Attachment Styles and Their Relationship to Future Anxiety Among Mothers of Children with Chronic Diseases

The study aimed to assess the level of future anxiety and the most common attachment patterns among mothers of children with chronic diseases, as well as to assess the relationship between them . It also aimed to determine any statistically significant differences in the level of future anxiety and attachment patterns depending on the variables of the mother’s educational level, the mother’s age, the type of disease, and the duration of diagnosis. The study sample consisted of (145) mothers who were under the care of the Islamic Center Society in Irbid Governorate, Jordan, during 2023. They were selected using the available method, and both the future anxiety scale and the attachment styles scale were used. The results of the study showed that the level of anxiety about the future among the mothers studied was high, and that the most common attachment style was the anxious attachment style, followed by avoidant attachment, followed by secure attachment. The results of the study also showed that there was no statistically significant relationship between the secure attachment style and anxiety about the future, and the existence of a positive relationship. Statistically significant between both the anxious attachment style and the avoidant attachment style. The results also showed that there were no statistically significant differences attributed to the effect of the mother’s educational level, the duration of diagnosis and the mother’s age, and the presence of statistically significant differences attributed to the effect of the type of illness on the measure of future anxiety. The results also showed that there were no differences. Statistically significant due to the effect of the mother’s educational level, type of illness, and duration of diagnosis in all attachment styles, and the presence of statistically significant differences due to the effect of the mother’s age. KEYWORDS secure attachment, insecure attachment, anxious attachment, avoidant attachment, anxiety, chronic childhood diseases