Attachment and Mental Health in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Posttraumatic Growth and Religion as Moderators
Consistent with the teachings in various religious traditions of finding meaning amidst suffering, we suspected that Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) would have a buffering effect on attachment insecurity and psychosocial outcomes. We examined the effects of anxious and avoidant attachment, PTG, and relig...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Religions |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/5/470 |
| _version_ | 1827666917354110976 |
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| author | Carissa Dwiwardani Andrew J. Shelton Alan Y. Oda |
| author_facet | Carissa Dwiwardani Andrew J. Shelton Alan Y. Oda |
| author_sort | Carissa Dwiwardani |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Consistent with the teachings in various religious traditions of finding meaning amidst suffering, we suspected that Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) would have a buffering effect on attachment insecurity and psychosocial outcomes. We examined the effects of anxious and avoidant attachment, PTG, and religion on psychosocial outcomes (i.e., anxiety, depression, and loneliness). Data from 466 participants recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and a college student sample revealed that PTG served as a moderator between anxious attachment and (a) depression and (b) loneliness, and (c) PTG buffered the relationship between anxious attachment and anxiety to a greater extent among Christians, compared to non-Christians. On the other hand, (a) PTG did not moderate the link between attachment avoidance and depression, (b) PTG exacerbated the relationship between attachment avoidance and anxiety, and (c) PTG buffered the association between attachment avoidance and loneliness for non-Christians, but this link was amplified for Christians. We discuss the findings that PTG interacted with religion and offered protective effects for anxious (but not avoidant) attachment. Factors that may have contributed to the difference between the two attachment styles are discussed, along with implications from cultural-religious and adult attachment frameworks. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:58:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f6ce712afc9b471da2d4e42dd3e59692 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:58:24Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-f6ce712afc9b471da2d4e42dd3e596922023-11-23T12:53:37ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442022-05-0113547010.3390/rel13050470Attachment and Mental Health in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Posttraumatic Growth and Religion as ModeratorsCarissa Dwiwardani0Andrew J. Shelton1Alan Y. Oda2Department of Psychology, Azusa Pacific University, Azusa, CA 91702, USADepartment of Psychology, Azusa Pacific University, Azusa, CA 91702, USADepartment of Psychology, Azusa Pacific University, Azusa, CA 91702, USAConsistent with the teachings in various religious traditions of finding meaning amidst suffering, we suspected that Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) would have a buffering effect on attachment insecurity and psychosocial outcomes. We examined the effects of anxious and avoidant attachment, PTG, and religion on psychosocial outcomes (i.e., anxiety, depression, and loneliness). Data from 466 participants recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and a college student sample revealed that PTG served as a moderator between anxious attachment and (a) depression and (b) loneliness, and (c) PTG buffered the relationship between anxious attachment and anxiety to a greater extent among Christians, compared to non-Christians. On the other hand, (a) PTG did not moderate the link between attachment avoidance and depression, (b) PTG exacerbated the relationship between attachment avoidance and anxiety, and (c) PTG buffered the association between attachment avoidance and loneliness for non-Christians, but this link was amplified for Christians. We discuss the findings that PTG interacted with religion and offered protective effects for anxious (but not avoidant) attachment. Factors that may have contributed to the difference between the two attachment styles are discussed, along with implications from cultural-religious and adult attachment frameworks.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/5/470anxious attachmentavoidant attachmentposttraumatic growthanxietydepressionloneliness |
| spellingShingle | Carissa Dwiwardani Andrew J. Shelton Alan Y. Oda Attachment and Mental Health in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Posttraumatic Growth and Religion as Moderators Religions anxious attachment avoidant attachment posttraumatic growth anxiety depression loneliness |
| title | Attachment and Mental Health in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Posttraumatic Growth and Religion as Moderators |
| title_full | Attachment and Mental Health in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Posttraumatic Growth and Religion as Moderators |
| title_fullStr | Attachment and Mental Health in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Posttraumatic Growth and Religion as Moderators |
| title_full_unstemmed | Attachment and Mental Health in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Posttraumatic Growth and Religion as Moderators |
| title_short | Attachment and Mental Health in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Posttraumatic Growth and Religion as Moderators |
| title_sort | attachment and mental health in the covid 19 pandemic posttraumatic growth and religion as moderators |
| topic | anxious attachment avoidant attachment posttraumatic growth anxiety depression loneliness |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/5/470 |
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