Insecure attachment and emotional distress: Fear of self-compassion and self-compassion as mediators

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.02.048Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Fear of self-compassion is related to weakened self-compassion.

  • Fear of compassion and self-compassion mediate insecure attachment and distress.

  • This study adds to the literature on attachment styles and self-compassion.

  • Results are interpreted in light of the influence of Korean culture.

Abstract

According to Attachment Theory (Bowlby, 1980), individual differences in adult attachment styles are based on attachments formed during infancy with primary caregivers. Adults who form secure attachments feel safe and secure in their relationships. Those who form insecure attachments do not. According to Self-Compassion Theory (Neff, 2003a, 2003b), and supported by research, self-compassion (i.e., compassionate attitudes and behaviors towards oneself) is associated with a variety of positive psychological outcomes, while a lack of self-compassion is associated with psychological distress (e.g., Barnard & Curry, 2011). Additionally, the fear of self-compassion has been negatively associated with self-compassion (Joeng & Turner, 2015). In this current study, we extend the research on attachment and self-compassion by examining how self-compassion and fear of self-compassion mediate two types of insecure attachment styles, anxious attachment and avoidant attachment, and two indicators of emotional distress, depression and anxiety, among 473 Korean college students. Structural equation modeling indicated that self-compassion independently mediated, and fear of self-compassion and self-compassion serially mediated, the paths from anxious and avoidant attachment to depression and anxiety in expected directions. Results are interpreted from the perspective of Korean culture, including the influence of Confucianism on the expression of self-compassion.

Introduction

According to Attachment Theory (Bowlby, 1980), infants who do not have their physical or emotional needs met by primary caregivers tend to not form secure and trusting relationships (i.e., secure attachments) with these caregivers nor do they tend, as adults, to form secure attachments to friends or significant others. Through the emergence of internal working models (i.e., models containing the structure and content of relationships with self and others; Collins & Read, 1994), which are based on their earlier infant-caregiver interactions, these individuals believe that others upon whom they depend are inaccessible and uncaring. Indeed, they may unintentionally establish relationships as adults that mirror the unsupportive interactions they experienced as children. Their patterns of interactions within these relationships tend to be relatively devoid of closeness (i.e., insecure avoidant attachment), or characterized by neediness, insecurity, and dependency (i.e., insecure anxious attachment) (Hankin, Kassel, & Abela, 2005). These individuals are also hypothesized to have a significantly increased risk for developing depression (Hankin et al., 2005).

Self-Compassion Theory (Neff, 2003a), and the research that has tested this theory, have suggested that if insecurely attached adults develop self-compassion, their emotional distress could decrease (Barnard and Curry, 2011, Gilbert et al., 2011, Joeng and Turner, 2015). Yet, insecurely attached individuals may be afraid of receiving compassion for fear it would precipitate memories of unfulfilling relationships and exacerbate feelings of loneliness (Gilbert, 2010, Gilbert et al., 2011). Moreover, studies in this area have shown that the fear of self-compassion is negatively associated with self-compassion (Joeng & Turner, 2015), and that self-compassion is negatively associated with anxiety and depression (Barnard and Curry, 2011, Joeng and Turner, 2015). These mediating relationships have not been studied among adults who are anxiously or avoidantly attached. Thus, given this gap in the literature, we investigated whether fear of self-compassion and self-compassion mediate anxious and avoidant attachment styles as these attachment styles predict two indicators of psychological distress, depression and anxiety.

Among insecurely attached adults, the two most common attachment styles are avoidant attachment and anxious attachment. Anxious attachment can occur in adults who have had unpredictable and inconsistent childhood caregivers (Pietromonaco & Barrett, 2000). Thus, they yearn for constant reassurance from their significant others (Wei, Mallinckrodt, Larson, & Zakalik, 2005); however, they have difficulty accepting this reassurance because they do not believe they deserve it (Wei, Liao, Ku, & Shaffer, 2011). Avoidantly attached adults had childhood caregivers who were consistent but unresponsive. They tend to withdraw from others in order to avoid the anticipated disappointment of not getting their needs met (Mikulincer, Shaver, & Pereg, 2003). Both groups tend to have strained, untrusting relationships, dysfunctional attitudes, and rigid views about themselves and their worlds. Both groups are vulnerable to greater emotional distress than are securely attached individuals (Burnette et al., 2009, Hankin et al., 2005).

Self-compassion helps people who are insecurely attached experience less emotional distress (e.g., Neff, 2003a, Neff, 2003b, Raque-Bogdan et al., 2011). According to Neff, 2003a, Neff, 2003b Theory of Self-Compassion, self-compassion is comprised of three dimensions: self-kindness versus self-judgment, common humanity versus isolation, and mindfulness versus over-identification. When self-compassionate people recognize their own failures, they exercise self-care instead of judging, berating, or belittling themselves. They recognize that their imperfections, and their experiences, even those that are the most painful, are part of the common human experience. They are also able to maintain perspective and to approach stressful situations mindfully (Neff, Kirkpatrick, & Rude, 2007).

When people fear self-compassion, they resist being compassionate towards themselves (Pauley and McPherson, 2010, Rockcliff et al., 2008). Individuals who have experienced abuse or neglect as children, which may be analogous to the emotional environment experienced by insecurely attached children, tend to develop a fear of self-compassion (Gilbert et al., 2011, Mikulincer and Shaver, 2007). Given these findings, and the theory and research that undergird them, an examination of how the fear of self-compassion and self-compassion serially mediate relationships between insecure attachment styles and emotional distress is an important next step in our quest to understand what initiates and maintains depression and anxiety among insecurely attached adults. To date, however, there is a lack of research that has examined these effects.

