Investigating the Different Roles of Avoidant and Anxious Attachment on Psychological Well-Being Mediated by Interpersonal Emotion Regulation

Abstract

Attachment has a big influence on the wellbeing of people. Insecure attachment reinforces maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, and in turn contributes to the decrease of well-being. Contrary, secure attachment leads to adaptive emotion regulation and better well-being. The focus of past literature on emotion regulation lays on intrapersonal strategies, while interpersonal strategies also play a role in the relationship between attachment and wellbeing. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate if Interpersonal Emotion Regulation (IER) mediates the relationship between attachment and well-being. In specific, it was examined whether anxious and avoidant attachment had different effects on wellbeing. It was hypothesized that avoidant attachment is negatively associated with well-being and that the relationship is mediated by IER, and that anxious attachment is negatively associated with well-being and that the relationship is mediated by IER. Therefore, an online survey was conducted with adults as participants. Scales assessing adult attachment, IER, social contexts of IER, and psychological well-being were used. The results showed no mediating effect of IER between anxious or avoidant attachment and well-being. Yet, a positive correlation between anxious attachment and well-being was found. Additionally, control variables of social contexts were positively associated with IER. The findings give insight into the mechanisms of IER, yet future investigations are needed, as their findings could provide important insights for therapeutic interventions.