"Emotional Distancing": Change and Strain in U.S. Young Adult College Students' Relationships During COVID-19

Miranda P Dotson; Elena Maker Castro; Nina T Magid; Lindsay T Hoyt; Ahna Ballanoff Suleiman; Alison K Cohen

doi:10.1177/21676968211065531

"Emotional Distancing": Change and Strain in U.S. Young Adult College Students' Relationships During COVID-19

Emerg Adulthood. 2022 Apr;10(2):546-557. doi: 10.1177/21676968211065531.

Authors

Miranda P Dotson¹, Elena Maker Castro², Nina T Magid³, Lindsay T Hoyt⁴, Ahna Ballanoff Suleiman⁵, Alison K Cohen⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Sociology & Anthropology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
² Department of Human Development and Psychology, School of Education and Information Studies, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
³ Department of Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychology, Fordham University, New York, NY, USA.
⁵ Department of Public Health, California State University Sacramento, Sacramento, CA, USA.
⁶ Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Abstract

We analyzed qualitative data from 707 USA college students aged 18-22 in late April 2020 regarding if and how their relationships had changed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most (69%) participants experienced relationship changes, most of whom (77%) described negative changes: less overall contact, feeling disconnected, and increased tension, some of which was due to conflict over pandemic-related public health precautions. Physical distancing from social contacts also created emotional distancing: it was harder to maintain affective connections via online platforms and within the isolating context of shelter-in-place. Due to emerging adulthood being a sensitive window for social development, the COVID-19 pandemic-induced emotional distancing could have long-term ramifications for this cohort's relationships over the course of their lives.

Keywords: COVID-19; college students; emerging adulthood; relationship strain; relationships; social distancing.

Grants and funding

F31 MD017135/MD/NIMHD NIH HHS/United States