Open research questions in Attachment and Relationship Dynamics

What the literature leaves open

• Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a widespread, problematic phenomenon that warrants more research to inform prevention and intervention initiatives.

  Childhood Cumulative Trauma and Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrated by Men Entering Treatment: The Role of Mindfulness and Couple Satisfaction · 2026 · DOI

• Despite these limitations, the current study offers valu- able preliminary insights into candidate relationship pro- cesses within the RTS network that may warrant further investigation in larger, more adequately powered samples.

  Relationship trust in individuals with multiple sclerosis: a network analysis approach · 2026 · DOI

• Future studies may consider multiple imputa- tion to further strengthen statistical robustness. Additionally, in this regard, although the intervention showed consistent effects across age groups, subgroup analyses by ethnicity, family composition, chil- dren’s age at divorce, and baseline functioning were not conducted in detail due to lack of data to support such analyses and should be addressed in future work. Fourth, although missing data were relatively limited (approximately 12%) and addressed using single imputation with chained equations, this approach does not account for the additional uncertainty cap- tured in multiple imputation models.

  Rebuilding Quality of Life and Health-Related Quality of Life in Adolescents After Parental Divorce: A Randomized Controlled Trial of the SES NXT Digital Intervention · 2026 · DOI

• link NMFA. the [https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1EAXSNQXQDj6CcvLt-qaTDlJqmxk_apf_] chatbot provides an extra option for users to ask questions, engaging in interactive questions and answers, bilingual feature, references to study data, links to mental health resources, and an easy- to-use interface for both researchers and general public beyond the academic audience.

  Digital matrimonial markets structural mismatches and psychological distress among never married Pakistani aged 25-45: A mixed – methods test of the mismatch triad model · 2026 · DOI

• The current study found that secure attachment is a key factor influencing marital satisfaction. Therefore, it is crucial foster secure attachments between children and their caregivers from an early age. Clinical practitioners should assist their clients in adapting to the changes that occur during the prenatal and postnatal periods, helping them adjust to new parental roles and respond effectively to their babies' needs. Additionally, raising public awareness through various media channels can help reach a broader audience. On the other hand, the decline in marital satisfaction with increasing numbers of children highlights the importance of effective family planning. Providing services such as complimentary premarital counselling before marriage has been shown to help establish a harmonious relationship between couples. Finally, it is recommended to organize family education programs through collaborative efforts between school guidance units and social services.

  Attachment Styles and Marital Satisfaction: A Comparative Study of North Cyprus and Saudi Arabia · 2026 · DOI

• This study has several limitations. First, the sample size was restricted to 201 participants, which may have affected the results and limited the generalizability of the findings to larger populations. Second, the gender distribution was slightly imbalanced, with 53% female and 47% male participants. This imbalance may have arisen partly because the researchers' gender made it easier to access female participants. Third, the data were collected through online platforms, potentially increasing social desirability bias when measuring cultural effects. Fourth, the small number of participants in polygamous marriages, particularly among Saudi participants, the generalizability of the results regarding the impact of polygamy on marital satisfaction. Lastly, it was assumed that participants responded honestly and accurately to the questionnaire items, genuinely reflecting their thoughts and experiences.

  Attachment Styles and Marital Satisfaction: A Comparative Study of North Cyprus and Saudi Arabia · 2026 · DOI

