Marital Communication Patterns and Mental Health Outcomes During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Palestine: The Mediating Role of Well-being

Marital communication patterns including constructive, avoidant, and demand (partner and self) focused messages have been found to have a profound impact on a wide variety of individual and marital outcomes including intimacy, marital satisfaction, life satisfaction, as well as individual perception of well-being, mental health risk, and even physical health. In a situation, such as during COVID-19 lockdowns when stresses levels were high, environmental obligations were increased (parenting, virtual school/employment, tasks of virus avoidance), and social buffers were discontinued, the reliance on marital partners was greater and the ability to mitigate negative communication patterns minimized. It was found globally that issues of domestic violence, child abuse, and general family conflict increased during periods of social restrictions and lockdowns. These circumstances will be negatively enhanced by ongoing external stressors such as occupation and geopolitical conflict in the case of Palestine. In the current study, the correlation between marital communication styles and mental health outcomes was examined, and the question as to well-being mediating the correlation between two the two variables was analyzed. The sample of the study was 408 Palestinian adults, including 208 females and 200 males. It was found that both general self-reported levels of stress and well-being were related to both symptoms of anxiety and depression (with stress being positively related and well-being negatively related). Measures of demand style communication (both partner and self) were related to both higher levels of stress and lower levels of perceived well-being. Constructive style communication inversely related to lower levels of stress and higher levels of well-being. Avoidant patterns were found to be non-predictive in any of the outcome factors. The model proposed includes well-being as a mediating factor between marital communication patterns and mental health outcomes. The study with its initial findings suggests the need for communication training and awareness as part of a public health strategy to alleviate or mediate the negative outcomes of social isolation related to quarantine and global pandemics.