Josh R Novak

Education

Research

Family as the Proximal Context for Health Behavior Change and Illness Management

My research centers on the intersection of family relationships and health, with a particular focus on couple dynamics. Across this work, I demonstrate that relationship processes are inseparable from health, positioning the family as the primary context in which health behaviors and illness management occur.

General Health Behavior Processes

My research examines how couple dynamics shape key health behaviors, including diet, sleep, and physical activity. This work highlights how partners influence one another through processes such as dietary dynamics (e.g., foodwork roles, undermining, intuitive eating), sleep concordance and conflict, and shared or individual physical activity. Across diverse couples, findings consistently show that health behaviors are deeply embedded in relational and socioecological contexts. Recent work on joint health behaviors identifies shared engagement as a key mechanism linking relationship functioning and health outcomes. Collectively, these studies underscore the importance of dyadic processes and suggest that effective health behavior change efforts should leverage, rather than ignore, relationship dynamics.

Relationships in Disease and Illness Management

I extend this work into acute and chronic illness contexts, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, aging, and dementia. This research demonstrates that illness management is inherently interpersonal: supportive relationships can buffer against disease burden, whereas strained dynamics can undermine health behaviors and worsen outcomes.

In parallel, I examine family member involvement in chronic illness, identifying distinct patterns of engagement, distress, and appraisal. My work also includes intervention development and evaluation, such as an ACT-based program for dementia caregivers and a couple-based relationship education program for chronic illness, both of which show improvements in psychological, relational, and health-related outcomes. Additionally, I critique current family-based interventions for often lacking theoretical grounding, excluding key family subsystems, and overlooking the interconnected health of family members.

Overall, this body of work identifies key risk and protective factors, clarifies when health behavior change succeeds or fails, and highlights the need for dyadic and family-level prevention and intervention approaches.

Health Behaviors and the Link between Cognitive, Emotional, and Social Health in Therapy Contexts

Building from this research, my clinical scholarship advances frameworks for integrating health behaviors—diet, sleep, and exercise—into therapy. I believe systemic therapists should highlight the importance of sleep for mental, emotional, and relational health and provide guidance for assessment, psychoeducation, sleep hygiene, referral, and collaboration with healthcare providers. Similarly, systemic therapists can convey that physical activity is an important component of psychological, cognitive, emotional, and social well-being and need to learn more than basic competencies for how to assess and address physical activity while collaborating with other health professionals. Finally, systemic therapists can emphasize the relationship between nutrition, metabolic health, and psychosocial functioning and understand strategies for assessment, psychoeducation, referral, and collaboration with nutrition professionals. Collectively, these papers demonstrate a commitment to biopsychosocial-spiritual, interdisciplinary approaches to healthcare and provide a foundation for preparing behavioral health professionals to work effectively within interprofessional teams around interconnected issues of sleep, physical activity, nutrition, mental health, and family functioning. These conceptual contributions articulate why and how MFTs should address these domains, providing guidance on assessment, psychoeducation, clinical communication, and interdisciplinary collaboration. This body of work also outlines implications for training and future research, with the goal of identifying how optimizing health behaviors can enhance therapeutic outcomes.

Teaching

My teaching is grounded in a commitment to integrating rigorous scholarship, clinical practice, and applied learning. I have taught undergraduate and graduate courses across marriage and family therapy, mental health, addiction, medical family therapy, couples and sex therapy, systemic assessment and treatment, and research methods. I also mentor students through clinical internships and practica, independent research, theses, and dissertations, providing individualized opportunities to connect classroom learning with research and professional practice.

Prior Professional Positions

Awards

Editorial Appointments

Areas of Expertise

• Close Relationships, Relationship Intervention, Relationship Functioning
• Dyadic/Family-Level Health Behaviors, Disease Management, and Lifestyle Change
• Interprofessional Collaboration

Current Classes

Graduate Courses:

HDFS 8060: Contemporary Family Theories Across the Lifespan

Undergraduate Courses:

HDFS 2900H: Healthcare is a Team Sport - Service Learning

Current Research

Current and Upcoming Projects:

1. Risk and Resilience in Gender and Sexual Minority Relationships
2. Couple Relationships Across Disease Contexts
3. Outcomes from Partner/Family Participation in Healthcare
4. Multi-level Outcomes from Family Therapists in Healthcare settings

