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Romantic Attachment Security Buffers the Effect of Stress on Anxiety in College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Title: Romantic Attachment Security Buffers the Effect of Stress on Anxiety in College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Language: English
Authors: Hung-Chu Lin (ORCID 0000-0003-3612-3718), Maddison Knott (ORCID 0009-0002-0949-5970), Madeline M. Hebert (ORCID 0000-0002-9367-3890)
Source: Journal of American College Health. 2025 73(2):467-472.
Availability: Taylor & Francis. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 6
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Attachment Behavior, Intimacy, College Students, Stress Variables, Anxiety, COVID-19, Pandemics, Correlation, Self Management, Interpersonal Relationship, Student Characteristics
Assessment and Survey Identifiers: Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales
DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2023.2220407
ISSN: 0744-8481
1940-3208
Abstract: Background and objectives: The stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic spurred alarming levels of stress and anxiety in college students. It is important to identify factors that attenuate the negative effect of stress on anxiety. Framed by the attachment diathesis-stress process perspective, this study examined how the two dimensions of insecurity in romantic attachment--attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance--buffered the effect of stress on anxiety in a population of college students during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design and methods: The study employed cross-sectional and correlation designs and used an online survey to gather self-report data from a sample of 453 college students. Data were collected from March 15, 2020, to February 16, 2021. Results: Anxiety, stress, and the two insecurity dimensions were all mutually correlated with one another. Multiple regression analysis revealed that as the level of attachment anxiety increased, the association of stress and anxiety turned stronger. Conclusions: The findings suggest that targeting attachment insecurity may prove to be fruitful when helping college students effectively regulate stress to lessen levels of anxiety.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1472940
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0182848189;acl01feb.25;2025Feb10.04:08;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0182848189-1">Romantic attachment security buffers the effect of stress on anxiety in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic </title> <p>Background and objectives: The stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic spurred alarming levels of stress and anxiety in college students. It is important to identify factors that attenuate the negative effect of stress on anxiety. Framed by the attachment diathesis-stress process perspective, this study examined how the two dimensions of insecurity in romantic attachment–attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance–buffered the effect of stress on anxiety in a population of college students during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design and methods: The study employed cross-sectional and correlation designs and used an online survey to gather self-report data from a sample of 453 college students. Data were collected from March 15, 2020, to February 16, 2021. Results: Anxiety, stress, and the two insecurity dimensions were all mutually correlated with one another. Multiple regression analysis revealed that as the level of attachment anxiety increased, the association of stress and anxiety turned stronger. Conclusions: The findings suggest that targeting attachment insecurity may prove to be fruitful when helping college students effectively regulate stress to lessen levels of anxiety.</p> <p>Keywords: Anxiety; attachment anxiety; attachment avoidance; college students; romantic attachment; stress; the COVID-19 pandemic</p> <hd id="AN0182848189-2">Introduction</hd> <p>The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unparalleled challenges to college students, who had shown already concerning rates of anxiety before the pandemic.[<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref1">1</reflink>]<sups>,</sups>[<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref2">2</reflink>] Many students reported elevated levels of stress due to academic strains associated with remote learning, limitations on physical and social interactions, changes or losses of jobs, financial hardships, forced relocations, and fear and worry about health of their own and loved ones.[[<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref3">3</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref4">5</reflink>]] These stressors of the pandemic have been found to spur increased rumination, feelings of losing control, difficulty in normal functioning, and a range of mental health conditions,[<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref5">2</reflink>]<sups>,</sups>[<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref6">6</reflink>]<sups>,</sups>[<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref7">7</reflink>] with anxiety reaching the prevalence as high as approximately 52% among college students.[<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref8">8</reflink>]<sups>,</sups>[<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref9">9</reflink>]</p> <p>Anxiety has been conceptualized as subsequent strain reactions to stressors that are subjectively interpreted as overwhelming or threatening.