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Attachment Styles and Marital Adjustment among Newlywed Couples

New York State Division of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse

Kenneth E. Leonard

New York State Division of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse

Recent research has shown a relation between adults' attachment styles and their interpersonal functioning. The present study examined attachment styles and marital adjustment among 322 young, newlywed couples participating in a longitudinal study of alcohol use and marital functioning. Couples completed a three-item measure of adult attachment styles and measures of marital intimacy, partners' marital functioning and partners' conflict resolution behaviors. The data were analyzed within a repeated measure design. Couple attachment type (both partners' attachment styles) was the between subject factor, and husband-wife was the within subject factor. Results showed that husbands and wives tended to pair on the basis of similarity of attachment security. However, it was the nature of the pairings, rather than their similarity, per se, which was associated with the marital adjustment variables. Couples in which both partners were securely attached evidenced better overall marital adjustment than couples in which one or both partners were insecurely attached. Additional findings are discussed.

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