Table 1.
Studies exploring the association between adult attachment and mindfulness
| Authors, year, and country | Participant sample | Procedure | Measure of attachment | Measure of mindfulness | Results | Quality rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caldwell and Shaver (2013); USA | 93 undergraduate students | Completed measures at one time point | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECR) | Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) | Attachment anxiety and avoidance significantly negatively correlated with mindfulness | Moderate |
| Caldwell and Shaver (2015); USA | 39 women who suffered childhood maltreatment | Mindfulness intervention, completed measures at multiple time points | Experiences in Close Relationship Scale (ECR) | Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) | Attachment and avoidance significantly negatively correlated with total mindfulness | Strong |
| Ciano (2013); USAa | 102 adults from the general population | Completed measures at one time point | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) | Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) | Attachment anxiety and avoidance significant predictor of the non-judge subscale | Strong |
| Cordon and Finney (2008); USAa | 495 undergraduate students | Completed measures at one time point | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) | Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) | Attachment security associated with greater mindfulness | Moderate |
| Edwards (2014); USA | 81 newlywed couples in 1st year of marriage | Completed measures at one time point | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) | Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) | For both husbands and wives, significant negative correlation between attachment anxiety and mindfulness | Moderate |
| Falb (2015); USAa | 87 undergraduate students | Completed measures at three time points | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) | Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) | Secure attachment predicted mindfulness. Level of attachment predicted 4/5 mindfulness subscales (describing; act with awareness; non-judge; non-react) | Weak |
| Fossati et al. (2011); ITAa | 501 high school students (16 years +) | Completed measures at one time point | Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ) | Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) | Low mindfulness scores associated with aspects of avoidant and anxious attachment | Strong |
| Goodall et al. (2012); UK | 199 adults from the general population | Completed measures at one time point | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) | Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) | Attachment anxiety significantly negatively correlated with subscales describe, act with awareness, non-judge, and non-react. Attachment avoidance significantly negatively correlated with subscales describe, act with awareness, and non-judge | Moderate |
| Hertz et al. (2015); USAa | 103 undergraduate student couples | Completed measures at one time point | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECR) | Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) | Attachment anxiety and avoidance significantly negatively correlated with mindfulness. Mindfulness score significant in predicting attachment anxiety and avoidance | Strong |
| Authors, year, and country | Participant sample | Procedure | Measure of attachment | Measure of mindfulness | Results | Quality rating |
| Kubota (2014); USA | 112 undergraduate students | Completed measures at one time point | Relationship Questionnaire (RQ) Experiences in Close Relationships Scale – Revised (ECR-R) |
Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) |
Attachment anxiety significantly correlated with total mindfulness score and 4/5 subscales (describe; act with awareness; non-judge; non-react). Attachment avoidance significantly correlated with total mindfulness score and 3/5 subscales (describe; act with awareness; non-judge) |
Moderate |
| Leigh (2010); USA | 200 undergraduate students | Completed measures at one time point | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECR) | Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI) Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) |
Attachment anxiety significantly negatively correlated with total mindfulness score and 3/5 subscales (act with awareness; non-judge; non-react). Attachment avoidance negatively correlated with total mindfulness score and 4/5 subscales (describe; act with awareness; non-judge; non-react). Attachment anxiety significantly predicted lower mindfulness and act with awareness, non-react, and non-judge subscales. Attachment avoidance significantly predicted lower mindfulness and describe subscale | Moderate |
| Ma (2008); USAa | 90 undergraduate students seeking therapy within past 6 months | Completed measures pre and post (multiple time points) therapy | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECR) | Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) | Attachment security significantly correlated with mindfulness | Moderate |
| Macaulay et al. (2015); CAN | 505 undergraduate students | Completed measures at one time point | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) | Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Sills (KIMS) | Attachment anxiety significantly negatively correlated with 2/4 KIMS subscales (act with awareness; accept). Attachment avoidance significantly negatively correlated with describe subscale only | Weak |
| Authors, year, and country | Participant sample | Procedure | Measure of attachment | Measure of mindfulness | Results | Quality rating |
| Maniaci (2015); USA | 175 heterosexual married couples | Completed measures at 4 time points (data extracted only from first) | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) | Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) | In husbands, attachment anxiety and avoidance significantly negatively correlated with mindfulness. In wives, only attachment anxiety significantly negatively correlated with mindfulness | Moderate |
| Martin (2012); USAa | Two samples—28 recruited from counseling services, 81 undergraduate students | Daily assessment battery of measures | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECR) State Adult Attachment Measure (SAAM) |
Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale–Revised (CAMS-R) |
