Associations between Attachment and Emotion-Specific Emotion Regulation with and without Relationship Insecurity Priming

Abstract

Attachment theory and previous research on emotion regulation (ER) suggest that ER will be associated with adult attachment orientation, with the expectation of different associations of attachment avoidance, anxiety, and security with specific ER patterns. In addition, research has shown that the emotion under consideration and the context may matter to patterns of ER and associations between attachment and ER. In the present study, we examined associations between attachment representations, and emotion specific (sadness, worry, and anger) ER among late adolescents and young adults aged 16 to 23 years ( M = 19.6, SD = 1.58). In addition, to consider context, participants were randomly assigned to report ER following insecurity priming or no priming. Participants were 383 (181 male, 202 female) students who completed a self-report questionnaire. As expected, multivariate regression results examining all attachment orientations simultaneously showed that attachment anxiety was associated with greater dysregulation (sadness, worry, and anger), but also more anger suppression. In contrast, attachment avoidance was associated with greater suppression (sadness and worry), but also more anger dysregulation. Attachment security was associated with less dysregulation (sadness, worry, and anger), and less sadness and worry suppression. Finally, sadness and anger dysregulation were higher when reported after insecurity priming compared to the standard no prime condition, but few associations between attachment orientations and ER were moderated by condition. The results suggest that individuals’ attachment representations are associated with ER, with security a benefit to adaptive ER, and anxiety and avoidance playing different roles in maladaptive ER for different emotions.

Attachment and emotion regulation: A person‐centred examination and relations with coping with rejection, friendship closeness, and emotional adjustment

“…The first would be distinguished by higher than average avoidant attachment and suppression, but low anxious attachment and dysregulation, given evidence of associations of avoidant attachment with deactivating strategies (Brenning & Braet, 2013;Mikulincer & Shaver, 2019). The second would be distinguished by higher than average anxious attachment and dysregulation but low avoidance and suppression, given evidence of associations of anxious attachment with hyperactivating strategies (Brenning & Braet, 2013;Clear & Zimmer-Gembeck, 2017;Mikulincer & Shaver, 2019).…”

Is All Dating Violence Equal? Gender and Severity Differences in Predictors of Perpetration

“…Attachment styles have also been shown to be related to emotion regulation and various research studies in adults have linked the two [ 44 ]. Drawing from contemporary views on attachment, individuals with secure attachment styles tend to be more self-aware regarding their emotions and better able to regulate both positive and negative affect [ 44 , 45 ]. Conversely, individuals high in insecure-anxious attachment are characterized by deep worry and fear, especially with regard to imagined abandonment [ 44 ].…”

“…Drawing from contemporary views on attachment, individuals with secure attachment styles tend to be more self-aware regarding their emotions and better able to regulate both positive and negative affect [ 44 , 45 ]. Conversely, individuals high in insecure-anxious attachment are characterized by deep worry and fear, especially with regard to imagined abandonment [ 44 ]. Last, individuals with dismissing attachment have been found to reduce their distress so as to not trigger their attachment systems [ 44 ].…”

Attachment and psychological distress: The mediator role of Negative Mood Regulation Expectancies

“…The association between NMRE and attachment‐related avoidance are more complicated. More specifically, adults with higher levels of avoidant attachment continue to have high levels of coping self‐efficacy as they tend to avoid emotions and emotion‐related material, which gives the impression that they are effectively coping with negative emotions (Clear & Zimmer‐Gembeck, ; Creasey, ).…”

“…The same mechanisms were expected to be observed in all three dimensions of psychological distress. The hypotheses regarding the mediator role of NMRE in the relationship between avoidance dimension of attachment and psychological distress is less clear, due to the contradictory relationship of attachment‐related avoidance with NMRE (Clear & Zimmer‐Gembeck, ; Creasey, ). Thus, the two dimensions of attachment are expected to have differential relationships with NMRE and with measures of psychological distress through NMRE.…”