Attachment Anxiety
Attachment Anxiety - Related Videos
08:17
Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance
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Cited by 7 •
2017
This protocol demonstrates how to measure anxiety-potentiated startle during the Sternberg Working Memory paradigm.
07:47
Anxiety Testing
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2023
Anxiety is a commonly observed behavioral disorder that stems from fear. It is described as increased restlessness, or unpleasant feelings of fear over anticipated events. Experimenters often use rodent models to better understand anxiety disorders in humans. They use different paradigms, like exposing rodents to bright spaces or loud sounds, which are known to induce fear. These tests combined with other interventions such as surgery or drug-administration may assist researchers in pinpointing...
05:52
Hyponeophagia: A Measure of Anxiety in the Mouse
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Cited by 39 •
2011
Mice and rats, due to their innate cautiousness, are initially slow in consuming a novel food, particularly in a novel place. This hyponeophagia can readily be measured in the laboratory, even though laboratory animals are much less anxious than their wild...
03:34
Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood
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2020
Attachment is a long-standing connection or bond with others. While Attachment Theory was conceived in developmental psychology to describe infant-caregiver bonding, it's been extended into adulthood to include romantic relationships. The Basis of Attachment Theory in Development Building on the work of Harlow and others, John Bowlby developed the concept of attachment theory. He defined attachment as the affectional bond or tie that an infant forms with the mother (Bowlby, 1969). An infant...
05:05
The Successive Alleys Test of Anxiety in Mice and Rats
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Cited by 49 •
2013
The plus-maze measures anxiety-like behaviour in rodents. There are two opposite closed and two opposite open arms; anxious rodents avoid the open arms. The central area is neither completely open nor closed, so time spent here is ambiguous and difficult to interpret. Here a modification of the plus-maze protocol eliminating this area is described.
FAQs
The central mechanism is heightened sensitivity to possible rejection, abandonment, or reduced partner availability. This sensitivity can activate hypervigilance, meaning the person closely watches signs of closeness or distance and reacts strongly to perceived uncertainty. Studying this response helps psychologists examine emotional regulation and understand why relationship situations may produce intensified concern or efforts to preserve connection.
Reassurance seeking and frequent monitoring provide observable indicators of how insecurity is expressed during relationships. These behaviors reflect attempts to manage uncertainty about connection and availability rather than isolated communication habits. Examining them can clarify communication patterns, jealousy, and conflict, helping researchers connect internal concerns about security with interpersonal functioning.
Attachment anxiety can help explain why uncertainty about a partner’s availability becomes relevant to jealousy and conflict. Concern about rejection or abandonment may intensify attention to relationship closeness and increase efforts to maintain connection. In psychology, this perspective allows researchers to study conflict alongside emotional regulation and communication rather than treating each interaction as unrelated.
Psychologists can study attachment anxiety in romantic, family, and peer relationships. Although these settings differ, each may provide opportunities to examine how perceived security relates to emotional regulation, communication, and efforts to maintain connection. Including multiple relationship types broadens the research context and helps assess how interpersonal functioning varies across forms of closeness.
Assessment can help identify patterns related to insecurity, concern about abandonment, reassurance seeking, and sensitivity to a partner’s availability. These findings can inform understanding of emotional regulation, communication, jealousy, conflict, and broader interpersonal functioning. Assessment also supports research and intervention planning by making relationship-related difficulties more systematically observable.
Evidence-based interventions can support movement toward more secure attachment and strengthen interpersonal functioning. Their relevance lies in addressing the relationship patterns associated with insecurity, including difficulties involving emotional regulation, communication, jealousy, or conflict. In research and practice, intervention outcomes can also contribute to understanding relationship well-being and mental health.