Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 17, 2026

The Other End of the Leash: An Experimental Test to Analyze How Owners Interact with Their Pet Dogs
Published on: October 13, 2017
Working models of attachment to parents and partners: implications for emotional behavior between partners
Neera Mehta1, Philip A Cowan2, Carolyn P Cowan2
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
Abstract:
This study examined whether working models of attachment are associated with observed positive emotion, sadness, and anger during marital conflict. Individuals (n = 176) from a longitudinal study of families participated in the current cross-sectional study. Narrative interviews assessed the unique and combined contribution of attachment representations based on parents (adult attachment) and partner (couple attachment). The influence of partner's attachment, depression symptoms, and sex of participant was also examined. Hierarchical linear models demonstrated that one's couple attachment security predicts one's observed positive emotion, whereas the partner's couple attachment security predicts one's observed negative emotion. Partner's depression symptoms moderated the effects of partner's couple attachment. Adult attachment was not related to observed emotional behavior between partners. These findings have important clinical implications for individual, couple, and family therapy.
Related Concept Videos
Relationship with Parents: Attachment
Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood
Hazan and Shaver's Attachment Styles
Attachment
Attachment Styles
Relationship with Other Adult Family Members and Siblings

