My general research interests focus on sexuality in close relationships.  I am especially interested in how sexual functioning in relationships contributes to personal and relationship wellbeing over time. 

One specific area of interest is the association between sexual and relationship satisfaction.  Sexual satisfaction is an integral part of most romantic relationships and is robustly linked to relationship quality (for a review see Sprecher & Cate, 2004). Previous research suggests that declines in sexual satisfaction lead to declines in marital satisfaction (Yeh et al., 2006); however, there is scarce investigation of longitudinal associations or moderators of this link between sexual and relationship satisfaction, and there is an absence of examination of cross-partner associations.

In my Master’s Thesis, I examined the causal nature of the within and cross-partner associations between sexual and relationship satisfaction in heterosexual newlywed couples over two years.  Further, I investigated conditions that may change the nature of the association between sexual and marital satisfaction (e.g., perspective-taking, empathy, quality of general communication).   In my PhD research, I plan to build on my Master’s research by examining the role of sexual communication on the associations between relationship and sexual satisfaction over time in dating couples.