The current study applies the communication theory of resilience (CTR) to assess married individuals’ utilization of resilience communication during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines pathways between communicative resilience processes, relational uncertainty, discrete emotions, and evaluations of dyadic coping. Married individuals ( n = 625) were surveyed during April 21–April 29, 2020 using Qualtrics panels. Structural equation analyses revealed that most of the resilience communication processes impacted evaluations of dyadic coping via three indirect pathways, including (a) relational uncertainty, (b) relational uncertainty → anger, and (c) relational uncertainty → fear. The alternative logic of humor did not impact dyadic coping through these indirect pathways, but instead directly, positively impacted dyadic coping. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.

A breast cancer diagnosis is a significant stressor that impacts both survivors' and their partners' psychological adjustment and well-being. Communication patterns and strategies utilized by survivors and partners are the key determinants of how some couples adjust to a cancer diagnosis. This study employs the Communicative theory of resilience (CTR)(Buzzanell, 2010) to examine the dyadic communicative processes couples enact that contribute to their resilience. Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with 27 breast cancer survivors concerning communication with their partners. All interviews were transcribed and independently coded using thematic analysis. Findings support and extend the presence of the five communicative processes of resilience outlined by Buzzanell (2010), demonstrating how these processes interact with one another. Results also suggest that couples' communication both promotes and interferes with resilience. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

The communication theory of resilience describes five communication processes that serve to promote resilience. This research examines predictors and outcomes of the five resilience processes. This study examines pathways between communication efficacy and relational quality to dyadic communicative resilience processes and from these processes to outcomes of health management and evaluations of dyadic coping. Participants (N = 584) include cancer patients (n = 312) and partners of cancer patients (n = 272). Structural equation analyses revealed that for both patients and partners, increased communication efficacy positively predicts the majority of the communication resilience processes and increased relational quality positively predicts all processes. Although many of the resilience processes are positively associated with increased health management and evaluations of dyadic coping, one process was negatively associated with both study outcomes. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

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Within the context of mental illness disclosure between friends, this study tested the disclosure decision-making model (DD-MM; Greene, 2009) to comprehensively investigate factors that predict disclosure enactment strategies. The DD-MM describes how individuals determine whether they will reveal or conceal non-visible health information. Processes of revealing, called disclosures, take various forms including preparation and rehearsal, directness, third-party disclosure, incremental disclosures, entrapment, and indirect mediums (Afifi & Steuber, 2009). We explore the disclosure decision-making process to understand how college students select to disclose their mental illness information with a friend. Participants were 144 students at a Midwestern university who had disclosed their mental illness information to a friend. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that college students choose strategies based on their evaluation of information assessment and closeness, and that for some strategies, efficacy mediates the relationship between information assessment and strategy. This manuscript discusses implications of findings and suggests direction for future research.

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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.

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