Avoidant Attachment, Withdrawal-Aggression Conflict Pattern, and Relationship Satisfaction: A Mediational Dyadic Model

Ione Bretaña; Itziar Alonso-Arbiol; Patricia Recio; Fernando Molero

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.794942

Avoidant Attachment, Withdrawal-Aggression Conflict Pattern, and Relationship Satisfaction: A Mediational Dyadic Model

Front Psychol. 2022 Jan 31:12:794942. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.794942. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Ione Bretaña¹, Itziar Alonso-Arbiol¹, Patricia Recio², Fernando Molero²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical and Health Psychology and Research Methods, Faculty of Psychology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, San Sebastian, Spain.
² Faculty of Psychology, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia UNED, Madrid, Spain.

Abstract

This study was conducted with the purpose of analyzing the combined and mediating effect of actor's withdrawal-partner's demand conflict resolution strategies between avoidance attachment dimension and relationship satisfaction. We conducted a dyadic study with 175 heterosexual couples (aged between 18 and 72 years) who filled in the questionnaires. Six hypotheses were tested using the actor-partner interdependence model with mediation analysis (APIMeM). Results showed that the avoidance dimension of attachment was more strongly associated with actor's withdrawal strategy than with demand/aggression strategy. Furthermore, avoidance attachment was negatively associated with both actor's and partner's relationship satisfaction, the actor effect being higher. Withdrawal strategy was a mediator between actor's avoidance and actor's relationship satisfaction, but it was not a mediator for partner's relationship satisfaction. The interactive pattern of actor's withdrawal-partner's demand/aggression was associated with low levels of both actor's and partner's relationship satisfaction. These results point out to the need of discerning the interactive pattern of conflict-solving strategies as well as their intertwined effect on relationship satisfaction.

Keywords: actor-partner interdependence model; conflict resolution; demand/aggression; mediation model; relationship satisfaction; romantic attachment; withdrawal.