Jennifer L. Bevan’s research while affiliated with Chapman University and other places

When intrafaith couples' religion strictly prohibits premarital sexual intercourse, negotiating sexual intimacy can become a multilayered process of identity negotiation that compounds the difficulty of sexual communication. Through the lens of relational turbulence theory, this study explored how devout Christian couples negotiate sexual intimacy by reanalyzing qualitative interview data the first author collected in 2017 from 16 self‐identified Christians (8 heterosexual couples). Seven themes revealed how relational uncertainty, partner interference, and partner facilitation manifested in the context of sexual intimacy negotiation. Themes of relational uncertainty experience and prevention included assumption of shared values , relationship talk , and sexual behaviors as an uncertainty catalyst . Partner facilitation and interference emerged as themes of sexual escalation and de‐escalation including snowball effect, pinpointing underlying motivations for boundary violations , gatekeeping sexual temptation , and drawing from shared values of sacrifice and prayer . These interpretive findings advance the literature on relational turbulence theory and provide Christian dating couples with practical advice for how to negotiate sexual intimacy in committed premarital relationships.

The disclosure decision-making model (DD-MM) explains an individual's decision-making process regarding whether they disclose personal health information to others and consists of three tenets (i.e., assessment of information, assessment of receiver, and disclosure efficacy). Whereas traditional DD-MM applications have focused on physiological disclosures (e.g., HIV diagnosis), this study investigates the non-visible, non-diagnosis context of disclosing desired death arrangement plans with others (i.e., how individuals wish their body to be memorialized following their death). Data from 467 individuals aged between 18 and 82 were collected through online surveys. Path analysis findings indicate that while perceptions of stigma, prognosis, and relevance to others (i.e., assessment of information) were significantly related to disclosure efficacy and anticipated response, only relevance to others was directly related to relational quality. Additionally, anticipated response and relational quality (i.e., assessment of receiver) as well as disclosure efficacy and anticipated response performed in accordance with the DD-MM. This study provides meaningful conclusions for agencies who aim to craft messages that will help resonate with, inform, and protect consumers from becoming susceptible to unethical practices in the death service industry. Limitations and future research avenues are discussed.

K-12 teachers throughout the United States have experienced unprecedented changes to their roles due to the COVID-19 pandemic, creating ambiguity and stress. This study took a mixed-methods approach to investigate K-12 teachers’ experiences coping with stress during the pandemic. The investigation involved two phases of data collection, beginning with formative focus groups that informed the development of an online survey in the second phase. Twelve teachers participated in the first phase (grades K-5), and 163 teachers (grades K-12) completed the online survey to determine how ambiguous loss impacts resilience in the context of teaching during the pandemic in the second phase. Results support the prediction that pandemic-related ambiguous loss may lead to enhanced resilience indirectly through increased stress and communal coping.

This in-depth critical review investigates the impact of COVID-19 on personal relationships from the start of the pandemic in early 2020 to September 2021. Research examining six themes are identified and described in detail: the impact of COVID-19 on (1) family and intimate relationships; (2) LGBTQ+ relationships; (3) how COVID-19 is linked to technologically mediated communication and personal relationships; (4) potential shifts in sexual behaviors and desire; (5) potential shifts in relational conflict and intimate partner violence; and (6) constructive aspects of personal relationships, which is a broad theme that includes outcomes such as resilience, relational quality, coping, and social support. Findings for overarching patterns are offered to highlight implications for current research and identify future directions to consider when continuing to study personal relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic and similar future crises.

This article serves as the conclusion of the special issue entitled “Relationships in the time of COVID-19: Examining the effects of the global pandemic on personal relationships.” The special issue includes 29 research articles with authors and samples from 28 countries spanning all continents except Antarctica. Romantic relationships between two heterosexual partners were studied most often in the special issue articles, but studies also focused on family relationships, friendships, and relationships between strangers. This article provides a summary of the special issue and its three broad themes: (1) stress, turbulence, conflict, and coping; (2) loneliness, isolation, and mediated communication; and (3) reflecting and reframing in relationships. The article concludes with the special issue editors’ reflections on relationship science and the pandemic.

Negotiating romantic relational dynamics is inherent to family caregiving situations, which continue to be on the rise in the United States. However, despite evidence that family caregiving duties are linked to a variety of negative relational outcomes, limited research examines communication processes that contribute to or alleviate the burden of caregiver duties on romantic relationships. Guided by psychological reactance theory (PRT), this study examined the link between romantic partner interference with family caregiving duties and the reactance process, as well as directness of communication about irritation as a type of freedom restoration behavior associated with reactance. Adults caring for aging family members recruited from MTurk ( N = 187) completed an online survey as part of a larger study of romantic partner communication surrounding family caregiving. Results using PROCESS serial mediation indicated that greater partner interference was related to heightened perceptions of freedom threat, which was positively associated with the experience of reactance, which in turn was associated with communication about irritation. However, the association between reactance and directness of communication about irritation was negative, the opposite direction of what was hypothesized. Implications for PRT and interventions with caregivers and their romantic partners are discussed.

In addition to health and financial burdens, family caregivers can experience stress in their romantic relationships. Relational turbulence theory (RTT) is used to understand how family caregivers and caregivers’ romantic partners navigate relational transitions and caregiver burden when one partner is providing informal care to another aging family member. Three hundred and nineteen participants, who were either the romantic partner providing care or the romantic partner of a family caregiver, completed an online survey. Tests of RTT and caregiver burden revealed that relational uncertainty, partner facilitation, and relational turbulence were related to caregiver burden as predicted for family caregivers; relational uncertainty was unrelated to caregiver burden for romantic partners. Partner interference was unrelated to caregiver burden. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

This introduction describes the background for the special issue entitled “Relationships in the Time of COVID-19: Examining the Effects of the Global Pandemic on Personal Relationships.” It also examines reasons for conducting interdisciplinary research on COVID-19 and personal relationships, and previews first articles published in the special issue.