Investigating the Mediating Role of Communication Skills in the Relationship between Attachment Styles and Marital Burnout

The mechanism in which attachment styles relate to marital burnout has not been taken into account in past research.

The present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of communication skills in the relationship between attachment styles and marital burnout.

The method of the present study was correlational and structural equation modeling. The population of the study was all married people living in Hamedan City in 2020. Using the convenience sampling method, 327 married people were selected based on Cochran's formula. The sample group filled out a questionnaire consisting of the Revised Adult Attachment Scale Collins & Reed (1990), Queendom’s Communication Skills Scale Jerabek (2004), and the Marital Boredom Scale Pines (1996). Because of the Coronavirus outburst, the questionnaire was created electronically and posted on virtual social networks. Using Pearson correlation statistics and path analysis, data were analyzed by SPSS-24 and AMOS-24.

Results showed there were significant relationships (P<0.01) between secure attachment style and communication skills (β= 0.6), anxious attachment style and communication skills (β= -0.29), communication skills and marital burnout (β= 0.34), avoidant attachment style and marital burnout (β= 0.99), anxious attachment style and marital burnout (β= 1.52). Results also showed that in the indirect path, secure (β= 0.20) and anxious (β= -0.10) attachment styles were mediated significantly (P<0.01) through communication skills. But the indirect effect of avoidant attachment style was not significantly mediated by communication skills.

The results indicate that in a marital relationship, secure and anxious styles of attachment form and boost the communication skills of the couples influencing their marital burnout.