[[<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref10">10</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref11">12</reflink>]] Psychological symptoms of anxiety may include unease, distress, worry, tension, apprehension, or panic about daily life events without clear or reasonable causes that may elicit these feelings.[<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref12">13</reflink>] Physiological and somatic symptoms of anxiety may include elevated heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, dizziness, shortness of breath, fatigue, bodily pains, and/or insomnia.[<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref13">14</reflink>]<sups>,</sups>[<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref14">15</reflink>] These symptoms of anxiety have debilitating effects on one's daily responsibilities, academic and work performance, social relationships, and quality of life in general.[<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref15">8</reflink>],[<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref16">16</reflink>] Thus, it is important to identify factors that ameliorate the negative effect of stress on anxiety.</p> <p>One factor that has not been sufficiently examined, but may be potentially important, in its role of buffering the influence of stress on anxiety, is attachment security in romantic relationships. Romantic attachment refers to the close emotional bond one develops with their romantic partner.[<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref17">17</reflink>] Two fundamental dimensions of attachment insecurity have been identified: <emph>attachment anxiety</emph> and <emph>attachment avoidance</emph>, which broadly stem from unresponsive, unpredictable, or traumatic early experiences with caregivers and function as the working models of adult close and romantic relationships.[[<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref18">18</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref19">20</reflink>]] Highly anxious individuals hold negative cognitive representations of the self and crave for close connections to feel validated and overcome their fear of abandonment by romantic partners. Highly avoidant individuals represent their romantic partners negatively and tend to avoid close relationships as a means of protecting the self. According to the attachment diathesis-stress process model,[<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref20">21</reflink>] anxious individuals are inclined to reduce distress elicited by stressful events by activating their proximity-seeking strategies for support from romantic partners that often strains the partners and worsens the relationship. Conversely, avoidant individuals deal with stressful events by dismissing their needs for help and defensively deactivating coping tactics, rendering their partners to perceive them as not caring or supportive and the relationship not rewarding. In this way, the stress elicited by the straining circumstances becomes compounded by relational stress due to attachment insecurity, adding to the risks of developing anxiety symptoms.</p> <p>In sum, the COVID-19 stressors have been found to be associated with anxiety in college students. While attachment theories denote the regulatory function of the attachment system during times of stress, it remains to be addressed how romantic attachment plays a role in the relation between stress and anxiety in college students, particularly during stressful times, such as the pandemic. Understanding the buffering role of romantic attachment security may shed light on helping college students regulate stress to reduce its negative effect on anxiety.</p> <hd id="AN0182848189-3">The present study</hd> <p>The aims of this research were twofold. The first aim addressed the bivariate associations of anxiety with stress and with romantic attachment, respectively, reported during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The second aim focused on exploring whether romantic attachment security buffered the effects of stress on anxiety. Based on the reviewed literature, it was predicted that anxiety would be positively related to stress (Hypothesis 1) and to both attachment anxiety and avoidance (Hypothesis 2). Due to the limited information in the literature, the investigation of the moderating role of romantic attachment was exploratory. However, because stress and attachment insecurity were expected to be associated with anxiety, it was predicted that stress and attachment insecurity would interact to predict anxiety (Hypothesis 3).</p> <hd id="AN0182848189-4">Methods</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0182848189-5">Participants and procedure</hd> <p>The study recruited participants from a mid-sized university located in the southern region of the United States, using the online SONA participant pool platform used by the Psychology Department. The participant pool consisted of students from various majors who were enrolled in introductory psychology courses. Researchers posted their studies on SONA to enroll participants for research studies. Participants who met the inclusion criteria had to be at least 18 years old and enrolled as a college student at the university. Individuals who were under 18 years of age or not enrolled as a college student at the university were excluded from the study. Participation was completely voluntary. This research was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University with which the authors were affiliated. Participants indicated their consent by clicking through the consent page. Data collection was conducted during the time frame of March 15, 2020, to February 16, 2021, using an online questionnaire.