Editors Note:One year ago, our worlds changed. The first cases of COVID-19 struck in Atlantic Canada and the governments of P.E.I., Nova Scotia and Newfoundland closed businesses and put safety measures in place to keep people safe, which had a ripple effect on our livelihood and economy. This week, we’ll take a look back at how we lived, loved, worked, played and changed over the past year, and what lessons we’ve learned as we move forward.
Not everything about COVID-19 has been negative.
For Stephanie Mueller, the positive is that it's given her and her husband a chance to slow down and spend more time together.
It wasn’t easy at the beginning, says the Winsloe, P.E.I. woman. In fact, she says, it was downright hard.
"There was more bickering because all of a sudden, we were spending so much time together, but then it turned positive and allowed us to reconnect," she says.
Before the pandemic, the couple didn't spend much time together because of their busy schedules. Now, they have more free time and are making a point to find new and creative ways to spend that time together as a couple, doing activities like getting out on the trails and exploring new areas of the Island.
Post COVID-19, Mueller thinks it will be easier to maintain this relationship because life won’t be back to the “normal” we knew before.
"There will be more work out of the home and less time together, but the time we do have together will hopefully continue to be spent doing things for us and not feeling so stressed about having to go to various outings and events," she says.
This idea of whether COVID-19 has impacted romantic relationships became an area of research interest to Acadia University psychologists Dr. Diane Holmberg and Dr. Kathryn Bell.
The study piggybacked on a pre-pandemic study conducted by psychology student Erin Norris in December 2019. Norris was looking at risk factors for intimate partner aggression and associated well-being challenges.
Using this research as a baseline, Bell, who supervised Norris’ initial study, brought Holmberg on board to help create and analyze a longitudinal study, adding other research questions.
“I wanted to assess broadly what the negative and positive effects of the pandemic on relationships might be, and how they might change over time,” says Holmberg.
Atlantic Canada's new normal: A year of COVID-19
The good
Going into the study, Holmberg expected to see a negative effect of the pandemic on romantic relationships.
Plenty of previous research suggested stress outside of a relationship tends to spill over and cause stress and conflict between partners, she says.
Anecdotally, there were many reports in the media of the problems caused by stressed couples, but based on their own experiences of having more time, being less rushed and busy, it meant they had more time with their families. This could equate to more positive interactions, she said.
Holmberg assumed that as time wore on and the stresses of lockdown dragged on, the negative aspects would increase, and the positives would decrease. However, it was also possible people might gradually adjust to a new normal and return to a baseline.
"Overall, we went with an exploratory lens, rather than having firm hypotheses, given that the situation was unprecedented," she explains.
Surprisingly, the self-reported positive effects of the pandemic on participants’ relationships were far higher than the self-reported negative effects.
"Across several time points, in open-ended questions, participants described negative impacts, including some increased stress and tension and missing their usual experiences. But the positive effects were mentioned more frequently," says Holmberg.
Participants said they enjoyed having the opportunity to take more time for what mattered, including their relationships. COVID encouraged them to step back and appreciate what they had, including a good partner in many cases. They took advantage of the time and opportunity to focus on making their relationships work even better, taking positive steps like talking about important things; pursuing new activities together; and working on pre-existing issues.
Even among those who experienced greater impacts from the pandemic because of financial or job stress, the positive effects of relationships didn’t outweigh the bad as strongly, but participants said they still outweighed the perceived negatives, explains Holmberg.
The bad
In a separate study, Bell, Holmberg, and colleague Dr. Karen Blair of Trent University in Ontario wanted to identify sources of risk and resiliency within Nova Scotia and across Canada, with a focus on how the COVID-19 pandemic might uniquely impact LGBTQ+ communities.
"We were particularly interested in learning more about people’s use of coping strategies, social connection, mental health problems, and experiences with interpersonal violence, including intimate partner violence, during the pandemic," says Bell.
In the early days of COVID, concerns were raised about increased rates of mental health problems and intimate partner violence due, in part, to increased stress, interpersonal strain, and social isolation brought on by the pandemic.
"We were especially concerned about how the pandemic might affect LGBTQ+ individuals as those within these communities tend to have fewer social supports, experience greater social isolation and loneliness," Bell adds.
Within their sample of over 2,000 people, very low rates of physical violence were reported.
"Most of our sample, including those identifying as LGBTQ+, however, reported occurrences of psychological aggression within their relationship, like yelling, insulting or threatening partner," says Bell.
Not surprisingly - and consistent with prior research - the domestic violence experiences were associated with a range of mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress symptoms, along with lower perceived social support.
All of that underscores the need for accessible mental health support and programs aimed at helping individuals build and strengthen social networks during disease outbreaks, she said. And that's especially true for those who may be more marginalized, isolated, or vulnerable to experiencing relationship and mental health problems, including some within the LGBTQ+ communities.
What we take from this
The results of this study are preliminary, and only capture people’s initial experiences during the first pandemic wave. Holmberg and Bell are currently analyzing the rest of the data, the last which was collected this month, in the hope it will shed a light on potential changes in relationships and mental well-being participants may have experienced as the pandemic has continued to evolve.
One of the biggest takeaways, says Holmberg, is that at least during the first wave, the impact COVID-19 had on relationships - at least in the study's samples - was not as negative as expected.
"Yes, some people were struggling, and it is important to provide adequate support to them," she adds.
"Results showed that levels of physical interpersonal violence were reassuringly low, and participants reported some clear benefits of the pandemic for their relationships, as well as some negative aspects."
In addition to identifying and supporting those who are struggling, Holmberg says it's important to acknowledge and celebrate the fact that for many people, relationship partners are key sources of support, resilience, and connection during trying times, as well as during our everyday lives.
