Attachment, perceived conflict, and couple satisfaction: Test of a mediational dyadic model

Family Relations

Volumn 58, Issue 5, 2009, Pages 634-646

  Brassard, Audrey ^a   Lussier, Yvan ^b   Shaver, Phillip R ^c  

^a UNIVERSITÉ DE SHERBROOKE   (Canada)

^b UNIVERSITÉ DU QUÉBEC À TROIS RIVIÈRES   (Canada)

^c UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

Attachment anxiety; Avoidant attachment; Conflict; Couple satisfaction; Mediation

Indexed keywords

EID: 71949098918     PISSN: 01976664     EISSN: 17413729     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1741-3729.2009.00580.x     Document Type: Article

References (57)

1. Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Hillsdale, NJ : Erlbaum.
2. Arbuckle, J. (1999). AMOS 4.0 [Computer software]. Chicago, IL : Smallwaters Corporation.
3. Bartholomew, K. (1990). Avoidance of intimacy: An attachment perspective. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 7, 147 178.
4. Bartholomew, K., & Horowitz, L. M. (1991). Attachment styles among young adults: A test of a four-category model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 226 244.
5. Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss: Vol I. Attachment (2nd ed.). New York : Basic Books.
6. Bradbury, T. N., & Karney, B. R. (2004). Understanding and altering the longitudinal course of marriage. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 862 879.
7. Bradbury, T. N., Rogge, R., & Lawrence, E. (2001). Reconsidering the role of conflict in marriage. In A. Booth, A. C. Crouter, & M. Clements (Eds.), Couples in conflict (pp. 59 81). Mahwah, NJ : Erlbaum.
8. Brassard, A., & Lussier, Y. (2007, March). Validation d'un instrument évaluant la perception des conflits conjugaux. [Validation of an instrument assessing perception of couple conflict]. Paper presented at the annual meeting of Société québécoise de la recherche en psychologie, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada.
9. Brennan, K. A., Clark, C. L., & Shaver, P. R. (1998). Self-report measurement of adult-attachment: An integrative overview. In J. A. Simpson & W. S. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 46 76). New York : Guilford Press.
10. Buss, D. M. (Ed.). (2005). The handbook of evolutionary psychology. New York : Wiley.
11. Campbell, L., Boldry, J., Simpson, J. A., & Kashy, D. A. (2005). Perceptions of conflict and support in romantic relationships: The role of attachment anxiety. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 510 531.
12. Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Hillsdale, NJ : Erlbaum.
13. Collins, N. L. (1996). Working models of attachment: Implications for explanation, emotion, and behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 810 832.
14. Collins, N., & Read, S. J. (1990). Adult attachment, working models, and relationship quality in dating couples. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 644 663.
15. Collins, N., & Read, S. J. (1994). Cognitive representation of attachment: The structure and function of working models. In K. Bartholomew & D. London (Eds.), Attachment processes in adult-hood (pp. 53 90). London, England : Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
16. Creasey, G. (2002). Association between working models of attachment and conflict management behavior in romantic couples. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 49, 365 375.
17. Davila, J., Bradbury, T. N., & Fincham, F. D. (1998). Negative affectivity as a mediator of the association between attachment and marital satisfaction. Personal Relationships, 5, 467 484.
18. Eagly, A. H., Beall, A. E., & Sternberg, R. J. (Eds.). (2004). The psychology of gender (2nd ed.). New York : Guilford Press.
19. Feeney, J. A. (1994). Attachment style, communication patterns, and satisfaction across the life cycle of marriage. Personal Relationships, 1, 333 348.
20. Feeney, J. (2008). Adult romantic attachment: Developments in the study of couple relationships. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (2nd ed., pp. 456 481). New York : Guilford Press.
21. Feeney, J. A., Noller, P., & Roberts, N. (1998). Attachment and close relationships. In C. Hendrick & S. Hendrick (Eds.), Close relationships: A sourcebook (pp. 185 201). Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage.
22. Fraley, R. C., & Waller, N. G. (1998). Adult attachment patterns: A test of the typological model. In J. A. Simpson & W. S. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 77 114). New York : Guilford Press.
23. Gallo, L. C., & Smith, T. W. (2001). Attachment style in marriage: Adjustment and responses to interaction. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 18, 263 289.
24. Gill, D. S., Christensen, A., & Fincham, F. D. (1999). Predicting marital satisfaction from behavior: Do all roads really lead to Rome? Personal Relationships, 6, 369 387.
25. Gottman, J. M. (1979). Marital interaction. New York : Academic Press.
26. Gottman, J. M. (1994). What predicts divorce? Hillsdale, NJ : Erlbaum.
27. Gottman, J. M., & Krokoff, L. J. (1989). Marital interaction and satisfaction: A longitudinal view. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57, 47 52.
28. Harvey, C. (2005). Families in Canada. In B. Adams & J. Trost (Eds.), Handbook of world families (pp. 539 559). Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage.
29. Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. R. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 511 524.
