Emotional awareness as a pathway linking adult attachment to subsequent depression.

Abstract

Although research links insecure adult attachment with depression, the emotional processes accounting for this association over time remain relatively unexplored. To address this gap, this study investigated whether deficits in emotional awareness serve as one explanatory process. Adult females caregivers (N = 417, M age = 37.83) completed questionnaires annually for three years. As anticipated, attachment avoidance exerted an indirect effect on depression via emotional awareness. Attachment anxiety directly predicted subsequent depression but the indirect effect through emotional awareness was nonsignificant. These results suggest that an avoidant attachment style interferes with the effective processing of emotions, thereby placing women at risk for depression. This research implicates emotional awareness as a potential target for interventions aimed at reducing depressive symptoms in mothers with avoidant attachment styles.

Attachment and adaptation to breast cancer: The mediating role of avoidant emotion processes

“…In the present study, higher levels of attachment avoidance were also associated with both emotion suppression and lack of emotional awareness, as hypothesised. This finding is consistent with previous research (De Rick & Vanheule, 2006;Mallinckrodt & Wei, 2005;Mikulincer & Shaver, 2016;Monti & Rudolph, 2014;Szpak & Białecka-Pikul, 2015) and supports the idea that more avoidantly attached individuals may suppress the expression of their emotions. This may happen because they view proximity seeking as a non-effective strategy to relieve distress and try to deactivate their attachment system (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2016;Pietromonaco & Barrett, 2000).…”

“…Because avoidant attached individuals do not view seeking closeness as an effective strategy to relieve distress, they tend to use deactivating strategies to process their emotions and anxiety about closeness. Bowlby (1973) Brumbaugh, 2007;Mallinckrodt & Wei, 2005;Monti & Rudolph, 2014;Szpak & Białecka-Pikul, 2015). Avoidantly attached individuals also tend to limit the attention paid to potentially threatening emotions or attachment-related phenomena.…”

“…Bowlby (1973) referred to the attempts by avoidant individuals to keep emotion-related information out of awareness as defensive exclusion. Empirical studies have found links between attachment avoidance and a diminished awareness of emotional experiences (e.g., De Rick & Vanheule, 2006;Fraley & Brumbaugh, 2007;Mallinckrodt & Wei, 2005;Monti & Rudolph, 2014;Szpak & Białecka-Pikul, 2015). Moreover, in general, more avoidantly attached patients are less likely to open up their emotions and need to care providers and elicit support, resulting in an underuse of care services and less contact with care providers and, consequently, poor health outcomes (Brenk-Franz et al, 2015;Hunter & Maunder, 2015;Salmon et al, 2007).…”

Psychobiological factors of resilience and depression in late life

“…Insecure attachment is a risk factor for depression onset 22 , illness severity, and relapse 23 . Research suggests that increased emotional awareness 24 and coping self-efficacy 25,26 may be two mechanisms by which secure attachment decreases stress reactivity. Longitudinal studies 27 as well as studies of children raised in orphanages 28 indicate that disorganized attachment during infancy predicts greater amygdala volume—a hypothesized biomarker of difficulty with emotion regulation 28 .…”

Emotional Awareness Moderates the Relationship Between Childhood Abuse and Borderline Personality Disorder Symptom Factors

“…The construct of emotional awareness, which has been found to be associated with insecure and anxious attachment styles (Monti & Rudolph, ), comprises two facets: emotional attention and emotional clarity (Gohm & Clore, ). Emotional attention refers to attending to and valuing one's own emotional experiences.…”