The Effects of Attachment Priming on Depressed and Anxious Mood. (May 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Carnelley, Katherine B.; Otway, Lorna J.; Rowe, Angela C.
• Is Part Of: Clinical psychological science. Volume 4:Number 3(2016:May)
• Page Start: 433
• Page End: 450
• Publication Date: 2016-05
• Subjects: attachment -- depression -- anxiety -- priming -- security; Clinical psychology -- Periodicals; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1177/2167702615594998
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2167-7026

Abstract

Correlational evidence links attachment insecurity (attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance) to depression and anxiety, but the causal directions of these relationships remain unspecified. Our aim (Study 1, N = 144) was to prime attachment anxiety and avoidance and test causal relationships between these attachment patterns and depressed and anxious mood. Attachment anxious-primed participants reported higher depressed mood than secure-primed participants. Furthermore, avoidant-primed and anxious-primed participants reported higher anxious mood compared with secure-primed participants. In Study 2 ( N = 81) we tested the effectiveness of repeatedly priming attachment security (versus a neutral prime), in the laboratory and via texts, on improving depressed and anxious mood. Secure-primed (compared with neutral-primed) participants reported less anxious mood postprime and one day later. Repeated secure-primed (compared with neutral) participants reported marginally less depressed mood postprime and one day later. Discussion considers possible clinical implications for repeated security priming.