Psychological Development and Education ›› 2014, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (4): 396-402.

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Marital Attachment Stability and Its Relationship with Spousal Support among Older Adults

WANG Yan1, WANG Da-hua1, FU Lin1, JIANG Wei2, ZHAI Xiao-yan1   

  1. 1. Institute of Developmental Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875;
    2. Civil Aviation Medicine Center of CAAC, Civil Aviation Institute, Beijing 100123
  • Online:2014-07-15 Published:2014-07-15

PDF (PC)

Abstract: This longitudinal study mainly explored the stability of marital attachment and its relationship with spousal support experience among older adults. There were 75 community-dwelling old adults,with age ranging from 60 to 84 years old at the first time of investigation,who were assessed twice across 3 years. Older Adults' Marital Attachment Scale was used to measure attachment security, attachment anxiety, and attachment avoidance. And the perceived spouse support including support received and satisfaction during life events were reported by the participants. The results showed that attachment security, attachment anxiety, and attachment avoidance were weakly stable over the 3 years. In addition, the spousal support experience was an important predictor of the change of marital attachment. The individuals who reported more support from spouse or more satisfaction with spousal support would turn into more secure, less avoidant, and less anxious about being abandoned.

Key words: marital attachment, stability, spousal support, older adult

CLC Number: 

  • B844.3

傅素芬. (2000). 老年人生活事件、社会支持、心理健康. 浙江大学硕士学位论文.

肖林. (2007). 老年人生活事件量表的初步编制. 中南大学硕士学位论文.

翟晓艳, 李春花, 魏红, 王大华. (2010). 老年人夫妻依恋问卷的编制. 心理发展与教育,2, 197-204.

张明妍, 王大华, Power,M. J., & Laidlaw, K. (2011). 老年人重要社会支持的特点及其与老化态度的关系. 心理科学, 34(2), 441-446.

Abbey, A., Andrews, F. M., & Halman, L. J. (1995). Provision and receipt of social support and disregard: what is their impact on the marital quality of infertile and fertile couples? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 455-469.

Allen, J. P., McElhaney, K. B., Kuperminc, G. P., & Jodl, K. M. (2004). Stability and change in attachment security across adolescence. Child Development, 75(6), 1792-1805.

Antonucci, T. C., Akiyama, H., & Takahashi, K. (2004). Attachment and close relationships across the life span. Attachment & Human Development, 6(4), 353-370.

Baldwin, M. W., & Fehr, B. (1995). On the instability of attachment style ratings. Journal of Social and Personal Psychology, 12, 547-552.

Baldwin, M. W., Keelan, J. P. R., Fehr, B., Enns, V., & Koh-Rangarajoo, E. (1996). Social-cognitive conceptualization of attachment working models: Availability and accessibility effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71(1), 94-109.

Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. New York: Basic Books.

Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss: Vol. 2. Separation: Anxiety and anger. New York: Basic Books.

Collins, N. L. (1996). Working models of attachment: Implications for explanation, emotion, and behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71(4), 810-832.

Cozzarelli, C., Karafa, J. A., Collins, N. L., & Tagler, M. J. (2003). Stability and change in adult attachment styles: Associations with personal vulnerabilities, life events and global construal of self and others. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 22(3), 315-346.

Cutrona, C. E., Shaffer, P. A., Wesner, K. A., & Gardner, K. A. (2007). Optimally matching support and perceived spousal sensitivity. Journal of Family Psychology, 21(4), 754-758.

Davila, J., Burge, D., & Hammen, C. (1997). Why does attachment style change? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(4), 826-838.

Davila, J., & Cobb, R. J. (2003). Predicting change in self-reported and interviewer-assessed adult attachment: Tests of the individual difference and life stress models of attachment change. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 859-871.

Davila, J., & Cobb, R. J. (2004). Predictors of change in attachment security during adulthood. In W. S. Rholes, & J. Simpson (Eds.), Adult attachment: theory, research, and clinical implications. New York: Guilford.

Davila, J., & Sargent, E. (2003). The meaning of life (events) predicts changes in attachment security. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 1383-1396.

Davila, J., & Kashy, D. A. (2009). Secure base processes in couples: Daily associations between support experiences and attachment security. Journal of Family Psychology, 23(1), 76-88.

Fiori, K. L., Consedine, N. S., & Magai, C. (2009). Late life attachment in context: Patterns of relating among men and women from seven ethnic groups. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 24, 121-141.

Fraley, R. C. (2002). Attachment stability from infancy to adulthood: Meta-analysis and dynamic modeling of developmental mechanisms. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6, 123-151.

Fraley, R. C., & Brumbaugh, C. C. (2004). A dynamical systems approach to conceptualizing and studying stability and change in attachment security. In W. S. Rholes, & J. Simpson (Eds.), Adult attachment: theory, research, and clinical implications. New York: Guilford.

Jain, E., & Labouvie-Vief, G. (2010). Compensatory effects of emotion avoidance in adult development. Biological Psychology, 84, 497-513.

Lang, F., & Carstensen, L. L., (1994). Close emotional relationship in late life: Further support for proactive aging in the social domain. Psychology and Aging, 9, 315-324.

Mikulincer, M., Gillath, O., & Shaver, P. R. (2002). Activation of the attachment system in adulthood: Threat-related primes increase the accessibility of mental representations of attachment figures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 881-895.

Pickard, J. G., & Nelson-Becker, H. (2011). Attachment and spiritual coping: Theory and practice with older adults. Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health, 13(2), 138-155.

