Daily Affect and Intimacy in Emerging Adult Couples

Links between Best Friendship, Romantic Relationship, and Psychological Well-Being in Emerging Adulthood

Best friendships and romantic relationships are linked to psychological well-being in emerging adulthood, but few studies have assessed their contribution simultaneously. This research (n = 190; 64.4% women) examined the links between intimacy and conflict with the best friend and the romantic partner on psychological well-being (self-esteem, depression, loneliness). Results showed that both relationships were independently linked to well-being, while also interacting with one another. Among participants reporting a less intimate or conflictual romantic relationship, an intimate best friendship was linked to higher self-esteem. Moreover, a conflictual best friendship was related to higher depressive symptoms only among those having a conflictual romantic relationship. Thus, best friendships and romantic relationships show distinct and combined contributions to well-being in emerging adulthood.

Experimental Induction of Emotional and Sexual Intimacy: Exploring the Validity of the German Fast Friends Procedure in Individuals with and without Childhood Maltreatment

The Fast Friends Procedure (FFP) is a widely used experimental paradigm to induce emotional intimacy. Besides exploring the validity of a German translation of the paradigm (n = 46), we developed an extension of the FFP that induces sexual intimacy and assessed heart rate, high-frequency heart rate variability, and electrodermal activity responses to the FFP and its extension. Furthermore, we examined its applicability to individuals with childhood maltreatment (n = 56), who frequently suffer from intimacy-related difficulties. Intimacy, positive affect, liking, and attraction increased during the FFP and partly during the sexual intimacy extension in both study groups. Moreover, both groups showed physiological responses consistent with positive social interactions. The use of the German FFP and its sexual intimacy extension can thus be recommended for research in the general population and in individuals with childhood maltreatment, although more studies are needed to further validate the paradigms.

The Dynamic Interplay Between Satisfaction With Intimate Relationship Functioning and Daily Mood in Low-Income Outpatients

Substantial research supports bidirectional links between intimate relationship discord and individual psychopathology, including depressive symptoms. However, few studies have utilized daily diary methods to capture the micro-level processes underlying the association between couple discord and depression, particularly among populations that are at elevated risk for both interpersonal and individual dysfunction. To address this gap, we examined whether daily changes in satisfaction with relationship functioning were associated with daily changes in negative affect and positive affect over the span of 2 weeks among mental health outpatients of low socioeconomic status. Participants were 53 low-income outpatients from community mental health clinics who completed a semi-structured interview about the quality of their intimate relationships followed by 14 daily reports of positive and negative mood and satisfaction with relationship functioning across several domains. Growth curve analytic techniques revealed the hypothesized bidirectional relations. Decline in satisfaction with relationship functioning predicted escalation in negative affect and deterioration in positive affect over 2 weeks, and deterioration of mood predicted declining satisfaction with relationship functioning. This study extends existing knowledge about couple dysfunction and individual psychopathology by highlighting the immediate nature of this dynamic process as it unfolds over time.