Insecure Attachment, Friendship Closeness, and Quality of Romantic Relationships.

This study examined how adult attachment insecurity and friendship closeness relate to romantic relationship quality among 229 Chinese emerging adults aged 18 to 29. Findings indicated that attachment avoidance, characterized by discomfort with intimacy and emotional withdrawal, was more strongly and negatively associated with romantic relationship quality than attachment anxiety. Importantly, higher friendship closeness moderated this negative association for avoidantly attached individuals, suggesting that close friendships can buffer the detrimental effects of attachment avoidance on romantic relationships in the Chinese collectivist cultural context. No significant moderating effect of friendship closeness was found for attachment anxiety. These results highlight the protective role of close friendships in supporting romantic relationship quality among avoidantly attached emerging adults in China, while also underscoring the persistent challenges posed by attachment avoidance.