1. Gender Differences in Relationship of Attachment Style to RSA Reactivity During a Negative Emotion Task Makenzie J. O’Neil, Claire I. Yee, Brandon G. Scott, Irwin N. Sandler, Tim S. Ayers, Sharlene A. Wolchik, Luecken, Linda J., Tein, Jenn-Yun, & Michelle N. Shiota Arizona State University Attachment to close relationship partners is defined by preference for being in close proximity to the partner, enhanced ability to explore the environment when the partner is present, and reliance on the partner as a “safe haven” in times of stress/distress (1). According to John Bowlby (1, 2) early attachments developed by infants toward their parents serve as the foundation for individual differences in attachment styles later in life. Securely attached individuals desire emotionally close, intimate relationships, and are confident that relationship partners will be there in times of need. This safe haven aspect of attachment, in particular, has strong implications for how people respond to emotionally distressing events. (3) Beyond the secure style, Bowlby and others have described two variants of insecure attachment: avoidance—preference for avoiding close, interdependent relationships and discomfort with relying on others; and anxiety, intense desire for closeness combined with strong fear of abandonment and rejection (4, 5). While avoidance and anxiety both reflect lack of trust that close others will provide support when needed, and are not mutually exclusive, they reflect distinct emotional and behavioral solutions to this problem. Prior theory and research suggest that attachment style should influence how people regulate emotions when faced with distressing events (2). Because attachment-avoidant individuals rely entirely on the self to regulate emotions, they may become adept at detaching emotionally from distressing stimuli (6, 3) In contrast, attachment- anxious individuals may become so reliant on attachment figures that they are unable to regulate distress in their absence (7). While some evidence supports these proposals, findings have been inconsistent. One possible explanation is that studies have used samples representing quite different populations; in particular, several studies have included only one gender (i.e. soldiers, pregnant women; 8). Gender also has strong implications for emotional norms (9); thus it is may be that gender moderates the implications of attachment style for how people respond to distressing stimuli. Present Research The present research examined relationships of dispositional attachment avoidance and anxiety with a commonly studied physiological marker of effortful emotion regulation – increased respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; a measure of parasympathetic influence on the heart) (10). We hypothesized that attachment avoidance would be associated with an increase in RSA while viewing emotionally upsetting stimuli, indicating heightened self- regulation; whereas attachment anxiety would be associated with a decrease in RSA, suggesting heightened distress. However, we also considered the possibility that gender might moderate these effects. Introduction Methods Participants 170 young adults (mean age 26.7 years; 49.4% male) from 116 families who had previously participated in a study evaluating a family-based psychosocial intervention for parentally bereaved children (56% intervention group; 44% control group). Procedure All measures in the present analyses were collected during the 15-year follow-up assessment for the intervention. Participants completed a self- report measure of attachment style, as well as other measures not used in the present analyses. A subset of participants (N = 105; Men=57, Women=48) also completed a task in which they viewed a series of 18 photos from the IAPS picture set, 12 of which were highly unpleasant (valence in the 2-3 range; the rest were neutral) for 3 minutes total. Physiological measures were recorded throughout the slide-viewing task and a 60-sec baseline. Measures The 12-item Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR) scale – Short Form (11) was used to assess attachment anxiety (e.g., “I need a lot of reassurance that I am loved by my partner; α=.78) and avoidance (e.g., “I am nervous when partners get too close to me”; α=.75). RSA was quantified as the power in the.12-.40 Hz frequency band, derived through FFT of the cardiac IBI series. Data were reduced into a 30- sec window just preceding the photo set, and three 1-min windows during the photos. Mean RSA across the three photo epochs was regressed on the baseline epoch means, and residuals saved to provide a measure of RSA reactivity to the photos. Discussion Although the correlation of attachment anxiety with RSA reactivity was in the hypothesized direction, it did not reach significance, and was not moderated by gender. In contrast, the correlation of avoidance with RSA reactivity was moderated by gender. Men showed the expected pattern, with greater