(PS10-A12) Sexual and Gender Minorities’ Perception of Benefits of Romantic Relationships During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and associated social isolation were uniquely stressful. While stress can negatively impact relationships, romantic relationships are an identified support during stressful times. Less is known about how sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals perceive the helpfulness of relationships in coping with the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study used qualitative data to explore SGM’s perspectives on how their relationships affected their experiences during the pandemic.

Method: The sample included 218 SGM assigned female at birth (AFAB; ages 19 – 35 years; 30% Black, 29% Latinx) in a current romantic relationship. As part of a larger web-based survey, participants provided open-ended responses to the prompt “Please describe the positive things about being in a relationship during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Two coders used constant comparison analysis to identify emergent themes in 10% of responses and create a codebook that was used to code the remaining responses (Cohen’s kappa = .75).

Results: Qualitative analysis indicated two overarching themes within participant responses: the pandemic allowed for relationship improvement and romantic relationships provided necessary support during the pandemic. The majority of themes (74%) highlighted the various forms of support romantic relationships provided, primarily companionship, emotional and instrumental support, and stability. Almost half of the sample (42%) expressed that the pandemic had allowed them to spend more time together, engage in shared activities, and improve their relationship. SGM-AFAB’s references to physical intimacy reflected both a theme of support, including the ability to comfort one another with touch, and a theme of relationship improvement, seen via increased opportunities to be physically intimate.

Conclusions:

SGM-AFAB perceived that their romantic relationships provided valuable support, companionship, and stability during an unprecedented crisis, consistent with social support theory and previous evidence of the benefits of relationships during other major stressors. Further, many participants described that the pandemic provided opportunities to improve their relationship, spend more time together and engage in shared activities. Findings support clinical approaches that aim to build partner support and positive time together to strengthen relationships and manage stress.