Attachment Styles, Marital Satisfaction and Paternal Adaptation among First-Time Fathers

Abstract

This study utilized a cross-section research design to explore the mediating role of marital satisfaction between attachment styles and paternal adaptation among first-time fathers. A total of 450 first-time fathers were approached through purposive sampling technique. The study used three research measures in their Urdu versions for data collection: Revised Adult Attachment Scale (Anjum & Batool, 2016); ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale (Anjum et al., 2022) and Paternal Adaptation Questionnaire (Eskandari et al., 2016). The Paternal Adaptation Questionnaire was first translated into Urdu language and its psychometric properties were established as part of Study 1; it was then utilized for data collection in Study 2. The results showed the full mediating role of marital satisfaction between attachment styles and paternal adaptation among first-time fathers. The findings revealed that attachment styles were significant positive predictor; length of marriage was a significant negative predictor and age of child was a non-significant predictor of marital satisfaction. The findings also showed that marital satisfaction, age of child were significant positive predictors; length of marriage was a significant negative predictor and attachment styles were non-significant predictor of paternal adaptation. Significant mean differences were indicated between marital satisfaction across education levels, monthly income levels and marriage types; whereas, significant mean differences were found between paternal adaptation across paternal age groups, monthly income levels, family system, pregnancy intention and child’s gender