The purpose of this current study was to examine the mediating roles of fear of self-compassion and self-compassion in the relationships between avoidant and anxious attachment, and emotional distress, represented by anxiety and depression. Based on theory and on prior research (e.g., Joeng & Turner, 2015), we hypothesized that 1) self-compassion would mediate relationships between the attachment and emotional distress variables, and that 2) the fear of self-compassion and self-compassion also would exert a serially mediating effect upon the emotional distress variables as they were predicted by the attachment variables.

To examine these relationships, we built and tested a model using a two-step approach of evaluating the measurement model and then evaluating the structural model. The aim of this procedure was to ascertain convergent and discriminant validity (Campbell & Fiske, 1959), and to increase the nomological validity of the structural model (see Anderson & Gerbing, 1988 for a fuller explanation of the two-step modeling approach). Given that we used cross-sectional data, wherein neither causality nor directionality can be assumed, we also constructed an alternate model in order to test and compare the efficacy of the hypothesized model against another theoretically plausible model. The alternate model was based on Pauley and McPherson's (2010) findings that people with higher levels of depression and anxiety are concerned that they cannot develop self-compassion because of their emotional distress. In this model, depression and anxiety mediated relationships between anxious and avoidant attachment and fear of self-compassion; and, depression, anxiety, and fear of self-compassion mediated relationships between anxious and avoidant attachment and self-compassion.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants were 473 college students from three South Korean universities. Of the participants, 288 (61%) were men, and 185 (39%) were women. Mean age = 25.26 years (SD = 3.78).

Procedures

Participants were recruited through university email lists and websites, and from psychology classes at their respective universities. These participants voluntarily completed demographic information and online self-report surveys, of which 473 were completed.

Attachment styles

The 18-item Anxious Attachment and 18-item Avoidant Attachment

Preliminary analyses

Data were normally distributed. Males reported significantly greater fear of self-compassion than females, F(1, 471) = 6.690, p = 0.01. There were no significant group differences among any other variables.

Measurement model

Three item parcels were created for five of study variables, anxious attachment, avoidant attachment, fear of self-compassion, depression, and anxiety. We did this to encourage parsimoniousness and reduction in various sources of sampling error, and decrease the chances for residuals to be

Structural models

Analysis of the hypothesized structural model (see Fig. 1) also demonstrated an acceptable fit to the data, x2(122) = 508.010, p = 0.000, CFI = 0.950, TLI = 0.938, RMSEA = 0.082 [90% CI = 0.075, 0.089]. The structural model was as good a fit as the measurement model to the data (∆ X2 = 3.973, df = 2, p > 0.05) (Hu & Bentler, 1999), and provided a more parsimonious explanation of the data than did the measurement model (O'Rourke & Hatcher, 2013). In the hypothesized model, β weights were significant at the 0.01

Discussion

This study aimed to investigate the mediating roles of fear of self-compassion and self-compassion in the relationships between insecure attachment and emotional distress. The paths from anxious attachment to depression and from avoidant attachment to depression were each partially mediated by self-compassion as a stand-alone mediator. Both of these paths were also partially mediated serially by the fear of self-compassion and self-compassion. In addition, the path from avoidant attachment to

Conclusion

This study further clarifies and extends research regarding the mechanisms underlying relationships between two types of insecure attachment, avoidant and anxious attachment, and emotional distress as measured by depression and anxiety. It also contributes to the emerging literature base in this area and can provide direction for future studies focusing on ways that fear of self-compassion and self-compassion contribute to psychological distress. This study also contributes to the literature

Ethical statement

  • Authorship of the paper: The authorship of this paper was limited to those who made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study.

  • Originality and plagiarism: The authors ensure that we have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.

  • Data access and retention: If requested, we are willing to provide the raw data in connection with a paper

Acknowledgement

The authors have properly acknowledged all sources.

  • Disclosure and conflicts of interest: No relationships exist that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest.

  • Reporting standards: The authors have presented an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance.

  • Hazards and human or animal subjects: The authors followed all ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association concerning conducting research with human

References (44)

  • N.L. Collins et al.

    Cognitive representations of attachment: The structure and function of working models

  • H.J. Eysenck

    The scientific study of personality

    (1952)
  • R.C. Fraley et al.

    An item response theory analysis of self-report measures of adult attachment

    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

    (2000)
  • P. Gilbert

    Compassion focused therapy: Distinctive features

    (2010)
  • P. Gilbert et al.

    Fears of compassion: Development of three self-report measures

    Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice

    (2011)
  • D.U. Han et al.

    The validation of the Korean-version of Spielberger's STAI

    Journal of Student Guidance

    (1993)
  • B.L. Hankin et al.

    Adult attachment dimensions and specificity of emotional distress symptoms: Prospective investigations of cognitive risk and interpersonal stress generation as mediating mechanisms

    Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

    (2005)
  • L.T. Hu et al.

    Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives

    Structural Equation Modeling

    (1999)
  • J.R. Joeng et al.

    Mediators between self-criticism and depression: Fear of compassion, self-compassion, and importance to others

    Journal of Counseling Psychology

    (2015)
  • J. Joeng et al.

    Validation study of the Korean version of the fear of compassion scales

    The Korean Journal of Counseling and Psychotherapy

    (2015)
  • D.A. Kenny

    Measuring model fit.

    (2015)
  • J.T. Kim

    The relation between trait anxiety and social abilities: Focusing on Spielberger's STAI

    (1978)
  • Cited by (41)

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text