Psychological distress with relationship satisfaction is moderated by anticipatory relational savoring among non‐deployed military partners

Abstract

This study recruited participants whose partners were deployed for active‐duty military service to examine whether anticipatory relational savoring moderated the association of psychological distress with relationship satisfaction. Two weeks prior to their partner's deployment (T1), participants (N = 73) completed a self‐report measure of relationship satisfaction. Then, 2 weeks into their partner's deployment (T2), participants completed self‐report measures of stress, loneliness, and depression (combined into a composite index of psychological distress), and relationship satisfaction. Participants also completed a stream‐of‐consciousness task at T2 in which they imagined and discussed their partner's return from deployment. We coded the stream‐of‐consciousness task for anticipatory relational savoring regarding their upcoming reunion with their deployed partner. We found that anticipatory relational savoring moderated the association of psychological distress with during‐deployment relationship satisfaction after adjusting for demographics, interpersonal variables, and deployment‐specific variables; the association did not hold after adjusting for pre‐deployment relationship satisfaction, and thus was robust when considering the distress‐satisfaction association during the deployment but was not when considering changes in relationship satisfaction from pre‐ to during‐deployment. We discuss the potential importance of anticipatory relational savoring for this unique population.

Exploring friendship quality and the practice of savoring in relation to the wellbeing of Greek adults

“…This is a new finding in relevant literature since previous studies have focused on the relationships between savoring and other close interpersonal bonds, such as parent-child and romantic relationships (Borelli et al, 2020). When savoring is applied in close relationships enhances the sense of unity and belonging by creating a special bond between the two members, increases the relational positivity and meaning, deescalates the relational distress, and facilitates greater attachment security, relationship quality, and satisfaction (Bryant and Veroff, 2007;Borelli et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2021;Froidevaux et al, 2023).…”

“…This, in turn, broadens the repertoire of thoughts and actions and builds enduring resources that enhance meaning in life, life satisfaction and facilitate wellbeing (Fredrickson, 2000(Fredrickson, , 2004Tugade and Fredrickson, 2004;Fredrickson and Branigan, 2005). Moreover, the findings of the regression analysis indicate that savoring accounts for variance in wellbeing over and above friendship indices, since savoring enhances social wellbeing by increasing the sense of belonging, positive relational experiences, and relational resilience (Borelli et al, 2020;Froidevaux et al, 2023). Close interpersonal bonds with such characteristics are a main source of meaning in life (Russo-Netzer, 2019).…”

“…Additionally, increased trait savoring has been found to facilitate willingness to form new relationships, such as friendships (Harrison, 2014). To add more, recent studies focus on the effects of relational savoring, i.e., the process of savoring past, present, or future experiences or moments of connectedness with significant others (Froidevaux et al, 2023), on wellbeing indices. Experimental studies on relational savoring have shown its effects on both relational and personal wellbeing indices.…”

“…For example, partners in long-distance relationships who savor positive relational experiences feel more positive and less negative emotions (Borelli et al, 2015), while parents of infants and toddlers who participated in a relational savoring intervention felt more satisfied with the relationship with their children (Burkhart et al, 2015). Moreover, relational savoring has been found to moderate the relationship between psychological distress and relationship satisfaction of military partners who are non-deployed (Froidevaux et al, 2023). Additionally, it has been found to reduce the negative affect and attachment anxiety of youth in residential treatment (Wang et al, 2021).…”

Culturally adapting relational savoring: A therapeutic approach to improve relationship quality

“…The findings reveal that RS is effective in improving emotional states (Borelli, Kerr, et al., 2022; Burkhart et al., 2015), relationship satisfaction (Borelli, Rasmussen, et al., 2014), parenting sensitivity (Borelli, Hong, et al., 2022; Borelli, Kerr, et al., 2022; Borelli, Russo, et al., 2022), and cardiovascular reactivity (Borelli et al., 2019), and when delivered in the context of an attachment‐based group intervention, in reducing mental health symptoms (Borelli, Yates, et al., 2020). RS has been evaluated among parents (majority female) of toddlers (Borelli et al., 2023; Borelli, Kerr, et al., 2022; Burkhart et al., 2015; Doan et al., 2023; Smiley et al., 2024), incarcerated parents (Kerr et al., 2022), adult romantic partners in long‐distance relationships (Borelli, Rasmussen, et al., 2014), partnered couples (Wang et al., 2023), female non‐deploying partners of military personnel (Borelli, Sbarra, et al., 2014; Froidevaux et al., 2023), older adults aged 60 to 90 (Borelli et al., 2019), adolescent males in residential treatment (Wang, Bouche, et al., 2020; Wang, Huang, et al., 2020), and low‐income Latine mothers and adolescents (Borelli, Yates, et al., 2020). The intervention has also been evaluated among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (Gaskin, 2021; Pereira et al., 2021) in the United States and Singapore.…”