ReviewBrain sciences2023
Attachment-Related Differences in Emotion Regulation in Adults: A Systematic Review on Attachment Representations.
Review in Brain sciences, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- The convergent neuroscience of Christian prayer and attachment relationships in the context of mental health: a systematic review.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Development and validation of a short form of the mentalization scale (MentS-11): an evidence-based measure for Turkish adults.Cognitive processing · 2026Article
- Attachment, emotion regulation and quality of life in women with a diagnosis of endometriosis: a cross-sectional study.Archives of gynecology and obstetrics · 2026Article
- The Dual Facets of Emotion Perception in Adult Attachment Representations: A Systematic Review on Impathy and Empathy.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Attachment Representations, emotion regulation Difficulties and behavioral addiction Risk: Testing a mediation model in undergraduate students.Addictive behaviors reports · 2026Article
- A Psychological Guide to Lower Face Botulinum Toxin Injections: Baseline Emotional Functions of Facial Expressions.Journal of cosmetic dermatology · 2026Review
- Frontal EEG Asymmetry and Attachment Style During Sequential Decision-Making in the Secretary Problem.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Attachment orientations and borderline personality features: the mediating role of difficulties in interpersonal emotion regulation.Borderline personality disorder and emotion dysregulation · 2026Article
- Adult attachment and intimate relationship satisfaction among university students: the chain mediating roles of appreciation and sense of giving.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Attachment insecurity, professional quality of life, and perceived posttraumatic growth among hospital nurses.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Adult attachment profiles, death attitudes, and intention to remain in nursing among Chinese intern nursing students.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Suicide risk among individuals admitted to an acute psychiatric ward: clinical characteristics, attachment pattern and dignity perception.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Understanding the role of preservice teachers' attachment in shaping core self-evaluations: the mediating effect of academic emotions in teacher education contexts.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Attachment Styles and Sexual Function Among Survivors of Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: A Multicenter Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- A Narrative Review of the Co-Occurrence and Interaction of Childhood Emotional Neglect and Overprotection in Developmental Pathways to Disordered Eating.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Attachment Classification, Emotion Regulation, and Defense Mechanisms: An Integrative Narrative Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- A Psychological Guide to Upper Face Botulinum Toxin Injections: Baseline Emotional Functions of Facial Expressions.Journal of cosmetic dermatology · 2025Review
- Conceptualizing Attachment Trauma: A Developmental Trauma Perspective.Clinical neuropsychiatry · 2025Article
- The Psychopathological Domains of Attachment Trauma: A Proposal for a Clinical Conceptualization.Clinical neuropsychiatry · 2025Article
- Impathy and Emotion Recognition: How Attachment Shapes Self- and Other-Focused Emotion Processing.Brain sciences · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In recent years, there has been an increase in the prevalence of mental disorders connected with affective dysregulation and insecure attachment. Therefore, it is even more important to understand the interplay between an individual's attachment representation and patterns of emotion regulation. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic review to examine this association. PsycInfo, PsyArticles, and PubMed were searched for studies that examined attachment-related differences in emotion regulation in adults. To examine the unconscious attachment representation, only studies using the Adult Attachment Interview or the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System were included. Thirty-seven peer-reviewed studies (with a total of 2006 subjects) matched the PICO criteria. Emotion regulation was measured via four objective approaches: autonomic nervous system, brain activity, biochemistry, or nonverbal behavior. Across all measurements, results reveal a significant correlation between attachment representation and emotion regulation. Secure attachment correlates consistently with balanced emotion regulation, whereas it is impaired in insecure and dysfunctional in unresolved attachment. Specifically, unresolved individuals display counterintuitive responses and fail to use attachment as a resource. Insecure-dismissing attachment is associated with an emotionally deactivating strategy, while on a physiological, biochemical, and nonverbal level, emotional stress is still present. There is still a lack of studies examining preoccupied individuals. In addition to interpreting the results, we also discuss the risk of bias, implications for psychotherapy and coaching, and an outlook for future research.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.