{"title":"青少年早期不安全依恋与心理困扰:孤独的中介作用。","authors":"Chih-Ling Li, Pei-Chen Wu","doi":"10.1891/JCP-2025-0001","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The existing research on attachment has been predominantly limited to Western adult populations and parental attachment relationships, leaving significant gaps in our understanding of adolescent development. The present study addresses these limitations by investigating how insecure attachment to mothers, fathers, and peers is associated with psychological distress in early adolescence (grades 7-9), with particular attention to the mediating role of loneliness. This developmental period represents a critical window for intervention, as patterns of social-emotional adjustment established during early adolescence often persist into adulthood. Our sample comprised 813 junior high school students who completed three well-validated self-report measures: the Relationships Structures Questionnaire assessing attachment patterns; the University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale measuring subjective social isolation; and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 evaluating psychological distress. Using structural equation modeling, we tested three mediation models to examine both direct and indirect pathways from insecure attachment to psychological distress through loneliness. The results revealed several important patterns: First, we observed moderate positive correlations between anxious and avoidant attachment styles (<i>r</i> = .38-.44), suggesting that these insecure attachment patterns frequently co-occur. Second, structural models demonstrated significant total effects of insecure attachment on psychological distress across most relationship figures, with the notable exception of avoidant peer attachment. Third, while both anxious and avoidant attachment positively predicted psychological distress, avoidant peer attachment exhibited a negative association with distress symptoms. Fourth, and most crucially, loneliness emerged as a significant mediator in all models, explaining substantial portions of the attachment-distress relationship. Gender, attachment style, and loneliness together explained 36%-38% of the variance in distress. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, they extend attachment research beyond its traditional focus on parental relationships by demonstrating the unique and combined influences of multiple attachment figures during early adolescence. Practically, the robust mediating role of loneliness suggests that interventions targeting both attachment security and social connection may be particularly effective for reducing adolescent distress. We recommend that family education programs incorporate attachment-informed parenting strategies while school counseling interventions address peer relationships and loneliness directly.</p>","PeriodicalId":47207,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Insecure Attachment and Psychological Distress in Early Adolescence: Loneliness as a Mediator.\",\"authors\":\"Chih-Ling Li, Pei-Chen Wu\",\"doi\":\"10.1891/JCP-2025-0001\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><p>The existing research on attachment has been predominantly limited to Western adult populations and parental attachment relationships, leaving significant gaps in our understanding of adolescent development. The present study addresses these limitations by investigating how insecure attachment to mothers, fathers, and peers is associated with psychological distress in early adolescence (grades 7-9), with particular attention to the mediating role of loneliness. This developmental period represents a critical window for intervention, as patterns of social-emotional adjustment established during early adolescence often persist into adulthood. Our sample comprised 813 junior high school students who completed three well-validated self-report measures: the Relationships Structures Questionnaire assessing attachment patterns; the University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale measuring subjective social isolation; and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 evaluating psychological distress. Using structural equation modeling, we tested three mediation models to examine both direct and indirect pathways from insecure attachment to psychological distress through loneliness. The results revealed several important patterns: First, we observed moderate positive correlations between anxious and avoidant attachment styles (<i>r</i> = .38-.44), suggesting that these insecure attachment patterns frequently co-occur. Second, structural models demonstrated significant total effects of insecure attachment on psychological distress across most relationship figures, with the notable exception of avoidant peer attachment. Third, while both anxious and avoidant attachment positively predicted psychological distress, avoidant peer attachment exhibited a negative association with distress symptoms. Fourth, and most crucially, loneliness emerged as a significant mediator in all models, explaining substantial portions of the attachment-distress relationship. Gender, attachment style, and loneliness together explained 36%-38% of the variance in distress. