Dispositional attachment style moderates the effects of physiological coregulation on short-term changes in attachment anxiety and avoidance.

ABSTRACT: Individuals with personality disorders often experience romantic relationship dysfunction and have an insecure attachment style. Here, we examined attachment dynamics in dyadic interactions, focusing specifically on the role of physiological coregulation in state attachment processes in couples oversampled for personality pathology. A total of 121 couples completed a 10-minute discussion about an area of disagreement in their relationship and a 5-minute discussion in which they planned an event together. We used a dynamical model of heart rate changes to estimate coregulation. We found that (a) increases in state attachment avoidance were associated with contrarian coregulation (heart rate becoming misaligned with the partner's physiology) and (b) conversely, increases in state attachment

SUBMITTER: Schreiber AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8260608 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature