Attachment Styles, Coping Mechanisms and Resilience: A Correlational Study

Abstract

Attachment theory proposes that early relational experiences shape one’s internal models of self and others, influencing how individuals respond to stress and form connections throughout life. In this study, 166 diverse sample of young adults (M age = 21.3 years, 62% female; extreme age range: 18.0–31.1 years) were examined with respect to their relations to attachment styles, psychological resilience and strategies of coping. The Attachment Style Questionnaire–Short Form (ASQ-SF), the Connor and Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and Brief COPE Inventory were completed by the participants. Correlations between secure attachment (confidence in Interpersonal Interactions) and resilience (r = .455, p < .001) as well as both overall adaptive coping (r = .421, p < .001) were strong and positively correlated. On the contrary, avoidant (r = –.352, p < .001) and anxious dimensions (r = –.327, p < .001) of attachment were negatively correlated with resilience, however, they had distinct coping patterns: avoidant features involved a lower coping engagement (r = –.297, p < .001), whereas anxious features associated with higher but perhaps less effective coping endeavours (r = .402, p < .001). In addition, resilience and coping were somewhat reciprocal (r = .301, p = .001), and resilience and coping have some resilience and coping showed moderate overlap (r = .301, p = .001). These results demonstrate the importance of attachment security for resilience and upshot in the emerging profile of coping in young adulthood. In addition to attachment‐informed targets (i.e., improving interpersonal confidence and emotion regulation capacities), they offer evidence to demonstrate intervention targets that will strengthen psychological adaptation.