ADULT ATTACHMENT STYLE AND VULNERABILITY TO DEPRESSION

The present study examined the role of adult attachment styles in diff erentiating 'depressed' and 'non-depressed' college students, and the association between attachment styles and the depressive personality v ulnerabilities, sociotropy and autonomy. High scores on the fearful an d, to a lesser extent, preoccupied attachment scales were associated w ith higher levels of depression, highlighting negative self-representa tion as a key factor in depression. While the sociotropy vulnerability construct correlated exclusively with the preoccupied attachment scal e, correlations for the autonomy construct were more complex: as predi cted, fearful attachment correlated with all three autonomy subscales while dismissive attachment correlated with the defensive-separation a nd control subscales, but not with the self-criticism subscale. With a n emphasis on negative self-representation, preoccupied attachment als o correlated with the self-criticism subscale. The results suggest tha t fearful attachment is consistent with autonomous vulnerability and p reoccupied attachment with sociotropic vulnerability. Self-criticism, a component of both fearful and preoccupied attachment, is highlighted as a strong depressive vulnerability. Dismissive attachment, not invo lving the self-critical component, does not appear to be associated wi th depressive predisposition, despite involving self-reliance and avoi dance of intimacy. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.