Journal Articles

Selected Peer Review Articles: 

Novak, J. R., Robinson, L. R.*, Wei, M.*, Burke, L., & Adler-Baeder, F. (2025). Lessons From the Field: Developing and Piloting a CRE Program for Couples with Chronic Illnesses. Family Relations, 74(4), 1591-1603. (90%; IF = 2.2). http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.13166

Novak, J. R. & Miller, K. (2025). “Cuddle Buddies”: Couples’ Sleep Position Closeness at Onset is Indirectly Related to Lower Couple Insecure Attachment Through Lower Couple Perceived Stress. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 42(4), 1102-1118. (80%; IF = 2.3). https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075251315478

Novak, J. R., Miller, K.**, Gunn, H. E., & Troxel, W. M. (2024). Development of the Couples Sleep Conflict Scale: A New Tool to Assess Conflict around Sleep in Romantic Relationships. Sleep Health, 10(3), 308-315. (75%; IF = 4.207). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2024.01.009

Novak, J. R., Miller, K.**, Gunn, H. E., & Troxel, W. M. (2024). Yours, Mine, or Ours? Examining Dyadic Sleep Hygiene and Associations with Sleep Quality, Emotional Distress, and Conflict Frequency in Mixed-Gender, Bed-Sharing Couples. Journal of Sleep Research, 33(3), e14047. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.14047 (80%; IF = 4.4).

Novak, J. R., August, K., Wei, M.*, Peak, T, Gast, J., & Miyairi, M. (2023). Examining Exercise Specific Relational Processes on Exercise, Emotional Distress, and Relationship Quality among Heterosexual and Gay Male Couples. Journal of Health Psychology, 28(9), 804-817. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053221150351 (65%; IF= 3.789).

Novak, J. R., Wilson, S. J., Ermer, A. E., & Harper, J. M. (2023). Aging Together: Dyadic Profiles of Older Couples’ Marital Quality, Psychological Well-Being, and Physical Health. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 40(6), 1897-1919. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075221135451 (80%; IF = 3.039).

Novak, J. R., Pratt, K., Hernandez, D. C., & Berge, J. M. (2023). Family Systems and Obesity: A review of key concepts and influences within and between family subsystems and a call for Family-Informed Interventions. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 15(1), 38–56. http://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12474 (65%; IF = 3.833).

Novak, J. R., August, K., Kavookjian, J., Whitely, H., & Burnett, D. O. (2023). Exploring Typologies of Type 2 Family Members’ Illness Appraisals, Involvement, and Psychological Distress. Journal of Health Psychology, 28(2), 133–148. (85%; IF = 3.789). http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/13591053221115326

¥Novak, J. R., & Ellis, F.* (2021). A Framework for Incorporating Physical Activity in Treatment: Competencies, Guidelines, and Implications for Family Therapists. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 48(2), 523-542. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12550 (95%; ISI impact factor = 2.379; 2020).

¥Novak, J. R., Robinson, L. R.*, & Korn, L. E. (2021). What LMFTs Should Know About Nutrition, Mental Health, and Collaborative Care with Nutrition Professionals. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 48(2), 502-522. http://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12540 (85%; ISI impact factor = 2.379; 2020).

¥Novak, J. R. & Gillis, B.T.* (2021). A Primer on Sleep for MFTs: Implications and practical considerations. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 48(2), 543-559. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12528. (75%; ISI impact factor = 2.379; 2020).

¥AAMFT 2022 Outstanding Research Publication Award for “Bioregulation and the MFT”

Novak, J. R., Anderson, J. R., Johnson, M. D., Walker, A., Wilcox, A., Lewis, V. L., & Robbins, D. C. (2017). Associations between economic pressure and diabetes efficacy in couples with type 2 diabetes. Family Relations, 66(2), 273-286. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/fare.12246. (65%; ISI Impact factor = 1.727; 2016).

Novak, J. R., Anderson, J. R., Johnson, M. D., Hardy, N., Walker, A., Wilcox, A., Lewis, V. L., & Robbins, D. C. (2017). Does personality matter in diabetes adherence?: Exploring the pathways between neuroticism and patient adherence in couples with type 2 diabetes. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 9(2), 207-227. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12087 (65%; ISI Impact factor = 2.351; 2016).