Overview of the Lab

My lab’s research focuses on studying how couples help each other cope with stress and change, including life transitions, and how couples manage or recover from mental and physical health problems. My lab focuses on applied research that identifies practical ways couples help each other navigate life’s challenges. Studies will focus on the following areas:
  • Relationship impacts of stress – identifying how romantic relationship processes are impacted by external stress, including the contribution of specific stressful contexts, especially among low-income couples
  • Social support processes – identifying supportive behaviors that are linked to less psychological distress and stronger perceptions of partners and relationships as supportive; identifying the physiological impact of different approaches to social support; and examining individual differences in preferences for social support
  • Support for mental and physical health – identifying practical ways relationship partners can be educated about mental and physical health problems, and how they can provide effective support for self-management and recovery from mental and physical health problems
I also work as research faculty in the Couple and Family Development lab, with Dr. Erika Lawrence, where we focus on the developmental course of committed romantic relationships, including efforts to develop novel preventive relationship education interventions, and examining trajectories of relationship quality over time in diverse populations.


Current Projects in the Lab

Couple adaptation to Periods of UnemploymenT Study

Co-PI: Dr. Shveta Kumaria

Job loss and unemployment can have a devastating impact on individuals, couples and families. Job loss disproportionately impacts individuals from lower income communities, who may have less savings and fewer external supports to weather the challenge of sustained unemployment. Job loss and unemployment are associated with significant declines in psychological well-being, including self-esteem and mental health (Backhans & Hemminsson, 2011). Not only are unemployed individuals affected, but relationship partners as well. Relationship satisfaction declines among individuals struggling with unemployment and their partners relative to their employed counterparts (Blom et al., 2020), and these declines often coincide with financial uncertainty (Aubry et al., 1990) and negative affective responses (Howe et al., 2004). Unemployment is conceptualized as a risk period for couples, placing them at greater risk for both relationship distress and instability, and financial instability (Amato & Beattie, 2011). Although the links between unemployment, psychological distress and relationship distress are well established, there is little guidance for how couples should navigate this unique challenge in a healthy way that protects the relationship and moves them toward a shared sense of stability.

The goal of the current study is to understand how to best support romantic relationship functioning during periods of unemployment in low-income couples. We will examine how relationship and individual functioning change during a period of sustained unemployment. We aim to identify the timing and sequencing of various challenges, and to inform interventions for couples facing the challenge of unemployment and financial instability.

We are currently seeking couples to participate this study. If you or someone you know would be interested in participating in this paid, online research study, please click here.

Hayley Fivecoat, Ph.D.

Hayley Fivecoat, Ph.D. Principal Investigator