Understanding the Influences of Communication in Frenemy Relationships on Mental Health Outcomes

Interpersonal communication can facilitate or inhibit positive mental-health outcomes, depending on a large number of factors. This study investigates associations among communication behaviors, social network factors, and a mental health outcome (distress) in frenemy relationships. Frenemy relationships refer to individuals who have negative feelings toward relational partners, but their interactions are typically performed to be seen as positive. In short, individuals conceal their negative feelings toward a partner while maintaining positive interactions. Given this definition and existing literature, deceptive affection and relational aggression were two communication behaviors that are likely to occur in frenemy relationships that are likely to negatively influence mental health. Therefore, this dissertation investigated the extent to which deceptive affection and relational aggression influence distress when communicating with a frenemy. In addition, like other interpersonal relationships, frenemy relationships are embedded in larger social networks which have also been found to influence mental health outcomes, either positively or negatively. Thus, this dissertation also examined how two social network factors – social network awareness of the frenemy relationship and social network liking of the frenemy – influence distress experienced when talking with the frenemy. Two hundred and seventy-nine non-college adults accessed the survey through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and completed an online survey through Qualtrics. The results of multiple regression analyses indicated a positive association between relational aggression behaviors and distress when communicating with a frenemy. Results also showed that social network liking and social network awareness interact to influence distress. When the social network likes the frenemy, awareness of the frenemy relationship positively is positively related to distress. When the social network dislikes the frenemy, on the other hand, awareness of the relationship makes no difference on distress. Directions for future research include a number of interesting theoretical implications that link the present results to a variety of theoretical notions and concepts.