Rodrigues David L, Balzarini Rhonda N
Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, CIS-Iscte, Av. das Forças Armadas, 1649-026 Lisboa, Portugal.
Department of Psychology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA.
Eur J Investig Health Psychol Educ. 2023 Feb 15;13(2):460-471. doi: 10.3390/ejihpe13020035.
Research has shown mixed findings regarding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on relationship and sexual quality and activity. We argue that some of these findings might be understood considering people's predisposition to maintain safety (i.e., prevention focus) or take risks (i.e., promotion focus), and sharing concerns with one's partner about the pandemic. A longitudinal study ( = 153) tested if regulatory focus before the pandemic (November 2019) was associated with relationship quality, sexual quality, and joint sexual activity later on (June 2020) and whether these effects were moderated by shared concerns over the pandemic. Results showed that participants more focused on prevention experienced higher relationship quality later on, but also less sexual quality and less frequent joint sexual activity, when they shared fewer (vs. more) concerns with their partner. In contrast, participants more focused on promotion experienced higher relationship quality later on when they shared more (vs. less) concerns with their partner. These results indicate how individuals' regulatory focus and shared concerns in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can have downstream consequences on people's relational and sexual dynamics. We offer insights for mental health professionals to improve psychosocial health and well-being when people are faced with critical events.
关于新冠疫情对人际关系及性质量和性活动的影响，研究结果不一。我们认为，考虑到人们维持安全（即预防焦点）或冒险（即促进焦点）的倾向，以及与伴侣分享对疫情的担忧，或许可以理解其中的一些研究结果。一项纵向研究（n = 153）检验了疫情之前（2019年11月）的调节焦点是否与后来（2020年6月）的人际关系质量、性质量和共同性活动相关，以及这些影响是否会受到对疫情的共同担忧的调节。结果显示，更关注预防的参与者后来人际关系质量更高，但当他们与伴侣分享的担忧较少（而非较多）时，性质量较低，共同性活动频率也较低。相比之下，更关注促进的参与者当与伴侣分享的担忧较多（而非较少）时，后来人际关系质量更高。这些结果表明，在诸如新冠疫情这样的危机时期，个体的调节焦点和共同担忧如何会对人们的人际关系和性互动产生后续影响。我们为心理健康专业人员提供见解，以便在人们面临重大事件时改善其心理社会健康和幸福感。
