Activation of the attachment system in adults following exposure to an attachment-related threat

This study focused on the activation of the attachment system in adults, and the subsequent impact of this activation on implicit mood and report of childhood experiences. The attachment system was activated by subliminal priming with the attachment related threat of separation. Participants completed the study individually and were randomly placed into one of two priming conditions (threat or neutral). In the threat condition participants received the attachment related threat prime "SEPARATION". In the neutral condition they received a control prime, which was the word separation scrambed (EANOTSIARP). The findings support previous research indicating that subliminal exposure to separation activates the attachment system of adults. Individual differences in attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance were assessed using a self-report measure of adult attachment. As expected, individual differences in attachment dimensions were useful in predicting a number of outcome variables for the memory task in the threat group, but were not useful in predicting outcomes in the control group. This is similar to studies of attachment involving children and was interpreted to reflect attachment system activation by the threat prime. Secure individuals across conditions did not differ in the quality of the memories reported. Exposure to the threat prime led to defensive increases in mood scores for insecure individuals, with dismissive and preoccupied individuals being most affected. The results of this study are discussed and evaluated in the context of previous research. Theoretical and clinical implications are drawn, and suggestions for future research are made.