BGU Couple Diary Study, 2018

Eighty-seven Israeli cohabiting adult couples were recruited from the general community and completed an initial background questionnaire. Thirteen couples dropped during the study. The mean age for men was 31.4 years (range: 24-68, SD = 10.5) and the mean age for women was 29.4 years (range: 22-62, SD = 8.4). All participants had a high-school education, 63% having completed higher education. The average relationship duration was 7.2 years (range: 7 months to 43 years, SD = 9.1 years), and average cohabitation was 5.1 years. Twenty-seven (35.5%) of the couples were married and 12 (15.7%) had at least one child. All the couples were heterosexual. At the study initiation, a research assistant introduced the study’s general goal of examining daily processes in intimate relationships. After providing informed consent, participants were asked to complete a background questionnaire. They then receive to their personal email a link to the diary for a period of 4 weeks. The link arrived daily at 8:00 pm, but partners were requested to complete the diary within an hour of going to bed. On average, participants completed 24.3 diaries (SD = 4.01, 86.8% compliance). At the end of the diary couples completed a short follow-up assessment. Couples received no monetary compensation but participated in a raffle for two prizes (vacation vouchers) worth $140.