Cargando…

Romantic Relationships and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Austria: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Survey

BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggest that romantic relationships can be beneficial to mental health, but may also be a major stressor depending on specific relationship characteristics. Studies examining the role of romantic relationship in mental health are scarce. This study aimed to investigate d...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Till, Benedikt, Niederkrotenthaler, Thomas
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9093599/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35572322
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.857329
_version_ 1784705366557196288
author Till, Benedikt
Niederkrotenthaler, Thomas
author_facet Till, Benedikt
Niederkrotenthaler, Thomas
author_sort Till, Benedikt
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggest that romantic relationships can be beneficial to mental health, but may also be a major stressor depending on specific relationship characteristics. Studies examining the role of romantic relationship in mental health are scarce. This study aimed to investigate differences in mental health with regards to relationship characteristics. METHODS: We assessed individuals’ mental health, i.e., suicidal ideation (via Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation, BSS), depression (via Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ-9), anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, HADS), experience of psychological and physical violence, including changes in suicidal ideation and anxiety compared to before the pandemic, and relationship characteristics (i.e., relationship status, satisfaction, and commitment as well as family structure) with online questionnaires in a population-based cross-sectional study with 3,012 respondents in Austria during the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: There were small to medium–sized group differences with regards to relationship status and satisfaction (η(p)(2): 0.011–0.056). Most mental health outcomes were less favorable in singles than in individuals in happy relationships, but scores for anxiety (p < 0.001), psychological (p < 0.001) and physical violence (p < 0.001), and the probability of experiencing an increase in anxiety compared to before the pandemic (p < 0.01) were lower in singles as compared to those with low relationship satisfaction. Furthermore, scores for suicidal ideation (p > 0.001) and psychological (p > 0.01) and physical violence (p > 0.01) were highest in individuals in relationships with low commitment and with a child living in the same household, but effect sizes were small (η(p)(2): 0.004–0.015). CONCLUSION: During the COVID-19 pandemic, as compared to singles, mental health appeared worse in individuals with low relationship satisfaction and those in a relationship with low commitment and with a child in the household. Living in a happy relationship was associated with somewhat better mental health.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9093599
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-90935992022-05-12 Romantic Relationships and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Austria: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Survey Till, Benedikt Niederkrotenthaler, Thomas Front Psychol Psychology BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggest that romantic relationships can be beneficial to mental health, but may also be a major stressor depending on specific relationship characteristics. Studies examining the role of romantic relationship in mental health are scarce. This study aimed to investigate differences in mental health with regards to relationship characteristics. METHODS: We assessed individuals’ mental health, i.e., suicidal ideation (via Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation, BSS), depression (via Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ-9), anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, HADS), experience of psychological and physical violence, including changes in suicidal ideation and anxiety compared to before the pandemic, and relationship characteristics (i.e., relationship status, satisfaction, and commitment as well as family structure) with online questionnaires in a population-based cross-sectional study with 3,012 respondents in Austria during the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: There were small to medium–sized group differences with regards to relationship status and satisfaction (η(p)(2): 0.011–0.056). Most mental health outcomes were less favorable in singles than in individuals in happy relationships, but scores for anxiety (p < 0.001), psychological (p < 0.001) and physical violence (p < 0.001), and the probability of experiencing an increase in anxiety compared to before the pandemic (p < 0.01) were lower in singles as compared to those with low relationship satisfaction. Furthermore, scores for suicidal ideation (p > 0.001) and psychological (p > 0.01) and physical violence (p > 0.01) were highest in individuals in relationships with low commitment and with a child living in the same household, but effect sizes were small (η(p)(2): 0.004–0.015). CONCLUSION: During the COVID-19 pandemic, as compared to singles, mental health appeared worse in individuals with low relationship satisfaction and those in a relationship with low commitment and with a child in the household. Living in a happy relationship was associated with somewhat better mental health. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-04-27 /pmc/articles/PMC9093599/ /pubmed/35572322 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.857329 Text en Copyright © 2022 Till and Niederkrotenthaler. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Till, Benedikt
Niederkrotenthaler, Thomas
Romantic Relationships and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Austria: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Survey
title Romantic Relationships and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Austria: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Survey
title_full Romantic Relationships and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Austria: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Survey
title_fullStr Romantic Relationships and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Austria: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Survey
title_full_unstemmed Romantic Relationships and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Austria: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Survey
title_short Romantic Relationships and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Austria: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Survey
title_sort romantic relationships and mental health during the covid-19 pandemic in austria: a population-based cross-sectional survey
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9093599/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35572322
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.857329
work_keys_str_mv AT tillbenedikt romanticrelationshipsandmentalhealthduringthecovid19pandemicinaustriaapopulationbasedcrosssectionalsurvey
AT niederkrotenthalerthomas romanticrelationshipsandmentalhealthduringthecovid19pandemicinaustriaapopulationbasedcrosssectionalsurvey