Anxious-preoccupied attachment

Individuals with an anxious-preoccupied attachment style are characterized by a strong desire for closeness and intimacy in their relationships, but they often experience high levels of anxiety and uncertainty about the availability and responsiveness of their attachment figures.{{Cite journal |last1=Genova |first1=Federica |last2=Zingaretti |first2=Pietro |last3=Gazzillo |first3=Francesco |last4=Tanzilli |first4=Annalisa |last5=Lingiardi |first5=Vittorio |last6=Katz |first6=Michael |last7=Hilsenroth |first7=Mark |date=March 2021 |title=Patients' crying experiences in psychotherapy and relationship with working alliance, therapeutic change and attachment styles. |url=https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/pst0000339 |journal=Psychotherapy |language=en |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=160–171 |doi=10.1037/pst0000339 |pmid=33856858 |issn=1939-1536|url-access=subscription }} This attachment style is associated with a negative model of the self and a positive model of others, leading to a preoccupation with relationships and a fear of abandonment.{{Cite journal |last1=Pan |first1=Yangu |last2=Zhang |first2=Dajun |last3=Liu |first3=Yanling |last4=Ran |first4=Guangming |last5=Teng |first5=Zhaojun |date=2017-03-01 |title=The effects of attachment style and security priming on the perception of others' pain |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0265407515627509 |journal=Journal of Social and Personal Relationships |language=en |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=184–208 |doi=10.1177/0265407515627509 |issn=0265-4075|url-access=subscription }}

Anxious-preoccupied individuals tend to have a heightened sensitivity to emotional cues and a tendency to perceive more pain intensity and unpleasantness in others.{{Cite journal |last1=Katz |first1=Michael |last2=Ziv-Beiman |first2=Sharon |last3=Rokah |first3=Nurit |last4=Hilsenroth |first4=Mark |date=2022 |title=Crying in psychotherapy among Israeli patients and its relation to the working alliance, therapeutic change and attachment style |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/capr.12458 |journal=Counselling and Psychotherapy Research |language=en |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=439–457 |doi=10.1002/capr.12458 |issn=1746-1405|url-access=subscription }} This may be due to the projection of their own "actual-self" traits onto their perception of others.{{Cite journal |last1=Pan |first1=Yangu |last2=Zhang |first2=Dajun |last3=Liu |first3=Yanling |last4=Ran |first4=Guangming |last5=Teng |first5=Zhaojun |date=2017-03-01 |title=The effects of attachment style and security priming on the perception of others' pain |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0265407515627509 |journal=Journal of Social and Personal Relationships |language=en |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=184–208 |doi=10.1177/0265407515627509 |issn=0265-4075|url-access=subscription }} They tend to be more concerned about reaching their therapeutic goals and perceive less positive outcomes from their most recent crying episode in therapy, especially when the relationship with their therapist is not strong.

Individuals with this attachment style tend to have a negative self-view and a vacillating or split view of others, which can contribute to interpersonal dysfunction.{{Cite journal |last1=Choi-Kain |first1=Lois W. |last2=Fitzmaurice |first2=Garrett M. |last3=Zanarini |first3=Mary C. |last4=Laverdière |first4=Olivier |last5=Gunderson |first5=John G. |date=November 2009 |title=The Relationship Between Self-Reported Attachment Styles, Interpersonal Dysfunction, and Borderline Personality Disorder |url=https://journals.lww.com/jonmd/abstract/2009/11000/the_relationship_between_self_reported_attachment.4.aspx |journal=The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease |language=en-US |volume=197 |issue=11 |pages=816–821 |doi=10.1097/NMD.0b013e3181bea56e |pmid=19996719 |issn=0022-3018|url-access=subscription }}

Anxious-preoccupied individuals have more opportunities to reflect on their emotions, leading to a heightened ability to understand and express their feelings.{{Cite journal |last1=Wearden |first1=Alison J. |last2=Lamberton |first2=Naomi |last3=Crook |first3=Nicola |last4=Walsh |first4=Victoria |date=2005-03-01 |title=Adult attachment, alexithymia, and symptom reporting: An extension to the four category model of attachment |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0022399904006816 |journal=Journal of Psychosomatic Research |volume=58 |issue=3 |pages=279–288 |doi=10.1016/j.jpsychores.2004.09.010 |pmid=15865953 |issn=0022-3999|url-access=subscription }} They may rely on self-silencing strategies and restrict the expression of negative emotions, particularly in the context of close relationships.{{Cite journal |last=Winterheld |first=Heike A. |date=2016 |title=Calibrating Use of Emotion Regulation Strategies to the Relationship Context: An Attachment Perspective |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jopy.12165 |journal=Journal of Personality |language=en |volume=84 |issue=3 |pages=369–380 |doi=10.1111/jopy.12165 |pmid=25643648 |issn=1467-6494|url-access=subscription }}

The anxious-preoccupied attachment style has been associated with a heightened vigilance towards emotionally significant social cues, as evidenced by increased activation in the amygdala during social appraisal tasks.{{Cite journal |last1=Vrtička |first1=Pascal |last2=Andersson |first2=Frédéric |last3=Grandjean |first3=Didier |last4=Sander |first4=David |last5=Vuilleumier |first5=Patrik |date=2008-08-06 |title=Individual Attachment Style Modulates Human Amygdala and Striatum Activation during Social Appraisal |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=3 |issue=8 |pages=e2868 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0002868 |doi-access=free |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=2478709 |pmid=18682729|bibcode=2008PLoSO...3.2868V }} This may contribute to the tendency to be overly concerned about the availability and responsiveness of attachment figures.

Parenting research has shown that preoccupied parents tend to display more hostile and less affectionate parenting attitudes compared to securely attached parents.{{Cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Do Hoon |last2=Kang |first2=Na Ri |last3=Kwack |first3=Young Sook |date=2019-01-01 |title=Differences in Parenting Stress, Parenting Attitudes, and Parents' Mental Health According to Parental Adult Attachment Style |journal=Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry |language=en |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=17–25 |doi=10.5765/jkacap.180014 |issn=1225-729X |pmc=7289495 |pmid=32595316}}

In terms of age differences, studies have found that older adults tend to have lower levels of preoccupied attachment compared to younger adults.{{Cite journal |last1=Segal |first1=Daniel L. |last2=Needham |first2=Tracy N. |last3=Coolidge |first3=Frederick L. |date=2009-09-01 |title=Age Differences in Attachment Orientations among Younger and Older Adults: Evidence from Two Self-Report Measures of Attachment |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.2190/AG.69.2.c |journal=The International Journal of Aging and Human Development |language=en |volume=69 |issue=2 |pages=119–132 |doi=10.2190/AG.69.2.c |pmid=19960862 |issn=0091-4150|url-access=subscription }}

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Category:Attachment theory

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Category:Psychological theories

Category:Developmental psychology