LGBTQ+ College Students’ Relationship Satisfaction During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Research suggests that COVID-19-related restrictions affected individuals’ ability to engage in relationship maintenance behaviors and have led to poorer romantic relationship quality. Poor relationship quality may be especially problematic for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, and otherwise non-heterosexual or-cisgender (LGBTQ+) college students, who often lack family support and are at greater risk for mental health issues. We used a social exchange theory lens to examine correlates of relationship satisfaction for LGBTQ+ college students during the early months of the pandemic. The analytic sample consists of 175 LGBTQ+ students (M_age = 20.5) who completed an online survey and reported being in a romantic relationship. Our findings demonstrate that LGBTQ+ students with more supportive partners were more satisfied with their relationships. These results can inform clinicians how to better support LGBTQ+ college couples when they experience relationship stress.

Keywords

COVID-19 lesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender,queer or questioning+ college students relationship satisfaction social support cohabitation sexual behavior

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Andresen

E. M.

Malmgren

J. A.

Carter

W. B.

Patrick

D. L.

(1994). Screening for depression in well older adults: Evaluation of a short form of the CES-D. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 10(2), 77–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(18)30622-6

Balsam

K. F.

Beauchaine

T. P.

Rothblum

E. D.

Solomon

S. E.

(2008). Three-year follow-up of same-sex couples who had civil unions in Vermont, same-sex couples not in civil unions, and heterosexual married couples. Developmental Psychology, 44(1), 102–116. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.44.1.102

Balzarini

R. N.

Muise

Zoppolat

Di Bartolomeo

Rodrigues

D. L.

Alonso-Ferres

Urganci

Debrot

Pichayayothin

N. B.

Dharma

Chi

Karremans

J. C.

Schoebi

Slatcher

R. B.

(2022). Love in the time of COVID: Perceived partner responsiveness buffers people from lower relationship quality associated with COVID-related stressors. Social Psychological and Personality Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506221094437

Beckmeyer

J. J.

Herbenick

Eastman-Mueller

(2021). Sexting with romantic partners during college: Who does it, who doesn’t and who wants to. Sexuality and Culture, 26(1), 48–66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-021-09878-x

Byers

E. S.

Wang

(2004). Understanding sexuality in close relationships from the social exchange perspective. In Harvey

J. H.

Wenzel

Sprecher

(Eds.). The handbook of sexuality in close relationships (pp. 203–234). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] . (2020, November 17). Social distancing. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/social-distancing.html

Cramer

(2004). Emotional support, conflict, depression, and relationship satisfaction in a romantic partner. The Journal of Psychology, 138(6), 532–542. https://doi.org/10.3200/JRLP.138.6.532-542

Cramer

(2006). How a supportive partner may increase relationship satisfaction. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 34(1), 117–131. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069880500483141

Currin

J. M.

Jayne

C. N.

Hammer

T. R.

Brim

Hubach

R. D.

(2016). Explicitly pressing send: Impact of sexting on relationship satisfaction. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 44(3), 143–154. https://doi.org/10.1080/01926187.2016.1145086

10.

Cutrona

C. E.

(1996). Social support as a determinant of marital quality. In Pierce

G. R.

Sarason

I. G.

(Eds.). Handbook of social support and the family (pp. 173–194). Springer.

11.

Dürrbaum

Sattler

F. A.

(2020). Minority stress and mental health in lesbian, gay male, and bisexual youths: A meta-analysis. Journal of LGBT Youth, 17(3), 298–314. https://doi.org/10.1080/19361653.2019.1586615

12.

Ellis

Davis

(2017). Intimate partner support: A comparison of gay, lesbian, and heterosexual relationships. Personal Relationships, 24(2), 350–369. https://doi.org/10.1111/pere.12186

13.

Galovan

A. M.

Drouin

McDaniel

B. T.

(2018). Sexting profiles in the United States and Canada: Implications for individual and relationship well-being. Computers in Human Behavior, 79, 19–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.10.017

14.

Gilmour

A. L.

Whisman

M. A.

Whitton

S. W.

(2022). A dyadic analysis of relationship satisfaction and depressive symptoms among same-sex couples. Journal of Family Psychology, 36(3), 372–377. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000912

15.

Griffin

Jaiswal

Martino

R. J.

LoSchiavo

Comer-Carruthers

Krause

K. D.

Stults

C. B.

Halkitis

P. N.

(2022). Sex in the time of COVID-19: Patterns of sexual behavior among LGBTQ+ individuals in the U.S. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 51(1), 287–301. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02298-4

16.