• Several confounding variables (eg., involvement in a therapeutic process before participation in this research) could distort the associations we found. Another possible limitation could be that we did not have a large enough sample to perform a more in-depth analysis of the differences between attachment anxiety and avoidance in different relationships. The lack of significant findings between the attachment avoidance dimension and the components of self-compassion and psychological flexibility is noteworthy. While this may reflect a true absence of relationship, it is also possible that the operationalization of attachment avoidance in this study did not capture its nuances or that the sample size was insufficient to detect smaller effects. The study relies on self-report measures for assessing attachment, selfcompassion, and psychological flexibility, which are susceptible to social desirability bias, recall bias, and individual differences in introspection. These biases could impact the accuracy of the data. Additionally, the use of a single measurement tool for each construct may not fully capture the complexity of these psychological dimensions, especially attachment, which can be multidimensional and context-dependent. Although the study offers valuable insights through correlational analyses, this method does not allow for a full exploration of the mechanisms at play. Future research could benefit from using experimental or mixed-methods designs to explore the causal relationships and underlying processes in greater depth. While the study provides valuable insights into the relationships between attachment anxiety, self-compassion, and psychological flexibility, its limitations suggest that further research, particularly with a longitudinal design, 183 IONELA-VASILICA-ANDREEA OLARU, CARMEN COSTEA-BĂRLUȚIU more diverse samples, and alternative methods of measuring these constructs, would help to clarify and extend these findings. Additionally, exploring potential interventions to enhance psychological flexibility through self-compassion may offer practical implications for mental health interventions. REFERENCES psychological study of the Strange Situation Ainsworth, M. D., Blehar, M., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A Handbook of attachment: Theory, Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2016). Attachment, parenting, and. Psychological Press. research, and clinical applications genetics. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Barnard, L. K., & Curry, J. F. (2011). Self-compassion: Conceptualizations, correlates, & Review of General Psychology, 15 (3rd ed., pp. 155–179). Guilford Press. interventions. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025754 (4), 289-303. Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51 in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. (6), 1173–1182. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Bartholomew, K., & Horowitz, L. M. (1991). Attachment styles among young adults: A 61 test of a four-category model. (2), 226. Beduna, K. N., & Perrone-McGovern, K. M. (2019). Recalled childhood bullying victimization and shame in adulthood: The influence of attachment security, self-compassion, and emotion regulation. Attachment and loss: Volume II: Separation, anxiety and anger Traumatology, 25 (1), 21..

  Attachment Insecurity and Psychological Flexibility in Emergent Adulthood: The Mediating Role of Self-Compassion · 2026 · DOI

• Couples should set clear, mutually agreed digital boundaries, such as phone-free times or zones (e.g., during meals, bedtime, and date nights), to enhance attentiveness and emotional connection. They should communicate openly about how phone use affects their relationship, model respectful device use during interactions, and seek couples therapy when phubbing contributes to conflict or emotional distance. Families should promote a culture of presence by encouraging device-free interactions, creating shared screen-time agreements, and designating tech-free spaces to support bonding and Faith-based healthier marital relationships.

  Prevalence of Partner Phubbing and Marital Satisfaction Among Married Couples in Nakuru County, Kenya · 2026 · DOI

• We recognize several limitations in our study. The primary limitation is the reliance on retrospective self-reports of ACEs and maternal mental health prior to age 18, which may introduce inaccuracies that cannot be objectively veri- fied. Importantly, the measure of maternal mental health represents participants’ subjective recollections of their mothers’ emotional functioning, rather than objective or clinical assessments. This perspective-based approach nev- ertheless provides valuable insight into how maternal mental health was perceived and internalized by the child, which is itself a meaningful dimension of early relational experience. Earlier research has noted adults may overestimate or under- estimate their negative childhood experiences for various reasons, such as current mental health challenges or lack of recall for events occurring before age three (infantile amne- sia; (Hardt et al. 2010), with underestimation a more likely occurrence (Hardt and Rutter 2004; Pinto and Maia 2013). However, qualitative studies indicate even very young chil- dren can interpret the emotional state of a primary caregiver (Simpson-Adkins and Daiches 2018). With parental difficul- ties related to maternal mental health (i.e., showing affection, holding, or singing) still being meaningful to the child in the absence of verbal interactions (Beardslee 2004). In addition, Robins and colleagues(Robins et al. 1985) suggest adults, regardless of their own mental health diagnosis, had no sys- tematic bias toward negative recall. Even so, the findings presented here should be interpreted with the understanding no formal test of validity or reliability was possible with this dataset. Future research should address these limitations by incorporating prospective, longitudinal designs that follow families from pregnancy through adulthood, thereby reduc- ing reliance on retrospective reports. Another limitation of the current study is the use of a single-item, retrospective measure to assess maternal men- tal health: “In general, would you say your mother’s mental health when you were growing up at home was: Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, or Poor?” While single-item mea- sures have historically been criticized for potentially lower reliability and limited capacity for fine-grained assessment (Wanous et al. 1997), recent literature indicates they can be appropriate when the construct is narrow, explicit, and clearly defined (Allen et al. 2022; Bergkvist and Rossiter 2007)and they have the added benefits of reduced participant burden and lower data-processing costs (Allen et al. 2022; Berg- kvist and Rossiter 2007). In this study, the question aimed to capture a general construct: the participants’ overall percep- tion of their mother’s mental health, which has been used in previous large-scale surveys (e.g., HILDA Survey; (Watson and Wooden 2021).

