Anxious attachment may be a vulnerability factor for developing embitterment

Abstract

By predisposing to ego-defensive strategies in social situations, a negative attachment history may promote embitterment. The present study identified attachment anxiety - more than attachment avoidance - as a possible vulnerability factor for the development and maintenance of embitterment. This factor should be considered in theories and in interventions of embitterment. PRACTITIONER POINTS: * Interventions directed at embitterment should take anxious attachment into account. * Embittered individuals with high levels of attachment anxiety should be provided a secure therapeutic environment in which defensive tendencies are no longer needed.