Poor Support Provision within Intimate Relationships: Distinct Predictors, Explanatory Factors, and Consequences

Abstract

Intimate partners are a primary source of support in adulthood (Cutrona, 1996). When individuals have positive, supportive close relationships they are able to cope more effectively with life’s challenges, and thus have improved psychological and physical wellbeing, and relationship satisfaction, closeness and security (see Feeney & Collins, 2015; Uchino, Cacioppo, & Kiecolt-Glaser, 1996). Yet, it is not always easy for people to support intimate partners, especially when they have their own needs and difficulties to contend with (Coyne & DeLongis, 1986; Coyne, Ellard, & Smith, 1990). Despite a vast literature on social support, very little is known about the characteristics of individuals (i.e., support providers) that restrict (or enhance) the support they can provide to partners (i.e., support recipients) in times of need. Moreover, even less research has identified the underlying factors that account for why these support-impeding characteristics create specific responses to partners’ support needs and in turn undermine support provision within relationships. This thesis addresses these important gaps in understanding by presenting three articles examining the distinct support provision processes associated with attachment anxiety, self-esteem and depressive symptoms. Each article tests whether the specific needs and difficulties closely tied to greater attachment anxiety, lower self-esteem, and elevated depressive symptoms account for why these dispositional characteristics are associated with providing lower support to intimate partners. Chapter Two presents two dyadic behavioural observation studies investigating whether chronic concerns about relational value interfere with the support individuals higher in attachment anxiety are able to provide to their intimate partner. The results demonstrated that during couples’ support-relevant discussions, individuals higher in attachment anxiety felt less valued and appreciated when partners reported greater distress. Lower relational value, in turn, was associated with individuals higher in attachment anxiety exhibiting greater negative support behaviour, which in turn predicted declines in partners’ relationship quality over time. Chapter Three presents two dyadic studies exploring whether support-related efficacy beliefs associated with self-esteem shape the support delivered during couples’ support-relevant exchanges and whether this esteem-related support shapes the self-evaluations of the other partner. The results demonstrated that individuals lower in self-esteem experienced lower efficacy during couples’ support discussions and thus delivered lower esteem support to their partners. Lower esteem support, in turn, was associated with partners experiencing lower efficacy within couples’ discussions and lower self-esteem across time. Lastly, Chapter Four presents three dyadic studies examining whether elevated depressive symptoms exacerbate the stress that could be experienced when in a position to provide support to partners, and whether this greater stress reduces people’s emotional support behaviours to close others. The results illustrated that elevated depressive symptoms were associated with experiencing greater stress during couples’ support-relevant discussions and on days when partners needed greater support. Greater stress, in turn, was associated with lower emotional support provision as reported by both dyad members. Taken together, the studies presented across this thesis demonstrate how the unique needs and difficulties associated with attachment anxiety, self-esteem and depressive symptoms give rise to unique support processes that have important outcomes for the health and wellbeing of partners. The final chapter outlines how these distinct processes advance understanding of social support, should apply to other important processes in intimate relationships, and have important theoretical and practical implications.