Anxious attachment and severity of depressive symptomatology in women

The present research evaluated a conceptual model that links anxious attach ment to depressive symptomatology in women. Four hundred and twenty women c ompleted the following measures: Socio-demographic questionnaire, the Centr e for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the Reciprocal Atta chment Questionnaire, the Social Support Questionnaire, the Rosenberg Self- Esteem Scale and the Global Assessment of Recent Stress Scale. Results indi cate that feared loss of the attachment figure, intense proximity seeking a nd lack of use of the attachment figure were predictive of depressive sympt omatology. We also found that lower levels of self-esteem and higher levels of recent stress were predictive of depressive symptomatology. The implica tions of these findings for the understanding of symptoms of depression in women is discussed.