Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

Abstract
Background & Objectives: Most people get married during their lives and want marital satisfaction. One of the most critical problems in the life of couples is marital dissatisfaction. Marital dissatisfaction is caused by a mismatch between the facts and expectations of the couple, and its severity depends on the couple's compatibility and beliefs. Attachment styles are among the factors that cause incompatibility and dissatisfaction in married life, which is related to marital dissatisfaction. The sense of mental coherence is another variable related to the quality of married life and marital dissatisfaction. Attachment styles and mental sense of cohesion are among the factors influencing marital dissatisfaction, and attachment styles influence the formation of the mental sense of cohesion. The present study aimed to explain the structural pattern of the relationship between attachment styles and marital dissatisfaction with the mediating role of mental sense of cohesion.
Methods: The current research used the path analysis method of correlational analysis type. The statistical population of this research included all married men and women referred to the Delfi Clinic in Tehran City, Iran, in 2023. From whom 384 people were selected by voluntary sampling. In the current research, according to the number of parameters (5 indicators and 7 paths) and according to Kline's proposal in structural equations, at least 5 samples and up to 50 samples are required for each parameter; the number of samples was estimated 32 times the number of parameters, which is equivalent to 384 people. The research tools included the Marital Disaffection Scale (Kayser, 1996), the Revised Adult Attachment Scale (Collins & Read, 1990), and the Sense of Coherence Questionnaire (Flensborg–Madsen et al., 2006). The obtained data were analyzed using path analysis in SPSS 24 and AMOS 24 software. A significance level of 0.05 was used for data analysis.
Results: Results showed an inverse and significant relationship between the dimensions of secure attachment style and mental sense of cohesion with marital dissatisfaction (p<0.05). A direct and significant relationship was observed between the dimensions of avoidant attachment style and anxious attachment style with marital dissatisfaction (p<0.05). Also, the hypothesized model had fitness with the collected data (χ²=2.23, CFI=0.989, GFI=0.998, AGFI=0.952, and RMSEA=0.054). The mental sense of cohesion mediated the relationship between avoidant style (p<0.001, β=0.126), secure style (p<0.001, β=–0.151), and anxious attachment style (p<0.001, β=–0.233) with marital dissatisfaction.
Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that the mental sense of cohesion mediated the relationship between avoidant, secure, and anxious attachment styles with marital dissatisfaction in married people.