Insecure Attachment as a Risk Factor for the Development of Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in a Sample of Mexican Adults.

PSYCHIATRIC nursing; STATISTICS; KRUSKAL-Wallis Test; CONFIDENCE intervals; RESEARCH methodology; CASE-control method; MENTAL health; QUANTITATIVE research; FISHER exact test; ATTACHMENT behavior; RISK assessment; NURSING practice; NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL tests; SOCIOECONOMIC factors; MENTAL depression; THEORY; QUESTIONNAIRES; CHI-squared test; ANXIETY; STATISTICAL correlation; STATISTICAL sampling; DATA analysis software; DATA analysis; ODDS ratio; PSYCHOLOGICAL factors

This study evaluated the risk posed by attachment type in the development of anxiety or depression symptomatology in Mexican adults. This was case-control study in which anxiety and depression symptomatology levels were compared according to the attachment type reported by 3,666 participants. It was found that insecure attachment is a risk factor (p≤.001) for the development of severe levels of depression (OR = 2.12, CI 95%: 1.66–2.70) and anxiety symptomatology (OR = 1.52, 95% CI: 1.30–1.77). Findings are discussed based on their implications for psychiatric nursing practice. The findings of this study enable nurses to consider the empirical validity of attachment theory for studying psychosocial aspects of mental health and to design intervention strategies that promote secure attachment in populations without psychiatric diagnoses to prevent anxiety and depression symptomatology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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