them that t...

Study question The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the Positive Reappraisal Coping Intervention (PRCI) on general anxiety and depression of women awaiting the results of an IVF/ICSI treatment. Summary answer Women rated PRCI as easy to use, helpful and practical but PRCI did not have a marked effect on anxiety and depression usin...

Unwanted pursuit behavior (UPB) refers to a wide range of repeated, unwanted, and privacy-violating intrusions that are inflicted to pursue an intimate or romantic relationship. These behaviors most often occur when partners end their romantic entanglements. Despite the fact that UPB is grounded in relationships, psychological explanations for post...

Little is known about the factors that influence satisfactory divorce settlements. We assumed that feelings of guilt toward the former partner might - directly or indirectly be one of these factors. Feelings of guilt, which often occur in divorce, elicit cooperative negotiation behaviour. We hypothesised that guilt, mediated by cooperative negotiat...

The objective of this article was to develop and psychometrically evaluate a self-report instrument that would assess interpersonal influence in families. The Influence in Families Questionnaire (IFQ) was developed as a 16-item scale which assesses both positive and negative influence. The IFQ and its subscales, when administered to a sample of 581...

Since very little research in this field is available, this study aims to assess the role of psychosexual, relationship, hormonal and genetic measures in the sexual desire of users of three hormonal contraceptive products [low-dose combined oral contraceptive (20 mcg ethinylestradiol/150 mcg desogestrel), progestin-only pill (75 mcg desogestrel) an...

Studies have reported that mediation has higher settlement rates than litigation. The quality of these agreements as experienced by the parties as well as the processes that contribute to this subjective experience remains underexamined, however. In a large, representative, and multidisciplinary study of divorcing couples, we studied the relationsh...