Relationship between Attachment Styles to Somatization and Anxiety

Abstract

Introduction: Attachment theory is one of the appropriate models for understanding the adaptive and maladaptive methods that people are faced multiple developmental challenges by these models. Secure attachment Experience is necessary for healthy and normal development, and it is the substructure of mental health functioning. This study examined the relationship between attachment styles with anxiety and somatization disorders. Materials and Methods: The research was a descriptive-correlational study. The statistical population comprised of all students at coed universities in Tehran. A group of 384 male and female students (due to the population size by using the Cochran formula), using random multiple cluster sampling method, were selected. The adult attachment inventory (AAI) and the symptom checklist-90-revised (SCL-90-R) were completed by these students. For data analysis, correlation coefficients and regression analysis were used. Results: Our data revealed a significant correlation between attachment style and vulnerability to anxiety and somatization disorders. Conclusion: Insecure attachment styles (ambivalent and avoidant) can play an important role in the creation and maintenance of anxiety and somatization disorders. Therefore, evaluation of these traumatic factors can lead to a new orientation in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disorders mentioned above.