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Dimensions of Adult Attachment, Affect Regulation, and Romantic Relationship Functioning

University of Texas, Austin, brennan{at}psyvax.psy.utexas.edu

Phillip R. Shaver

University of California, Davis

Recent research has suggested that adult attachment style, an orientation to relationships thought to be determined by child-hood relationships with parents and subsequent experiences with important attachment figures, affects the experience of romantic love. Several hypotheses were generated regarding attachment-style differences in affect-regulation strategies (nonintimate sexual behavior, alcohol use, and eating disorders) and attachment experiences and dynamics in couples (e.g., relationship satisfaction, partner-matching on attachment style). These hypotheses were tested using seven theoretically derived attachment scales, which reveal the specific attributes of a person's attachment style. Results indicate substantial associations between attachment dimensions and relationship satisfaction, nonintimate sexuality, eating disorders, and motives for drinking, and replicate previous research showing nonrandom but weak pairing of attachment styles in dating couples.

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