Introduction:With increasing participation of women in the labor market, balancing work and family roles may lead to marital problems.Marital burnout, as a consequence of work–family conflict and insecure attachment styles,can reduce the quality of life of employed women.Despite previous studies, the mediating role of covert relational aggression has been less examined.This study aimed to investigate this mediating role in the relationship between work–family conflict, attachment styles, and marital burnout in employed women.
Methods:This descriptive-correlational study used path analysis.The population included married employed women attending counseling centers in District 5 of Tehran(2021–2022).A total of 250 participants were selected via purposive sampling, and data from 225 were analyzed. Instruments included the Work–Family Conflict Questionnaire(Netemeyer et al.1996), Adult Attachment Scale(Collins & Read, 1996),Marital Burnout Scale(Pines, 1996), and Covert Relational Aggression Scale(Nelson & Carroll,2006).Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and path analysis in SPSS 26 and AMOS 23.
Results:Secure attachment had a negative direct effect on marital burnout (β= -0.152, P>0.05). Insecure attachment showed positive effects on covert relational aggression (β= 0.128, P<0.05) and marital burnout (β = 0.189, P<0.01). Work–family conflict also had positive effects on covert relational aggression (β= 0.184, P < 0.01) and marital burnout (β= 0.173, P< 0.01). Covert relational aggression positively affected marital burnout (β= 0.173, P<0.01). Bootstrap results confirmed significant indirect effects (P<0.05).
Conclusion:Insecure attachment and work–family conflict increase marital burnout through covert relational aggression. Training in communication skills, emotion regulation