From Emotional Abuse to a Fear of Intimacy: A Preliminary Study of the Mediating Role of Attachment Styles and Rejection Sensitivity

Summary & key facts

This preliminary study used data from 180 Israeli adults aged 21–30 who were in relationships. The researchers tested whether insecure attachment styles (anxious and avoidant) and rejection sensitivity help explain links between childhood emotional abuse and a later fear of intimacy. Statistical analyses found several mediating links among these factors, and the authors suggested that building “earned security” might help, while noting the study is preliminary.

Key facts:

• The study included 180 participants from Israel, aged 21–30, all of whom were in romantic relationships.
• Both anxious and avoidant attachment styles statistically mediated (helped explain) the link between reported childhood emotional abuse and a fear of intimacy.
• Anxious attachment specifically mediated the link between childhood emotional abuse and both rejection expectancy (expecting rejection) and acceptance expectancy (expecting support).
• Avoidant attachment mediated the link between childhood emotional abuse and acceptance expectancy (expecting support), but not rejection expectancy in the same way as anxious attachment.
• Acceptance expectancy (the tendency to expect others will be helpful and supportive) mediated the relationship between both insecure attachment styles (anxious and avoidant) and a fear of intimacy.
• The paper treats these results as preliminary and does not claim causal proof; the findings come from a specific sample and may not generalize to all groups.
• The authors recommend interventions that promote “earned security” (helping people develop more secure attachment patterns) as a possible response to these links.

Abstract

Based on the literature indicating that emotional abuse erodes children's secure attachment bonds, this study aimed to examine a mediation model positing that insecure attachment (anxious and/or avoidant styles) would mediate the association between childhood emotional abuse and rejection sensitivity (rejection and acceptance expectancies), which, in turn, will be associated with a fear of intimacy. One hundred and eighty members of the Israeli public aged 21-30 who were in relationships participated in the study. The results showed that avoidant and anxious attachment mediated the relationship between childhood emotional abuse and a fear of intimacy, acceptance expectancy mediated the relationship between avoidant and anxious attachment and a fear of intimacy, anxious attachment mediated the relationship between childhood emotional abuse and both rejection and acceptance expectancies, and avoidant attachment mediated the relationship between childhood emotional abuse and acceptance expectancy. These results indicated the salient role of insecure attachment styles and their associations with rejection sensitivity in forming intimate relationships due to having experienced childhood emotional abuse. Intervention promoting "earned security" was recommended.

Topics

Attachment and Relationship Dynamics Child Abuse and Trauma Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

Categories

Clinical Psychology Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Attachment theory Child abuse Clinical psychology Developmental psychology Environmental health Expectancy theory Insecure attachment Intervention (counseling) Law Mediation Medicine Poison control Political science Psychiatry Psychological abuse Psychology Social psychology Suicide prevention