Abstract
Catastrophes are known to have an impact on relationships as well as on mental health. This study evaluated differences in several mental health and well-being measures according to relationship quality during the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic and related lockdown measures. A cross-sectional online survey was launched four weeks after lockdown measures were implemented in Austria. Relationship quality was measured with the Quality of Marriage Index (QMI), and mental health measures included quality of life (WHO-QOL BREF psychological domain), well-being (WHO-5), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), stress (PSS-10), and sleep quality (ISI). ANOVAs with Bonferroni-corrected post-hoc tests and Chisquared tests were applied. In all mental health scales, individuals with good relationship quality (n = 543) scored better than individuals with poor relationship quality (n = 190) or without relationship (n = 272). The odds ratios (OR) between the poor and good relationship quality groups were 3.5 for the PHQ-9, 3.4 for the GAD-7, and 2.0 for the ISI. Additionally, individuals without no relationship scored better on all scales than individuals with poor relationship quality (all p-values < .05). Relationship quality was related to mental health during COVID-19. The prevalence of depressive symptoms increased according to relationship quality from 13% up to 35%. Relationship per se was not associated with better mental health, but the quality of the relationship was essential. Compared to no relationship, a good relationship quality was a protective factor whereas a poor relationship quality was a risk factor.
Highlights
As the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread quickly throughout the world [1], most governments have implemented restrictions to prevent the uncontrolled spreading of the virus
This study examined the relationship status as well as relationship quality on a broad range of mental health and well-being indicators during COVID-19 lockdown
We found clinically relevant differences according to relationship quality as well as to relationship status throughout all tested scales
Summary
As the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread quickly throughout the world [1], most governments have implemented restrictions to prevent the uncontrolled spreading of the virus. Social distancing and other measures such as the use of personal protective equipment could help to contain the uncontrolled spreading of SARS-CoV-2 [1], they seem to negatively affect mental health [2]. Associations between mental health and relationship quality have been found in several previous studies [3, 4]. There is a considerable amount of evidence showing that married individuals enjoy better mental health than never-married and previous married individuals [5].
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