Toward a causal link between attachment styles and mental health during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Background Recent research has shown that insecure attachment, especially attachment anxiety, is associated with poor mental health outcomes, especially during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Other research suggests that insecure attachment may be linked to nonadherence to social distancing behaviours during...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of clinical psychology 2023-09, Vol.62 (3), p.605-620
Main Authors: Vowels, Laura M., Vowels, Matthew J., Carnelley, Katherine B., Millings, Abigail, Gibson‐Miller, Jilly
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anxiety
Anxiety - psychology
Attachment
Attachment style
Avoidance behavior
Causality
Communicable Disease Control
COVID-19
Cross-Sectional Studies
Health behavior
Health status
Humans
Loneliness
Loneliness - psychology
Mental Health
Mental health services
Pandemics
Risk factors
Social distancing
social distancing behaviours
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Summary:Background Recent research has shown that insecure attachment, especially attachment anxiety, is associated with poor mental health outcomes, especially during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Other research suggests that insecure attachment may be linked to nonadherence to social distancing behaviours during the pandemic. Aims The present study aims to examine the causal links between attachment styles (secure, anxious, avoidant), mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, loneliness) and adherence to social distancing behaviours during the first several months of the UK lockdown (between April and August 2020). Materials & Methods We used a nationally representative UK sample (cross‐sectional n = 1325; longitudinal n = 950). The data were analysed using state‐of‐the‐art causal discovery and targeted learning algorithms to identify causal processes. Results The results showed that insecure attachment styles were causally linked to poorer mental health outcomes, mediated by loneliness. Only attachment avoidance was causally linked to nonadherence to social distancing guidelines. Discussion Future interventions to improve mental health outcomes should focus on mitigating feelings of loneliness. Limitations include no access to pre‐pandemic data and the use of categorical attachment measure. Conclusion Insecure attachment is a risk factor for poorer mental health outcomes.
ISSN:0144-6657
2044-8260
DOI:10.1111/bjc.12428