This hypothesis is based on past studies of college students in serious romantic relationships who reported increased mental health due to the increased social support provided by partners . Increases in self-esteem and individual well-being have also been associated with romantic involvement .
Mental illness will not be a common cause of relationship dissolution for most college students. Existing literature has empathized that-as mentioned above-relationships improve the mental health of partners. Thus, respondents would be less likely than their single counterparts to suffer from mental illness or break up because of their context [42,43].
2.1. Participants
The authors developed a 43-item survey approved by the Institutional Review Board at a public university in the southeastern United States and posted it online in the fall of 2019.