  Ghosts from the Nursery: Attachment, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and Maternal Mental Health · 2026 · DOI

• Our studies suffer from some limitations. First, in our stud- ies, regulators were requested to try to make the targets feel better. In daily life, people often co-regulate, seeking regulation from another while trying to make them feel bet- ter (He et al., (2026)). Future research could use a more naturalistic design. Second, we manipulated regulators’ direct and indirect exposure to unpleasant stimuli, which may have also impacted other variables, such as how much information regulators had about the stimulus. Third, we did not directly manipulate the strategies regulators used, and operationalized effort by measuring the number of strate- gies used. Therefore, our findings regarding strategy use are preliminary. Future studies could replicate our findings, 1 3Affective Science measuring effort using other methods, and manipulating strategies to test their impact on emotion regulation success. Finally, our investigation targeted samples from a Western culture. Future studies should test whether our findings extend to other cultural contexts. indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit h t t p : / / c r e a t i v e c o m m o n s . o r g / l i c e n s e s / b y / 4 . 0 / .

  Put Your Oxygen Mask on First: When Regulators Feel Worse, They are Less Effective at Interpersonal Emotion Regulation · 2026 · DOI

• First, all scales in both waves of the survey were completed solely by participating employees. Although common method bias was found to fall within an acceptable range, self-reporting inevitably introduced subjective bias. Future studies should incorporate secondary data or conduct case studies to validate and refine this study’s findings to address this limitation. Second, this study used a sample of employees in China, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other cultural, institutional, and work contexts. Cultural norms, managerial practices, and interpersonal expectations vary across regions, which may influence the ways in which attachment styles, leader–member exchange, and emotional exhaustion are experienced and manifested in the workplace. Future research should replicate and extend the proposed model to different national, cultural, and organizational contexts to examine the robustness and boundary conditions of the findings. Third, this study did not fully consider differences across various job types. The degree to which employees need to engage in interpersonal relationships varies according to the nature of their work, which may influence how attachment styles affect job performance. Therefore, future research should explore how attachment styles influence employee behavior across different job categories based on industry classifications or other relevant criteria to provide more tailored insights for practitioners. Future research should examine the antecedents of employees’ attachment styles. While most scholars agree that attachment styles in the workplace are rooted in early life experiences and are relatively stable, some studies suggest that these styles can evolve during adulthood because of changes in one’s environment and the extent of interactions with others (Hudson et al., 2015). To construct a more comprehensive framework for studying employee attachment styles, longitudinal research could track changes in attachment styles over time. By investigating the dynamic influences on attachment styles, researchers can uncover the underlying factors driving 1 3Occupational Health Science (2026) 10:17 these changes, contributing to theoretical understanding and informing management strategies.

  Employee Attachment Style and Emotional Exhaustion: a Moderated Mediation Model · 2026 · DOI

• The concurrent mixed-methods design provided both numerical measurement and qualitative depth, enabling validation and contextual interpretation of the results. However, the cross-sectional nature limits causal inference, and reliance on self-reported data may introduce recall or social desirability biases. Limited generalizability exists beyond Gedeo’s PLOS Mental Health | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmen.0000640 June 15, 2026 8 / 11 polygynous context. Future longitudinal and comparative studies between monogamous and polygynous unions would deepen understanding of temporal changes and coping trajectories.

  Psychological outcomes and quality of life among first married women in polygynous families in Gedeo Zone, Southern Ethiopia: A mixed-approach study, 2021 · 2026 · DOI

