The Actor-Partner Interdependence Model Analysis of Attachment Anxiety and Intimacy Relationship Satisfaction among Highly Educated Couples: The Mediating Effect of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies
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To investigate the actor-partner effects of attachment anxiety in highly educated couples on intimacy relationship satisfaction and the mediating effect of cognitive emotion regulation strategies, this study surveyed 204 highly educated couples using the intimate relationship experience scale, the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire, and the intimate relationship satisfaction Scale. Data analysis was conducted using the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) and the actor-partner interdependence mediation model (APIMeM). The results showed: (1) Both men's and women's attachment anxiety significantly negatively predicted their own relationship satisfaction; men's attachment anxiety negatively predicted women's relationship satisfaction, while women's attachment anxiety did not significantly predict men's relationship satisfaction; (2) Adaptive emotional regulation strategies in both men and women mediated the relationship between their own attachment anxiety and relationship satisfaction; adaptive emotional regulation strategies in women mediated the relationship between men's attachment anxiety and women's relationship satisfaction; (3) Non-adaptive emotional regulation strategies in both men and women mediated the relationship between men's attachment anxiety and their own relationship satisfaction. Men's non-adaptive emotional regulation strategies mediate the effect of men's attachment anxiety on women's relationship satisfaction. Women's non-adaptive emotional regulation strategies exert a suppressor effect on the impact of women's attachment anxiety on men's relationship satisfaction. The study provides practical guidance for intimate relationship interventions, namely, by enhancing individuals' emotional regulation abilities and establishing emotional coordination mechanisms between partners to achieve targeted and systematic interventions.
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