CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 113Attachment and Relationship DynamicsAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

INSECURE ATTACHMENT AS A PREDICTOR OF DEPRESSIVE AND ANXIOUS SYMPTOMOLOGY: Research Article: Insecure Attachment Predicts Depression and Anxiety

Jinyao, Yi, Xiongzhao, Zhu, Auerbach, Randy P., Gardiner, Casey K., Lin, Cai, Yuping, Wang, Shuqiao, Yao·2012·Depression and Anxiety
DOI 10.1002/da.21953
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Most studies have shown that insecure attachment and stress are important risk factors in the development of depression and anxiety. However, it is unclear whether distinct patterns of insecure attachment may relate differently to depression and anxiety following stressful events. Thus, the current study examined whether anxious and avoidant attachment, both of which are operationalized as insecure attachment, predict depressive and anxious symptoms following the occurrence of hassles. METHOD: A sample of 662 Chinese university students was recruited from Hunan, China. At the initial assessment, participants completed self-report measures assessing insecure attachment (i.e. anxious and avoidant attachment), hassles, anxious symptoms, and depressive symptoms. Additionally, hassles and symptoms of anxiety and depression were assessed once a month for the subsequent 6 months. RESULTS: The results of hierarchical linear modeling analyses indicated a significant interaction between anxious attachment and hassles in predicting follow-up depressive symptoms. Specifically, participants with high levels of anxious, but not avoidant, attachment reported high levels of depressive symptoms when experiencing high, as opposed to low, levels of hassles. At the same time, while both anxious and avoidant attachment predicted higher levels of anxious symptoms over time, a cross-level, significant interaction did not emerge. CONCLUSIONS: Insecure attachment styles serve as a vulnerability factor in the development of depressive and anxious symptoms in Chinese young adults. Consequently, fostering the development of secure attachment in prevention and intervention programs may, ultimately, prevent the onset and maintenance of depressive and anxious disorders.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1002/da.21953

Cites

61 of 61 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Jinyao, Y., Xiongzhao, Z., Auerbach, R. P., Gardiner, C. K., Lin, C., Yuping, W., & Shuqiao, Y.
Affiliations
  • Medical Psychological Institute; Second Xiangya Hospital; Central South University; Hunan; China
  • Central South University (CN)
  • Harvard University (US)
Corresponding author
Xiongzhao, Zhu
ORCID
Auerbach, Randy P.
Venue
Depression and Anxiety
Publisher
Hindawi Limited
Published
2012-04-13
Volume
29
Issue
9
Pages
789-796
ISSN
1091-4269 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1002/da.21953
OpenAlex
W2155071466
Cited by
113
References
57
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 4
FWCI
7.24
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
doi.wiley.com/10.1002/tdm_license_1.1 (tdm, 1236 d)
Locations
  • Depression and Anxiety (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
Keywords
insecure attachment, attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, hassles, life events, attachment styles, young adults, Chinese university students, vulnerability factors, secure attachment
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Anxiety, China, Depression, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Male, Object Attachment, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Surveys and Questionnaires, Stress, Psychological, Young Adult, Self Report

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review