DIGEST - Volume 11, Issue 2

vi 1 TPC Digest TPC Digest Read full article and references: Shen, F., Liu, Y., & Brat, M. (2021). Attachment, self-esteem, and psychological distress: A multiple-mediator model. The Professional Counselor , 11 (2), 129–142. doi: 10.15241/fs.11.2.129 Fei Shen, Yanhong Liu, Mansi Brat Attachment, Self-Esteem, and Psychological Distress | TPC Digest T h e present study is grounded in attachment theory , which is centered around a child’s ability to utilize their primary caregiver as the secure base when exploring surroundings, involving an appropriate balance between physical proximity, curiosity, and wariness. Noting the general stability of attachment from childhood to adulthood, previous conceptual work stressed the importance of contexts in individuals’ attachment evolvement, highlighting that “patterns of adaptation” and “new experiences” reinforce each other in a reciprocal way. Previous literature provides consistent theoretical and empirical evidence for the significant relationships between childhood attachment and various outcome variables in later adulthood, including adult attachment, self-esteem, and psychological distress. It further reveals a two-fold gap: (a) the variables tended to be investigated separately in previous studies, yet the mechanisms among these variables remained underexplored; and (b) little is known about the role of self-esteem and adult attachment in the association between childhood attachment and psychological distress. Disentangling the mechanisms, including potential mediating roles, involved in the variables will enrich the current knowledge base on attachment and can facilitate counseling interventions surrounding the effects of childhood attachment. This study aimed to examine the relationship between childhood attachment, adult attachment, self-esteem, and psychological distress; specifically, it investigated the multiple mediating roles of self-esteem and adult attachment in the association between childhood attachment and psychological distress. Using 1,708 adult participants, a multiple-mediator model analysis following bootstrapping procedures was conducted in order to investigate the mechanisms among childhood and adult attachment, self-esteem, and psychological distress. As hypothesized, childhood attachment was significantly associated with self-esteem, adult attachment, and psychological distress. Self-esteem was found to be a significant mediator for the relationship between childhood attachment and adult attachment. In addition, adult attachment significantly mediated the relationship between self-esteem and psychological distress. The results provided insight on counseling interventions to increase adults’ self-esteem and attachment security with efforts to decrease the negative impact of insecure childhood attachment on later psychological distress. The findings from the present study shed light on interventions for clients’ psychological distress. Specifically, counselors could conceptualize self-esteem in a relational context in which they may incorporate clients’ support systems (e.g., close friends, partner, parents) into the treatment. A key treatment goal may be utilizing close relationships to boost self-esteem. Clients may further benefit from reflecting over specific attachment behaviors and interactional patterns within close relationships (e.g., how they manage proximity to an attachment figure when they experience distress) in order to restructure and enhance their attachment security internally and externally. The finding of self-esteem as a significant mediator supports the proposition that self-esteem is responsive to life events and that these can influence one’s perception and evaluation of self. Fei Shen, PhD, is a staff therapist at Syracuse University. Yanhong Liu, PhD, NCC, is an assistant professor at Syracuse University. Mansi Brat, PhD, LPC, is a staff therapist at Syracuse University. Correspondence may be addressed to Fei Shen, 150 Sims Drive, Syracuse NY 13210, fshen02@syr.edu. A Multiple-Mediator Model