HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Personality and Social Psychology
The Couple Energy & Engagement Model (CEEM): A New Operational Theory for Relationship Burn-out
1. Swiss Distance Learning University, Brig, Switzerland
2. Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, National Centre for Scientific Research UMR 5292—National Institute of Health and Medical Research U1028, Lyon, France
3. Universite de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
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Abstract
Classical theories in couple psychology, such as the Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation (VSA) model (Karney and Bradbury 1995) and the Systemic-Transactional Model of Dyadic Coping (STM; (Bodenmann 1995; 2005), have substantially advanced understanding of relational dynamics by highlighting the roles of individual vulnerabilities, external stressors, and adaptive processes, particularly communication and dyadic coping. In parallel, the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model (Demerouti et al. 2001), originally developed in occupational psychology, demonstrates that the balance between demands and resources determines exhaustion and engagement. Although this logic has been extrapolated to intimate relationships through the notion of couple burnout (Pines 1996; Pines and Nunes 2003), no comprehensive, operational framework has simultaneously captured both negative and positive dimensions of relational vitality. This article proposes the Couple Energy & Engagement Model (CEEM) to address these gaps. The CEEM introduces two core dimensions: couple (or relationship) energy, defined as the individual affective state reflecting vitality versus exhaustion within the relationship, and couple engagement, defined as observable behavioral investment-disengagement in the partnership. To render the CEEM falsifiable, we outline two psychometric instruments. The Couple Energy & Engagement Scale (CEES), analogous to the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI), is designed to assess energy and engagement. The Couple Needs and Fulfillment Questionnaire (CNFQ) assesses fundamental expectations within the couple, the individual’s communication of these expectations, and the perceived partner response as resources. Together, these tools enable empirical evaluation of CEEM, factor-analytic validation, and can be used in the modeling of relational profiles via data-driven approaches, including cluster analysis, machine learning, and the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) (Kenny et al. 2006). The CEEM thus extends existing models by offering a dynamic, ecological, and operational account of individual experience in intimate relationships, paving the way for integrative empirical research capable of measuring, validating, and theoretically refining mechanisms of relational vitality and exhaustion.
Summary
Keywords
Attachment, Couple burnout, couple communication, couple needs, couples, Demands-resources, engagement, Psychometric validation
Received
03 October 2025
Accepted
09 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Putois and Anders. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Benjamin Putois
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