Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Associations Between Romantic Attachment, Health Satisfaction, and Health Goal Importance in Partnered and Single Individuals

Abstract

Attachment has previously been linked to people's health. However, less is known about how romantic attachment in currently partnered and single people predicts their health. The present study examines the association between romantic attachment and health outcomes at different timescales (i.e., cross-sectional and across 2 years) while considering individuals' relationship status (i.e., partnered and single). The concurrent results based on 516 partnered individuals suggest that more anxious partnered individuals experience lower health satisfaction while more avoidant partnered individuals place less importance to their health. Our results suggest no long-term prediction of partnered individuals' romantic attachment on their health satisfaction and health goal importance. For the results based on a sample of 173 singles, the picture was painted differently regarding the role of romantic attachment in their health: Avoidance was concurrently negatively linked to health satisfaction and health goal importance; yet, longitudinally, it emerged as a positive predictor for health satisfaction and health goal importance.