</p> <hd id="AN0182848189-6">Measures</hd> <p>In addition to demographic information (age, gender, race/ethnicity, college class year, grade point average, and family socioeconomic status), the following measures were used:</p> <hd id="AN0182848189-7">Depression, Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21)</hd> <p>The Depression, Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21)[<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref21">22</reflink>] assesses symptoms of depression, anxiety, and perceived stress during the past week. Each subscale consists of 7 items. For the purposes of this study, only the Anxiety and Stress subscales were used. The Anxiety scale includes measures for autonomic arousal, skeletal muscle effects, situational anxiety, and subjective feelings of anxiety. The Stress scale includes measures for chronic, nonspecific nervous arousal, difficulty relaxing, feeling easily agitated, irritability, overreacting, and impatience. Participants respond to items using a 4-point scale from 1 (<emph>did not apply to me at all</emph>) to 4 (<emph>applied to me very much</emph>). For the current study, Cronbach's alphas for the Anxiety and Stress subscales were.87 and.83, respectively.</p> <hd id="AN0182848189-8">The Experience in Close Relationship Scale—Short Form</hd> <p>The Experience in Close Relationship Scale—Short Form (ECR-SF)[<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref22">23</reflink>] is a measure with two subscales designed to assess romantic attachment dimensions. The Attachment Anxiety subscale (6 items) measures fear toward interpersonal rejection or abandonment, and the Avoidance subscales (6 items) measures the fear of dependence and interpersonal closeness. Participants rate the items using a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (<emph>disagree strongly</emph>) to 7 (<emph>agree strongly</emph>). Higher scores on the two subscales indicate higher levels of attachment insecurity. Cronbach's alphas for the ECF-SF Anxiety and Avoidance subscales in the present study were.73 and.77, respectively.</p> <hd id="AN0182848189-9">Results</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0182848189-10">Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations</hd> <p>The sample consisted of 453 college students from a variety of majors (350 females, 81 males, and 22 non-binary or other) with a mean age of 20.6 (<emph>SD</emph><subs>age</subs> 4.7). Approximately 62% of the sample identified as White, 28% Black, 3% Hispanics/Latino, and 2% Asian/Pacific Islander.</p> <p>All analyses were conducted using JMP® Pro 16.0.0. Table 1 summarizes the descriptive statistics of the main study variables. Because listwise deletion was employed to handle missing data, participants who identified as non-binary or other happened to show at least one missing value and thus were excluded from subsequent analysis. Women reported higher scores on anxiety (<emph>M</emph> 5.6, <emph>SD</emph> 5.4) than men (<emph>M</emph> 4.2, <emph>SD</emph> 4.1), <emph>t</emph> = 2.52, <emph>p</emph> =.01. Women also reported higher levels of stress (<emph>M</emph> 8.4, <emph>SD</emph> 5.1) than men (<emph>M</emph> 6.3, <emph>SD</emph> 4.5), <emph>t</emph> = 3.35, <emph>p</emph> <.001. Similarly, females reported higher levels of attachment anxiety (<emph>M</emph> 25.2, <emph>SD</emph> 7.3) than male participants (<emph>M</emph> 21.7, <emph>SD</emph> 5.9), <emph>t</emph> = 3.84, <emph>p</emph> <.001. However, there was no gender difference in attachment avoidance.</p> <p>Table 1. Means and standard deviations (in parentheses) and correlations for the main study variables.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead><tr><td /><td>Anxiety</td><td>Stress</td><td>Attachment anxiety</td><td>Attachment avoidance</td></tr></thead><tbody valign="top"><tr><td>Anxiety</td><td /><td><italic>r</italic> =.79***</td><td><italic>r</italic> =.45***</td><td><italic>r</italic> =.24***</td></tr><tr><td>Stress</td><td /><td /><td><italic>r</italic> =.44***</td><td><italic>r</italic> =.24***</td></tr><tr><td>Attachment Anxiety</td><td /><td /><td /><td><italic>r</italic> =.31***</td></tr><tr><td>Across Genders <italic>M(SD)</italic> (<italic>n</italic> = 350)</td><td char=".">5.3(5.1)</td><td char=".">8.0(5.1)</td><td char=".">24.6(7.2)</td><td char=".">15.3(6.7)</td></tr><tr><td>Female <italic>M(SD)</italic> (<italic>n</italic> = 350)</td><td char=".">5.6(5.4)</td><td char=".">8.4(5.1)</td><td char=".">25.2(7.3)</td><td char=".">15.2(6.8)</td></tr><tr><td>Male <italic>M(SD)</italic> (<italic>n</italic> = 81)</td><td char=".">4.2(4.1)</td><td char=".">6.3(4.5)</td><td char=".">21.7(5.9)</td><td char=".">15.6(6.6)</td></tr><tr><td><italic>t</italic> Statistics (Female–Male)</td><td char=".">2.52*</td><td char=".">3.35**</td><td char=".">3.84***</td><td char=".">0.37</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>1 <emph>Note.</emph> *<emph>p</emph> <.05; **<emph>p</emph> <.005; ***<emph>p</emph> <.0005. The <emph>t</emph>-tests only included data from participants who provided responses to all measures of the four variables, rendering the data of participants who identified as non-binary excluded from the analysis.</p> <p>As also shown in Table 1, anxiety was significantly correlated with stress (<emph>r</emph> =.79, <emph>p</emph> <.001), attachment anxiety (<emph>r</emph> = 0.45, <emph>p</emph> <.001), and attachment avoidance (<emph>r</emph> = 0.24, <emph>p</emph> <.001), supporting both Hypotheses 1 and 2. Stress was correlated with both attachment anxiety and avoidance, <emph>r</emph> = 0.44, <emph>p</emph> <.001, and <emph>r</emph> = 0.24, <emph>p</emph> <.001, respectively. The two attachment dimensions were positively correlated, <emph>r</emph> = 0.24, <emph>p</emph> <.001.