Anxious attachment and severity of depressive symptomatology in women.

The present research evaluated a conceptual model that links anxious attachment to depressive symptomatology in women. Four hundred and twenty women completed the following measures: Socio-demographic questionnaire, the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the Reciprocal Attachment Questionnaire, the Social Support Questionnaire, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Global Assessment of Recent Stress Scale. Results indicate that feared loss of the attachment figure, intense proximity seeking and lack of use of the attachment figure were predictive of depressive symptomatology. We also found that lower levels of self-esteem and higher levels of recent stress were predictive of depressive symptomatology. The implications of these findings for the understanding of symptoms of depression in women is discussed.