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Distress tolerance in romantic relationships: A daily diary exploration with methodological considerations

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Abstract

Despite growing research interest in distress tolerance (DT), studies have routinely neglected the role that DT plays in close, interpersonal relationships and how DT fluctuates from 1 day to the next. In addition, an understanding of DT hinges on the presence of distress, yet existing studies have failed to include distress in conceptual and analytical models. To address these gaps, we conducted a 1-week, daily diary study with 65 heterosexual couples (n = 130) exploring the effects of DT on basic psychological needs satisfaction in romantic relationships—accounting for distress as a covariate and moderator. Findings indicated that DT was more variable over time than previously suggested. DT was also associated with greater relationship need satisfaction, but less so after accounting for distress. Our study provides initial data on the role of DT in the daily lives of romantic couples and the methodological consequences of accounting for distress along with DT in analytical models.

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Acknowledgements

Dan V. Blalock is supported by Grant No. TPH 21-000 from the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Academic Affiliations and the Center of Innovation for Health Services Research in Primary Care (CIN 13-410) at the Durham VA Medical Center.

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  1. Dan V. Blalock

    Present address: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

  2. Dan V. Blalock

    Present address: Health Services Research & Development, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

  3. James D. Doorley and Todd B. Kashdan are joint first authors.

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  1. Department of Psychology, George Mason University, MS 3F5, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA

    James D. Doorley, Todd B. Kashdan, Lisa A. Alexander, Dan V. Blalock & Patrick E. McKnight

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Doorley, J.D., Kashdan, T.B., Alexander, L.A. et al. Distress tolerance in romantic relationships: A daily diary exploration with methodological considerations. Motiv Emot 43, 505–516 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-019-09751-3

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