Women’s Health Bulletin

Current Issue

By Issue

By Author

By Subject

Author Index

Keyword Index

About Journal

Aims and Scope

Editorial Board

Publication Ethics

Authorship Rules and Regulations

Indexing and Abstracting

Peer Review Process

Forms

Relationships of Attachment Behaviors with Depression and Marital Quality among Women in Ahvaz, Iran: Mediating Role of Self-esteem

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Department of Counseling, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran

2 Department of Psychology, Susangerd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Susangerd, Iran

3 Department of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

Abstract

Background: Depression could negatively impact the mood, behavior, attitude, and efficiency of women and massively harm family performance. The present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of the self-esteem in the association of attachment behaviors with depression and marital quality in women in Ahvaz, Iran.
Methods: The study was descriptive-correlational estimated through structural equation modeling. The statistical population was made up of married women with at least high school education in Ahvaz, Iran in 2021. Convenience sampling was used to choose 340 individuals. The instruments included the Quality Marriage Index (QMI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI- 13), the Brief Accessibility, Responsiveness, and Engagement (BARE) Scale, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). A path analysis approach was adopted to evaluate the proposed model and the indirect relationships were examined through bootstrapping in AMOS version 24.
Results: The mean and standard deviation (SD) of depression, marital quality, and self-esteem were 5.78±2.86, 28.58±6.48, and 7.22±2.93, respectively. Depression was negatively correlated with marital quality (r=-0.78) and self-esteem (r=-0.72) in women. The direct paths from attachment behaviors to self-esteem (P<0.001) and from self-esteem to depression (β=-0.53, P<0.001) and marital quality (β=0.18, P<0.001) were significant. The indirect paths from attachment behaviors to depression and marital quality through self-esteem were also significant (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The suggested model suited the data well. The relationship between attachment behaviors, depression, and marital quality in women was mediated by self-esteem. Workshops on boosting self-esteem and outlining its advantageous effects on women’s mental health are advised.