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, they extend attachment research beyond its traditional focus on parental relationships by demonstrating the unique and combined influences of multiple attachment figures during early adolescence. Practically, the robust mediating role of loneliness suggests that interventions targeting both attachment security and social connection may be particularly effective for reducing adolescent distress. 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引用次数: 0
摘要
现有的依恋研究主要局限于西方成人群体和父母依恋关系,在我们对青少年发展的理解上留下了重大的空白。本研究通过调查对母亲、父亲和同伴的不安全依恋如何与青春期早期(7-9年级)的心理困扰相关来解决这些局限性,特别关注孤独感的中介作用。这一发育时期是干预的关键窗口期,因为在青春期早期建立的社会情绪调整模式通常会持续到成年期。我们的样本包括813名初中生,他们完成了三个有效的自我报告测量:评估依恋模式的关系结构问卷;加州大学洛杉矶分校(University of California, Los Angeles)测量主观社会孤立程度的孤独量表;以及评估心理困扰的抑郁焦虑压力量表-21。利用结构方程模型,我们检验了三个中介模型,以检验不安全依恋通过孤独导致心理困扰的直接和间接途径。结果揭示了几个重要的模式:首先,我们观察到焦虑型和回避型依恋类型之间存在适度的正相关(r = 0.38 - 0.44),这表明这些不安全的依恋模式经常同时发生。其次,结构模型显示,不安全依恋对大多数关系对象的心理困扰有显著的总体影响,但回避同伴依恋明显例外。第三,焦虑型和回避型依恋对心理困扰均有正向预测,而回避型同伴依恋对心理困扰症状呈负相关。第四,也是最关键的一点,孤独在所有模型中都是一个重要的中介,解释了依恋-痛苦关系的很大一部分。性别、依恋类型和孤独感共同解释了36%-38%的痛苦差异。这些发现具有重要的理论和实践意义。从理论上讲,他们通过展示青春期早期多个依恋人物的独特和综合影响,扩展了依恋研究,超越了传统上对父母关系的关注。实际上,孤独的强大中介作用表明,针对依恋安全和社会联系的干预措施可能对减少青少年的痛苦特别有效。我们建议家庭教育项目纳入依恋知情的养育策略,而学校咨询干预直接解决同伴关系和孤独感。
Insecure Attachment and Psychological Distress in Early Adolescence: Loneliness as a Mediator.
The existing research on attachment has been predominantly limited to Western adult populations and parental attachment relationships, leaving significant gaps in our understanding of adolescent development. The present study addresses these limitations by investigating how insecure attachment to mothers, fathers, and peers is associated with psychological distress in early adolescence (grades 7-9), with particular attention to the mediating role of loneliness. This developmental period represents a critical window for intervention, as patterns of social-emotional adjustment established during early adolescence often persist into adulthood. Our sample comprised 813 junior high school students who completed three well-validated self-report measures: the Relationships Structures Questionnaire assessing attachment patterns; the University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale measuring subjective social isolation; and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 evaluating psychological distress. Using structural equation modeling, we tested three mediation models to examine both direct and indirect pathways from insecure attachment to psychological distress through loneliness. The results revealed several important patterns: First, we observed moderate positive correlations between anxious and avoidant attachment styles (r = .38-.44), suggesting that these insecure attachment patterns frequently co-occur. Second, structural models demonstrated significant total effects of insecure attachment on psychological distress across most relationship figures, with the notable exception of avoidant peer attachment. Third, while both anxious and avoidant attachment positively predicted psychological distress, avoidant peer attachment exhibited a negative association with distress symptoms. Fourth, and most crucially, loneliness emerged as a significant mediator in all models, explaining substantial portions of the attachment-distress relationship. Gender, attachment style, and loneliness together explained 36%-38% of the variance in distress. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, they extend attachment research beyond its traditional focus on parental relationships by demonstrating the unique and combined influences of multiple attachment figures during early adolescence. Practically, the robust mediating role of loneliness suggests that interventions targeting both attachment security and social connection may be particularly effective for reducing adolescent distress. We recommend that family education programs incorporate attachment-informed parenting strategies while school counseling interventions address peer relationships and loneliness directly.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy is devoted to advancing the science and clinical practice of cognitive-behavior therapy. This includes a range of interventions including cognitive therapy, rational-emotive behavior therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and mindfulness approaches. The journal publishes empirical papers, including case studies, along with review articles, papers that integrate cognitive-behavior therapy with other systems, and practical "how to" articles.