Does Attachment Get Under the Skin? Adult Romantic Attachment and Cortisol Responses to Stress

Current Directions in Psychological Science

Volumn 22, Issue 1, 2013, Pages 63-68

  Pietromonaco, Paula R ^a   DeBuse, Casey J ^a   Powers, Sally I ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS   (United States)

Author keywords

adult attachment; affect; cortisol; health; relationships

Indexed keywords

EID: 84872792858     PISSN: 09637214     EISSN: 14678721     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0963721412463229     Document Type: Article

References (35)

1. Beck L. A.,Pietromonaco P. R.,DeBuse C. J.,Powers S. I.,Sayer A. G.Spouses' attachment pairings predict neuroendocrine, behavioral and psychological responses to marital conflict. 2012;:.
2. Berant E.,Mikulincer M.,Shaver P. R.Mothers' attachment style, their mental health, and their children's emotional vulnerabilities: A 7-year study of children with congenital heart disease.Journal of Personality. 2008;76:31-65.
3. Bowlby J.Attachment and loss: Vol. 2. Separation: Anxiety and anger. New York, NY: Basic Books; 1973:.
4. Brooks K. P.,Robles T. F.,Schetter C. D.Adult attachment and cortisol responses to discussions with a romantic partner.Personal Relationships. 2011;18:302-320.
5. Carnelley K. B.,Pietromonaco P. R.,Jaffe K.Depression, working models of others, and relationship functioning.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1994;66:127-140.
6. Davis D.,Shaver P. R.,Vernon M. L.Physical, emotional, and behavioral reactions to breaking up: The roles of gender, age, emotional involvement, and attachment style.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 2003;29:871-884.
7. Dewitte M.,De Houwer J.,Goubert L.,Buysse A.A multi-modal approach to the study of attachment-related distress.Biological Psychology. 2010;85:149-162.
8. Diamond L. M.,Hicks A. M.,Otter-Henderson K. D.Every time you go away: Changes in affect, behavior, and physiology associated with travel-related separations from romantic partners.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2008;95:385-403.
9. Dickerson S. S.,Kemeny M. E.Acute stressors and cortisol responses: A theoretical integration and synthesis of laboratory research.Psychological Bulletin. 2004;130:355-391.
10. Ditzen B.,Schmidt S.,Strauss B.,Nater U. M.,Ehlert U.,Heinrichs M.Adult attachment and social support interact to reduce psychological but not cortisol responses to stress.Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 2008;64:479-486.
11. Fraley R. C.,Shaver P. R.Adult attachment and the suppression of unwanted thoughts.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1997;73:1080-1091.
12. Gouin J.,Glaser R.,Loving T. J.,Malarkey W. B.,Stowell J.,Houts C.,Kiecolt-Glaser J. K.Attachment avoidance predicts inflammatory responses to marital conflict.Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2009;23:898-904.
13. Gunlicks-Stoessel M. L.,Powers S. I.Romantic partners' coping strategies and patterns of cortisol reactivity and recovery in response to relationship conflict.Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology. 2009;28:630-649.
14. Gunnar M. R.,Brodersen L.,Nachmias M.,Buss K.,Rigatuso J.Stress reactivity and attachment security.Developmental Psychobiology. 1996;29:191-204.
15. Hazan C.,Shaver P.Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1987;52:511-524.
16. Hicks A. M.,Diamond L. M.Don't go to bed angry: Attachment, conflict, and affective and physiological reactivity.Personal Relationships. 2011;18:266-284.
17. Holt-LunstadJ.SmithT. B.LaytonJ. B. (2010). Social relationships and mortality risk: A meta-analytic review. PLoS Medicine, 7(7), e1000316. Retrieved from http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316.
18. House J. S.,Landis K. R.,Umberson D.Social relationships and health.Science. 1988;241:540-545.
19. Hsiao F.-H.,Yang T.-T.,Ho R. T. H.,Jow G.-M.,Ng S.-M.,Chan C. L. W., Wang K. C.The self-perceived symptom distress and health-related conditions associated with morning to evening diurnal cortisol patterns in outpatients with major depressive disorder.Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2010;35:503-515.
20. Jaremka L.,Glaser R.,Loving T.,Malarkey W.,Stowell J.,Kiecolt-Glaser J.Attachment anxiety is linked to alterations in cortisol production and cellular immunity.Psychological Science. 2013;:.
21. Kiecolt-Glaser J. K.,Gouin J.,Hantsoo L.Close relationships, inflammation, and health.Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 2010;35 (1): 33-38.
22. Laurent H. K.,Powers S. I.Social-cognitive predictors of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal reactivity to interpersonal conflict in emerging adult couples.Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. 2006;23:703-720.
23. Laurent H.,Powers S.Emotion regulation in emerging adult couples: Temperament, attachment, and HPA response to conflict.Biological Psychology. 2007;76 (1-2): 61-71.
24. Mikulincer M.,Shaver P. R.Attachment in adulthood: Structure, dynamics, and change. New York, NY: Guilford Press; 2007:.
25. Miller G. E.,Chen E.,Zhou E. S.If it goes up, must it come down? Chronic stress and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis in humans.Psychological Bulletin. 2007;133:25-45.
26. Pietromonaco P. R.,Barrett L. F.Working models of attachment and daily social interactions.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1997;73:1409-1423.
27. Pietromonaco P. R.,Beck L. A.Handbook of interpersonal relations and group processes. Simpson J. A.Dovidio J., ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; in press:.
28. Pietromonaco P. R.,Carnelley K. B.Gender and working models of attachment: Consequences for perceptions of self and romantic relationships.Personal Relationships. 1994;1 (1): 63-82.
29. Pietromonaco P. R.,Uchino B.,Dunkel Schetter C.Close relationship processes and health: Implications of attachment theory for health and disease.Health Psychology. in press;:.
30. Powers S. I.,Pietromonaco P. R.,Gunlicks M.,Sayer A.Dating couples' attachment styles and patterns of cortisol reactivity and recovery in response to a relationship conflict.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2006;90:613-628.
31. Quirin M.,Pruessner J. C.,Kuhl J.HPA system regulation and adult attachment anxiety: Individual differences in reactive and awakening cortisol.Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2008;33:581-590.
32. Sapolsky R. M.,Romero L. M.,Munck A. U.How do glucocorticoids influence stress responses? Integrating permissive, suppressive, stimulatory, and preparative actions.Endocrine Reviews. 2000;21:55-89.
33. Shirtcliff E. A.,Allison A. L.,Armstrong J. M.,Slattery M. J.,Kalin N. H.,Essex M. J.Longitudinal stability and developmental properties of salivary cortisol levels and circadian rhythms from childhood to adolescence.Developmental Psychobiology. 2012;54:493-502.
34. Simpson J. A.,Rholes W. S.,Campbell L.,Tran S.,Wilson C. L.Adult attachment, the transition to parenthood, and depressive symptoms.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2003;84:1172-1187.
35. Smeets T.Autonomic and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stress resilience: Impact of cardiac vagal tone.Biological Psychology. 2010;84:290-295.