Department of Pedagogy, Psychology and Philosophy, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.
BMC Psychol. 2022 Mar 14;10(1):62. doi: 10.1186/s40359-022-00767-y.
An insecure attachment style is an important risk factor for psychological problems. The aim of this study was to use Bartholomew and Horowitz's model (Bartholomew and Horowitz in J Pers Soc Psychol 61(2): 226, 2019) to test a sample of Italian individuals to determine the mediation role of loneliness and COVID-19-related anxiety symptoms in the relationship between attachment styles and mental health issues in the context of the pandemic.
A cross-sectional research study was conducted using a sample of 330 Italian participants (82.1% women; mean age = 34.3 years; SD = 13.16) who completed online self-reported measures of attachment styles (RQ), loneliness (RULS), COVID-19-related anxiety symptoms (C-19ASS) and mental health problems (GHQ-12). Serial mediation analyses were performed, and bootstrap tests were included.
Our results supported the hypothesized model with respect to each attachment style (p < 0.001). In particular, insecure attachment styles predict mental health problems both directly and indirectly, through loneliness and COVID-19-related anxiety symptoms. In addition, loneliness directly influences mental health problems and also mediates the relationship between insecure attachment styles and COVID-19-related anxiety symptoms which, in turn, positively predict mental health problems.
Our findings reinforce the importance of attachment in people's processes of adapting to experiences during the coronavirus pandemic. The study makes an important contribution to developing effective prevention and intervention strategies to support people's wellbeing in the context of the pandemic.
不安全的依恋风格是心理问题的一个重要风险因素。本研究的目的是使用 Bartholomew 和 Horowitz 的模型（Bartholomew 和 Horowitz 在 J Pers Soc Psychol 61(2): 226, 2019）来测试一个意大利人的样本，以确定孤独感和与 COVID-19 相关的焦虑症状在依恋风格与大流行背景下心理健康问题之间的关系中的中介作用。
使用 330 名意大利参与者的样本进行横断面研究（82.1%为女性；平均年龄 34.3 岁；标准差 13.16），参与者在线完成了依恋风格（RQ）、孤独感（RULS）、与 COVID-19 相关的焦虑症状（C-19ASS）和心理健康问题（GHQ-12）的自我报告测量。进行了系列中介分析，并包含了自举检验。
我们的结果支持了每个依恋风格的假设模型（p<0.001）。特别是，不安全的依恋风格直接和间接地通过孤独感和与 COVID-19 相关的焦虑症状预测心理健康问题。此外，孤独感直接影响心理健康问题，也在不安全依恋风格和与 COVID-19 相关的焦虑症状之间的关系中起中介作用，而后者又积极预测心理健康问题。
我们的发现强调了依恋在人们适应冠状病毒大流行期间经历的过程中的重要性。该研究为制定有效的预防和干预策略做出了重要贡献，以支持大流行背景下人们的幸福感。