avoidance predicting an increase in RSA while viewing extremely unpleasant photos – a physiological marker of effortful emotion regulation. In contrast, avoidance was associated with decreased RSA among women during the same task, suggesting greater distress (10). This gender difference may shed light on a theoretical debate regarding alternative conceptions of attachment avoidance in adulthood (12). In one model, avoidance reflects true disengagement from attachment-related needs, and therefore an ability and preference to handle threats alone. This explanation is consistent with the pattern for men in the present study, for whom high avoidance appeared linked to heightened regulation effort. In an alternative model, attachment needs are still present, but unfulfilled. In this model attachment avoidance is a behavioral strategy for managing attachment anxiety given others’ perceived unreliability, rather than a true detachment from relationship needs. In this model, we might predict that both avoidance and anxiety would be linked to difficulty regulating in the face of upsetting stimuli. This explanation is consistent with the pattern seen among women in the present study. In fact, a post-hoc analysis revealed that anxiety and avoidance were strongly positively correlated among women (r=.50, p<.001), but less so among men (r=.19, p=.09). This also suggests that attachment anxiety may tend to underlie avoidance among women, but less so among men. Limitations/Future Directions This study used a sample of participants who were parentally bereaved as children. Given that people’s first attachments are with their parents, this bereavement may lead to early disruption of attachment processes, and higher risk of insecure attachment style in adulthood. An important future direction will be to replicate these findings with non-bereaved samples. Acknowledgements Results: Awe Led to Less Stereotype-Consistent Trait Ratings Than Other Positive Emotions ( 1) Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Attachment. New York: Basic Books. (2) Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss: Separation, anxiety and anger. New York: Basic Books. (3) Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Clinical applications of attachment theory. London: Routledge. (4) Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. (5) Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 511–524. (6) Fraley, R. C., & Shaver, P. R. (1997). Adult attachment and the suppression of unwanted thoughts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 1080–109 (7) Mikulincer, M. (1998a). Adult attachment style and affect regulation: Strategic variations in self- appraisals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 420–435 (8) Mikulincer, M. & Florian, V. (2001). Attachment style and affect regulation: Implications for coping with stress and mental health. In Fletcher, G.J.O. (Ed.) & Clark, M.S. (Ed.) Blackwell Handbook of Social Psychology: Interpersonal Processes. Blackwell Publishing Company. (9) Brody, L. R., & Hall, J. A. (2008). Gender and emotion in context. Handbook of emotions (3rd ed.). (pp. 395-408) Guilford Press, New York, NY. (10) Beauchaine, T.P. (2015). Respiratory sinus arrhythmia: a transdiagnostic biomarker of emotion dysregulation and psychopathology. Current Opinion in Psychology, 3, 43-47. (11) Wei, M., Russell, D., Mallinckrodt, B., & Vogel, D. (2007). The experiences in close relationship scale (ECR)-short form: Reliability, validity and factor structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 88, 187-204. (12) Fraley, R.C. & Shaver, P.R. (2000). Adult Romantic Attachment: Theoretical Developments, emerging controversies, and unanswered questions. Review of General Psychology, 4, 132-154. References Analyses & Results This research was supported by NIH-NIMH grant R01-MH49155, Irwin N. Sandler, PI. We express great appreciation to the Society for Psychophysiological Research for providing travel support to present this poster. No significant relationship was observed between RSA reactivity and attachment-anxiety for men, women, or the entire sample, although the correlation was in the predicted direction (negative) for each gender. Among men, higher attachment-avoidance was associated with more positive changes in RSA while viewing the photos; among women, high avoidance was associated with more negative changes in RSA. The gender difference in the correlation between RSA and avoidance was significant (z=3.09, p=.001). A chi-square test of difference in model fit for men and women, which accounted for grouping within families as well as intervention condition, also approached significance ( =8.89, p=.064). Correlations across Entire Sample. RSAAnxiety Avoidance r=.02 ns r=.31*** p<.001 Anxietyr= -.12 n.s. Correlations for Women Only. RSAAnxiety Avoidance r= -.43** p=.002 r=.50*** p<.001 Anxietyr= -.14 n.s. Correlations for Men Only. RSAAnxiety Avoidance r=.28* p=.036 r=.19 p=.086 Anxietyr= -.10 n.s.