</p> <hd id="AN0182848189-11">Multiple regression analysis</hd> <p>To test Hypothesis 3, multiple regression analysis was conducted with stress, attachment anxiety, and attachment avoidance entered as main predictors and age, gender, race/ethnicity, and "days into the pandemic" as covariates. "Days into the pandemic" was a variable derived from tallying the number of days since March 15, 2020. The addition of this variable to the regression model was due to the concern with the potential differences in the environmental context over the course of the pandemic and their potential impacts on participants' experiences of close relationships and psychological well-being. All continuous variables were standardized; categorical variables were effect coded.</p> <p>The results indicated a significant model, <emph>F<subs>8</subs></emph><subs>, 229</subs> = 62.00, <emph>p</emph> <.001, <emph>R</emph><sups>2</sups><emph><subs>adj</subs></emph> = 0.68. Stress emerged to be the most important predictor for anxiety, <emph>b</emph> =.77, <emph>SE</emph> =.04, <emph>t</emph> = 17.62, <emph>p</emph> <.001. Attachment anxiety also showed a significant main effect, <emph>b</emph> =.10, <emph>SE</emph> =.05, <emph>t</emph> = 2.02, <emph>p</emph> =.045. A subsequent full-factorial regression analysis was conducted, with all possible cross-products of the three main predictors added to the previous model. As shown in Table 2, the model was significant, <emph>F</emph><subs>11,226</subs> = 43.23, <emph>p</emph> <.001, <emph>R</emph><sups>2</sups><emph><subs>adj</subs></emph> = 0.68. Among all the cross-product terms, the interaction between stress and attachment anxiety emerged to be significant, <emph>b</emph> =.07, <emph>SE</emph> 0.04, <emph>t =</emph> 1.79, <emph>p</emph> =.038. Figure 1 unpacks the effect of stress on anxiety at varied levels of attachment anxiety. Specifically, the strength of the link between stress and anxiety increased as attachment anxiety increased, suggesting the moderating role of attachment anxiety.</p> <p>PHOTO (COLOR): Figure 1. Interaction between stress and attachment anxiety predicting anxiety symptoms. Note. All variables were standardized. All categorical variables were effect coded. Age, gender, and race/ethnicity status were controlled. Scale units of the X and Y axes are standardized deviations of the measures. F = 43.23, R2(adj) =.68, p <.001.</p> <p>Table 2. Results for multiple regression analyses.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead><tr><td>Criterion</td><td>Predictors</td><td>Coefficient Estimate (<italic>b</italic>)</td><td>Standard Error</td><td><italic>t</italic> statistics</td><td /></tr></thead><tbody valign="top"><tr><td>Anxiety</td><td>Intercept</td><td char=".">−0.12</td><td char=".">0.20</td><td char=".">−0.61</td><td><italic>F</italic> = 43.23 *** <italic>R</italic><sup>2</sup>(adj) =.68</td></tr><tr><td>Age</td><td char=".">−0.01</td><td char=".">0.01</td><td char=".">−0.64</td></tr><tr><td>Gender [Female]</td><td char=".">−0.06</td><td char=".">0.06</td><td char=".">−1.04</td></tr><tr><td>Gender [Male]</td><td char=".">0.06</td><td char=".">0.06</td><td char=".">1.04</td></tr><tr><td>Race/Ethnicity [Black]</td><td char=".">−0.05</td><td char=".">0.09</td><td char=".">−0.53</td></tr><tr><td>Race/Ethnicity [Hispanic]</td><td char=".">−0.14</td><td char=".">0.11</td><td char=".">−1.27</td></tr><tr><td>Race/Ethnicity [White]</td><td char=".">0.19</td><td char=".">0.07</td><td char=".">2.66*</td></tr><tr><td>Days into the pandemic</td><td char=".">0.00</td><td char=".">0.00</td><td char=".">1.56</td></tr><tr><td>Stress</td><td char=".">0.75</td><td char=".">0.04</td><td char=".">16.85***</td></tr><tr><td>Att Anxiety</td><td char=".">0.09</td><td char=".">0.05</td><td char=".">1.72</td></tr><tr><td>Att Avoidance</td><td char=".">−0.01</td><td char=".">0.05</td><td char=".">−0.17</td></tr><tr><td>Att Anxiety × Att Avoidance</td><td char=".">−0.06</td><td char=".">0.05</td><td char=".">−1.01</td></tr><tr><td>Stress × Att Anxiety</td><td char=".">0.08</td><td char=".">0.04</td><td char=".">2.08*</td></tr><tr><td>Stress × Att Avoidance</td><td char=".">0.07</td><td char=".">0.04</td><td char=".">1.79</td></tr><tr><td>Stress × Att Anxiety × Att Avoidance</td><td char=".">0.01</td><td char=".">0.04</td><td char=".">0.41</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>2 <emph>Note.</emph> *<emph>p</emph> <.05; **<emph>p</emph> <.005; ***<emph>p</emph> <.0005. All variables were standardized. All categorical variables were effect coded. Att = Attachment. The reference group for gender and race/ethnicity was male and White, respectively. Step 1 estimated the main effect of stress on anxiety symptoms. Step 2 tested the interaction effect of stress and attachment anxiety on anxiety symptoms. The analysis only included data from participants who provided responses to all measures of the variables, rendering some categories of gender and race/ethnicity excluded from the analysis.</p> <hd id="AN0182848189-12">Discussion</hd> <p>While the literature has established the effect of stress on anxiety, how romantic attachment shapes this effect remains unclear. Framed by the attachment diathesis-stress process perspective, this study examined how romantic insecurity, i.e., attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance, affected the link between stress and anxiety reported by a sample of college students during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p> <p>Women in the current sample reported higher levels of anxiety, stress, and attachment anxiety than men, revealing patterns that align with prior findings.