Psychological Abuse as a Mediator Between Insecure Attachment Orientations and Relationship Satisfaction

• Published date: 01 April 2021
• Author: Ateret Gewirtz‐Meydan,Ricky Finzi‐Dottan
• Date: 01 April 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12490

A G-MUniversity of Haifa

R F-DSapir Academic College

Psychological Abuse as a Mediator Between

Insecure Attachment Orientations and

Relationship Satisfaction

Objective: To test the mediating effect of per-

petrating psychological abuse between insecure

attachment orientations and relationship satis-

faction among couples.

Method: The mediating effect of psycholog-

ical abuse between attachment orientation

and relationship satisfaction was investigated

among 128 couples (N=256 participants) in

enduring relationships using the actor–partner

interdependence model.

Results: Actor effects indicated men and women

higher in anxious attachment perpetrate more

psychological abuse, which in turn is linked

to their low personal relationship satisfac-

tion. Partner effects revealed two signicant

paths: Women higher in anxious attachment

perpetrated more psychological abuse, which

in turn was negatively linked to their partners’

relationship satisfaction. Second, the higher

the women’s attachment anxiety, the more

their partners perpetrated psychological abuse,

which in turn was negatively linked to partners’

relationship satisfaction.

Conclusions: Research on attachment and psy-

chological abuse within romantic relationships

School of Social Work, Sapir Academic College, D. N. Hof

Ashkelon, 79165, Israel (rikifnz@biu.013.net.il).

Key Words: attachment orientation, dyadic perspective, inti-

mate partner violence, psychologicalabuse, relationship sat-

isfaction.

could benet from including a dyadic per-

spective. Although seen as an invisible harm,

psychological abuse is a distinct type of abuse. It

has a unique role in fullling attachment needs,

as well as potentially damaging consequences

on the individual and the dyad.

Psychological, mental, or emotional violence,

aggression, and abuse are examples of terms

used to describe a specic behavioral cate-

gory of intimate partner violence (Winstok &

Sowan-Basheer, 2015). These types of vio-

lence are dened as behaviors intended to

harm a partner’s emotional well-being (Yoon

& Lawrence, 2013). Common psychologically

aggressive tactics include frightening, humiliat-

ing, ridiculing, controlling, or silent treatments,

purposefully ignoring, degrading, threatening

to abandon or harm, and damaging personal

property (Follingstad et al., 1990; Sackett &

Saunders, 1990). Studies report that psychologi-

cal abuse is prevalent, especially compared with

physical aggression (Carney & Barner, 2012;

Lawrence et al., 2009; Mills et al., 2018; Taft

et al., 2006) and other types of abuse (Panuzio

& Dilillo, 2010).

Despite its high prevalence, psychological

abuse receives substantially less attention in

the literature than does physical abuse (Kar &

O’Leary, 2013; Yoon & Lawrence, 2013). This

may be attributed to the difculty in developing

498Family Relations 70 (April 2021): 498–513

DOI:10.1111/fare.12490

Attachment, psychological abuse, and relationship satisfaction499

consensus on an acceptable denition of psycho-

logical abuse (Kar & O’Leary, 2013). Accord-

ing to Follingstad (2007), of all of forms of

abuse, psychological abuse may be the most

difcult to validly and reliably dene, as it

ranges along a wide continuum and is less eas-

ily observed than physical abuse. Psychological

abuse includes implicit and explicit behaviors,

as well as visible and invisible behaviors (Jor-

dan, et al., 2010; Maiuro, 2001). For example,

restricting or controlling behaviors, as well as

withholding affection, emotional support, and

nurturing can be considered psychological abuse

(Jordan et al., 2010). Historical social roles and

different cultural norms add to the difculty

of identifying psychological abuse and den-

ing its full range of possible behaviors (Jor-

dan et al., 2010). However, although there is no

clear consensus on the denition of psychologi-

cal abuse, it can be generally dened as aggres-

sive acts that are intended to degrade a person

and attack his or her self-worth by making the

person feel guilty, upset, frightened, or inade-

quate (Lawrence et al., 2009).

