Abstract

URBANO CONTRERAS, A.; MARTINEZ GONZALEZ, R. A.  and  IGLESIAS GARCIA, M. T.. Review of the literature on couple relationships in Spanish-speaking countries (2000-2018). Interdisciplinaria [online]. 2021, vol.38, n.3, pp.24-48. ISSN 1668-7027.  http://dx.doi.org/10.16888/interd.2021.38.3.2.

Couple relationships, as the fundamental basis of family relationships, is a crucial dimension within the lives of people that also impacts on their happiness and well-being. These relationships are underpinned by mutual caring and attachment bonds, which, properly developed, entail a source of emotional and social support. This support also contributes to build the identity, improve the social competence, and, ultimately, strengthen own and family well-being. This topic is likely to arouse the interest at a social and scientific level and is addressed from several disciplines such as Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy, or Social Work. This interest has provided this topic with a broad overview in the related research, being addressed from different paradigms and study prospects. This study is aimed at analyzing the research conducted on couple relationships from 2000 to 2018 in Spanish-speaking countries. Therefore, we present a systematic review of 83 scientific publications retrieved after an extensive search in the main databases (WOS, SCOPUS, Dialnet Plus, Redalyc, and ISOC) and the search engine Google Scholar. Specifically, the study specifies the dimensions and variables that have been the subject of study among these relationships, their objectives and methods (with particular emphasis on the instruments used), and the sample type and size the authors deemed necessary. In addition to the year of publication and the geographical delimitation, it was also included as criteria the publication format (only scientific papers) and papers with a Social Sciences content with topics not related to violence. Results suggest that most researchers follow an entirely quantitative methodology, tend to use validated instruments, have samples up to 250 participants, and address traditional topics such as satisfaction, sexuality, and communication in couples. Also, the predominant trend is to focus on a single thematic content, being lower the presence of studies addressing the interaction between two topics (e.g., satisfaction and communication), and even least common those studies that extend the dimensions analyzed to three or more. Regarding the content, the papers reviewed confirm the thinking that the couple’s well-being and their satisfaction has a multicausal nature, which goes beyond the couple, since it includes the influence of the couple’s social and cultural context. In this regard, specific socio-demographic characteristics such as having children, gender, and relationship duration seem to have a greater impact and arouse more interest than others. To complement this work, it is also included other topics usually related to how the couples are shaped and the satisfaction perceived, such as, for example, the fear of intimacy and anxiety, the sense of humor, the psychological well-being, and living with a positive family context. Furthermore, the publications addressed allow to locate emerging topics, such as the use of technology and its impact on the couple relationships, and also reveal the absence of studies integrating new structures of couple relationships, like polyamory. In conclusion, this review helps to get a general overview of the topic studied in order to suggest further research or expand the research already conducted. Similarly, the information provided encourages researchers to replicate the studies analyzed with different samples (location, age, sample size, etc.) and with more ambitious methodological design given that, though exceptionally, there are results which buck against the current predominant trends, and to complement this study focused on Spanish-speaking research with English, French and Portuguese publications.

Keywords : systematic review; couple relationship; satisfaction; communication; conflict.

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