Attachment Anxiety and Avoidance in Coping with Bereavement: Two Studies

Although attachment theory has become one of the primary paradigms for understanding bereavement adaptation, there has been surprisingly little empirical work on this topic. Two studies investigated the role of attachment in coping with the loss of a loved one. Study 1 examined the unique contribution of attachment anxiety and avoidance in prolonged grief symptomatology (PCS) in a sample of 656 recently bereaved young adults. When accounting for demographic factors (age, ethnicity, gender) and loss-related circumstances (relationship to deceased, violent versus natural loss), higher levels of attachment-related anxiety were associated with more PCS but avoidance failed to produce a unique effect. Study 2 investigated the role of attachment insecurities in the context of violent death bereavement. Participants were grouped by those who experienced a violent loss in the past two years (accident, suicide, homicide; n = 191) and a matched control group who had not experienced a loss (n = 191). Individuals with higher levels of attachment anxiety reported worse physical and mental health symptoms. Attachment avoidance was a salient predictor of poor post-bereavement functioning for violent loss survivors but avoidant attachment was not as relevant for nonbe-reaved persons. Results of the second study support the worrisome role of attachment anxiety in the context of coping with bereavement, while also suggesting detrimental effects for avoidance in extreme cases of loss.