The quality of partner relationships and its impact on well-being during the Covid-19 pandemic

Well-being became highly important recently since the outbreak of the virus COVID-19. Sub-dimensions of this concept include emotional, social, and psychological well-being. The corona situation comes along with many negative effects and restrictions that affect the overall level of wellbeing for a majority of people. This study investigated partner relation characteristics as relationship quality, satisfaction, duration, age, and gender prior to the outbreak with regard to mental well-being during the outbreak. From a large pool of the Dutch population, a good representative sample was selected. Several models of the LISS Data Archive from different measurement points were combined and examined. Those included questionnaires about the level of mental well-being, partner relationships, and overall health during the pandemic. The most important findings of this study revealed that relationship duration, satisfaction, age, and gender were associated to well-being in times of corona. A higher age was related to lower well-being scores, and male participants were more satisfied with their relationships than females. A higher relationship duration and satisfaction prior to the outbreak was beneficial in terms of higher well-being scores during the outbreak. The perceived quality of a relationship prior to the pandemic did not influence the level of well-being during times of corona. Partner relations are still an undiscovered topic with regard to mental well-being, especially in times of corona. This study is a first step towards understanding its relations and characteristics that are important in the field of positive psychology.