Keywords

References
  1. Wiebe SA, Johnson SM, Lafontaine MF, Moser MB, Dalgleish TL, Tasca GA. Two-Year Follow-up Outcomes in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: An Investigation of Relationship Satisfaction and Attachment Trajectories. J Marital Fam Ther. 2017;43(2):227-244. doi: 10.1111/jmft.12206. PubMed PMID: 27997704. ##
  2. Ruhlmann LM, Gallus KL, Durtschi JA. Exploring relationship satisfaction and attachment behaviors in single- and dual-trauma couples: A pilot study. Traumatology. 2018;24(1):27-35. doi: 10.1037/trm0000129. ##
  3. Sahraian A, Bahmanipoor A, Amooee S, Mahmoodian H, Mani A. Marital Maladjustment in Infertile Couples Who Referred to Ghadir Mother and Child Hospital, Shiraz. Women’s Health Bull. 2016;3(2):e30895. doi: 10.17795/whb-30895. ##
  4. Welch TS, Lachmar EM, Leija SG, Easley T, Blow AJ, Wittenborn AK. Establishing Safety in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy: A Single-Case Process Study. J Marital Fam Ther. 2019;45(4):621-634. doi: 10.1111/jmft.12398. PubMed PMID: 31355959. ##
  5. Hasson-Ohayon I, Ben-Pazi A, Silberg T, Pijnenborg GHM, Goldzweig G. The mediating role of parental satisfaction between marital satisfaction and perceived family burden among parents of children with psychiatric disorders. Psychiatry Res. 2019;271:105-110. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2018.11.037. PubMed PMID: 30472503. ##
  6. Serretti A, Chiesa A, Calati R, Sentissi O, Akimova E, Kasper S, et al. Family history of major depression and residual symptoms in responder and non-responder depressed patients. Compr Psychiatry. 2014;55(1):51-5. doi: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2013.08.002. PubMed PMID: 24156872. ##
  7. Babolhavaeji M, Khoshnevis E, Jafarzadeh Rastin S. The Effect of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy on Depression and Coping Styles of Women Exposed to Marital Infidelity. Women Health Bull. 2019;6(4):18-26. doi: 10.30476/whb.2019.45985. ##
  8. Mohammadi K, Samavi A, Ghazavi Z. The Relationship Between Attachment Styles and Lifestyle With Marital Satisfaction. Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2016;18(4):e23839. doi: 10.5812/ircmj.23839. PubMed PMID: 27433349; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4939067. ##
  9. Farero A, Bowles R, Blow A, Ufer L, Kees M, Guty D. Rasch Analysis of the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS) with Military Couples. Contemporary Family Therapy. 2019;41(2):125-34. doi: 10.1007/s10591-018-09486-2. ##
  10. Cho M, Impett EA, Campos B, Chen S, Keltner D. Socioeconomic inequality undermines relationship quality in romantic relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. 2020;37(5):1722-42. doi: 10.1177/0265407520907969. ##
  11. Fraley RC, Roisman GI. The development of adult attachment styles: four lessons. Current Opinion in Psychology. 2019;25:26-30. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.02.008. PubMed PMID: 29510301. ##
  12. Umemura T, Lacinová L, Kotrčová K, Fraley RC. Similarities and differences regarding changes in attachment preferences and attachment styles in relation to romantic relationship length: longitudinal and concurrent analyses. Attach Hum Dev. 2018;20(2):135-159. doi: 10.1080/14616734.2017.1383488. PubMed PMID: 28959920. ##
  13. Dunkel CS, Lukaszewski AW, Chua K. The relationships between sex, life history strategy, and adult romantic attachment style. Personality and Individual Differences. 2016;98:176-178. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2016.04.040. ##
  14. Ayers S, Jessop D, Pike A, Parfitt Y, Ford E. The role of adult attachment style, birth intervention and support in posttraumatic stress after childbirth: a prospective study. J Affect Disord. 2014;155:295-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2013.10.022. PubMed PMID: 24238870. ##
  15. Alder MC, Yorgason JB, Sandberg JG, Davis S. Perceptions of Parents' Marriage Predicting Marital Satisfaction: The Moderating Role of Attachment Behaviors. Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy. 2018;17(2):146-64. doi: 10.1080/15332691.2017.1372834. ##
  16. Suzuki H, Tomoda A. Roles of attachment and self-esteem: impact of early life stress on depressive symptoms among Japanese institutionalized children. BMC Psychiatry. 2015;15:8. doi: 10.1186/s12888-015-0385-1. PubMed PMID: 25651759; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4324421. ##
