COPING TENDENCIES AND ATTACHMENT BEHAVIORS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS’ RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR PARTNERS

Abstract

Law enforcement officers and their partners cope with occupational stressors that can have an impact on their relationship. The use of adaptive coping strategies has been shown to produce positive outcomes for individuals. Using dyadic data gathered in a previous study from 54 officers and their partners, a series of factor analyses and APIMs were conducted to analyze the relationship between coping styles and officers’ and partners' views of attachment security within their relationship. Main findings suggest that the use of negative coping strategies is associated with less self-reported attachment behavior for heterosexual officer/partner dyads. Negative coping by the male partner was linked with lower self-reported attachment behavior, with the view of their partner’s attachment behavior, and with the female partner’s view of the male’s attachment behavior. Female partner negative coping was negatively linked with how each partner rated their own attachment behavior but did not appear to influence how they rated each other’s behavior. There were not as many significant relationships when considering positive coping. There were no significant associations when measuring male positive coping, and positive coping of the female partner was not associated with male-reported attachment behavior, but positive coping was linked to how the female partner viewed her own attachment behavior and the behavior of her partner. Recommendations and future implications for research and clinical work are included.