Saunders, R., Jacobvitz, D., Zaccagnino, M., Beverung, L. M., & Hazen, N. (2011). Pathways to earned-security: The role of alternative support figures. Attachment and Human Development, 13(4), 403-420.

Scharfe, E., & Bartholomew, K. (1994). Reliability and stability of adult attachment patterns. Personal Relationships, 1, 23-43.

Scharfe, E., & Cole, V. (2006). Stability and change of attachment representations during emerging adulthood: An examination of mediators and moderators of change. Personal Relationships, 13, 363-374.

Scharfe, E. (2007). Cause or consequence: Exploring causal links between attachment and depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 26(9), 1048-1063.

Schmidt, C. K., & Welsh, A. C. (2010). College adjustment and subjective well-being when coping with a family member's illness. Journal of Counseling and Development, 88(4), 397-406.

Senchak, M., & Leonard, K. E. (1992). Attachment styles and marital adjustment among newlywed couples. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 9(1), 51-64.

Shaver, P. R., & Mikulincer, M. (2002). Attachment-related psychodynamics. Attachment & Human Development, 4(2), 133-161.

Shorey, H. S., & Snyder, C. R. (2006). The role of adult attachment styles in psychopathology and psychotherapy outcomes. Review of General Psychology, 10, 1-20.

Simpson, J. A., Rholes, W. S., Campbell, L., & Wilson, C. L. (2003). Changes in attachment orientations across the transition to parenthood. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 317-331.

Stansfeld, S., Head, J., Bartley, M., & Fonagy, P. (2008). Social position, early deprivation and the development of attachment. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 43(7), 516-526.

Tasca, G., Balfour, L., Ritchie, K., & Bissada, H. (2007). Change in attachment is associated with improved depression among women with binge eating disorder. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 44(4), 423-433.

Van Assche, L., Luyten, P., Bruffaerts, R., Persoons, P., van de Ven, L., & Vandenbulcke, M. (2012). Attachment in old age: Theoretical assumptions, empirical findings and implications for clinical practice. Clinical Psychology Review, 33, 67-81.

Wallace, J. L., & Vaux, A. (1994). Social support network orientation: The role of adult attachment style. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 12, 354-365.

Zhang, F., & Labouvie-Vief, G. (2004). Stability and fluctuation in adult attachment style over a 6-year period. Attachment & Human Development, 6, 419-437.
[1] YU Linwei, LI Shuang, LIU Shen, PAN Wenpei, XU Qiang, ZHANG Lin. The Positivity Effect of Ambiguous Facial Expressions Recognition and Its Mechanism in Older Adults [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2024, 40(2): 196-206.
[2] ZHANG Hongchi, MAO Weibin, CUI Huiyuan, AN Shu, LI Qingyuan. The Effects of Value on Item Memory and Associative Memory in Older Adults [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2023, 39(5): 625-634.
[3] LIN Yao, ZHANG Baoshan, XU Ran, ZHANG Heyating. The Relationship between Sleep Quality and Family Communication and Its Mechanism among the Older Adults [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2023, 39(2): 200-209.
[4] XU Junting, BAO Wei, LUO Junlong. Unstable Control Deprivation Impairs Working Memory Updating [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2022, 38(1): 1-9.
[5] LI Zhanxing, NI Xiaoli, NIU Gengfeng, ZHU Liqi. Children's Racial/Ethnic Essentialism and its Contributing Factors [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2020, 36(5): 633-640.
[6] ZHANG Jun, TONG Wen, LIU Zhifang. The Aging of Perceptual Span in Different Word Length Sentences: Evidences from Eye Movement [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2019, 35(3): 312-319.
[7] ZHANG Jinfeng, WANG Yan. The Effects of Tenacious Goal Pursuit and Flexible Goal Adjustment on Well-being among Elderly Couples: Based on the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2018, 34(6): 750-757.
[8] ZHANG Xing, CHEN Xu, RAN Guangming, HU Na, GUO Lei, CAI Shuguang, LI Qiangqiang. Older Adults'Attachment Affects Their Subjective Well-being: The Mediating Role of Loneliness and Self-esteem [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2016, 32(6): 761-768.
[9] XU Fuzhen, ZHANG Lingling, WEI Xing, ZHANG Wenxin, CHEN Liang, JI Linqin, CHEN Xinyin. The Stability of Internalizing Problem and Its Relation to Maternal Parenting during Early Adolescence [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2015, 31(2): 204-211.
[10] BAI Xuejun, GUO Zhiying, WANG Yongsheng, GAO Xiaolei, YAN Guoli. The Landing Positions of Older and Younger Adults while Reading Spaced Text [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2015, 31(2): 171-179.
[11] ZHOU Ya, LIU Xiang-ping. Positive Self in Mild and Moderate Depression [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2013, 29(3): 312-318,334.
[12] LIU Shao-ying, WANG Fang, ZHU Yao. Stability of Preschooler’s Peer Relationship [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2012, 28(6): 588-594.
[13] ZHANG Ping, LIANG Zong-bao, CHEN Hui-chang, ZHANG Guang-zhen. The Stability and Gender Difference of Children’s Self-control from 2 to 11Years Old [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2012, 28(5): 463-470.
[14] WANG Yan, WANG Da-hua. The Stability of Attachment in Adulthood [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2012, 28(4): 442-448.
[15] LIU Xi-ping, TANG Le, TANG Wei-hai. The Own-Age Effect in Face Recognition and Judgments of Learning [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2012, 28(3): 271-275.
Viewed
Full text


Abstract

Cited
  Shared   
  Discussed   
No Suggested Reading articles found!
Copyright 2018 © Editorial office of Psychological Development and Education
Supported by Beijing Magtech Co.Ltd