[[<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref23">24</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref24">26</reflink>]] However, while it is a common pattern that men tend to report higher levels of avoidance,[<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref25">28</reflink>]<sups>,</sups>[<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref26">29</reflink>] the current sample did not find gender difference in attachment avoidance, which was in line with findings reported by Bakermans-Kranenburg and van IJzendoorn[<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref27">30</reflink>] and Liu and Ma.[<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref28">31</reflink>] As called by Del Giudice,[<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref29">29</reflink>] more research is needed to better understand the role of gender in romantic attachment.</p> <p>Supporting Hypotheses 1 and 2, and in line with previous studies,[[<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref30">32</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref31">34</reflink>]] anxiety was positively associated with stress and the two dimensions of romantic insecurity. Additionally, stress and the two dimensions of attachment insecurity were correlated with one another. Supporting Hypothesis 3, the results of the multiple regression analysis revealed that attachment anxiety worsened the negative impact of stress on anxiety. The findings lend support to the attachment diathesis-stress process model and notions denoting the regulatory functions of the attachment system.[<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref32">18</reflink>]<sups>,</sups>[<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref33">35</reflink>] When faced with stressful events, highly anxious college students may activate their proximity-seeking attachment strategies with intense focus on negative emotions and unreasonable expectations for help and support from their romantic partners. Given their excessive needs for attention and constant fear of abandonment, the care and reassurance from their partners tend to be viewed as inadequate or cursory–a sign of rejection.[<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref34">21</reflink>] Consequently, the distress elicited by the stressors becomes exacerbated, conferring risks for worsening the symptoms of anxiety.</p> <p>Several limitations of the present finding warrant discussion. First, the results were based on cross-sectional and correlational designs, rendering it difficult to determine whether stress and attachment anxiety led to symptoms of anxiety or vice versa. Future studies need to consider prospective longitudinal or experiment designs to establish the directionality of the relations between these variables. Second, the study did not set out to directly assess the status and quality of the current romantic relationships. While we did not ask about participants' romantic relationship status, it is worth noting that the focus of the ECR-SF (Wei et al., 2007) was on assessing a general pattern of adult attachment that is relevant across different close relationships, including those with parents, friends, and romantic partners. In fact, the original development and validation of the ECR-SF was conducted using an undergraduate sample where 94% of participants were single. Therefore, the scale was designed to allow valid responses from participants without current or prior romantic relationships. However, we acknowledge that the ECR-SF may not fully capture all aspects of attachment in romantic contexts. Future studies should include measures of relationship status and quality to better control theses variables when describing how attachment anxiety moderates the link between stress and anxiety. Lastly, the study sample predominantly comprised white, female college students from the southern United States, which restricted the variability of the variables tested in the study. To enhance the generalizability of the findings to other groups of college students. Future studies should endeavor to recruit more diverse samples. Despite the limitations, this study underscores the buffering role of attachment security in regulating stress reactions to lower anxiety in college students, which have important implications for formulating preventive and therapeutic programs aimed at helping college students manage their stress to reduce symptoms of anxiety. Because attachment insecurity involves negative representations of the self and social others, it is important to revise maladaptive cognitive representations of the self and others. The interventions may entail identifying, challenging, and modifying negative or inaccurate beliefs about the self and others, and developing more positive and objective working models. These interventions could be delivered online or <emph>via</emph> teletherapy to accommodate students' busy schedules and reduce barriers to access. Additionally, interventions could incorporate psychoeducation and skills training to enhance students' understanding of the impact of attachment insecurity and provide them with practical tools for improving close relationships and overall mental health.