From Work-Family Enrichment to Marital Satisfaction: A Dyadic Longitudinal Study and Marital Attachment Mediation

Within the framework of the work-family enrichment model, this study examined the actor and partner effects of work-family enrichment on marital satisfaction, as well as the mediating role of marital attachment. Using a two points longitudinal design with a 6-month interval, dyadic data were collected from 802 heterosexual couples. Firstly, the results of the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model showed that wives’ family-to-work enrichment (FWE) positively predicted their own marital satisfaction via actor effects and their husbands’ via partner effects, while the effects of both wives’ and husbands’ work-to-family enrichment (WFE) were not significant. Furthermore, the results of the Actor–Partner Interdependence Mediation Model revealed that wives’ attachment avoidance mediated both the actor and partner effects of FWE on wives’ marital satisfaction; husbands’ attachment anxiety, husbands’ attachment avoidance, and wives’ attachment avoidance mediated the actor and partner effects of FWE on husbands’ marital satisfaction. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the work-family enrichment model from the perspective of attachment theory, providing theoretical and empirical support for improving marital satisfaction.