https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210216185855.htm

"Research prior to the pandemic has long shown that partners are one of the strongest predictors of social connection and well-being," said UCR researcher Karynna Okabe-Miyamoto, lead co-author of the study, published recently in the journal Plos One. "And our research during the current COVID-19 pandemic has shown the same. Living with a partner uniquely buffered declines in social connection during the early phases of the pandemic." By April 2020, many workplaces and stores had been shuttered, and social distancing measures had been implemented. The social existence of many people was relegated to the four walls of their homes, and their families became their only social connections.

The effectiveness of social distancing in reducing virus transmission had been established even before COVID-19. Researchers were curious about how to protect psychological health when such measures are in place.