Transitioning Into and Out of Nonmarital Romances: Health Consequences

描述（由申请人提供）：几乎所有的西方婚姻之前都有一系列的关系转变，从进入新的浪漫（即坠入爱河）开始，然后是一系列联系深度的变化（例如，增加承诺与分手）。尽管非婚姻浪漫关系的转变无处不在，而且这些关系在个人生活中更普遍地发挥着强大的作用，但关于这种转变如何影响当事人的身心健康的科学知识却很少。这个应用程序的总体目标，代表了这个努力的重要的第一步，是确定过渡到和退出非婚恋情如何影响未婚新成人的急性应激反应、身体健康和心理健康结果，作为过渡的定性性质的函数。本应用的中心假设是，非婚姻关系的转变对个人身心健康的影响是不同的。这一假设将通过追求三个具体目标来检验：(1)检验进入和退出非婚恋情对个人急性应激反应、身体健康和心理健康的影响；(2)评估对关系的依赖在多大程度上调节了关系终止的影响；(3)评估性别对每次转变的影响的调节程度。在他们的非婚恋情的早期发展阶段，未婚的新兴成年人将在他们的关系开始时，在关系结束后，或在关系持续至少9个月后，暴露在标准化的急性压力任务中。皮质醇反应将在暴露于急性应激任务期间进行评估。此外，参与者将在研究开始时，以及在他们的关系维持或终止后，对他们目前的身心健康状况进行自我评估。这项提议的工作是创新的，因为它在一次调查中强调了进入和退出非婚恋情的转变对身体和精神的影响。这项工作意义重大，因为它扩展了对亲密关系及其对健康影响的科学研究，并可以作为干预策略的基础，旨在帮助个人更好地理解他们的浪漫关系经历对他们健康的影响。公共卫生相关性：考虑到个人一生中参与非婚浪漫关系的普遍性，这是一个重要的主题，它有可能显著提高对非婚浪漫如何影响个人身心健康结果的认识。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Virtually all Western marriages are preceded by a series of relationship transitions, beginning with movement into new romances (i.e., falling in love) and followed by a series of changes in the depth of association (e.g., increasing commitment versus breaking up). Despite the ubiquitousness of nonmarital romantic relationship transitions, and the powerful role these bonds more generally play in individuals' lives, scientific knowledge regarding how such transitions shape the physical and mental health of those involved is sparse. The overall objective of this application, which represents an important first step in this endeavor, is to determine how transitioning into and out of nonmarital romances affects never-married emerging adults' acute stress reactivity, physical health, and mental health outcomes as a function of the qualitative nature of the transition. The central hypothesis of this application is that nonmarital relationship transitions differentially affect individuals' physical and mental health outcomes. This hypothesis will be tested by pursuing three specific aims: (1) To examine the effect of transitions into and out of nonmarital romances on individuals' acute stress reactivity, physical health, and mental health; (2) To assess the extent to which dependence on a relationship moderates the effects of relationship termination; (3) To assess the extent to which gender moderates the effects of each transition. Never-married emerging adults in the early developmental phase of their nonmarital romances will be exposed to a standardized acute stress task during either the beginning of their relationship, after it ends, or after the relationship has persevered for at least 9 months. Cortisol responses will be assessed during exposure to the acute stress task. Additionally, participants will provide self-assessments of their current physical and mental health at the start of the study and after their relationships has persevered or terminated. The proposed work is innovative because it highlights the physical and mental impact of transitions into and out of nonmarital romances in a single investigation. The work is significant because it expands the scientific study of close relationships and their health impacts and could serve as the foundation for intervention strategies designed to help individuals better understand the impact their romantic relationship experiences have on their health. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Given the prevalence of involvement in nonmarital romantic relationships for individuals across the lifespan, this is an important topic that has the potential to significantly enhance knowledge of how nonmarital romances affect individuals' physical and mental health outcomes.