The Relationship Between Attachment And Marital Violence In Older Couples: The Role Of Emotion Regulation Strategies

In recent years,the number of elderly people suffering from violence has been on the rise.The violent abuser is often the partner of the elderly.Affected by traditional culture,spousal violence in the elderly is highly hidden,which has a lasting adverse effect on the mental health of the elderly.Understanding the influencing factors of spousal violence can provide a theoretical basis for intervening in spousal violence.Studies have found that the attachment relationship of individuals affects the instigation of violent behaviors.Individuals with secure attachments are less likely to commit violent behaviors,while anxious attachments and avoidant attachments will inflict more violent behaviors.However,in the research on the spousal violence of attachment,the existing research ignores the interactive influence of the two sides of the violent behavior,so it is necessary to use paired data to investigate.In addition,some studies have found that unreasonable adjustment of negative emotions will increase the occurrence of violent behavior.Combined with the discussion of the General Aggression Model(GAM),we can see that attachment can affect the violent behavior by affecting the internal state of the individual.Based on this,this study hypothesizes that emotion regulation can be used as an internal cognitive state of the individual,and it can play a mediation role in the relationship between marital attachment and spousal violence.In summary,this study is based on the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model(APIM)to explore the interactive influence of elderly marital attachment on spousal violence,and to verify the mediating role of emotion regulation strategies.The study used a questionnaire survey method and selected 149 elderly couples over 60 years old from 9 communities in Tianjin as subjects.They completed the demographic basic information questionnaire,the elderly couple attachment scale,the elderly emotional regulation strategy scale,and the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales.Among them,the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale is used to measure the violent behaviors committed by elderly couples.The results of the demographic difference analysis,actor-partner effect analysis,and mediating effect analysis of spousal violence found that:(1)There are significant differences in the negotiation and compulsive sexual behaviors of spousal violence in whether they live with their children;(2)The wife’s secure attachment can significantly predict the wife’s hurting behavior and compulsive sexual behavior,and the wife’s anxious attachment can significantly predict wife’s compulsive sexual behavior,husband’s anxious attachment can significantly predict the husband’s compulsive sexual behavior,wife’s avoidance attachment can significantly predict wife’s psychological attack and physical violence,that is,there is a significant subjective effect;wife’s anxious attachment can significantly predict husband’s compulsive sexual behavior,that is,there is a significant object effect;(3)The wife’s cognitive reappraisal plays an intermediary role in the wife’s secure attachment and the wife’s hurting behavior,and there is a significant subject effect.The results of this study show that the resource theory of spousal violence is supported.Marital attachment can affect the occurrence of couple violence,and there is an interactive effect.There is insufficient support for the General Aggression Model,and different emotion regulation strategies have not played a consistent mediating role.The results of this study can provide an important reference for understanding the characteristics and intervention of elderly couple violence.