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Eder SJ, Nicholson AA, Stefanczyk MM, Pieniak M, Martínez-Molina J, Pešout O, Binter J, Smela P, Scharnowski F, Steyrl D. Securing Your Relationship: Quality of Intimate Relationships During the COVID-19 Pandemic Can Be Predicted by Attachment Style. Front Psychol 2021; 12:647956. [PMID: 34366966 PMCID: PMC8334360 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.647956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2020] [Accepted: 06/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic along with the restrictions that were introduced within Europe starting in spring 2020 allows for the identification of predictors for relationship quality during unstable and stressful times. The present study began as strict measures were enforced in response to the rising spread of the COVID-19 virus within Austria, Poland, Spain and Czech Republic. Here, we investigated quality of romantic relationships among 313 participants as movement restrictions were implemented and subsequently phased out cross-nationally. Participants completed self-report questionnaires over a period of 7 weeks, where we predicted relationship quality and change in relationship quality using machine learning models that included a variety of potential predictors related to psychological, demographic and environmental variables. On average, our machine learning models predicted 29% (linear models) and 22% (non-linear models) of the variance with regard to relationship quality. Here, the most important predictors consisted of attachment style (anxious attachment being more influential than avoidant), age, and number of conflicts within the relationship. Interestingly, environmental factors such as the local severity of the pandemic did not exert a measurable influence with respect to predicting relationship quality. As opposed to overall relationship quality, the change in relationship quality during lockdown restrictions could not be predicted accurately by our machine learning models when utilizing our selected features. In conclusion, we demonstrate cross-culturally that attachment security is a major predictor of relationship quality during COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, whereas fear, pathogenic threat, sexual behavior, and the severity of governmental regulations did not significantly influence the accuracy of prediction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie J. Eder
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Andrew A. Nicholson
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Michał Pieniak
- Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland
| | | | - Ondra Pešout
- Department of Psychology, Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem, Ústí nad Labem, Czechia
| | - Jakub Binter
- Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - Patrick Smela
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Frank Scharnowski
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Neuroscience Center Zürich, University of Zürich and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich,, Switzerland
- Zürich Center for Integrative Human Physiology (ZIHP), University of Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - David Steyrl
- Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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