Adult Romantic Attachment and Couple Conflict Behaviors: Intimacy as a Multi-Dimensional Mediator (original) (raw)

Can Attachment Behaviors Moderate the Influence of Conflict Styles on Relationship Quality?

Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy

The purpose of this study was to explore how conflict styles influence relationship quality and how that association is moderated by attachment behaviors in the relationship. The current study uses a sample of married couples (n =1718) who completed the Relationship Evaluation Survey (RELATE). Data was analyzed using an Actor-Partner Independence Model that allows for the testing of moderation. Results indicated that husbands' and wives' conflict style is significantly and positively associated with their own perception of relationship quality, with more extreme styles being associated with decreases in relationship quality. Wives' conflict style was a significant predictor of husbands' relationship quality, but husbands' conflict style was not a significantly associated with wives' marital quality. The model also suggested that an increased frequency of attachment behaviors in romantic relationships is significantly and positively associated with relationship quality for both husband and wives. When assessing for moderating effects, attachment behaviors did moderate the negative relationship between conflict style and relationship quality, for women at the trend level (P = .07). The clinical applications of these findings are discussed, to provide guidance for clinicians in assisting couples increase attachment behaviors (be more accessible, responsive, and engaged with their partners) to help them offset the negative influence of poor conflict styles.

Couple attachment and the quality of marital relationships: Method and concept in the validation of the new couple attachment interview and coding system

Attachment & Human Development, 2005

This study investigates links between adult attachment and marital quality in 73 married couples, using a new Couple Attachment Interview that was modeled after the Adult Attachment Interview but focuses on the relationship between the partners. A coding system (CAICS) comparing the interview protocol to prototypes for secure, dismissing, and preoccupied attachment styles yielded continuous ratings of all three styles, and categorical classifications of secure/insecure for each partner. The study found direct links between couple attachment and both self-reported and observed marital quality, with all three continuous scores contributing uniquely to the equations. In most cases, the continuous scores explained variation in marital quality after the categorical security scores were entered into the regressions, although categorical scores also contributed uniquely to the explanation of marital quality. Pairing of partners' scores explained significant variance in both self-reported and observed evaluations of the couple relationship. Security of couple attachment served as a mediator in the link between selfreported marital satisfaction and observed marital quality. The results illustrated the interconnection of methodological choices and theoretical advances in the study of attachment and couple relationship quality.

Adult Attachment and Marital Satisfaction: Evidence for Dyadic Configuration Effects

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 2004

The relations between continuous ratings of four partnershipspecific adult attachment prototype descriptions and relationship satisfaction were investigated in 333 married couples. Using multiple regression analysis, marital satisfaction could be predicted by the individual's own attachment, the partner's attachment, and the interaction between them. In general, secure attachment was related to higher, and insecure attachment to lower marital satisfaction. In specific dyadic configurations, however, the positive effects of secure and the negative effects of insecure attachment styles were either amplified or attenuated depending on the attachment of the spouse.

Direct and indirect pathways between adult attachment style and marital satisfaction

Personal Relationships, 2002

We explored direct, mediated, and moderated associations between adult attachment style and marital satisfaction using a community-based sample of 73 married women. Continuous ratings of secure, avoidant, and ambivalent attachment styles were related to levels of marital satisfaction. However, psychological distress mediated the association between secure attachment and marital satisfaction, and social support mediated the relation between avoidant attachment and marital satisfaction. In addition, psychological distress moderated the relation between both secure and avoidant attachment styles and marital satisfaction.

Attachment, Perceived Conflict, and Couple Satisfaction: Test of a Mediational Dyadic Model

Family Relations, 2000

We examined the mediating role of perceived conflict in 274 French-Canadian couples who completed measures of attachment insecurities, perception of conflict, and relationship satisfaction. Partners' own attachment anxiety and avoidance predicted their experience of conflict. In addition, women's anxiety predicted men's experience of conflict, and men's avoidance predicted women's experience of conflict. The associations between attachment insecurities and relationship dissatisfaction were partially mediated by conflict.

