Attachment and emotion regulation - clinical implications of a non-clinical sample study

Rooted in early caregiver-infant relation attachment remains a main motivation of human bonding throughout life. People with different attachment styles deal differently with emotional issues in adulthood as well. In this study connection between attachment dimensions, alexithymia and anxiety was investigated. Correlation between avoidance and alexithymia, and between anxious attachment and anxious symptoms was expected and tested on a sample of university students. Correlational analysis partially confirmed hypotheses. Alexithymic features and anxiety correlated with both dimensions showing an expected pattern based on theory of Adult Attachment Interview. Based on these results we can conclude, that people with different attachment styles use other persons - among them psychotherapists - in different modes to help them deal with emotional issues. The relevance to clinical practice is also presented in this paper. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.