Attachment orientation and platelet activity.

Abstract

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to determine if there is an existing link between attachment orientation and platelet activity. Second to this primary aim, was to explore moderating factors by which attachment may influence platelet activity, including trauma, age, and gender, given prior work.

Method: Regression analyses were used for the primary aims. Consistent with prior work on psychosocial processes and biological pathways, age, gender, ethnicity, and measures of body mass index were controlled for. The main effects of attachment orientation on platelet levels were examined.

Results: Both anxious (b = -0.25, SE = 0.07, p = .0004) and avoidant attachment (b = -0.27, SE = 0.08, p = .001) orientations were negatively related to levels of platelet activation when considering the standard control factors.

Conclusion: Whereas no significant moderation was found, our regression analyses indicated reliable main effects of attachment orientation on platelet activity. Importantly, our novel findings are in the same direction of similar research, demonstrating that acute versus chronic states of anxiety or stress may have distinctly different influences on levels of platelet activity. This is consequential, as this has different implications for the onset, development, and treatment of diseases linked to chronic states of anxiety or stress, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and stroke. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).