The effects of attachment security priming on psychological and physiological responses to stress Identifier

Abstract

Past research suggests those with a secure attachment style experience reduced stress responses. The present study used a recall-based prime technique to activate secure based attachment feelings and examined the effects on psychological (state anxiety and affective experience) and physiological (HRV and EDA) responses to stress. Utilizing a college-aged sample, participants were primed for secure attachment to a friend as previous research identifies friend attachments as predictors of significant developmental and psychosocial outcomes during emerging adulthood. Stress was experimentally induced by a speech preparation task designed to evoke elevated stress response. The researchers predicted those in the prime condition will report less state anxiety and arousal, more positive affectivity, and exhibit a lower physiological arousal response profile. These hypotheses were not substantiated; however, significant correlations were found between friend attachment and scores of positive affect, and higher levels of social anxiety moderated the relationship between intervention prime and HRV response.