  17. Sechi C, Vismara L, Brennstuhl MJ, Tarquinio C, Lucarelli L. Adult attachment styles, self-esteem, and quality of life in women with fibromyalgia. Health Psychol Open. 2020;7(2):2055102920947921. doi: 10.1177/2055102920947921. PubMed PMID: 32850131; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7427016. ##
  18. Morowati Sharifabad MA, Baghernezhad Hesary F, Miri M, Dastjerdi R, Sharifzadeh GR. Self-Esteem in Adolescent Girls: A Qualitative Study. Women Health Bull. 2020;7(2):26-32. doi: 10.30476/whb.2020.84215.1028. ##
  19. Olchowska-Kotala A. Body esteem and self-esteem in middle-aged women. J Women Aging. 2018;30(5):417-427. doi: 10.1080/08952841.2017.1313012. 28. PubMed PMID: 28453407. ##
  20. Morales-Sánchez L, Luque-Ribelles V, Gil-Olarte P, Ruiz-González P, Guil R. Enhancing Self-Esteem and Body Image of Breast Cancer Women through Interventions: A Systematic Review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(4):1640. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18041640. PubMed PMID: 33572137; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7914971. ##
  21. Mohammadi S, Hafezi F, Ehteshamzadeh P, Eftekhar Saadi Z, Bakhtiarpour S. The Effect of Schema Therapy on Sexual Self-Esteem in the Women Involved in Marital Conflicts. Women Health Bull. 2020;7(2):49-55. doi: 10.30476/whb.2020.86498.1058. ##
  22. Abbasi L, Monirpoor N, Mirzahoseini H. Explaining Self-Acceptance based on Body Image, Gender Role, and Sexual Attitude Mediated via Time Perspective in Postmenopausal Women Aged 45-60 Years Old in Tehran, Iran. Women Health Bull. 2022;9(2):95-103. doi: 10.30476/whb.2022.94100.1162. ##
  23. Norton R. Measuring Marital Quality: A Critical Look at the Dependent Variable. Journal of Marriage and Family. 1983;45(1):141-51. doi: 10.2307/351302. ##
  24. Maroufizadeh S, Almasi-Hashiani A, Amini P, Sepidarkish M, Omani-Samani R. The Quality of Marriage Index (QMI): a validation study in infertile patients. BMC Res Notes. 2019;12(1):507. doi: 10.1186/s13104-019-4438-2. PubMed PMID: 31412948; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6693237. ##
  25. Beck AT, Steer RA, Carbin MG. Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: Twenty-five years of evaluation. Clinical Psychology Review. 1988;8(1):77-100. doi: 10.1016/0272-7358(88)90050-5. ##
  26. Dadfar M, Kalibatseva Z. Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of the Short Beck Depression Inventory with Iranian Psychiatric Outpatients. Scientifica. 2016;2016:8196463. doi: 10.1155/2016/8196463. PubMed PMID: 27293979; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4886104. ##
  27. Sandberg JG, Busby DM, Johnson SM, Yoshida K. The Brief Accessibility, Responsiveness, and Engagement (BARE) Scale: A Tool for Measuring Attachment Behavior in Couple Relationships. Family Process. 2012;51(4):512-26. doi: 10.1111/j.1545-5300.2012.01422.x. ##
  28. Hashemi Golpayegani F, Yazdi SM. Psychometric Properties of Attachment Behaviors Scale in Iranian Married People. Journal of Woman and Family Studies. 2021;9(2):127-47. doi: 10.22051/jwfs.2021.21681.2598. ##
  29. Rosenberg M. Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). APA PsycTests; 1965. doi: 10.1037/t01038-000. ##
  30. Shapurian R, Hojat M, Nayerahmadi H. Psychometric characteristics and dimensionality of a Persian version of Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale. Percept Mot Skills. 1987;65(1):27-34. doi: 10.2466/pms.1987.65.1.27. PubMed PMID: 3684462. ##
  31. Feeney J, Fitzgerald J. Attachment, conflict and relationship quality: laboratory-based and clinical insights. Current Opinion in Psychology. 2019;25:127-131. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.04.002. ##
  32. Akintayo AA, Aduloju OP, Dada MU, Abiodun-Ojo OA, Oluwole LO, Ade-Ojo IP. Comparison of self-esteem and depression among fertile and infertile women in a low resource setting. J Obstet Gynaecol. 2021:1-6. doi: 10.1080/01443615.2021.1945002. PubMed PMID: 34379544. ##
  33. van Lankveld JJDM, Dewitte M, Verboon P, van Hooren SAH. Associations of Intimacy, Partner Responsiveness, and Attachment-Related Emotional Needs With Sexual Desire. Front Psychol. 2021;12:665967. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.665967. PubMed PMID: 34234713; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8255964. ##
  34. Türkben Polat H, Kaplan Serin E. Self-esteem and sexual quality of life among obese women. Perspect Psychiatr Care. 2021;57(3):1083-1087. doi: 10.1111/ppc.12660. PubMed PMID: 33111358. ##
Women’s Health Bulletin
Volume 9, Issue 3 - Serial Number 35
July 2022
Pages 142-149
Files
Share
How to cite
Statistics