Establishing links between relationship cycling, relational stress, and well-being

Abstract

On-again/off-again cycling is prevalent, and partners in these relationships experience lower relational quality and more negative interaction patterns, increasing their risk for compromised relational and individual health. Conceptualizing relationship cycling as a chronic stressor, we assessed the association between cycling, relational stress, and compromised well-being (i.e., psychological and physical symptoms). Findings from four samples (Ns ranged from 99–383) showed: (1) cyclical partners reported more relational stress and psychological symptoms than non-cyclical partners, (2) the number of breakup-renewal cycles was positively associated with relational stress, (3) negative interaction patterns interacted with cycling to predict relational stress and (4) cycling was indirectly associated with compromised well-being (i.e., psychological and physical symptoms) through relational stress. Collectively, these suggest cycling is a chronic stressor, and partners’ cycling and negative interaction patterns may compound in creating relational stress. Consequently, additional research is warranted to test a proposed model integrating relationship and stress theories to unpack how cycling is associated with stress and well-being over time.