Attachment styles, coping strategies, and posttraumatic psychological distress: The impact of the Gulf War in Israel.

Abstract

This study examines the association between adult attachment style and the way people reacted to the Iraqi missile attack on Israel during the Gulf War. One hundred forty Israeli students were interviewed 2 weeks after the war and classified according to their attachment style (secure, avoidant, or ambivalent) and residence area (dangerous vs. less dangerous). Ambivalent people reported more distress than secure people. Avoidant persons reported higher levels of somatization, hostility, and trauma-related avoidance than secure persons. These results characterized Ss living in dangerous areas. In addition, secure people used relatively more support-seeking strategies in coping with the trauma, ambivalent people used more emotion-focused strategies, and avoidant people used more distancing strategies. Findings are discussed in terms of attachment working models.

Perceived coping as a mediator between attachment and psychological distress: A structural equation modeling approach.

“…Previous research indicates that people with avoidant and anxious attachment rely on less constructive ways of coping than those relied on by secure persons (Mikulincer & Florian, 1995;Mikulincer et al, 1993). Several of the previous studies that linked attachment and coping have used situational coping assessments (e.g., the Ways of Coping Scale; Folkman & Lazarus, 1988).…”

Adult attachment security and symptoms of depression: The mediating roles of dysfunctional attitudes and low self-esteem.

“…In this regard, two recent studies (Hammen et al, 1995;Mikulincer et al, 1993) found that adult attachment styles moderated the impact of major life stressors, but the mechanism by which this process operated was not ascertained. Our model suggests that the activation of dysfunctional attitudes and depletions in self-esteem might mediate such relations.…”

Adult Attachment Theory and Affective Reactivity and Regulation.

“…Overall, the evidence is consistent with our model. People higher in anxious-ambivalence are more likely to turn to others for help with regulating their negative feelings, whereas those who are more avoidant distance themselves from others (e.g., Collins & Feeney, 2000;Mikulincer, 1998;Mikulincer, Florian, & Weller, 1993;Mikulincer, Orbach, & Iavnieli, 1998;Ognibene & Collins, 1998;Pietromonaco & Feldman Barrett, in press;Simpson, Rholes, & Nelligan, 1992). Indeed, for people high in attachment anxiety, the experimental activation of attachment security (i.e., via subliminally priming the word "love"), which may evoke a representation of an attachment figure, appears to provide a comforting or soothing effect by reducing the accessibility of terror-related words (Mikulincer, Shaver, & Horesh, this volume).…”