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RESEARCH PRODUCT
How do individual attachment patterns of both members of couples affect their perceived infertility stress? An actor–partner interdependence analysis
Zaira DonarelliAdolfo AllegraDennis M. KivlighanGianluca Lo Cocosubject
Infertility030219 obstetrics & reproductive medicinemedia_common.quotation_subject05 social sciences050109 social psychologyFertilityAttachment anxietysocial sciencesAffect (psychology)medicine.disease03 medical and health sciencesDistress0302 clinical medicineStress (linguistics)behavior and behavior mechanismsmedicinepopulation characteristicsAnxiety0501 psychology and cognitive sciencesmedicine.symptomPsychologyAttachment avoidance Attachment anxiety Infertility stress Couples APIMGeneral PsychologyClinical psychologymedia_commondescription
Abstract There exists a lack of dyadic research examining how the attachment characteristics of infertile individuals influence their experience of infertility-related distress. The actor partner interdependence model was used to test a theoretical model by examining whether both infertile wives and husbands, who display high levels of attachment avoidance and/or attachment anxiety, will experience infertility-related distress. Seven hundred and seventy individuals (385 couples) completed the experience in close relationships, the fertility problem inventory, and the state-trait anxiety inventory prior to infertility treatment. Wives' distress was predicted by their own and by their husbands' attachment avoidance. Husbands' distress was predicted by wives' attachment anxiety. Moreover, interaction effects between two partners were observed when predicting husbands' distress. The results of the current study support the reciprocal nature of couple's attachment relationships.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-04-01 | Personality and Individual Differences |