Childhood attachment insecurity and shame-proneness in adulthood: Implications for clinical social work practice

Abstract

ABSTRACT Shame-proneness refers to one’s dispositional tendency to experience shame across a variety of situations. Shame-proneness is significantly related to a wide range of mental health disorders including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, substance abuse, and more. Attachment theory and interpersonal neurobiology suggest that secure attachment protects against shame-proneness, whereas insecure attachment contributes to shame-proneness. However, there is scant empirical research exploring this relationship. This study explored childhood attachment with primary caregivers as a predictor of shame-proneness in adulthood. A sample of 340 adults, U.S. residents aged 18 and over, was recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), an online crowdsourcing platform. Multiple regression analyses revealed that certain insecure attachment styles, specifically anxiety and disorganization, significantly related to shame-proneness, whereas avoidance did not. Secure attachment was negatively related to shame-proneness, but the relationship was statistically insignificant. Social workers and other mental health professionals can benefit from an increased understanding of the relationship between childhood attachment and shame-proneness that this study provides.