Impact of Covid 19 on Perceived Stress and Relationship Quality of Married Individuals in India

In early 2020 the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) spread across the world and dramatically affected the daily lives of everyone. This study aims to assess the impact of COVID -19 pandemic on perceived stress and relationship quality of married individuals in India. The chief objectives of the study were to identify if individuals experienced a greater number of stressors during the pandemic, if the numbers of years of marriage and gender had an impact on perceived stress and relationship quality and if perceived stress levels influenced relationship quality. Using an online survey, data from 135 married individuals (49 Males, 86 Females) between the ages of 25-55 years were collected. The Perceived Stress Scale by Cohen (1983) was used to measure perceived stress. A 24-item Relationship Quality Questionnaire was developed for the purpose of the study by the researcher based on the vulnerability-stress-adaptation model proposed by Pietromonaco and Overall (2020). Psychometric properties of the scale were established, and this scale was used to assess relationship quality. Descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation, independent sample t-test. One way ANOVA, Tukey test and Regression analysis was used to analyse the data. Results indicated that about 25% of the sample reported experiencing more than 3 stressors. It was found that women experienced greater amounts of perceived stress than men and men tended to have higher relationship quality than women. The study also revealed that there was a significant relationship between perceived stress and relationship quality and perceived stress had a significant influence on relationship quality.