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Attachment Relationships as Determinants of Physical Health

Robert G Maunder1, Jonathan J Hunter1

  • 1Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, and Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada.

Psychodynamic Psychiatry
|June 2, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Childhood adversity can lead to insecure attachment, potentially harming physical health across a lifetime. This insecurity impacts stress responses, immunity, health behaviors, and substance use, increasing disease risk.

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Health Psychology

Background:

  • Childhood adversity disrupts secure attachment development.
  • Attachment insecurity may negatively impact physical health throughout life.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review recent evidence linking attachment insecurity to physical health impairment.
  • To explore proposed mechanisms through which attachment insecurity influences disease risk.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of recent evidence.
  • Discussion of established and emerging mechanisms linking attachment and health.

Main Results:

  • Attachment insecurity is associated with dysregulated physiological stress responses.
  • Social relationship mediators link stress, immunity, and health.
  • Relationship styles influence health behaviors and substance use.
  • Substances like nicotine and alcohol can regulate negative affect, increasing disease risk.

Conclusions:

  • Attachment insecurity presents a significant pathway to impaired physical health.
  • Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for developing interventions.
  • Further research is needed to fully elucidate the long-term health consequences of attachment insecurity.

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