</p> <hd id="AN0182848189-13">Conclusions</hd> <p>Drawing upon the attachment diathesis-stress process perspective, this study examined how insecurity in romantic attachment moderated the association between stress and anxiety reported by a sample of college students during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings show how stress and anxiety are closely connected and how attachment anxiety exacerbates the effect of stress on anxiety. Targeting attachment insecurity in romantic relationships through revisions of cognitive representations of the self and others may prove to be fruitful to ameliorating the risks for anxiety in college students when faced with stressors compounded by a global health crisis.</p> <hd id="AN0182848189-14">Conflict of interest disclosure</hd> <p>The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements of the United States and receiving approval from the Institutional Review Board of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.</p> <hd id="AN0182848189-15">Funding</hd> <p>No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.</p> <ref id="AN0182848189-16"> <title> Footnotes </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref1" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Additional Affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.</bibtext> </blist> </ref> <ref id="AN0182848189-17"> <title> References </title> <blist> <bibtext> American College Health Association. 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  Data: Romantic Attachment Security Buffers the Effect of Stress on Anxiety in College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic
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  Data: English
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hung-Chu+Lin%22">Hung-Chu Lin</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3612-3718">0000-0003-3612-3718</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Maddison+Knott%22">Maddison Knott</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0949-5970">0009-0002-0949-5970</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Madeline+M%2E+Hebert%22">Madeline M. Hebert</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9367-3890">0000-0002-9367-3890</externalLink>)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Journal+of+American+College+Health%22"><i>Journal of American College Health</i></searchLink>. 2025 73(2):467-472.
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  Data: Taylor & Francis. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
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  Data: 6
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  Data: 2025
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  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Higher+Education%22">Higher Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Postsecondary+Education%22">Postsecondary Education</searchLink>
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  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Attachment+Behavior%22">Attachment Behavior</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Intimacy%22">Intimacy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22College+Students%22">College Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Stress+Variables%22">Stress Variables</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Anxiety%22">Anxiety</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22COVID-19%22">COVID-19</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Pandemics%22">Pandemics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Correlation%22">Correlation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Self+Management%22">Self Management</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Interpersonal+Relationship%22">Interpersonal Relationship</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Student+Characteristics%22">Student Characteristics</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SU" term="%22Depression+Anxiety+and+Stress+Scales%22">Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales</searchLink>
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  Data: 10.1080/07448481.2023.2220407
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  Data: 0744-8481<br />1940-3208
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  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Background and objectives: The stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic spurred alarming levels of stress and anxiety in college students. It is important to identify factors that attenuate the negative effect of stress on anxiety. Framed by the attachment diathesis-stress process perspective, this study examined how the two dimensions of insecurity in romantic attachment--attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance--buffered the effect of stress on anxiety in a population of college students during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design and methods: The study employed cross-sectional and correlation designs and used an online survey to gather self-report data from a sample of 453 college students. Data were collected from March 15, 2020, to February 16, 2021. Results: Anxiety, stress, and the two insecurity dimensions were all mutually correlated with one another. Multiple regression analysis revealed that as the level of attachment anxiety increased, the association of stress and anxiety turned stronger. Conclusions: The findings suggest that targeting attachment insecurity may prove to be fruitful when helping college students effectively regulate stress to lessen levels of anxiety.
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  Data: EJ1472940
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      – TitleFull: Romantic Attachment Security Buffers the Effect of Stress on Anxiety in College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic
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