Relationship difficulties and “technoference” during the COVID-19 pandemic Zoppolat, Giulia Alonso Ferres, María COVID-19 pandemic Romantic relationships Phubbing Technoference Social media Relationship satisfaction The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by a grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) allocated to F. Righetti (No. VI.Vidi.195.010). The COVID-19 pandemic has touched many aspects of people’s lives around the world, including their romantic relationships. While media outlets have reported that the pandemic is difficult for couples, empirical evidence is needed to test these claims and understand why this may be. In two highly powered studies (N = 3271) using repeated measure and longitudinal approaches, we found that people who experienced COVID-19 related challenges (i.e., lockdown, reduced face-to-face interactions, boredom, or worry) also reported greater self and partner phone use (Study 1) and time spent on social media (Study 2), and subsequently experienced more conflict and less satisfaction in their romantic relationship. The findings provide insight into the struggles people faced in their relationships during the pandemic and suggest that the increase in screen time – a rising phenomenon due to the migration of many parts of life online – may be a challenge for couples. 2022-06-01T07:42:19Z 2022-06-01T07:42:19Z 2022-05-04 journal article Zoppolat, G... [et al.] (2022). Relationship difficulties and “technoference” during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. [https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075221093611] http://hdl.handle.net/10481/75158 10.1177/02654075221093611 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ open access Atribución 3.0 España SAGE