Fear of Intimacy

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the role of Insecurity in Attachment and fear of intimacy in predicting the desire for remarriage in divorced women.Methods: This study was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population of this study consisted of divorced women in Tehran in 2020, and among them, 158 people were selected using convenience sampling and snowball methods through social networks. Data were collected using the Marriage Desire and Fear of Intimacy questionnaires and the Adult Attachment Scale. Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis were also used to analyze data. The data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis at a significance level of (P<0.05), for which SPSS22 was used.Results: The results showed that fear of intimacy has a negative and significant relationship with the desire to remarry (r = -0.209; p = 0.008). However, anxious and avoidant insecure attachment styles did not show a significant relationship with the desire to remarriage. Multiple regression analysis showed that Fear of intimacy could explain only 3.8% of changes in remarriage desire among divorced women.Conclusion: The desire and tendency to remarry in divorced women is affected by negative experiences resulting from previous failed marriages or relationships. Therefore, paying attention to the healing of emotional wounds or psychological trauma in premarital counseling seems necessary before attempting to remarriage.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to predict psychological pain based on emotional expression with the mediation of fear of intimacy in girls with emotional breakup experience. Methods: The research design was applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-correlational in terms of method. The statistical population of the study included girls aged 20 to 35 with emotional breakup experience in Tehran in 2020, of whom 392 were selected using the convenience sampling method. They responded to the Auerbach and Mikulincer (2003) Mental Pain Questionnaire, the King and Emmons (1990) Emotional Expression Questionnaire, and the Descutner and Thelen (1991) Fear of Intimacy Scale. Data were analyzed using structural equations and SPSS and AMOS software. Findings: The findings showed that the direct path coefficient of fear of intimacy (ß = 0.15, p < 0.01) to psychological pain was positive and significant, but the path coefficients of the types of emotional expression to psychological pain were not significant (p > 0.05). The direct path coefficients of positive emotional expression (ß = -0.10, p < 0.05) and expression of intimacy (ß = -0.15, p < 0.01) to fear of intimacy were negative and significant, while the path coefficient of negative emotional expression (ß = 0.15, p < 0.01) to fear of intimacy was positive and significant. The indirect path coefficients of the types of emotional expression to psychological pain in girls with emotional breakup experience through fear of intimacy were not significant (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The results indicated that although fear of intimacy neutralized the effects of different types of emotional expression on psychological pain in girls with emotional breakup experience, it did not mediate the relationship between the types of emotional expression.

Objective: The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of positive therapy on fear of intimacy and suicidal thoughts in girls experiencing romantic relationship dissolution. Methods: This semi-experimental study employed a pretest-posttest-follow-up design with a control group. The statistical population included 401 individuals who visited a counseling center in Tehran. From this population, 30 girls experiencing romantic relationship dissolution were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria and were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups, each consisting of 15 individuals. Data were collected using the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire and the Fear of Intimacy Scale. The experimental group received 8 sessions of positive therapy, while the control group received no intervention. Data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with SPSS.24 software. Findings: The results showed that positive therapy had a significant effect on reducing fear of intimacy (F=24.87, P<0.001) and suicidal thoughts (F=19.87, P<0.001) in girls experiencing romantic relationship dissolution. Conclusion: It can be concluded that positive therapy leads to a reduction in fear of intimacy and suicidal thoughts in girls experiencing romantic relationship dissolution and can be effective in reducing psychological problems in this population.