Calle Harwin
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Amie Gordon
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Psychology / LSA
Program: UROP
Session: Session 1 (9:00am – 9:50am)
Authors: Calle Harwin, Helen Devine, Dr. Amie Gordon
Abstract
Research on the presence of depressive symptoms and their impact in relationships has historically focused on early life stressors in relation to relationship functioning. More recent work by close relationships researchers has examined whether individuals with more depressive symptoms perceive their partner to be less aware of their thoughts and feelings (Gordon et al., 2013). We aim to expand on previous work by observing whether the amount of support a person gives is affected by the amount of depressive symptoms they endorse. In the current study (N = 217 couples), couples collaborated on a variety of different tasks (ex. building a boat with MagnaTiles together) within a 15-minute work period intended to promote teamwork as well as stress. In that time, we assessed the support an individual feels they provided and their satisfaction with the support they were able to provide. Our goal is to examine how depressive symptoms affect the amount of support given by an individual and their satisfaction with the support they provide. Depressive symptoms were assessed using an ultra-short scale for depression (PHQ-4; Kroenke et al., 2009) and support was assessed using a self-report Likert scale. Studying the presence of depressive symptoms in a romantic relationship will continue to build on existing work to aid individuals in improving the quality of their relationships. Thus, this research will contribute to a better understanding of the impact of depressive symptoms on support in romantic relationships.
