Barriers to comforting: Attachment and emotional reactivity in German couples

Effective emotional support is an essential component of
intimate relationships, especially during difficult times. Thereby attachment anxiety and avoidance significantly challenge partners' comforting interactions.

In their recent study Yan Li, Ute Kunzmann, Martina Schulz, Philipp Kanske, and Margund K. Rohr examined how attachment orientations are associated with emotional experience and expression during comforting conversations. They found that anxiety of people who seek comfort was associated with more difficulties in their own emotional recovery and less positive emotions in their partners after comforting conversations. Notably, younger couples showed stronger associations between attachment styles and negative verbal expression compared to older couples.

These results highlight the need for individualized and age-adapted therapeutic interventions to improve emotional recovery and positive emotional expression.

The full article can be found here