The Role of Mindfulness Between Adult Attachment and Anxiety: A Dyadic Approach

Prior research indicates an ability to be mindful helps explain the well-established links between adult attachment orientations and anxiety symptoms. Although romantic partners affect each other's cognitions and emotions, less is known about these associations within the context of a romantic relationship or between romantic partners. In this study, we examined whether trait mindfulness mediates the associations between attachment anxiety and avoidance and anxiety symptoms within and between romantic partners. Data from 219 heterosexual couples were analyzed using an actor-partner interdependence mediation model. Findings revealed trait mindfulness mediated the associations between one's own attachment anxiety and avoidance with one's own anxiety symptoms. Also, a male romantic partner's attachment anxiety related to his female romantic partner's trait mindfulness which in turn related to her own anxiety symptoms. Overall, the results indicate trait mindfulness plays an important role for understanding and potentially addressing how insecure attachment orientations relate to anxiety symptoms within and between romantic partners.