• Several limitations should be acknowledged. First, the cross-sectional design precludes causal inference and limits conclusions regarding temporal ordering among anxiety, self-inconsistency, attachment processes, and reasons for living; longitudinal, cross-lagged, and experimental or intervention-based designs are needed to examine causal pathways and dynamic processes. Second, the use of a nonclinical sample from a single Chinese university constrains generalizability to clinical or high-risk populations, other cultural contexts, and different developmental stages, highlighting the need for more diverse and multi-site samples. Third, reliance on self- report measures may introduce biases related to social desirability, recall, and current affective states; future studies would benefit from multi-method and multi-informant approaches to enhance measurement robustness and ecological validity. A further limitation is the empirical overlap among key constructs. Moderate-to- high correlations—particularly between anxiety and self-inconsistency, and between self-inconsistency and attachment avoidance—suggest that self-report measures may capture shared variance reflecting underlying psychological distress rather than entirely distinct entities. These overlaps indicate that the constructs are not empirically independent, potentially pointing to a broader dimension of disengagement from self and others. Future research should clarify whether these constructs represent unique facets of a higher-order factor or demonstrate differential predictive validity. Importantly, another limitation concerns the omission of potentially relevant variables, most notably depressive symptoms, from the model. Given the substantial comorbidity between anxiety and depression, the observed effects of anxiety may be partially confounded by shared variance with depressive symptoms that was not controlled for28,60. Without such statistical control, it remains unclear whether the mediating roles of self-inconsistency and attachment avoidance reflect unique contributions of anxiety or are influenced by unmeasured depressive symptomatology. Accordingly, future research should incorporate depressive symptoms and other key covariates to more accurately disentangle the mechanisms through which anxiety affects reasons for living.

  Self-inconsistency and attachment insecurity mediate and moderate the association between anxiety and reasons for living in Chinese college students · 2026 · DOI

• There are some limitations of this review that should be taken into account in interpreting the results. Page | 182 Firstly, the number of studies in the primary meta-analysis was limited. A total of 11 studies met the criteria for inclusion in the systematic review, but only five studies had data that could be directly extracted or statistically pooled into an effect size for analysis. This reduced the statistical power of the meta-analysis and hampered the possibility of testing for moderators and/or publication bias. Second, there was significant variation between the studies included. There were differences among the studies in terms of the country, cultural context, sample characteristics, type of digital exposure, and marital outcome measures. Some studies assessed general social media or Facebook use, while others focused on partner phubbing, social media addiction, or addictive use of short video platforms. The differences reduce the usefulness of the pooled effect as a representative of a single uniform relationship. Third, the majority of the studies included were cross-sectional observational studies. Thus, no causal inferences can be made. The negative link between intrusive digital behaviour and marital satisfaction could suggest that the use of digital media is a risk for marital dissatisfaction, but it could also be a sign of reverse causality, where dissatisfied partners use digital media more often. Other factors like pre- existing marital conflict, psychological distress, attachment insecurity, loneliness, and personality characteristics may also account for the relationship. Fourth, self-report measures were extensively used in the review. There is a possibility of recall bias, social desirability bias, and subjective interpretation in the self-reported social media use, partner phubbing, marital satisfaction, and marital conflict. Very few studies relied on behavioural logs, partner- reported measures or longitudinal data; this decreases the confidence in the accuracy of the reported associations. Fifth, a few relevant studies were included in the narrative synthesis but not the primary meta-analysis because they did not report a direct Pearson correlation or a clearly convertible statistic. This could have limited the extent of the quantitative synthesis. This was, however, the only way to maintain the statistical rigour and prevent mixing non-equivalent effect estimates. Lastly, the extent of publication bias was not reliably assessed as there were fewer than ten studies included in the main meta-analysis. The funnel plots were performed for transparency only and formal Page | 183 tests (e.g. Egger's and Begg's tests) were not applied. Thus, publication bias and/or small-study effects Fatima, 2025 may not be excluded. Further studies need to address difficulties in methodology and concepts found in this review. To better understand the relationship between problematic SUS and poor marital outcomes or the other way around, more longitudinal and dyadic studies are required. Researchers should examine social media use in general and relationally disruptive behaviours (RDBS) such as partner phubbing, online monitoring, jealousy, compulsive checking. Standardised, validated measures of marital outcome should also be used in future research to enhance the comparability of research. Future meta-analyses should include complete statistical reporting, including correlations, confidence intervals, regression coefficients, standard errors, and sample sizes. Additional and higher quality evidence is also required from underrepresented areas, as well as intervention studies evaluating digital-boundary, communication, mindfulness and counselling programmes.

