Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies and Marital Interpersonal Pathologies in Men with Avoidant Attachment: Investigating the Mediating Role of Caregiving Styles

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the factors affecting marital interpersonal pathologies of men with avoidant attachment. Particularly, this study examined the role of men's cognitive emotion regulation strategies and the mediating role of their caregiving styles. Availability sampling method was used to select 420 married men with avoidant attachment who were referred to counseling centers in Isfahan, Iran for marital problems during 2021 to 2022. The participants were asked to answer to scales on their instruments included experiences in close relationships, cognitive emotion regulation, caregiving styles, and marital interpersonal pathologies. The data analysis was performed using structural equations via analysis of a moment structures software. The results showed that adaptive and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (MERS) and caregiving styles (sensitive, proximate, and controlling) directly predicted marital interpersonal pathologies. Also, caregiving styles (sensitive, proximate, and controlling) played a mediating role in the relationship between adaptive and MERS and marital interpersonal pathologies. Therefore, based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that family therapists examine cognitive emotion regulation strategies and caregiving styles in order to investigate and treat marital problems in such men.

Keywords

cognitive emotion regulation strategies marital interpersonal pathologies men avoidant attachment style caregiving styles

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alder

M. C.

Yorgason

J. B.

Sandberg

J. G.

Davis

(2018). Perceptions of parents’ marriage predicting marital satisfaction: The moderating role of attachment behaviors. Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy, 17(2), 146–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332691.2017.1372834

Anderson

J. C.

Gerbing

D. W.

(1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), 411. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.103.3.411

Arbuckle

(2006). Amos Version 7.0 [Computer Program]. SPSS.

Arianfar

Hosseinian

Etemadi

(2022). Marital interpersonal pathologies questionnaire for men with avoidant attachment symptoms (MIPA): Development and validation. Current Psychology, 6, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03246-0

Ashnad

Rezaian Bilandi

Ahmadi

M. R.

(2021). The moderating role of religious orientation in the relationship between attachment styles and marital commitment. Journal of Islamic Studies of Women and the Family, 7(2), 53–76.

Bartholomew

. (1990). Avoidance of intimacy: An attachment perspective. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 7(2), 147–148. 10.1177/0265407590072001

Bell

D. C.

Richard

A. J.

(2000). Caregiving: The forgotten element in attachment. Psychological Inquiry, 11(2), 69–83. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1102_01

Bowlby

(1979). The making and braking of affectional bonds. Tavistock.

Bowlby

(1982). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. Basic Books.

10.

Bowlby

(1988). A secure base: Clinical applications of attachment theory. Routledge.

11.

Brehl

A. K.

Schene

Kohn

Fernández

(2021). Maladaptive emotion regulation strategies in a vulnerable population predict increased anxiety during the Covid-19 pandemic: A pseudo-prospective study. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, 4, 100–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadr.2021.100113

12.

Buehler

(2014). Inter parental conflict styles and youth problem behavior: A two-sample replication study. Journal of Marriage and Family, 60(1), 119–132. https://doi.org/10.2307/353446

13.

Byrne

(2010). Structural equation modeling with AMOS (2nd ed.). Routledge.

14.

Campbell-Sills

Barlow

D. H.

(2007). Incorporating emotion regulation into conceptualizations and treatments of anxiety and mood disorders. In Gross

J. J.

(Ed.), Handbook of emotion regulation (pp. 542–559). Guilford Press.

15.

Collins

N. L.

Feeney

B. C.

(2000). A safe haven an attachment theory perspective on support seeking and caregiving in intimate relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(6), 1053. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.78.6.1053, PMid: 10870908

16.

Collins

N. L.

Ford

M. B.

Guichard

A. C.

Kane

H. S.

Feeney

B. C.

(2010). Responding to need in intimate relationships: Social support and care giving processes in couples. In Mikulincer

Shaver

P. R.

(Eds.), Prosocial motives, emotions, and behavior: The better angels of our nature (pp. 367–389). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/12061-019

17.

Damiri

Heidarian

Ahmadi

Borhani

(2014). The relationship between personal styles and emotional intelligence with marital satisfaction. Scientific Journal of Ilam University of Medical Sciences, 22(5), 35–44.

18.

Dawson

Strodl

Kitamura

(2022). Childhood maltreatment and disordered eating: The mediating role of emotion regulation. Appetite, 172, 105952. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2022.105952

19.

Dogan

(2010). The effects of psychodrama on young adults’ attachment styles. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 37(2), 112–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2010.02.001

20.

Easler

J. K.

(2016). Associations among respite care, uplifts, stress, and marital quality of patterns of children with autism spectrum disorder and Down syndrome. Master’s Thesis. Brigham Young University.

21.

Fatehi

Kachooei

(2020). Relationship between irrational relationship beliefs and couple burnout: The mediator role of non-adaptive strategies of cognitive emotion regulation. Journal of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, 63(5), 2903–2913.

22.

Feeney

B. C.

Collins

N. L.

(2001). Predictors of caregiving in adult intimate relationships an attachment theoretical perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(6), 972. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.80.6.972, PMid:1141 4378

23.

Feeney

B. C.

Collins

N. L.

(2003). Motivations for caregiving in adult intimate relationships: Influences on caregiving behavior and relationship functioning. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 950–968. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167203252807, PMid:15189615

24.

Granefski

Kraaij

Spinhoven

(2002). Manual for the use of the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire. Datec.

25.

Garnefski

Kraaij

Spinhoven

. (2001). Negative life events, cognitive emotion regulation and emotional problems. Personality and Individual differences, 30(8), 1311–1327. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(00)00113-6

26.

