The aims of the study were two-fold; first to determine the associations between current attachment styles, and eating psychopathology amongst athletes, and second to simultaneously assess the mediating effects of self-esteem, perfectionism, and depression in this association. Four hundred and eleven British athletes completed self-report instruments pertaining to eating psychopathology, attachment styles, self-esteem, depression, and perfectionism. Athletes who scored highly on both avoidant and anxious attachment styles, reported elevated eating psychopathology scores. However, such associations were indirect and mediated via athletes' levels of self-esteem, self-critical perfectionism, and depression, with self-esteem and depression identified as more salient mediators than self-critical perfectionism. The current findings provide evidence to suggest that insecure attachment styles influence athletes' eating psychopathology via their impact on self-esteem, depression, and self-critical perfectionism. Moreover, self-esteem and depression may play more significant role in transferring the impact of insecure attachment styles on elevated eating psychopathology.
Attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969, Bowlby, 1973 and Bowlby, 1988) underlines the importance of understanding the self through one's interactions and relationships with significant others (see Friedberg and Lyddon, 1996, Tasca et al., 2007 and Tasca et al., 2004). The quality of people's interactions and relationships with other people is expressed in attachment styles. Attachment styles are rooted in early life experiences with a primary caregiver, which is often the mother and underlines the emotional connection between these two people. The emotional connection reflects the caregiver's ability to respond and supply a secure base of protection, comfort, and support, especially during periods of distress and threats (Bowlby, 1969). Correspondingly, these experiences lead to the development of attachment security or attachment insecurity which is further categorised as anxious–ambivalent and avoidant (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978). The secure attachment style is a manifestation of early experiences whereby the infant consistently received and was able to rely on their caregiver for support, comfort, and protection. The anxious–ambivalent attachment style is a reflection of early experiences marred by uncertainty, anxiety, and ‘clinginess’, stemming from the inconsistent behaviours of the caregiver in terms of responsiveness, support, and security. Finally, the avoidant attachment manifests from early experiences marked by neglect and rejection by the primary caregiver. Overall, an individual's attachment style is said to characterise “human behaviour from cradle to the grave” (Bowlby, 1979, p. 129).
In sum, the current findings have demonstrated links previously unexplored between attachment styles and eating psychopathology amongst a sample of athletes. The findings of this study provide invaluable information to those working closely with athletes, and demonstrate the need for further research into the psychosocial risk factors of eating psychopathology amongst athletes. The environment in which athletes operate in is highly competitive, demanding, and stressful. This coupled with the psychosocial and personal factors such as the ones examined in this study can potentially create conditions that place athletes at a greater risk for developing eating disorders. Thus the identification and understanding of such factors have enormous practical significance for the sport community as it will allow athletes to perform in their sport uninhibited from the devastating effects of eating disorders.
