The relationship between female undergraduate students’ (n = 151) reports of parental emotion coaching in childhood and their reports of emotion regulation, romantic attachment, and romantic intimacy in young adulthood was investigated. The female undergraduate students completed additional questionnaires about their mood, personality characteristics, and relationship satisfaction in young adulthood, and parental warmth in childhood. Remembered supportive emotion coaching (comprised of Emotion-Focused Reactions, Problem-Focused Reactions and Expressive Encouragement) was significantly and positively correlated with healthier emotion regulation (reappraisal), and was significantly and negatively correlated with less healthy emotion regulation (suppression). Remembered unsupportive emotion coaching (comprised of Minimizing Reactions, Punitive Reactions, and Distress Reactions) was significantly and positively correlated with romantic avoidant and anxious attachment. Romantic intimacy was not significantly correlated with remembered supportive or unsupportive emotion coaching. Emotion regulation mediated the relationship between remembered emotion coaching and avoidant and anxious attachment, but not romantic intimacy. Emotion regulation continued to mediate the relationship between remembered emotion coaching and avoidant attachment after mood, personality characteristics, relationship satisfaction, and parental warmth were entered into the model as covariates, but emotion regulation did not continue to mediate the relationship after covariates were entered into the model when anxious attachment was the predicted variable.

Un sentiment global d’intimité se construit à travers des composantes comportementales ainsi que, des expériences d’intimité qui correspondent à la perception de la réactivité du partenaire. De plus, la manière dont les individus appréhendent leurs relations interpersonnelles ainsi que leurs émotions et celles d’autrui, est susceptible d’influencer la construction de cette intimité. La qualité de l’intimité conjugale se caractériserait par trois dimensions : (1) un sentiment de connexion, (2) une bonne communication et (3) un partage de loisirs avec des amis communs (Article 1). En outre, la construction d’un sentiment d’intimité dans une relation de couple dépendrait du profil d’attachement des individus et de leurs compétences émotionnelles à gérer leurs émotions. Cependant, avoir des compétences élevées pour gérer les émotions des autres serait néfaste pour la qualité de l’intimité perçue (Article 2). Dans une interaction conflictuelle de couple, il existe une relation entre la réactivité perçue vis-à-vis de soi et de son partenaire et les réponses physiologiques des partenaires produites au cours de l'interaction. Plus précisément, la perception des partenaires de la réactivité de l’homme serait associée à des patterns d’activations physiologiques émotionnelles différents selon leur sexe. Aussi, la perception de l’homme envers sa propre réactivité lui permettrait une meilleure régulation émotionnelle (Article 3). Les comportements verbaux et non verbaux exprimés par les partenaires seraient également associés à un degré d’intimité différent selon le sexe (Article 4). Dans un contexte de maladie, ces comportements d’intimité exprimés entre les partenaires lors d’une interaction liée à leur vécu du cancer digestif refléteraient un ajustement émotionnel spécifique selon le rôle social de patient et d’aidant (Article 5). Une discussion intégrative de ces différents éléments empiriques nous amène à proposer des pistes de recherches et d’interventions thérapeutiques dans le domaine du couple. / An overall feeling of intimacy is constructed through behavioral components as well as, experiences of intimacy that correspond to the perception of partner responsiveness. Besides, the way in which people shape their interpersonal relationships and their own emotions and that of others, might influence the construction of this intimacy. The quality of romantic intimacy would be characterized by three dimensions: (1) a feeling of connection, (2) good communication and (3) sharing of leisure time with mutual friends (Article 1). Furthermore, the construction of a feeling of intimacy in couple relationship would depend on the people’s profile of attachment and their emotional competences to deal with their own emotions. However, have high competences to deal with the emotions of others would be harmful for the quality of intimacy perceived (Article 2). In conflictive interaction of couple, there is a relation between the responsiveness perceived toward oneself and one’s partner. In particular, the husbands’ responsiveness perceived by the two partners would be associated with different patterns of physiological emotional arousal, according to their gender (Article 3). Verbal and nonverbal behaviors expressed by the partners would be also associated with a different level of intimacy according to the gender (Article 4). In a context of disease, these intimate behaviors expressed between the partners during an interaction about their life experience of the digestive cancer would reflect a specific emotional adjustment according to their social role of patient and caregiver (Article 5). An integrative discussion of these empirical evidences leads us to propose future research and clinical interventions in the field of couple relationships.