title: Dyadic effects of attachment on mental health: Couples in a postdisaster context.
abstract: Research on mental health following disasters has led to the identification of many individual protective and risk factors for postdisaster mental health. However, there is little understanding of the exact influence that disasters have on the functioning of intimate relationships. Especially relevant are attachment styles, which are likely to play an important role in the provision and perception of social support between partners, and subsequent mental health outcomes. Heterosexual couples (N = 127) affected by the 2009 Victorian "Black Saturday" Bushfires in southeastern Australia were surveyed for disaster experiences, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, depression, and attachment style between May 2012 and January 2013, approximately 3 years after the disaster. Using actor-partner interdependence models (APIM), we examined both intrapersonal and interpersonal associations of attachment anxiety and avoidance with depression and PTSD, in combination with shared disaster exposure. Male partners' attachment avoidance was associated with depression and PTSD in both partners. By contrast, a female partner's attachment avoidance was associated with greater depression and PTSD in herself, but fewer PTSD symptoms in a male partner. Amid the chronic stressors of a postdisaster setting, the attachment avoidance of the male partner may play a particularly negative role, with his tendency toward isolation and denial becoming especially maladaptive for the couple as a whole. The female partner's attachment avoidance is likewise an important factor, but its associations with negative social support and relationship breakup must be clarified to understand its impact on partnership functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology.
authors.forename: H Colin
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0029-7943
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Gallagher
authors.affiliation: Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology.
authors.forename: Dean
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lusher
authors.affiliation: Jack Brockhoff Child Health and Well-being Program, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gibbs
authors.affiliation: Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education), University of Sydney.
authors.forename: Philippa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pattison
authors.affiliation: Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Forbes
authors.affiliation: Jack Brockhoff Child Health and Well-being Program, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Block
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Work, University of Melbourne.
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Harms
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Public Health and Southgate Institute for Health, Society and Equity, Flinders University.
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: MacDougall
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Work, University of Melbourne.
authors.forename: Connie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kellett
authors.affiliation: Centre for Disaster Management and Public Safety, University of Melbourne.
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ireton
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of New South Wales.
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bryant
mesh_terms: D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D004190:Disasters; D005260:Female; D005390:Fires; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009769:Object Attachment; D012737:Sex Factors; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D014739:Victoria / Q000453:epidemiology