Single People Were Happiest In Lockdown Versus People In Relationships, Study Finds
Researchers found that individuals with a good relationship scored better than those who had an unhappy relationship.
Life in the lockdown is a difficult one. We have already seen what it has done to people and their mental health, causing depression, anxiety and restlessness, being forced to stay indoors.
And life was more difficult for some than others, where the looming fear of job cuts and balancing finances made it a little too overwhelming in the initial months of the lockdown.
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However, researchers now reveal that the way you feel mentally during the lockdown is partially dependent on the kind of relationship you are in.
Researchers from Danube University looked at 1000 Austrians a month after the COVID-19 lockdown came into place, to understand the impact on their relationship and mental state.
In the survey, researchers assessed the quality of marriage as well as looked for stress, depression, anxiety, wellbeing, sleep quality to better understand their mental health.
Researchers found that individuals with a good relationship scored better than those who had an unhappy relationship. The researchers also found that it was better being single than being in an unhappy relationship with the mental health scores of single people better than those having unhappy partners.
According to researchers, depression symptoms got more prominent as relationship quality dropped. The study authors explained, ¡°Relationship per se was not associated with better mental health, but the quality of the relationship was essential. Compared to no relationship, a good relationship quality was a protective factor whereas a poor relationship quality was a risk factor.¡±
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They added, ¡°Individuals with good relationship quality showed better mental health than individuals with poor relationship quality or no relationship. Furthermore, individuals with poor relationship quality performed significantly worse in all mental health scales.¡±
Researchers do point the fact that there is some limitation to the study, as they only looked at people¡¯s mental health during the lockdown -- a time that was mentally taxing on many due to several reasons like job loss, anxiety of contracting the novel coronavirus etc, ¡°therefore, we cannot say whether relationship quality had an impact on mental health or whether mental health influenced relationship quality or both.¡±