Psychological abuse also may receive less

empirical and clinical attention because it is

perceived as more socially acceptable (e.g.,

Masci & Sanderson, 2017) and less harmful

than is physical abuse (Arriaga & Schk-

eryantz, 2015; Capezza & Arriaga, 2008;

Hammock et al., 2015, 2017; Masci & Sander-

son, 2017). Yet psychological abuseis more

predictive of posttraumatic stress disorder

(PTSD) symptomology (i.e., intrusive experi-

ences, defensive avoidance, and dissociation),

anxiety, and depression than is physical abuse

(Mills et al., 2018). Studies report psychological

abuse is related to high levels of personal

distress (Arriaga & Schkeryantz, 2015),

depression (Lawrence et al., 2009; O’Leary,

et al., 2007; Taftet al., 2006), anxiety (Lawrence

et al., 2009; Taft et al., 2006), fearfulness

(O’Leary et al., 2007), PTSD symptoms (Arias

& Pape, 1999; Street & Arias, 2001), illegal

drug use, negative health perceptions, cognitive

impairment (Straight et al., 2003), dysfunctional

conict resolution strategies (Gonzalez-Mendez

et al., 2018), and adverse reproductive out-

comes (e.g., unwanted pregnancy, termination

of pregnancy, and lack of access to prenatal

care; Tiwari et al., 2018). It was suggested that

there are specic subtypes of psychological

abuse that are associated with psychopathol-

ogy (Follingstad, 2009). For example, abusive

behaviors that damage a partner’s self-esteem

or self-concept and produce feelings of help-

lessness, submissiveness, passivity, and lack of

sociability are associated with depressive symp-

toms. Abusive behaviors intended to frighten

(e.g., direct threats to harm) are strongly

associated with anxiety.

Psychological Abuse and Attachment Theory

Adult attachment has been found to be an

important predictor of romantic relationship

quality in many empirical studies (Banse, 2004;

Chung, 2014; Molero et al., 2017). The insecure

adult attachment dimensions of anxiety and

avoidance are linked to low marital satisfaction

(Feeney, 2002), overall low relationship sat-

isfaction (Butzer & Campbell, 2008; Lowyck

& Luyten, 2008), more relationship conicts

(Treboux et al., 2004), and high levels of inter-

personal trust issues and loneliness within

romantic relationships (Givertz et al., 2013).

Insecure attachment has been studied in

relation to the perpetration of relationship vio-

lence (Buck et al., 2012; Bui & Pasalich, 2018;

Fournier et al., 2011; Hellemans et al., 2015;

Henderson et al., 2005; Oka et al., 2016). From

an attachment theory framework, violence

toward one’s partner is understood as a dysfunc-

tional response to perceived attachment threats

that result from unmet attachment needs in the

romantic relationship (Bartholomew & Alli-

son, 2006). It is therefore suggested that partner

abuse is used as an attempt to establish or

maintain a level of personal security within the

relationship (Doumas et al., 2008), to increase

or decrease proximity to the partner (Allison

et al., 2008), and as an attempt to manage con-

ict created by opposing needs for closeness or

distance (Arriaga & Schkeryantz, 2015). Indi-

viduals who perceive a threat to the attachment

relationship may become alarmed and anxious

(Bowlby, 1984), which may be emotionally reg-

ulated by a violent episode (Buck et al., 2012;

Doumas et al., 2008). Carroll et al. (2010) have

shown that relational aggression, even more than

physical aggression, strikes at core attachment

needs, such as the need for a relationship or the

need to belong to a group.

According to Henderson et al. (2005), anx-

ious individuals who hold negative views of self

and positive views of others are torn between

the need for love and support and the fear

of not having that need met. Thus, they can