International Journal of

ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES

EISSN: 2313-3724, Print ISSN: 2313-626X

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 Volume 11, Issue 8 (August 2024), Pages: 178-186

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 Original Research Paper

Types of attachment as predictors of emotional dependence in couples

 Author(s): 

 Marie-France Merlyn, Elena Díaz-Mosquera *, Grace Latorre

 Affiliation(s):

 Department of Psychology, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador

 Full text

  Full Text - PDF

 * Corresponding Author. 

  Corresponding author's ORCID profile: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6093-2614

 Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

 https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2024.08.019

 Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between attachment styles and emotional dependence in adulthood. Attachment formed in childhood often continues into adulthood, influencing the quality of adult relationships, especially romantic ones. Insecure attachment between children and parents is linked to negative outcomes in adult relationships, such as poor relationship quality and infidelity. Recent societal changes have added new pressures on individuals and their relationships. Emotional dependence has emerged as a disorder rooted in emotional reliance, emphasizing the need to explore the underlying factors of dependent relationships. The study included 1,383 participants aged 25 to 60 from Quito, Ecuador, who completed online questionnaires on relationship styles and emotional dependency. Differences in gender and age were found in both areas, confirming some findings from earlier studies. Additionally, two independent predictive models were identified: preoccupied attachment explained 25% of the emotional dependence, and fearful attachment explained 14%. These results suggest that individuals with low self-confidence and feelings of unworthiness are more likely to develop emotional dependence. These new insights make an important contribution to the field. The study also suggests intervention areas for clinical and real-life settings to improve well-being based on these findings.

 © 2024 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords

 Attachment styles, Emotional dependence, Insecure attachment, Adult relationships, Predictive models

 Article history

 Received 2 April 2024, Received in revised form 19 August 2024, Accepted 21 August 2024

 Acknowledgment

The research conducted for this study was fully funded by the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, for which the authors extend their gratitude.

 Compliance with ethical standards

 Ethical considerations

All participants provided informed consent, and their confidentiality was protected. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee for Research with Human Subjects of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador.

 Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

 Citation:

 Merlyn MF, Díaz-Mosquera E, and Latorre G (2024). Types of attachment as predictors of emotional dependence in couples. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 11(8): 178-186

 Permanent Link to this page

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 Tables

 Table 1 Table 2 Table 3 Table 4 Table 5 Table 6

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