Anxious Attachment Orientations Research Articles

All you need is love? Strengths mediate the negative associations between attachment orientations and life satisfaction

Several studies link attachment insecurities with lower levels of life satisfaction. Positive psychology studies link character strengths, especially those associated with social interactions (i.e., love and gratitude) or optimism (hope and zest), with higher levels of life satisfaction. We hypothesized that the negative associations between insecure attachment and life satisfaction is mediated by low endorsement of such strengths. In this study 394 individuals completed the ECR measure of attachment orientations, the VIA-IS measure of virtues and character strengths, and the SWLS measure of life satisfaction. Results showed that most strengths were negatively associated with both avoidant and anxious attachment orientations. A bootstrapping procedure revealed that: (a) Love, zest, gratitude and hope fully mediated the association between avoidance and lower life satisfaction. (b) Hope, curiosity and perspective partially mediated the association between attachment anxiety and life satisfaction. These findings suggest that the mechanisms underlying life satisfaction are different for avoidant and for anxious individuals, although hope is prevalent for both attachment orientations. The theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.

Contributions to advisory working alliance: Advisee attachment orientation and pairing methods.

Authors of the current study examined the contributions of four factors on the advisory working alliance from counseling psychology advisees’ perspectives: (a) anxious attachment orientation, (b) avoidant attachment orientation, (c) frequency of advising meetings, and (d) method of pairing an advisee to a faculty advisor. Participants were 109 counseling psychology doctoral students who were enrolled in American Psychological Association-accredited programs. A mixed model analysis indicated that lower attachment-anxiety scores, lower attachment-avoidance scores, and advisees choosing advisors each contributed to higher advisory working alliance scores.

A Latent Classification of Male Batterers

Regression latent class analysis was used to identify batterer subgroups with distinct violence patterns and to examine associations between class membership and adult attachment orientations as well as antisocial and borderline personality disorders. Results supported three batterer subgroups, with classes varying on frequency and severity of violence. The high-level violence class represented 40% of batterers, and both anxious and avoidant adult attachment orientations as well as borderline personality characteristics predicted membership in this class. The moderate-level violence class represented 35% of the batterers, and adult anxious attachment orientation was associated with membership in this class. The low-level violence class represented 25% of the sample and reported significantly less violence than other classes. Neither adult attachment orientations nor personality disorders predicted membership in this class.

Age and attachment style impact stress and depressive symptoms among caregivers: a prospective investigation

Family members begin their role as caregivers to persons with cancer with little advance notice. In this situation, the caregivers' existing psychosocial resources, including their stage in life and the nature of their relationship with the patient, can play important roles in the extent of stress caregivers experience during this unique time. Family caregivers (N = 98) of diagnosed colorectal cancer patients at community hospitals participated in the study around the time of diagnosis (T1) and at 6 months post-diagnosis (T2). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that younger caregivers reported greater increases in caregiving stress at T2, controlling for the level of caregiving stress at T1. This was more prominent when they had an anxious attachment orientation to the care recipient (i.e., cancer survivor), which was characterized as a strong desire for closeness to the cancer survivor, hypervigilance for cues of abandonment, and emotional upset both at separation and reunion with the survivor. The same interaction effect between age and anxious attachment was found for depressive symptoms. Results suggest that younger caregivers are more vulnerable to the challenges imposed by their relative's cancer, and this vulnerability is exacerbated by the quality of their relationship. Our findings imply that younger caregivers whose relationship with the survivor can be characterized by the features above can be identified early and might benefit from intervention or additional support to reduce the caregiving stress and depressive symptoms as they carry out their new role as a cancer caregiver.

Associations Among Romantic Attachment, Argumentativeness, and Verbal Aggressiveness in Romantic Relationships

This study examines attachment orientation and its associations with the argumentation-related traits of argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness. It examines the possibility that people's cognitive representations about their romantic relationships might be associated or “bundled” with predispositions to interact with partners in ways consistent with their relationship definitions. It was predicted that high fear of intimacy, as indicated by an avoidant attachment orientation, and high fear of abandonment, as indicated by an anxious attachment orientation, would be negatively associated with argumentativeness and positively associated with verbal aggressiveness in romantic relationships. Results show that anxious attachment orientation correlated with argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness as predicted but avoidant attachment did not. Implications for scholars of interpersonal relationships and argumentation are discussed.