Disentangling the Effects of Depression Symptoms and Adult Attachment on Emotional Disclosure

Individuals with high levels of depression symptoms and individuals with insecure attachment orientations have been shown to limit their use of emotional disclosure as a means of emotion regulation. However, little is known about how depression symptoms and insecure attachment orientations might joi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of counseling psychology 2012-04, Vol.59 (2), p.230-239
Main Authors: Garrison, Angela M, Kahn, Jeffrey H, Sauer, Eric M, Florczak, Michael A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Adults
Anxiety
Anxiety-Depression
Attachment
Attachment Behavior
Biological and medical sciences
Clinical psychology
College Students
Counseling Psychology
Counselling psychology
Depression
Depression (Psychology)
Disclosure
Emotional Regulation
Emotional Response
Emotions
Female
Human
Humans
Major Depression
Male
Measures (Individuals)
Medical Records
Medical sciences
Mental depression
Midwestern United States
Mood disorders
Multivariate Analysis
Object Attachment
Psychiatric Symptoms
Psychological Tests
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Resistance (Psychology)
Self Disclosure
Symptoms
Symptoms (Individual Disorders)
United States (Midwest)
Universities
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Summary:Individuals with high levels of depression symptoms and individuals with insecure attachment orientations have been shown to limit their use of emotional disclosure as a means of emotion regulation. However, little is known about how depression symptoms and insecure attachment orientations might jointly predict whether individuals engage in emotional disclosure. The authors addressed this question using both inter- and intraindividual approaches. College students (N = 121) completed measures of depression symptoms, adult attachment orientation, and generalized disclosure tendencies. To obtain an intraindividual measure of emotional disclosure, participants also completed an online daily diary in which they rated the intensity of the day's most unpleasant event and their disclosure of that event for 7 days. Results indicated that depression symptoms were negatively related to generalized disclosure tendencies and to intraindividual daily intensity-disclosure slopes. Attachment avoidance was negatively related to both generalized disclosure tendencies and to daily disclosure, and attachment anxiety moderated the relation between daily event intensity and disclosure. The authors discuss the implications for theory and counseling psychology practice.
ISSN:0022-0167
1939-2168
DOI:10.1037/a0026132