Predictive modeling of the level of caregiving in romantic relationships based on attachment styles, considering the mediating role of guilt in romantic relationships

Authors

1 Ph.D. student in psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Bojnord branch, Bojnord, Iran.

2 Department of Clinical Psychology, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

3 Assistant professor of psychology, Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Quchan branch, Quchan, Iran.

10.22038/jfmh.2025.26459

Abstract

Introduction: This study aimed to predict the level of caregiving in romantic relationships based on attachment styles, considering the mediating role of guilt in these relationships.
Materials and Methods: The research method was a descriptive correlational (path analysis) type. The statistical population included all married men and women living in Mashhad, Iran, in 2024. For this purpose, 400 people were selected using the multi-stage cluster sampling method. We used the Caregiving Questionnaires of Kans and Shaver (1994), the Attachment Styles of Hazen and Shaver (1978), and the Interpersonal Guilt of O'Connor et al. (1997) to collect data. LISREL 8.80 software and the path analysis model were applied to data analysis.  
 Results: The overall test indices indicated the overall fit of the model. The path coefficient from secure and ambivalent attachment style to guilt and the path coefficient from guilt to caregiving were significant (P< 0.01). The results of the indirect coefficients of secure and ambivalent attachment style on couples' caregiving with the mediation of guilt were significant (P< 0.01). In other words, guilt mediated the relationship between secure and ambivalent attachment styles and caregiving in romantic relationships.
Conclusion: The results suggest that couple therapists and family counselors should pay more attention to attachment styles and guilt as influential variables to better understand couples' problems.

Keywords

References

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Fundamentals of Mental Health
Volume 27, Issue 3
May and June 2025
Pages 165-171

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