Journal article
Resilience communication mitigates the negative relational effects of topic avoidance: Evidence from parental caregiving and COVID ‐19 pandemic contexts
Personal relationships, Vol.30(4), pp.1252-1273
12/2023
DOI: 10.1111/pere.12508
Appears in UI Libraries Support Open Access
Abstract
Communicating about hardships with close others can be challenging, leading to avoidance of hardship-related topics. Although typically considered relationally damaging, topic avoidance could serve as a beneficial or neutral strategy when paired with relationally affirming communication. The current research investigates if the resilience communication processes outlined in the communication theory of resilience mitigate the negative relational effects of topic avoidance. Hypotheses are tested in two different contexts: sibling communication during parental caregiving (N = 207) and spousal communication in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 598). The processes of crafting normalcy, communication networks, and productive action were beneficial across contexts. When participants reported higher engagement in these processes, topic avoidance was not significantly related to relationship satisfaction. At lower engagement levels, topic avoidance was negatively related to relationship satisfaction. Nuance between contexts existed. For example, humor moderated the effect of sibling caregiving topic avoidance but not spousal COVID-19 topic avoidance.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Resilience communication mitigates the negative relational effects of topic avoidance: Evidence from parental caregiving and COVID ‐19 pandemic contexts
- Creators
- Helen M. Lillie - University of IowaMaria K. Venetis - Rutgers, The State University of New JerseySkye Chernichky-Karcher - Department of Communication Studies Commonwealth University of PA Bloomsburg Pennsylvania USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Personal relationships, Vol.30(4), pp.1252-1273
- DOI
- 10.1111/pere.12508
- ISSN
- 1350-4126
- eISSN
- 1475-6811
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Grant note
- Immunology, Inflammation, and Infectious Disease Initiative National Cancer Institute. Grant Numbers: 1DP2EB022360-01, 3P30CA042014-29S7
- Comment
- Statement of Relevance: When relational partners intentionally avoid talking about important issues, it is often detrimental to their relationship. However, scholars suggest that topic avoidance could be an effective strategy when talk would be upsetting. Understanding how to offset topic avoidance's negative effects is therefore an important goal for relationship research. The current study demonstrated that when individuals engaged in resilience communication processes, such as building normalcy together, topic avoidance was not significantly harmful for the relationship.
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 06/21/2023
- Date published
- 12/2023
- Academic Unit
- Communication Studies
- Record Identifier
- 9984442224402771
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