Communal coping among African Americans: a comparison of romantic and non-romantic dyads

There is a great deal of research linking communal coping to good relationship and health outcomes. However, this research has neglected to examine dyads other than romantic couples, and research on underrepresented groups is sparse. The goal of this exploratory study was to compare communal coping (shared appraisal, collaboration) among Black persons with romantic partners to Black persons with other close relationship partners. First, we compared levels of communal coping and outcomes between the two groups. Romantic dyads reported greater communal coping and greater support provision than non-romantic dyads, but non-romantic dyads reported greater intimacy than romantic dyads. Second, we examined the implications of the two components of communal coping for relationship and health outcomes and tested whether these relations were the same for the two groups. Results showed links of own communal coping to better relationship outcomes for both patients and dyad partners. There was some suggestion that these beneficial links are stronger among romantic than non-romantic couples, and that patients may benefit in particular from dyad partner communal coping. There was some evidence for benefits of communal coping on psychological health, but little evidence for benefits on diabetes outcomes—and these findings generalized across both groups.