Attachment
Do COVID-19 Mental Health Impacts Depend on Your Upbringing?
Psychological distress impacted by your temperament and attachment style.
by Jamie D. Aten Ph.D.THE BASICS
by Logan Penovich
Shelter-in-place, quarantine, and self-isolation are all terms we’ve quickly become familiar with. In a matter of months, Coronavirus (COVID-19) has impacted the way we’ve traditionally gone about our daily lives. As we transition to the “new normal,” researchers are beginning to study how different individuals will perceive the threat that COVID-19 presents. The hope is that if experts can determine which characteristics are correlated with increased mental health concerns, more targeted and effective mental health interventions can be applied.
The first study to investigate the correlation between individual temperament and attachment styles (theorized to form in infancy) with COVID-19 is titled, ‘Affective temperament, attachment style, and the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak: an early report on the Italian general population.’ This study was led by Lorenzo Moccia and published in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. The reasoning behind this study is:
“The documented connection between viral epidemics and psychological distress dates back more than 100 years ago, when Menniger linked the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic with psychiatric complications (Menninger, 1919). People's emotional responses during massive infectious disease outbreaks are likely to include feelings of extreme fear and uncertainty that, along with the separation from loved ones and the limitations on freedom, may eventually lead to dramatic mental health burden (Brooks et al., 2020).”
In order to determine how different people responded to this pandemic, an online survey was sent to participants between April 10-13, 2020. A sample of 500 individuals was collected via the snowball method. All participants in the survey had to meet the following criteria: “aged 18–75, had lived in Italy for at least four weeks from February 2020, were fluent in both written and spoken Italian, and had at least five years of education. Exclusion criteria were: non-Italian language speakers; current hospitalization; a history of mental disorder.”
The survey used three psychometric assessments to measure the psychological impact of COVID-19, affective temperament style, and adult attachment style for each participant. Statistical analysis was completed to determine which, if any, characteristics correlated with increased psychological distress. The study found that:
“38% of the general population is currently perceiving a form of psychological distress. Similar results were observed both in online surveys conducted on the Chinese population during the COVID-19 pandemic (Li et al., 2020) and among the Italian general population following previous natural disasters (Dell'Osso et al., 2013).”
The research also discovered that:
“When comparing subjects with likelihood of moderate-to-severe psychological distress to individuals with no risk, depressive, anxious, and cyclothymic temperaments, as well as the insecure-anxious attachment dimension 'Need for approval', appeared to be risk factors. Conversely, the ASQ [Attachment Style Questionnaire] 'Confidence', as well as the ASQ 'Discomfort with closeness', dimensions of secure and avoidant patterns of attachment respectively, were protective. The same ASQ subscales were protective also for mild psychological distress, compared to moderate-to-severe distress, whereas cyclothymic and depressive temperaments proved to be predictors.”
In less complicated jargon, the study found that those with a higher level of confidence, those who were uncomfortable with closeness, and those who had secure or avoidant attachment styles were less likely to experience higher levels of psychological distress. Individuals who felt a need for approval, as well as those who had depressive, anxious, or cyclothymic (shifting) temperaments were more likely to experience psychological distress in relation to COVID-19.
It is important to remember that the research was done in a short time span and early on in the COVID-19 response in a country that was heavily impacted by the pandemic. Despite these limiting factors, the data proves that specific character traits and attachment styles are likely to make some individuals more susceptible to psychological distress than others. Understanding that people will react differently to the same situation is an important first step in responding to the Coronavirus. Our physical safety is important, but we cannot forget to also focus on the mental health implications this pandemic has on the collective population.
Logan Penovich is a full-time student at Wheaton College in Illinois. She received her B.S. from the University of Minnesota and is currently pursuing an M.A. in Humanitarian and Disaster Leadership.