دلبستگی و نشخوار فکری ناکارآمد: نقش میانجی توانایی های هوش هیجانی

Integrating theories of attachment and maladaptive rumination, the present study tested the hypothesis that Emotional Intelligence (EI) abilities mediate relationships between insecure adult attachment orientations (Anxiety and Avoidance) and dysfunctional rumination (Brooding and Depression-related). The results showed that attachment anxiety and avoidance were positively associated with brooding and depression-related rumination, and EI abilities mediated these associations. Emotion perception and management abilities partially mediated the relationship of anxious attachment with brooding rumination, and fully mediated the relationship between avoidant attachment and brooding rumination. Using and understanding emotion abilities fully mediated links between anxious and avoidant attachment and depression related rumination. The results highlight the role of emotion-information processing in the adoption of maladaptive rumination in insecure attachment.

In recent years, research on adult attachment has significantly increased our understanding of the cognitive and emotional processes involved in psychological health and well-being (e.g., Mikulincer & Florian, 2001). A vibrant research literature on adult attachment examines the emotional processes activated when dealing with stressful events, and related depressive reactions. The present study extends this line of research by examining whether links between insecure attachment and dysfunctional rumination are mediated by emotional and cognitive processing associated with Emotional Intelligence (EI) abilities. Dysfunctional rumination is defined as an excessive and maladaptive focus on negative feelings, their causes and consequences; it is a mode of responding to distress that involves repetitively and passively focusing on symptoms of distress and their possible causes and consequences (Lyubomirsky & Nolen-Hoeksema, 1995). Focusing on problems, on depressed mood, and on other components of negative self-experience has maladaptive and dysfunctional consequences (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991). According to Response Styles Theory (RST; Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991), ruminating on negative events increases the influence of negative cognitions on the person’s depressive state, by amplifying those negative aspects. A maladaptive cycle of negative thinking is thus maintained or even speeded up through this process (e.g., Lyubomirsky & Nolen-Hoeksema, 1995). Brooding and depression-related thoughts are two possible styles of maladaptive rumination (Treynor, Gonzalez, & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2003). Brooding rumination is defined as moody pondering, thinking “anxiously or gloomily” about events ( Woolf, 1981, p. 140). Depression-related rumination is seen as a tendency towards developing or maintaining a depressive symptomatology. According to attachment theory and research, dysfunctional rumination is related to adult attachment orientations. Whereas secure attachment is associated with flexible and suitable adjustment to emotional experience, by acknowledging distress and tolerating stressful events without being submerged by them (Cooper, Shaver, & Collins, 1998), attachment anxiety and avoidance are related to psychological distress and ruminative tendencies (e.g., emotional wondering; emotional distance from distress). Individuals high on attachment anxiety typically use hyper-activating strategies to regulate anticipated or felt distress, with the cognitive consequence of being hyper-vigilant towards negative emotion. Several studies have associated anxious attachment with emotion-focused coping (e.g., wishful thinking, self-blame, rumination; Ognibene & Collins, 1998). Individuals high on avoidant attachment, on the other hand, typically use deactivating strategies that limit accessibility to distress. For instance, Berant, Mikulincer, and Florian (2001) found that avoidant mothers at high levels of distress engage in dysfunctional emotion-focused coping. Recently, a handful of studies have established that insecure attachment is associated with dysfunctional rumination. In particular, Pearson, Watkins, Mullan, and Moberly (2010) found that current levels of depression fully accounted for the relationship between both anxious and avoidant attachment with brooding. Burnette, Taylor, Worthington, and Forsyth (2007) showed that insecure attachment orientations were positively correlated with angry rumination. Saffrey and Ehrenberg (2007) found that anxious persons had higher brooding levels that affected their relationship cognitions. To gain further insight on the associations between insecure attachment and dysfunctional rumination, the present study focused on emotional and cognitive processes that may mediate such associations. We expected that the emotion-information processes reflected in Emotional Intelligence (EI) abilities – i.e., monitoring one’s own and others’ feelings, discriminating among them, and using this information to guide one’s thinking and action (Mayer & Salovey, 1997) – would mediate associations between attachment and dysfunctional rumination. People with high EI scores adapt well to stressful situations, whereas those with low EI adapt poorly, for instance by responding with depression, hopelessness and other dysfunctional strategies (Taylor, 2001). Studies have shown that high self-reported EI can influence responses to emotional arousal, and consequently play a role in promoting mental health (Gohm & Clore, 2002), and engaging in active emotional strategies (Fernández-Berrocal & Ramos, 2002). Higher levels of self-reported EI are also related to adaptive physiological and psychological strategies, such as low levels of intrusive thoughts (Ramos et al., 2007, Salovey et al., 1999 and Salovey et al., 1995), higher levels of distraction (Salovey, Stroud, Woolery, & Epel, 2002) and lower depression (Fernández-Berrocal, Salovey, Vera, Extremera, and Ramos, 2005). Research on the relationships between emotional processes involved in EI abilities and well-being outcomes has however provided somewhat controversial results too (Extremera et al., 2006, Goldenberg et al., 2006 and Zeidner and Olnick-Shemesh, 2010). On the one hand, EI abilities seem associated with successful ways of dealing with emotional issues, such as by reducing rumination following an emotional experience (Lanciano, Curci, & Zatton, 2010). Likewise, individuals with mental disorders were found to be characterized by low levels of the EI abilities of understanding and regulating emotion (Hertel, Schütz, & Lammers, 2009). On the other hand, the relationship between high EI abilities and low depression has been found to be mediated by gender (Salguero, Extremera, & Fernández-Berrocal, in press). Moreover, EI seems to be associated with psychological well being more strongly when it is measured as a trait rather than as an ability (Goldenberg et al., 2006, Martins et al., 2010 and Schutte et al., 2007). Finally, whereas several studies have examined cognitive and emotional facets of adult attachment organization, little research has directly investigated the relationship between attachment orientations and EI abilities (Kafetsios, 2004 and Kim, 2005). Available evidence indicates that secure individuals are relatively accurate in perceiving facial expressions of negative emotions, whereas avoidant individuals have low emotion-decoding accuracy scores (Magai, Distel, & Liker, 1995). Additionally, secure individuals are less threatened by potentially distressing information; they can label, experience, and express felt emotions; when under stress, they seek support as an emotion regulation strategy, and use adaptive and functional strategies (e.g., Larose, Bernier, Soucy, & Duchesne, 1999). Conversely, anxious-preoccupied individuals exhibit ready access to painful memories and a paradoxical cognitive closure in response to positive affect induction. Finally, avoidant individuals exhibit defensive exclusion of painful thoughts and memories.

The study provided evidence for the different role of emotion-information processing reflected in EI abilities – perceiving and managing vs. using and understanding – on the link between insecure adult attachment orientations and, respectively, brooding and depressive rumination.