Research Supervisor Connect
Romantic partners play an important role not only in one another’s mental wellbeing but also in one another's physical wellbeing. People in strong, satisfying relationships often engage in actions to help shape their partner’s outcomes; this broad category of behaviours is known as ‘partner regulation’. In the context of health, research has found that partners regulate one another's diet and exercise behaviours. Researchers have shown that when one person expresses negative comments and attitudes about their partner’s weight or shape, the partner experiences poorer outcomes. However, in other health domains (e.g., taking one’s partner to a doctor at the onset of health problems), partner regulation can have positive outcomes. By understanding which aspects of partner regulation attempts yield positive outcomes and which aspects backfire, this project aims to harness the power of relationships to improve individuals’ mental and physical health.
This project involves a multiple-method study of couples in romantic relationships. The first component will be a cross-sectional, correlational study of couples measuring their relationship wellbeing and broad partner regulation variables. Subsequent components will include an ecological momentary assessment study in which couples are signalled multiple times per day over a period of 2-3 weeks, and a laboratory study in which couples attend a session and are videorecorded engaging in interactions, which are later coded using observational coding techniques. All components of the study will measure behaviour for both members of the couples, enabling Actor Partner Interdependence Models to be conducted to evaluate actor effects (i.e., how an individual's variables predict their own outcomes) and partner effects (i.e., how an individual's variables predict their partner's outcomes). Expected outcomes include understanding the frequency and effectiveness of partner regulation behaviours in the context of health promotion.
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The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is 3594