Attachment style secures your love during lockdowns

What constitutes good relationship quality in times of crisis

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA

Are there specific variables determining which relationships make it through times of crisis?
Researchers led by Stephanie Eder from the University of Vienna set out to answer this question during the COVID-19 pandemic. 313 participants who were in a romantic relationship repeatedly completed questionnaires during the "first wave" of the COVID-19 pandemic. They filled in questionnaires assessing psychological characteristics, and answered questions with regards to their relationship and how the pandemic had affected their lives. Using machine-learning algorithms, the researchers identified predictors of having a high relationship quality during this time. So: What constitutes a "good" relationship during a lockdown?

The most important predictor was the so-called "Attachment style": Participants with a “secure” attachment tend to have a higher relationship quality than those with "anxious" or "avoidant" attachment styles. This psychological predictor by far trumps external factors. However, predicting changes in relationship quality over the course of the lockdowns is harder, where the researchers could not identify predictive variables.
 
The results of this study highlight the role of attachment style even in adult relationships. The study is the first to show the role of attachment style for romantic relationship quality during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Publication in "Frontiers in Psychology":
Eder, S. J., Nicholson, A., Stefanczyk M., Pieniak, M., Martínez-Molina, J., Pešout Ondra, Binter, J., Smela, P., Scharnowski, F., Steyrl, D. (2021). Securing Your Relationship: Quality of Intimate Relationships During the COVID-19 Pandemic Can Be Predicted by Attachment Style. In: Frontiers in Psychology (12); DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.647956

Related studies on psychological aspects of the pandemic via the "Open Science Framework":
Eder, S. J., Stefańczyk, M., Pieniak, M., Molina, J. M., Pešout, O., Binter, J., … Nicholson, A. (2021). Predicting interpersonal dynamics during the COVID-19 pandemic using machine learning: A cross-national longitudinal study. Verfügbar unter: osf.io/db4px

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JOURNAL

Frontiers in Psychology

DOI

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.647956

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Securing Your Relationship: Quality of Intimate Relationships During the COVID-19 Pandemic Can Be Predicted by Attachment Style

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

20-Jul-2021

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