Adult attachment and social support interact to reduce psychological but not cortisol responses to stress

Autor(en)

Beate Ditzen, Silke R. Schmidt, Bernhard Strauss, Urs Markus Nater, Ulrike Ehlert, Markus Heinrichs

Abstrakt

OBJECTIVE: Adult attachment has been suggested to mediate the effect of social support on stress protection. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of adult attachment and social support on psychological and endocrine responses to psychosocial stress.

METHODS: Sixty-three healthy men who were married or cohabiting were randomly assigned to receive either instructed social support from their partner or no social support before being exposed to a standardized psychosocial stressor (Trier Social Stress Test). Attachment was determined using the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised questionnaire. State anxiety, mood, and salivary cortisol levels were repeatedly assessed before and after stress.

RESULTS: Secure attachment was associated with stronger decreases in state anxiety levels following stress exposure. More importantly, the combination of social support and secure attachment exhibited the lowest anxiety levels after stress (interaction effect). Social support alone reduced cortisol responses to stress, whereas secure attachment did not influence cortisol concentrations.

CONCLUSION: This first study on the interaction of adult attachment and social support in terms of psychological and endocrine stress responses concurs with previous studies suggesting an important protective role of attachment for psychological stress responsiveness. However, attachment did not directly moderate cortisol responses to acute stress.

Organisation(en)

Externe Organisation(en)

Universität Zürich (UZH), Emory University, Universität Hamburg, Universitätsklinikum Jena

Journal

Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Band

Seiten

479-486

Anzahl der Seiten

ISSN

0022-3999

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2007.11.011

Publikationsdatum

2008

Peer-reviewed

ÖFOS 2012

501010 Klinische Psychologie

Schlagwörter

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/3017cd2c-a9a0-4816-8bbb-42050ebd344a