Han

S. C.

Schacter

H. L.

Timmons

A. C.

Kim

Sichko

Pettit

Margolin

(2021). Romantic partner presence and physiological responses in daily life: Attachment style as a moderator. Biological Psychology, 161, 108082. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108082

27.

Huntsinger

E. T.

Luecken

L. J.

(2004). Attachment relationships and health behavior: The mediational role of self- esteem. Psychology and Health, 19(4), 515–526. https://doi.org/10.1080/0887044042000196728

28.

Kline

(2016). Data preparation and psychometrics review. Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (4th ed., pp. 64–96). Guilford.

29.

Knapp

D. J.

Durtschi

J. A.

Clifford

C. E.

Kimmes

J. G.

Barros-Gomes

Sandberg

(2016). Self-esteem and caregiving in romantic relationships: Self- and partner perceptions. Personal Relationships, 23(1), 111–123. https://doi.org/10.1111/pere.12114

30.

Kunce

L. J.

Shaver

P. R.

(1994). An attachment-theoretical approach to caregiving in romantic relationships. Paper presented at the 6th International Conference on Personal Relationships, Orono, ME, July1992. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

31.

Lueken

M. A.

(2002). Partner violence among college women: A comparison of women who stay in violent relationships to those who leave. Unpublished Master's Thesis, Ohio University.

32.

Marchand

J. F.

(2004). Husbands’ and wives’ marital quality: The role of adult attachment orientations, depressive symptoms, and conflict resolution behaviors. Attachment & Human Development, 6(1), 99–112. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616730310001659575

33.

Masarik

A. S.

Conger

(2017). Stress and child development: Review of the family stress model. Current Opinion in Psychology, 13(3), 85–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2016.05.008

34.

Mikulincer

Shaver

P. R.

(2009). An attachment and behavioral systems perspective on social support. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 26(1), 7–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407509105518

35.

Mirgain

J. A.

Cordova

J. V.

(2007). Emotion skills and martial health: The association between observed and self-reported emotion skills, intimacy and marital satisfaction. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 26(19), 983–1000. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2007.26.9.983

36.

Nolen-Hoeksema

Wisco

B. E.

Lyubomirsky

. (2008). Rethinking rumination. Perspectives on psychological science, 3(5), 400–424. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00088.x

37.

Patrick, S., Sells, J. N., Giordano, F. G., & Tollerud, T. R. (2007). Intimacy, differentiation and personality variables as predictor of marital satisfaction. The Family Journal, 15(4), 359–367. https://doi.org/10.1177/1066480707303754

38.

Péloquin

Brassard

Lafontaine

M. F.

Shaver

P. R.

(2014). Sexuality examined through the lens of attachment theory attachment, caregiving, and sexual satisfaction. The Journal of Sex Research, 51(5), 561–576. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2012.757281, PMid: 23659357

39.

Preacher

K. J.

Hayes

A. F.

(2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40(3), 879–891. https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.40.3.879

40.

Rafaeli

Gleason

M. E.

(2009). Skilled support within intimate relationships. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 1(1), 20–37. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-2589.2009.00003.x

41.

Revenson

T. A.

Griva

Luszczynska

Morrison

Panagopoulu

Vilchinsky

Hagedoorn

(2015). Caregiving in the illness context. Palgrave Macmillan.

42.

Rezapour Faridian

Falahzade

Sayed Mosavi

P. S.

Panaghi

(2019). The mediating role of caregiving dimensions in relationship between attachment dimensions and sexual satisfaction in couples during the family life cycles. Family Counseling and Psychotherapy Quarterly, 2, 215–241.

43.

Roohi

Jazayeri

Fatehizadeh

Etemadi

(2018). Avoidant personalities in marital interactions: A qualitative study. Journal of Qualitative Research in Health Sciences, 7(1), 72–87.

44.

Shulman

Connolly

(2013). The challenge of romantic relationships in emerging adulthood: Reconceptualization of the field. Emerging Adulthood, 1(1), 27–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696812467330

45.

Simeon- DeFrancesco

Roedigar

Stevens

B. A.

(2015). Schema therapy with couples: A practitioner’s guide to healing relationships. John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

46.

Wang

Q. Q.

Fang

Y. Y.

Huang

H. L.

W. J.

Wang

X. X.

Yang

T. T.

, … Zhang

Y. H.

(2021). Anxiety, depression and cognitive emotion regulation strategies in Chinese nurses during the COVID-19 outbreak. Journal of Nursing Management, 29(5), 1263–1274. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.13265

47.

Wei

Mallinckrodt

Russell

D. W.

Abraham

W. T

. (2004). Maladaptive perfectionism as a mediator and moderator between adult attachment and depressive mood. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 51(2), 201. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.51.2.201

48.

Wei

Shaffer

P. A.

Young

S. K.

Zakalik

R. A

. (2005). Adult attachment, shame, depression, and loneliness: the mediation role of basic psychological needs satisfaction. Journal of counseling psychology, 52(4), 591. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.52.4.602

49.

Wei

Shaffer

P. A.

Young

S. K.

Zakalik

R. A.

(2005b). Adult attachment, shame, depression, and loneliness: The mediation role of basic psychological needs satisfaction. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52, 591–601. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.52.4.591

50.

Yousefi

(2012). Comparison of the effectiveness of family therapy based on schema therapy and Bowen’s emotional system therapy on the early maladaptive schema among divorce applicant clients. Journal of Fundamentals of Mental Health, 13(4), 356–373.