2024/10/10 by Melody C. Y. Ng, Iris Yili Wang, Rebecca Y. M. Cheung · 1 voice
Psychology · #Attachment and Relationship Dynamics #Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions #Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
paper · pdf · doi:10.1177/02654075241292561
openalex publication_date 2024/10/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
Research suggests that mindfulness is positively related to attachment security in romantic relationships. However, studies on the processes underlying this association are relatively scarce. In this longitudinal study, we investigated the mediating role of emotion dysregulation between mindfulness and attachment insecurity. A total of 333 Chinese university students were recruited for three time points, with a 6-month lag between time points, to complete self-report questionnaires of mindfulness, emotion dysregulation, attachment avoidance, and attachment anxiety. Cross-lagged mediation analysis showed that greater mindfulness was indirectly associated with lower attachment anxiety via lower emotion dysregulation, after controlling for age, gender, and autoregressive control variables, indicating emotion dysregulation as a mediator. However, emotion dysregulation did not mediate the longitudinal association between mindfulness and attachment avoidance. The present findings inform researchers of the importance of cultivating mindfulness and emotion regulation to enhance attachment security in romantic relationships.