  Social Media Use and Marital Cohesion-Related Outcomes among Married Couples: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Global Evidence (2015–2026) · 2026 · DOI

• The present findings should be interpreted in light of substantial limitations in sampling, selection and analysis. First, the study reported data from only 9 respondents. All respondents were highly specialized clinicians operating at advanced levels of clinical practice, as well as early adopters of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy with couples. As such, they are likely to be more favorably disposed toward KAP than clinicians who have chosen not to incorporate ketamine into couple therapy, clinicians who have discontinued the practice, or clients who experienced limited benefit or harm. Hence, conclusions cannot be drawn from this study about the efficacy, safety, or generalizability of ketamine-assisted couple therapy. Instead, the study describes how a small group of experienced practitioners are conceptualizing and implementing an emerging intervention. The small sample size also limits generalizability with respect to two key issues: representativeness of modality of couple therapy and the practice of KAP. Psychotherapy is both art and science; different practitioners bring different skills to the same task. It is not necessarily the case that the respondents to the present study embody all essential tenets of their respective modality, or of KAP; rather, it makes more sense to observe them as inhabiting their affiliated modality, and the world of ketamineassisted psychotherapy. In other words, this study’s respondents are pioneers who are actively merging fields of clinical practice. Hence, the information they offer should be received as descriptive as opposed to definitive. A related limitation concerns potential reporting bias. Respondents’ accounts of using ketamine with couples were largely positive, and the study did not systematically capture failed cases, client dissatisfaction, dropouts, adverse psychological reactions, or relational deterioration following KAP.

  Approaches to ketamine-assisted couple therapy · 2026 · DOI

• Author contributions There is a clear need for further research into the practice of ket- amine-assisted couple therapy. As this form of clinical practice moves toward the mainstream, more outcomes data should be gathered in order to formally assess the benefits and risks of this approach to dyadic psychotherapy. Though comparative analysis regarding different modal- ities of psychotherapy may become possible as the data pool expands, the more important first task is to compare the effectiveness of ket- amine-assisted couple therapy with traditional couple therapy - espe- cially with respect to durability of the effects of treatment. Josh’s belief that the incorporation of ketamine may reduce the number of sessions needed for a couple to achieve their therapeutic goals is, if true, impor- tant. Especially for couple therapy that takes place on a fee-for-service basis outside of insurance networks, developing methods to streamline the process will have direct benefit for couples. Additionally, researchers affiliated with particular modalities of couple therapy may seek to fur- ther cultivate and refine approaches to KAP that align philosophically and methodologically with their respective schools of thought. DA: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.

  Approaches to ketamine-assisted couple therapy · 2026 · DOI

• While the current work provided added detail to the AAIsbs coding schema for identifying alternative schemas, it remains an exploratory study. The interview coding was conducted in the context of discovery, and reliability was not verified for the alternative schema subtypes. While reliability is not a necessary construct for the nature of a qualitative, thematic analysis (but see, for a contrasting perspective), we do remain cautious in the implications of our findings. Before testing the many hypotheses generated above, establishing the psychometric properties of the schemas is an important first step. Additional features of this study may limit the generalizability of the findings. Although the sample was risk-diverse, it remains Western, and theme saturation may not extend to more geographically diverse populations. The thematic analysis thus does not explicitly account for whether different caregiving norms may give rise to additional or differently nuanced schemas. Furthermore, although the sample included both mothers and fathers, and schema types did not appear to differ by gender on initial inspection, the sample was predominantly female. Findings may therefore not fully capture the range of schemas that could emerge in male caregivers. Finally, although transcripts were collected and coded across three languages, the preliminary schema definitions and coding guidelines were developed in English. This may limit how well subtle cultural or linguistic nuances are captured in childhood narratives. The AAI itself was originally developed in English, and translations may carry subtle differences in how questions are phrased or interpreted, potentially influencing the narratives elicited and, in turn, the schemas identified.

  Organizing adult attachment in alternative ways: A qualitative assessment of schemas antithetical to the secure base script · 2026 · DOI

• The same can be said about unmarried relationships; although there may not be the same number of structured barriers, a person remains to be tethered emotionally to their partner and has social influences on the perception of available options. Strong conclusions regarding the differences between married and single people are limited by the lack of direct comparative studies.

  Exploring the Triad: Marital Status, Emotional Abuse, and Learned Helplessness among Young Adults · 2026 · DOI

• Further studies should emphasize comparative studies that examine married and unmarried populations within the same study. Insight into how emotional abuse and learned helplessness develop over time should also be worked on by using longitudinal design. A more diverse cultural setting should also be researched in the future. Understanding how cultural norms influence these processes can improve the relevance of interventions.

