The Role of Attachment Styles and Spiritual Intelligence in Predicting Women’s Emotional Divorce

Background: Emotional divorce refers to a situation in which the emotional relationship, support, passion, warmth, attention, love, and intimacy between couples (husband & wife) decline or diminish. Such conditions lead to an unaffectionate marital life to the point that the couples are only together under one roof. Accordingly, the present study aimed to explore the role of attachment styles and spiritual intelligence in predicting emotional divorce in women. Methods: This study employed a descriptive-correlational design. The research population included all women filing for divorce who were referred to marriage counseling and couple therapy centers in districts 5 and 6 in Tehran City, Iran, in 2020. In total, 400 women who met the inclusion criteria were selected as the study participants using voluntary response and convenience sampling techniques. The required data were collected by the Emotional Divorce Scale, the Adult Attachment Scale, and the Self-Report Measure of Spiritual Intelligence. The collected data were analyzed using the multiple regression analysis method in SPSS V. 22. Results: The obtained results suggested a significant positive relationship between the anxious-avoidant attachment style and emotional divorce (P<0.01). Furthermore, there was a significant negative relationship between spiritual intelligence and emotional divorce; the higher the spiritual intelligence, the lower the emotional divorce (P=0.02). Accordingly, spiritual intelligence and anxious-avoidant attachment style can predict emotional divorce (Multiple Regressions= -0.58). Conclusion: The present study data suggested that premarital education and counseling before spouse selection help in examining the personality traits of the parties. Moreover, paying attention to the role of health professionals, such as family counselors, psychologists, and psychiatric nurses in providing premarital counseling and education to couples and emphasizing the role of spiritual intelligence and attachment styles may prevent emotional separation and divorce among couples.

The Moderation of Perceived Comfort and Relations with Patients in the Relationship between Secure Workplace Attachment and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors in Elderly Facilities Staff

This study focuses on caregivers who work in residential facilities (RFs) for the elderly, and specifically on their organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) in relation to their interaction respectively with the overall context (workplace attachment dimension), the spatial-physical environment (perceived environmental comfort), and the social environment (relationship with patients). A sample of health care workers (medical or health care specialists, nurses, and office employees, n = 129) compiled a self-report paper-pencil questionnaire, which included scales measuring the study variables. The research hypotheses included secure workplace attachment style as independent variable, OCBs as the dependent variable, and perceived comfort and relations with patients as moderators. Results showed that both secure workplace attachment and perceived comfort promote OCBs, but the latter counts especially as a compensation of an insecure workplace attachment. As expected, difficult relationships with patients hinder the relationship between secure workplace attachment style and OCBs. In sum, our study highlights the importance of the joint consideration of the psychological, social, and environmental dimensions for fostering positive behaviors in caregivers employed in elderly care settings.

Cerebellar Engagement In The Attachment Behavioral System

Brain structural bases of individual differences in attachment are not yet fully clarified. Given the evidence of relevant cerebellar contribution to cognitive, affective, and social functions, the present research was aimed at investigating potential associations between attachment dimensions (through the Attachment Style Questionnaire, ASQ) and cerebellar macro- and micro-structural measures (Volumetric and Diffusion Tensor Imaging data). In a sample of 79 healthy subjects, cerebellar and neocortical volumetric data were correlated with ASQ scores at the voxel level within specific Regions Of Interest. Also, correlations between ASQ scores and age, years of education, anxiety and depression levels were performed to control for the effects of sociodemographic and psychological variables on neuroimaging results.Positive associations between scores of the Preoccupation with Relationships (ASQ subscale associated to insecure/anxious attachment) and cortical volume were found in the cerebellum (right lobule VI and left Crus 2) and neocortex (right medial OrbitoFrontal Cortex, OFC) regions. Cerebellar contribution to the attachment behavioral system reflects the more general cerebellar engagement in the regulation of emotional and social behaviors. Cerebellar properties of timing, prediction, and learning well integrate with OFC processing supporting the regulation of attachment experiences. Cerebellar areas might be rightfully included in the attachment behavioral system.

Interparental conflict and relational attitudes within romantic relationships: The mediating role of attachment orientations

Early experiences and childhood perceptions of interparental conflict (IPC) have consistently been shown to have detrimental consequences for future psychological adjustment, in particular for attachment and couple relationships during adolescence and adulthood. We hypothesized that 1. IPC would predict anxious and avoidant attachment styles, and three relational attitudes associated with couple relationships: sense of relational entitlement, pathological concern, and authenticity; and 2. Attachment style would mediate the associations between IPC and these three relational attitudes. Measures of perceived IPC, attachment orientations, relational entitlement, pathological concern, and authenticity in romantic relationships were completed online by 280 young adults aged 19–32. IPC was positively correlated with anxious and avoidant attachment styles, restricted and inflated sense of entitlement, and pathological concern and negatively with authenticity. A structural equations model showed that IPC predicted avoidant and anxious attachment styles, which positively predicted an inflated and restricted sense of relational entitlement and pathological concern and negatively predicted authenticity. Attachment styles fully mediated the relationships between IPC and the relational attitudes. IPC therefore seems to be related to imbalanced attitudes in romantic relationships, due in part to a propensity toward insecure attachment orientations. Children with insecure attachment who are exposed to significant levels of IPC may be at high risk for relationship problems later in life because of difficulties exposing their vulnerability, assessing need fulfillment realistically, and caring for themselves as well as others. They should therefore be helped to communicate their relational needs to significant others, in particular to their partners.

Self-Esteem Moderates the Relationship Between Secure Attachment and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems in Preadolescence

This longitudinal study examined the interactive effects of secure attachment and self-esteem on change in internalizing and externalizing problems in a sample of preadolescents. 407 youth ( Mage = 11.1 years) completed measures of self-esteem, secure attachment style, and peer nomination inventories tapping internalizing and externalizing problems at the beginning of the fourth and fifth grades. Results suggest that internalizing and externalizing problems may be reduced for securely attached youth with high self-esteem. Implications for future research are examined, along with a discussion on clinical applications of studies involving interaction effects.