Attachment Relationships and Psychological Adjustment of Married Adults

The present study explored relations among remembered parental (paternal and maternal) acceptance in childhood, spouse acceptance and psychological adjustment of adults. It also explored whether remembered childhood experiences of parental acceptance mediate the relation between perceived spouse acceptance and psychological adjustment. The sample consisted of 354 married adult men (178) and women (176). Results showed that the more accepting both men and women perceived their spouses to be, the better was their psychological adjustment. Similarly, the more accepting both men and women remembered their parents had been to them during childhood, the better was their psychological adjustment. Standard multiple regression analyses revealed that paternal acceptance mediated the relation between perceived spouse acceptance and the psychological adjustment of both men and women. In addition, remembered maternal acceptance mediated the relation between men’s (but not women’s) perceived spouse acceptance and psychological adjustment.