Hendrick

S. S.

(1988). A generic measure of relationship satisfaction. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50(1), 93–98. https://doi.org/10.2307/352430

17.

Herbenick

Hensel

D. J.

Eastman-Mueller

Beckmeyer

T.-c.

Guerra-Reyes

Rosenberg

(2022). Sex and relationships pre-and early-COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from a probability sample of U.S. undergraduate students. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 51(1), 183–195. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02265-5

18.

Kelley

H. H.

Thibaut

J. W.

(1978). Interpersonal relations: A theory of interdependence. Wiley.

19.

Montano

G. T.

Thoma

B. C.

Paglisotti

Weiss

P. M.

Shultz

M. K.

McCauley

H. L.

Miller

Marshal

M. P.

(2018). Disparities in parental support and parental attachment between heterosexual and sexual minority youth: A meta-analysis. Journal of Adolescent Health, 62(2), S32–S33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.11.065

20.

Norbeck

J. S.

Lindsey

A. M.

Carrieri

V. L.

(1981). The development of an instrument to measure social support. Nursing Research, 30(5), 264–269. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006199-198109000-00003

21.

Pietromonaco

P. R.

Collins

N. L.

(2017). Interpersonal mechanisms linking close relationships to health. American Psychologist, 72(6), 531–542. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037%2Famp0000129

22.

Pietromonaco

P. R.

Overall

N. C.

(2021). Applying relationship science to evaluate how the COVID-19 pandemic may impact couples’ relationships. The American Psychologist, 76(3), 438–450. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000714

23.

Rhoades

G. K.

Kamp Dush

C. M.

Atkins

D. C.

Stanley

S. M.

Markman

H. J.

(2011). Breaking up is hard to do: The impact of unmarried relationship dissolution on mental health and life satisfaction. Journal of Family Psychology, 25(3), 366–374. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023627

24.

Roels

Janssen

(2020). Sexual and relationship satisfaction in young, heterosexual couples: The role of sexual frequency and sexual communication. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 17(9), 1643–1652. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2020.06.013

25.

Rogers

S. L.

Cruickshank

(2021). Change in mental health, physical health, and social relationships during highly restrictive lockdown in the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from Australia. PeerJ, 9, Article e11767. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.11767

26.

Scroggs

Love

H. A.

Torgerson

(2021). COVID-19 and LGBTQ emerging adults: Risk in the face of social distancing. Emerging Adulthood, 9(5), 639–644. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696820968699

27.

Smith

Lyons

Ferris

Richters

Pitts

Shelley

Simpson

J. M.

(2011). Sexual and relationship satisfaction among heterosexual men and women: The importance of desired frequency of sex. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 37(2), 104–115. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2011.560531

28.

Sommantico

Parrello

De Rosa

(2020). Lesbian and gay relationship satisfaction among Italians: Adult attachment, social support, and internalized stigma. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49(5), 1811–1822. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01736-5

29.

Tadros

Barbini

Durante

K. A.

Cappetto

(2021). The impact of physical health, race, and financial status on relational satisfaction. Journal of Family Issues. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X211058830

30.

Tai

T. O.

Baxter

Hewitt

(2014). Do co-residence and intentions make a difference? Relationship satisfaction in married, cohabiting, and living apart together couples in four countries. Demographic Research, 31, 71–104. https://dx.doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2014.31.3

31.

Thomas

M. F.

Binder

Matthes

(2022). Love in the time of corona: Predicting willingness to engage in sexting during the first COVID-19-related lockdown. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 51(1), 157–168. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02292-w

32.

Whittington

Hadfield

Calderon

(2020). The lives and livelihoods of many in the LGBTQ community are at risk amidst COVID‐19 crisis. Human Rights Campaign. https://assets2.hrc.org/files/assets/resources/COVID19-IssueBrief-032020-FINAL.pdf?_ga=2.32888446.1952824559.1584903138-1730270672.1584903138

33.

Williamson

H. C.

(2020). Early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on relationship satisfaction and attributions. Psychological Science, 31(12), 1479–1487. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620972688

34.

Yucel

(2018). The dyadic nature of relationships: Relationship satisfaction among married and cohabiting couples. Applied Research Quality Life, 13(1), 37–58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-017-9505-z

35.

Zimmer-Gembeck

M. J.

Petherick

(2006). Intimacy dating goals and relationship satisfaction during adolescence and emerging adulthood: Identity formation, age and sex as moderators. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 30(2), 167–177. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025406063636

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.10 MB