Open Access“Be free together rather than confined together”: A qualitative exploration of how relationships changed in the early COVID-19 pandemic
Author(s) -
Laura M. Vowels,
Rachel R. R. Francois-Walcott,
Rhia E. Perks,
Katherine B. Carnelley
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of social and personal relationships
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.251
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1460-3608
pISSN - 0265-4075
DOI - 10.1177/02654075211041412
Subject(s) - covid-19 , social distance , pandemic , psychology , perception , distancing , qualitative research , social psychology , quality (philosophy) , space (punctuation) , qualitative property , sociology , medicine , outbreak , social science , philosophy , linguistics , disease , epistemology , pathology , virology , neuroscience , machine learning , computer science , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many couples are staying at home together for an extended period. This is likely to impact couples as they navigate their responsibilities while maintaining a healthy relationship during uncertain times. We conducted qualitative research to investigate participants’ perception on how relationships changed considering COVID-19 and social distancing measures. Data were collected through open-ended surveys ( n = 200) which were completed weekly for 5 weeks and by semi-structured interviews ( n = 48). Overall, 28.6% of relationships had gotten better, 28.6% worse, 29.9% stayed the same, and 8.0% were mixed. Both methods highlighted similar themes (communication, space, togetherness, sharing responsibilities, quality time, and support networks) including 15 sub-themes in the interviews. The study provides a unique insight into the impact of COVID-19 on relationships and provides techniques that have been identified by couples to increase relationship satisfaction for their own and others’ relationships.