Attachment style in married couples: Relation to current marital functioning, stability over time, and method of assessment

1995

Abstract We examined several aspects of attachment in marriage, including the association among attachment style, mental models of the spouse, satisfaction, affect regulation within the marriage, the stability of attachment style, and its operationalization. Fifty-three married couples completed initial assessments, and 44 participated in a 24-month follow-up. Attachment style was related to positive and negative affect immediately preceding a potentially stressful event and to the mental model of the spouse.

Aspects of the marital relationship that characterize secure and insecure attachment in men and women

Estudos de Psicologia (Campinas), 2020

The internalized attachment in childhood has consequences in the adult life, specifically in the marital life, which demands greater closeness, intimacy and interdependence. In this sense, it was analyzed whether the communication, marital adjustment, frequency, intensity and conflict resolution variables discriminate individuals with secure and insecure attachment in heterosexual relationships. It is a quantitative, descriptive and explanatory study. Data from 485 participants were collected in the south of Brazil through the following measures: Experience in Close Relationship, Marital Conflict Scale, Conflict Resolution Behavior Questionnaire, Communication Questionnaire and Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale. The results of the discriminant analysis indicated that the variables tested characterize secure or insecure attachment. Therefore, the type of attachment is a relevant resource in the assessment of individual and marital functioning. Psychotherapy interventions are discussed ...

Adult attachment styles and mental well-being in relation to romantic relationship satisfaction

2012

The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between anxiety and avoidant attachment styles, mental well-being and romantic relationship satisfaction. A betweensubjects cross-sectional correlational design was utilised. Attachment orientations were measured with the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) Scale; mental wellbeing was measured with the WEMWBS (Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale); and relationship satisfaction was measured with the Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS). 118 students (50.5% female and 49.5% male), recruited through opportunity sampling, participated. Attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance were negatively correlated with relationship satisfaction, while increased well-being was positively correlated with it. The theoretical and practical implications of the results contribute towards the effort for global improvement in affective human relationship functioning.

Intimacy and Couple Satisfaction: The Moderating Role of Romantic Attachment

International Journal of Psychological Studies, 2013

The present study extends findings regarding the established relation between intimacy (emotional and sexual) and couple satisfaction by investigating dyadic processes of intimacy (actor and partner effects) and the moderating role of gender and insecure romantic attachment on this relation. Using a sample of 117 heterosexual couples, results analyzed through an Actor-Partner-Interdependence Model revealed that only actor and partner emotional intimacy were significantly and positively related with actor couple satisfaction when examined simultaneously with sexual intimacy; stronger effects were revealed for actor versus partner emotional intimacy. Actor avoidant attachment was also found to moderate the aforementioned association, such that a decreased positive relation was demonstrated between actor emotional intimacy and actor couple satisfaction. Thus, results suggest that emotional intimacy may play a less important role in the attainment of satisfactory couple relationships amongst individuals exhibiting higher attachment avoidance. The myriad of additional practical and clinical implications of findings are discussed.

Couples' Helpful, Unhelpful and Ideal Conflict Resolution Strategies: Secure and Insecure Attachment Differences and Similarities

Interpersona, 2008

Twenty two heterosexual couples living in New Zealand participated in this study regarding helpful, unhelpful and idealized conflict resolution strategies. Thematic analysis was used to extract key themes, and these were categorized by whether individuals were securely or insecurely attached to their partners. Both secure and insecure individuals identified similar helpful conflict strategies, including turn-taking, listening and remaining calm. Differences emerged between secure and insecure individuals with regards to unhelpful strategies, with insecure individuals’ descriptions taking on an overall negative slant, whilst secure individuals either did not use unhelpful strategies or have learned more helpful strategies over time. Similar ideal conflict strategies emerged for both secure and insecure individuals; however, secure individuals’ descriptions were much more closely matched to the helpful strategies they use in their own relationships.