Effortful control as a moderator of the association between attachment insecurity and worry

Abstract

Recent work shows that worriers high in effortful control (EC; a measure of self-regulatory capacity) are able to avoid anxious arousal despite worrying by constraining their worry to a verbal mode of thinking. In contrast, worriers low in this capacity tend to worry in images, which engenders a constant high level of anxious arousal. These two styles are similar to two styles of adult attachment insecurity: avoidant versus anxious insecurity. Despite similarities, EC’s moderating ability of the association between worry and adult attachment insecurity has not been adequately researched. This study tested the hypothesis that which style of insecurity an individual shows will be associated differently with worry at varying levels of effortful control. Specifically, those with high effortful control would tend to have a more positive association of worry with avoidant insecurity than those with low effortful control. Those worriers with low effortful control would tend to have a more positive association with anxious insecurity than those with high effortful control. Empirically supported questionnaire measures of EC, worry, and attachment style were collected from a sample of 721 undergraduates (ages 18-29, M = 19.03, SD = 1.5, 43.3% female). Regression analyses revealed a small but significant effect for EC moderating the association between worry and avoidant insecurity, albeit only in males. The general pattern was such that when EC was high, avoidant insecurity was positively associated with worry. However, there were no significant effects of EC moderating any association between anxious insecurity and worry. Additionally, ancillary analyses showed that high levels of effortful control seems to act as a protective factor against worry regardless of levels of anxious or avoidant insecurity. These findings show the importance of considering individual differences in effortful control for understanding how severe worriers resolve attachment insecurity and risk for severe worry, given such insecurity.