  Exploring the Triad: Marital Status, Emotional Abuse, and Learned Helplessness among Young Adults · 2026 · DOI

• 1. Formal theoretical framework; no empirical data. 2. κAB, Σrel, ρrel, UA→B are C3 domain extensions; propositions are conditional. 3. Dyadic scope only; groups of three or more are not modelled. 4. Transfer function f characterised by monotonicity only; full algebraic form is open. 5. Topology of Σrel within τΣ(ρ) is an open problem. 6. Cultural variation in relational norms is not modelled. 7. Protocol is Heuristic v0; not a validated instrument. 8. EF terms do not substitute for clinical or social support frameworks.

  EF-Relational Fields v1.0: A Formal Account of Coupled Informational Agents, Density Transfer, and Dyadic Field Dynamics in Emotional Field Theory · 2026 · DOI

• 1. Relational-topology Foundation Extension: canonise κAB, Σrel, ρrel, UA→B with full algebraic and topological grounding. 2. Full formalisation of the transfer function f (|UA→B|, κAB). 3. Extension to triads and small groups. 4. Continuous-time dynamics: differential equations for ρrel(t), κAB(t), UA→B(t). 5. Relation to Bowen-type differentiation: formal tracking of Σcore,A ∩ Σrel. 6. Computational simulation of dyadic density traps and attunement cascades. 16 Applied Scope and Future Research Path This publication does not include commercial product plans. 1. Measurement path. Validate proxies for κAB, ρrel, UA→B, and Orel 1 count. 2. Relational-topology Foundation Extension. Canonise C3 variables. 3. Protocol path. Standalone Protocol Document for dyadic assessment. 4. Multi-agent path. Extend to triads and small groups. 5. Computational path. Simulate and test predictions. Downstream materials may be created from these paths but must not be cited as evidence for the theory.

  EF-Relational Fields v1.0: A Formal Account of Coupled Informational Agents, Density Transfer, and Dyadic Field Dynamics in Emotional Field Theory · 2026 · DOI

• Despite its contributions, the study has some limitations. The small sample size (24 dyads) limits generalizability. Additionally, the study focused exclusively on families from a specific socioeconomic and cultural background in Eastern Türkiye. Future cross-cultural research 8 HAYEF: JOURNAL of EDUCATION Seven and Kaya. Material Selection in Observational Assessment is necessary to examine how material effects may vary across diverse populations. A second limitation is the potential for reactivity: knowing they were being observed may have caused some mothers to modify their behavior—a variation of the Hawthorne effect. Although the home setting helped reduce artificiality, complete naturalness cannot be guaranteed. Third, the study examined only one open-ended material (play- dough) and one structured material (building blocks). Future research could explore other open-ended materials (e.g., sand, clay, art supplies) to assess whether similar patterns hold. Finally, this study did not control for other factors that may influ- ence maternal sensitivity, such as maternal stress, educational level, or child temperament. Future studies could adopt multivariate models to better account for these interacting influences.

  Material Selection in Observational Assessment of Maternal Sensitivity · 2026 · DOI

• The current study had notable strengths. First, our sample included a balanced proportion of mothers and fathers. Much child-parent relationship research focuses on maternal fac- tors or is based on mother reports; fathers have historically been under-represented in child-parent research (Weymouth et al., 2016). The findings of our study may generalise to the experiences of both mothers and fathers, though future studies which explore in greater depth the relationships sug- gested by our networks could look for specific gender differ- ences. Second, we had good representation of CPV across a spectrum of severity (i.e., both low and high frequency). Of most importance, we had a large number of families in the sample who reported very high levels of CPV (as well as low levels of the behaviour). In this way, the findings may be more relevant to cases which are severe enough to benefit from formal intervention, rather than situational cases. Network analysis serves as a practical way to model and visualise the complexity and multi-causal nature of CPV, however, it is limited in other ways. Network analysis is exploratory and hypothesis generating, rather than confir- matory. Importantly, we were unable to explore interactions between key variables identified via this methodology. As we have noted throughout the impact of many factors in the network may be cumulative or conditional. Further, given the large volume of indirect effects inferred within the net- work, it is likely that the impact of many contributors to CPV are best understood in the context of mediation, or as mediators themselves. For example, there are a number of potential interactions with central variables in our network: caregiving helplessness, parent ADHD, and home chaos. We also cannot determine directionality in the currents study. Instead, we can only infer directionality from past research and theory; however, it is reasonable to assume that most pathways are bidirectional anyway. For example, the association between chaos and helplessness, as well as CPV and helplessness and home chaos. Overall, these asso- ciations may be better conceptualised as components of an interacting and evolving system characterised by bidirec- tionality (Loulis & Kuczynski, 1997; Pardini, 2008). Within this, ‘outcomes’ can be artificially designated, but are only relevant at the timepoint under investigation. In reality, these ‘outcomes’ also act as feedback into the system and exert influence over the factors which predict them. Nonethe- less, understanding directionality remains important, as the strength of influence of these directions may not be equal, and understanding which tends to occur first could be valu- able to early intervention and disruption of coercive cycles early in their onset. There are a number of appropriate anal- yses for modelling bidirectionality, however gold standard approaches require multiple waves on longitudinal data (Paschall & Mastergeorge, 2016). CPV is very rarely mea- sured in within existing prospective cohort studies. Instead, or in the meantime, observational methodologies applied to CPV could elucidate the interactional processes which feed into the bidirectional system, as well as give context to the assumed bidirectionality (Loulis & Kuczynski, 1997).

