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Marital interpersonal pathologies questionnaire for men with avoidant attachment symptoms (MIPA): Development and validation

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Abstract

The goal of this study was to develop and validate a questionnaire for assessing marital interpersonal pathologies in men with avoidant attachment symptoms (MIPA). The present study used an exploratory mixed-methods design involving qualitative and quantitative stages or two implementation steps. In the quantitative stage of the study, the population consisted of all married men with avoidant attachment symptoms who referred to counseling centers in Isfahan, Iran experiencing marital problems in 2021. The subjects in the quantitative research sample, consisting of 525 married men with avoidant attachment symptoms, were selected through convenience sampling. Factor analysis was used to analyze the data. The results indicated three factors (emotional pathologies, communication pathologies, and functional pathologies) with eleven dimensions that could be considered in a marital interpersonal pathology questionnaire for men with avoidant attachment. According to the results, this questionnaire has high validity and reliability and can be used to identify marital interpersonal pathologies in men with avoidant attachment symptoms. Implications for future research and applications in couple and family therapy are also discussed.

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Data Availability

Data are available upon request from the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all individuals and institutions that helped in conducting this study. The help of the participants who made this research possible is also greatly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counseling, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

    Nayere Arianfar & Simin Hosseinian

  2. Department of Counseling, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

    Ozra Etemadi

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  1. Nayere Arianfar
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  2. Simin Hosseinian
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  3. Ozra Etemadi
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Correspondence to Simin Hosseinian.

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Arianfar, N., Hosseinian, S. & Etemadi, O. Marital interpersonal pathologies questionnaire for men with avoidant attachment symptoms (MIPA): Development and validation. Curr Psychol 42, 21820–21832 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03246-0

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