30. Heyman, R. E. (2001). Observation of couple conflicts: Clinical assessment applications, stubborn truths, and shaky foundations. Psychological Assessment, 13, 5 35.
31. Johnson, S. M., & Whiffen, V. E. (Eds.). (2003). Attachment processes in couple and family therapy. New York : Guilford Press.
32. Keelan, J. P. R., Dion, K. K., & Dion, K. L. (1998). Attachment style and relationship satisfaction: Test of a self-disclosure explanation. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 30, 24 35.
33. Kenny, D. A., Kashy, D. A., & Cook, W. L. (2006). Dyadic data analysis. New York : Guilford Press.
34. Kirkpatrick, L. A., & Davis, K. E. (1994). Attachment style, gender, and relationship stability: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 502 512.
35. Lachance-Grzela, M., & Bouchard, G. (2009). La cohabitation et la mariage, deux mondes à part? Un examen des caractéristiques démographiques, individuelles et relationnelles [cohabitation and marriage, two separate worlds? An examination of demographic, individual, and relational characteristics]. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 41, 37 44.
36. Lafontaine, M. F., & Lussier, Y. (2003). Structure bidimensionnelle de l'attachement amoureux: Anxiété face à l'abandon et évitement de l'intimité [Bi-dimensional structure of romantic attachment: Anxiety over abandonment and avoidance of intimacy]. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 25, 71 95.
37. Le Bourdais, C., & Lapierre-Adamcyk, E. (2004). Changes in conjugal life in Canada: Is cohabitation progressively replacing marriage? Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 929 942.
38. Little, T. D., Cunningham, W. A., Shahar, G., & Widaman, K. F. (2002). To parcel or not to parcel: Exploring the question, weighing the merits. Structural Equation Modeling, 9, 151 173.
39. Marchand, J. F. (2004). Husbands' and wives' marital quality: The role of adult attachment orientations, depressive symptoms, and conflict resolution behaviors. Attachment and Human Development, 6, 99 112.
40. Mikulincer, M., Birnbaum, G., Woddis, D., & Nachmias, O. (2000). Stress and accessibility of proximity-related thoughts: Exploring the normative and intraindividual components of attachment theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 509 523.
41. Mikulincer, M., & Florian, V. (1998). The relationship between adult attachment style and emotional and cognitive reactions to stressful events. In J. A. Simpson & W. S. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 143 165). New York : Guilford Press.
42. Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2007). Attachment in adulthood: Structure, dynamics, and change. New York : Guilford Press.
43. Morgan, H. J., & Shaver, P. R. (1999). Attachment processes and commitment to romantic relationships. In J. M. Adams & W. H. Jones (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal commitment and relationship stability (pp. 109 124). New York : Plenum.
44. Paley, B., Cox, M. J., Burchinal, M. R., & Payne, C. C. (1999) Attachment and marital functioning: Comparison of spouses with continuous-secure, earned-secure, dismissing, and preoccupied attachment stances. Journal of Family Psychology, 13, 580 597.
45. Pietromonaco, P. R., & Feldman Barrett, L. (1997). Working models of attachment and daily social interactions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 1409 1423.
46. Pietromonaco, P. R., Greenwood, D., & Feldman Barrett, L. (2004). Conflict in adult close relationships: An attachment perspective. In W. S. Rholes & J. A. Simpson (Eds.), Adult attachment: Theory, research, and clinical implications (pp. 267 299). New York : Guilford Press.
47. Pistole, M. C. (1989). Attachment in adult romantic relationships: Style of conflict resolution and relationship satisfaction. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 6, 505 510.
48. Pistole, M. C., & Arricale, F. (2003). Understanding attachment: Beliefs about conflict. Journal of Counseling and Development, 81, 318 328.
49. Roloff, M. E., & Johnson, K. L. (2002). Serial arguing over the relational life course. In L. Vangelisti, H. T. Reis, & M. A. Fitzpatrick (Eds.), Stability and change in relationships (pp. 107 128). New York : Cambridge University Press.
50. Sabourin, S., Valois, P., & Lussier, Y. (2005). Dyadic adjustment scale: An item response theory analysis. Psychological Assessment, 17, 15 27.
51. Sanford, K. (2003). Problem-solving conversations in marriage: Does it matter what topics couples discuss? Personal Relationships, 10, 97 112.
52. Schachner, D. A., & Shaver, P. R. (2002). Attachment style and human mate poaching. New Review of Social Psychology, 1, 122 129.
53. Shaver, P. R., & Mikulincer, M. (2004). What do self-report attachment measures assess? In W. S. Rholes & J. A. Simpson (Eds.), Adult attachment: Theory, research, and clinical implications (pp. 17 54). New York : Guilford Press.
54. Simpson, J. A. (1990). Influence of attachment styles on romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 971 980.
55. Simpson, J. A., Rholes, W. S., & Phillips, D. (1996). Conflict in close relationships: An attachment perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 899 914.
56. Spanier, G. B. (1976). Measuring dyadic adjustment: New scales for assessing the quality of marriage and similar dyads. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 38, 15 28.
57. Sumer, N., & Cozzarelli, C. (2004). The impact of adult attachment on partner and self-attributions and relationship quality. Personal Relationships, 11, 355 371.