The relationship of attachment insecurity to subjective stress and autonomic function during standardized acute stress in healthy adults

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to test predicted relationships between adult attachment and stress using subjective and physiological measures. METHODS: Sixty-seven healthy adults completed measures of adult attachment and perceived chronic stress. Subjective stress and the high-frequency (HF) and low-frequency (LF) spectral bandwidths of heart rate variability (HRV) were measured during a standardized stress protocol. RESULTS: Attachment anxiety is associated with between-subject differences in chronic perceived stress (P=.001) and subjective acute stress (P=.01). There is a main effect of attachment avoidance on between-subject differences in HF HRV (P=.004). Attachment avoidance is inversely associated with HF HRV, independent of age and variability in respiration. CONCLUSION: Attachment anxiety is associated with self-reported distress. Attachment avoidance is inversely associated with HF HRV, a marker of vagal influence on cardiac activity, but is not associated with subjective stress.