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

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. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.