  Chaos, Conflict, and Unpredictability in the Home: A Network Analysis with Child-to-Parent Violence · 2026 · DOI

• Although multiple myeloma (MM) remains one of the most prevalent hematologic malignancies in Spain, little is known about how couples navigate the relational and systemic impact of this illness.

  Between Illness and Intimacy: The Link Between Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Resilience and Romantic Satisfaction in Spanish Couples Facing Multiple Myeloma · 2025 · DOI

• Abstract While it is often assumed that counseling interventions can be helpful in resolving relationship difficulties, there is limited research which provides evidence of this being the case in respect of military families, who are facing additional, unique stressors due to the military lifestyle, which can significantly strain couple relationships and family functioning.

  Strengthening military families: Evaluating the impact of relationship counseling on <scp>UK</scp> naval families · 2025 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Attachment and Relationship Dynamics

• The impact of daily stress on health and mood: Psychological and social resources as mediators. · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · 1988 · 973 citations
• Effects of daily stress on negative mood. · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · 1989 · 658 citations
• The relationship context of human behavior and development. · Psychological Bulletin · 2000 · 549 citations
• Commitment, pro-relationship behavior, and trust in close relationships. · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · 1999 · 471 citations
• Applying relationship science to evaluate how the COVID-19 pandemic may impact couples’ relationships. · American Psychologist · 2020 · 357 citations
• Interpersonal mechanisms linking close relationships to health. · American Psychologist · 2017 · 294 citations
• A psychometric study of the Adult Attachment Interview: Reliability and discriminant validity. · Developmental Psychology · 1993 · 294 citations
• A Scale to Measure Nonattachment: A Buddhist Complement to Western Research on Attachment and Adaptive Functioning · Journal of Personality Assessment · 2010 · 280 citations
• CONFLICT IN MARRIAGE: Implications for Working with Couples · Annual Review of Psychology · 1999 · 274 citations
• Conflict Resolution Styles in Gay, Lesbian, Heterosexual Nonparent, and Heterosexual Parent Couples · Journal of Marriage and the Family · 1994 · 270 citations

Most recent work

• Experimental Approaches for Testing Mediation Effects Models: A Review, Assessment, and Recommended Practices · Journal of Business and Psychology · 2026
• Self-Efficacy and Attachment Styles Mediate the Impact of Early Life Trauma on Negative Emotional States in Adults Living in Portugal · Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma · 2026
• From Trauma to Bonding: the Role of Attachment in the Relationship Between Child Sexual Abuse and Adult Intimacy · Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma · 2026
• Later-Life Friendship in Advance Care Planning: Variation by Marital Status and Gender · Research on Aging · 2026
• From Insecurity to Exchange: Attachment Anxiety and Avoidance Predict Exchange Orientation via Different Psychological Mechanisms · Basic and Applied Social Psychology · 2026
• Mental Health and Relationship Consequences of Mental Load · Women & Therapy · 2026
• The salience of love feelings and ‘emotional connection’ in young adults’ intimate relationships in Canada · International Review of Sociology · 2026
• Chaos, Conflict, and Unpredictability in the Home: A Network Analysis with Child-to-Parent Violence · Journal of Family Violence · 2026
• Profiles of Family Functioning and Their Associations with Physical and Psychological Health Outcomes · Family Sciences · 2026
• Longitudinal links between perceived partner phubbing, need fulfilment and marital satisfaction in Chinese newlywed couples · Asian Journal of Social Psychology · 2026

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