Institute for Culture and Society (ICS), Universidad de Navarra, Navarra, Spain.
Department of Counseling, School Psychology, and Family Science, University of Nebraska Kearney, Kearney, NE, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2023 Mar 2;18(3):e0282482. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282482. eCollection 2023.
In the current study, we examined the relationship between differentiation of self (DoS) and key relationship functioning variables among couples. This is the first study to test such relationships using a cross-cultural longitudinal approach (i.e., samples from Spain and the U.S.) while controlling for stressful life events-a key theoretical construct in Bowen Family Systems Theory.
A sample of 958 individuals (n = 137 couples from Spain, and n = 342 couples from U.S.) was used in cross sectional and longitudinal models to analyze the effects of a shared reality construct of DoS on anxious attachment, avoidant attachment, relationship stability, and relationship quality while considering gender and culture.
Our cross-sectional results indicated that men and women from both cultures experienced an increase in DoS over time. DoS predicted increased relationship quality and stability and decreased anxious and avoidant attachment in U.S. participants. Longitudinally, DoS predicted increased relationship quality and decreased anxious attachment for Spanish women and men, while it predicted greater relationship quality and stability and decreased anxious and avoidant attachment of U.S. couples. Implications of these mixed findings are discussed.
Higher levels of DoS are linked with a better couple relationship across time, despite varying levels of stressful life events. Although some cultural differences regarding the links between relationship stability and avoidant attachment exist, this positive link between differentiation and the couple relationship is mostly consistent across the U.S. and Spain. The implications and relevance for integration into research and practice are discussed.
在本研究中，我们考察了自我分化（DoS）与夫妻关系功能变量之间的关系。这是首次使用跨文化纵向研究方法（即来自西班牙和美国的样本）来检验这些关系，同时控制应激性生活事件——这是鲍文家庭系统理论的一个关键理论概念。
使用横断面和纵向模型分析了共现实结构的 DoS 对焦虑依恋、回避依恋、关系稳定性和关系质量的影响，样本包括来自西班牙的 137 对夫妇（n=137）和来自美国的 342 对夫妇（n=342），同时考虑了性别和文化的影响。
我们的横断面结果表明，来自两种文化的男性和女性随着时间的推移，DoS 呈上升趋势。DoS 预测美国参与者的关系质量和稳定性增加，焦虑和回避依恋减少。纵向研究中，DoS 预测西班牙男女的关系质量和焦虑依恋减少，而对美国夫妇的关系质量和稳定性以及焦虑和回避依恋减少有预测作用。讨论了这些混合发现的意义。
尽管应激性生活事件水平不同，但较高的 DoS 水平与夫妻关系的改善有关。尽管在关系稳定性和回避依恋之间的联系方面存在一些文化差异，但这种分化与夫妻关系之间的积极联系在很大程度上是一致的，跨越了美国和西班牙。讨论了这些结果对研究和实践的意义和相关性。
