Cornelius Talea, DiGiovanni Ana, Scott Allie W, Bolger Niall
Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA.
J Soc Pers Relat. 2022 Dec;39(12):3638-3659. doi: 10.1177/02654075221106391. Epub 2022 Jun 2.
COVID-19 has had a profound impact on relationship functioning, though effects have been heterogeneous. Reasons for divergent effects on relationship functioning remain unclear. Theoretical models suggest that it is not just stress exposure that leads to adverse relationships outcomes, but also subjective response to these stressors. Using data from a 14-day intensive longitudinal study of romantic dyads, we hypothesized that COVID-19-related distress would adversely impact one's own and one's partner's report of relationship functioning, on average. Interdependence at the between-couple and within-couple level was also examined.
Participants were 104 female-male romantic couples cohabiting the New York metropolitan area ( = 28.86, = 7.69) between August 2020 - April 2021. Couples reported COVID-19 distress during a baseline interview and daily relationship functioning for 14 days. Multilevel models were specified for six outcomes simultaneously: female and male partner daily physical intimacy, emotional intimacy, and loneliness. Interrelationships of the intercepts of the six outcomes were specified, reflecting between-couple associations of each partner's stable outcome tendencies. Interrelationships of the daily residuals of the six outcomes were also specified, reflecting within-couple associations at the daily level.
Female partner COVID-19 distress was inversely associated with her own emotional and physical intimacy and positively associated with her own and her partner's loneliness. Male COVID-19 distress was associated with his own loneliness only. There was significant interdependence at the between- and within-couple level, such that greater loneliness in either partner was associated with less intimacy in each member of the couple.
Only one partner effect for COVID-19 distress emerged, such that female partner distress was associated with male partner loneliness; however, interdependence at the between- and within-couple level suggested that distress may adversely impact relational well-being over time. Future studies should examine reciprocal relationships between COVID-19-related distress and relationship functioning.
新冠疫情对人际关系功能产生了深远影响，尽管影响存在异质性。人际关系功能产生不同影响的原因尚不清楚。理论模型表明，导致不良人际关系结果的不仅仅是压力暴露，还有对这些压力源的主观反应。我们利用一项对浪漫伴侣进行的为期14天的密集纵向研究的数据，假设与新冠疫情相关的困扰平均会对自己和伴侣的人际关系功能报告产生不利影响。我们还研究了伴侣间和伴侣内层面的相互依赖关系。
参与者为2020年8月至2021年4月期间居住在纽约大都市地区的104对异性恋浪漫伴侣（平均年龄=28.86岁，标准差=7.69）。伴侣们在基线访谈中报告了新冠疫情困扰情况，并在14天内每日报告人际关系功能。针对六个结果同时指定了多层次模型：女性和男性伴侣的每日身体亲密感、情感亲密感和孤独感。指定了六个结果截距的相互关系，反映了每个伴侣稳定结果倾向的伴侣间关联。还指定了六个结果每日残差的相互关系，反映了每日层面的伴侣内关联。
女性伴侣的新冠疫情困扰与她自己的情感和身体亲密感呈负相关，与她自己和伴侣的孤独感呈正相关。男性的新冠疫情困扰仅与他自己的孤独感相关。在伴侣间和伴侣内层面存在显著的相互依赖关系，即任何一方伴侣的孤独感越强，伴侣双方的亲密感就越少。
新冠疫情困扰仅出现了一种伴侣效应，即女性伴侣的困扰与男性伴侣的孤独感相关；然而，伴侣间和伴侣内层面的相互依赖关系表明，随着时间的推移，困扰可能会对关系幸福感产生不利影响。未来的研究应考察与新冠疫情相关的困扰和人际关系功能之间的相互关系。
