Self-esteem and depressed thoughts can be explained by attachment and family support

Abstract

Attachment is defined as the way in which people bond. The literature indicates associations between attachment and other psychological variables such as family support, depression, and self-esteem. The first stage of the study aimed to investigate evidence of convergent validity for the EBRAPEG-A and other measures of attachment (RSQ and ASQ). The objective of the second stage was to assess the mediating effect of attachment styles on the relationship between family support and the depressive thoughts and self-esteem outcomes. A total of 472 Brazilians from the general population participated (mean age 28.8±10.1 years, 82.4% women). Through network analysis, a community of nodes corresponding to the theoretical expectations was verified, evidencing convergent validity between EBRAPEG-A, RSQ, and ASQ factors. In the second stage, Path Analysis demonstrated the predictive role of the perception of family support on the attachment style, as well as its effects on self-esteem and depression symptoms. Furthermore, the direct effects of family support on the depression symptoms and self-esteem outcomes were verified, which indicated partial mediation of the perception of family support.