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. 2018 Dec 28;13(12):e0207514.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0207514. eCollection 2018.

Adult attachment and social anxiety: The mediating role of emotion regulation strategies

Darryl L Read  1 , Gavin I Clark  1 , Adam J Rock  1 , William L Coventry  1
Affiliations

Adult attachment and social anxiety: The mediating role of emotion regulation strategies

Darryl L Read et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Despite extensive evidence relating attachment dimensions to maladaptive interpersonal behaviours and dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies, few studies have explored social anxiety in the context of adult attachment dimensions. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether attachment-related anxiety and avoidance are associated with symptoms of social anxiety and whether cognitive emotion regulation strategies (reappraisal and suppression) play a role in the relationship between adult attachment and social anxiety. A sample of 253 adults (male n = 47, 18.6%; female n = 202, 79.8%; gender not disclosed n = 4, 1.6%) ranging in age from 18 to 74 years (M = 33.12, SD = 11.56) completed an online questionnaire that consisted of the Experience in Close Relationships-Revised Questionnaire (ECR-R); The Inventory of Interpersonal Situations Discomfort scale (IIS-D); and The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). Results indicated that both attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance have a direct effect on indices of social anxiety symptomology. Reappraisal partially mediated the relationship between attachment anxiety and social anxiety. However, the relationship between attachment avoidance and social anxiety was not mediated by the use of reappraisal and suppression. Findings of the study have implications for the development of clinical interventions targeting mediators of psychological distress associated with social anxiety.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Path diagram mediation models.
In the initial mediations (a and b) there was no covariate. Follow-up mediations (a and b) included a covariate, and in those models the paths for both the total effect (IV-DV) and IV-Mediator are interpreted with the effects of the covariate removed, the direct effect (IV-DV) with the covariate and Mediator-DV path removed, and the Mediator-DV path with the covariate and IV-DV path removed. IV = independent variable, DV = dependent variable, Att Anx = attachment anxiety, Att Avoi = attachment avoidance, Cog Reapp = cognitive reappraisal, Supp = suppression, Soc Anx = social anxiety.
Fig 2
Fig 2. The relative sizes of the direct and indirect effects as indicated by the standardized beta weights (β) when presented as absolute values.
Two betas were negative (-ive), as noted to the left of the bars. The figure shows four mediations, all had social anxiety as the dependent variable and two mediators, cognitive reappraisal (Reapp) and suppression (Supp). The independent variable (IV) was either attachment anxiety (Att Anx) or attachment avoidance (Att Avoi), as indicated, and the covariates, when included, were either attachment anxiety or attachment avoidance. Significance levels: * p < .05, ** p < .01, n.s. = not significant.
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Grants and funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.