Short-Term Associations between Negative Communication and Psychological Distress in Romantic Relationships

We examine reciprocal associations between one person’s insulting/criticizing behaviors and their romantic partner’s depressed tone. We recruited 109 romantic couples for a naturalistic study of couples’ interaction across an entire day. Men’s insults and criticism predicted women’s depressed tone of voice. In turn, women’s depressed tone predicted their partner’s insults/criticism.