Vowels, L.M. orcid.org/0000-0001-5594-2095, Vowels, M.J., Carnelley, K.B. et al. (2 more authors) (2023) Toward a causal link between attachment styles and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62 (3). pp. 605-620. ISSN 0144-6657
Abstract
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.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
Keywords: | attachment style; COVID-19; loneliness; mental health; social distancing behaviours |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > School of Education (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 20 Jun 2023 13:51 |
Last Modified: | 04 Oct 2024 10:14 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/bjc.12428 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:200400 |