Trust, Attachment, and Mindfulness Influence Intimacy and Disengagement During Newlyweds' Discussions of Relationship Transgressions

Discussions of relationship transgressions—violations of relationship norms—are often difficult for couples to successfully navigate. Nevertheless, engaging in and resolving these discussions should promote intimacy. Drawing on the risk regulation model, individuals’ experiences of disengagement and intimacy during transgression discussions should depend on their trust in their partner regarding the transgression and how they regulate distress related to lower trust. Attachment style represents individual differences in emotion regulation in close relationship contexts and is indicated by the risk regulation model. In contrast, mindfulness also improves interpersonal emotion regulation but is not reflected in the model. The present study proposed that the effect of trust on the experience of intimacy and disengagement during transgression discussions would depend on individuals’ attachment style or mindfulness. Hypotheses were tested in a sample of 81 heterosexual newlywed couples. Trust was positively associated with intimacy for individuals with higher attachment avoidance, but not for individuals with lower attachment avoidance. Trust was negatively associated with  disengagement for individuals with either lower mindfulness or higher attachment avoidance. Trust was not associated with disengagement for individuals with higher mindfulness or lower attachment avoidance. Implications for theory and clinical interventions focused on increasing intimacy and decreasing disengagement in couple relationships are discussed.