COVID-19 Phobia, Dyadic Coping, and Subjective Change in Relationship Quality due to the Pandemic: A Dyadic Approach

Abstract

The present study investigated, in a dyadic approach, whether phobic symptoms experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic correlated with conflicts with romantic partners and subjective change in the quality of romantic relationships during the pandemic. Although previous studies investigated stress and partner’s responsiveness as predictors of romantic satisfaction during the pandemic, the present study investigated the phobia as a particular emotional consequence of pandemic-related stress for romantic couples. One hundred fifteen marital couples (230 individuals) participated in the study. Both spouses from each marital couple assessed their COVID-19 phobia, marital disagreements during the pandemic, perceived dyadic coping of their partner and subjective change in relationship quality compared to the quality before the outbreak of the pandemic. We observed that COVID-19 phobia predicted higher marital disagreements in husbands and wives and that the wives’ COVID-19 phobia predicted higher perceived marital disagreements among the husbands. Perceived partner's supportive behavior buffered the actor effects of COVID-19 phobia in men and women. Additionally, higher husband's COVID-19 phobia predicted subjective positive change in relationship quality during the pandemic when the wife's supportiveness was perceived as lower.