Dissertation
Attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, and internalizing disorder symptoms: identification of moderating variables
University of Iowa
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
Summer 2020
DOI: 10.17077/etd.005519
Abstract
The associations between internalizing disorder symptoms and attachment insecurity (attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance) are well established. However, the effect sizes of these associations vary considerably across studies, and a number of issues remain unresolved. The present study sought to examine which specific internalizing symptoms are associated with attachment anxiety and avoidance, as well as clarify the roles played by type of attachment (anxiety vs. avoidance; relationship-specific vs. trait level), relationship length, and attachment strength in the association between attachment insecurity and core internalizing symptoms. Participants from two samples, made up of undergraduate students (n = 409) and Researchmatch.org members (n = 425), completed online measures of general and relationship-specific adult attachment (ECR-RS), internalizing disorder symptoms (IDAS-II), and positive and negative affect (PANAS). Relationship specific attachment anxiety and avoidance were significant predictors of core internalizing symptoms beyond the contribution of general attachment anxiety and avoidance. Attachment anxiety in romantic and peer relationships emerged as a unique predictor of core internalizing symptoms, whereas relationship-specific attachment avoidance was largely not a significant predictor. When comparing general attachment anxiety and general attachment avoidance, attachment anxiety was a unique predictor of most internalizing symptoms, whereas attachment avoidance was a unique predictor of select symptoms, including social anxiety and traumatic avoidance. Positive and negative affect accounted for some, but not all of the relationships between attachment insecurity and internalizing symptoms. Relationship length moderated the association between attachment anxiety and internalizing symptoms in the student sample only, whereas attachment strength was not a significant moderator in either sample. The associations between adult attachment anxiety and avoidance with specific internalizing symptoms were consistent with current theories of internalizing psychopathology. These results suggest that theories of the role of adult attachment insecurity in internalizing psychopathology will need to account for specific attachment relationships, the role of positive and negative affect, and the association between attachment avoidance and avoidance more broadly. It will be important for future research and clinical work with individuals with internalizing symptoms to focus on the development and maintenance of secure attachment relationships.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, and internalizing disorder symptoms: identification of moderating variables
- Creators
- Graham Nelson
- Contributors
- Michael W O'Hara (Advisor)Grazyna Kochanska (Committee Member)Emily B Kroska (Committee Member)Kristian E Markon (Committee Member)Lisa S Segre (Committee Member)
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
- Degree in
- Psychology
- Date degree season
- Summer 2020
- DOI
- 10.17077/etd.005519
- Publisher
- University of Iowa
- Number of pages
- viii, 97 pages
- Copyright
- Copyright 2020 Graham Nelson
- Language
- English
- Description bibliographic
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 62-71).
- Public Abstract (ETD)
A number of studies have shown that people who tend to worry about being abandoned in their relationships (high in attachment anxiety) and people who avoid intimacy in their relationships (high in attachment avoidance) are both more likely to experience symptoms of mood and anxiety disorders, also called internalizing disorders. The present study examined two types of attachment in adult relationships – general attachment, which is a trait that individuals carry across relationships, and relationship-specific attachment, which is how individuals are attached to a particular person. Undergraduate students (n = 409) and community members (n = 425) completed an online survey measuring their attachment and symptoms of internalizing disorders. Results suggest that both general attachment anxiety and avoidance and relationship-specific attachment anxiety and avoidance are associated with these symptoms. Attachment anxiety was more strongly tied to internalizing symptoms than was attachment avoidance. Attachment anxiety to romantic partners and peers was especially strongly related to symptom severity. While attachment anxiety was related to almost all of the symptoms, attachment avoidance was especially relevant to social anxiety and particular symptoms of PTSD. For the undergraduate students, attachment anxiety was more strongly related to symptoms in longer-term romantic relationships, but this was not the case for the community members. The strength of the romantic attachment did not impact the relationship between attachment anxiety or avoidance and internalizing symptoms. It is possible that mental health professionals will be able to use these findings to more effectively assess and treat mood and anxiety disorders.
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences
- Record Identifier
- 9983988099102771
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