Findings suggest increased mindfulness reduces attachment anxiety and help to reduce attachment avoidance tendencies | Moderate |
| Ormiston (2011); USA | 300 individuals in relationship (at least 6 months in length) | Completed measures at one time point | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) Relationship Questionnaire (RQ) |
Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) | Attachment anxiety and avoidance significantly negatively correlated with mindfulness | Moderate |
| Palmer (2014); USA | 120 individuals from the local community | Completed measure pre and post positive recall intervention | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECR) | Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) | Attachment anxiety significantly positively correlated with mindfulness | Strong |
| Pepping et al. (2013); AUS | 572 undergraduate students | Completed measures at one time point | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) | Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) | Attachment anxiety and avoidance significantly negatively correlated with mindfulness | Moderate |
| Pepping and Duvenage (2016); AUSa
Study 1 |
128 undergraduate students | Completed measures at one time point | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) | Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM) | Attachment anxiety and avoidance associated with lower mindfulness | Moderate |
| Pepping et al. (2013); AUSa | 290 undergraduate students | Completed measures at one time point | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) | Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) | Attachment anxiety and avoidance significantly negatively correlated with total mindfulness. Significant differences between meditators and non-meditators. Across both samples (meditators and non-meditators) attachment anxiety and avoidance significantly associated with all 5 mindfulness subscales | Moderate |
| Authors, year, and country | Participant sample | Procedure | Measure of attachment | Measure of mindfulness | Results | Quality rating |
| Pepping et al. (2015); AUS Study 1 Study 2 |
144 undergraduate students 55 women seeking eating pathology treatment |
Completed measures at one time point Completes measures at one time point |
Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) |
Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) |
Attachment anxiety and avoidance significantly negatively correlated with mindfulness. Attachment anxiety and avoidance significantly negatively correlated with mindfulness |
Moderate Moderate |
| Pidgeon and Giufre (2014); AUSa | 156 undergraduate students | Completed measures at one time point | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) | Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI) | Attachment anxiety and avoidance significantly negatively correlated with mindfulness | Moderate |
| Rowe et al. (2016); UK | 117 participants; undergraduate students and non-students | Testing period of 4 weeks, self-compassion priming | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECR) | Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI) Toronto Mindfulness Scale (TMS) |
Attachment anxiety and avoidance not significantly correlated with trait or state mindfulness | Moderate |
| Saavedra (2011); USA Study 1 Study 2 |
1501 general population currently in romantic relationship 187 couples—two subsamples 89 couples from previous study and an additional 98 couples |
Completed measures at multiple time points Completed measures at multiple time points |
Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) |
Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) |
In both females and males, attachment anxiety and avoidance were significantly negatively correlated with mindfulness (labeled as act with awareness). In both female and males, attachment anxiety and avoidance were significantly negatively correlated with total mindfulness. Attachment anxiety significantly negatively correlated with subscales non-judge and non-react. Attachment avoidance significantly negatively correlated with subscales describe and non-judge |
Moderate Moderate |
| Saavedra et al. (2010); USA | 1702 individuals in a romantic relationship | Completed measures at one time point | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) | Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) | Attachment anxiety and avoidance significantly negatively correlated with mindfulness | Moderate |
| Sahdra et al. (2011); USA | 60 individuals from general population recruited through meditation magazine | Completed measures before and after mindfulness intervention | Experiences in Close Relationship Scale (ECR) | Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) | Attachment anxiety significantly negatively correlated with total mindfulness and subscales act with awareness, non-judge, and non-react. Attachment avoidance significantly negatively correlated with total mindfulness and all 5 subscales | Strong |
| Authors, year, and country | Participant sample | Procedure | Measure of attachment | Measure of mindfulness | Results | Quality rating |
| Somohano (2013); USAa | 97 undergraduate students in relationship cohabiting with partner | Completed measures at one time point | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) | Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI) | Significant difference in mindfulness scores between attachment groups. Clinical significance between secure and anxious attachment | Moderate |
| Tomac (2011); USAa | 114 individuals from university participant pool | Completed measures at one time point | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) | Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) | Attachment security significantly negatively correlated with total mindfulness. Attachment anxiety and avoidance related to lower mindfulness scores | Moderate |
| Walsh et al. (2009); UK Study 1 |
127 undergraduates and university staff | Completed measures at one time point | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) | Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) | Attachment anxiety and avoidance significantly negatively correlated with mindfulness. 18% variance mindfulness scores accounted for when regressed onto attachment anxiety, avoidance, their interaction, and trait anxiety | Weak |
| Wang (2011); USA | 282 undergraduate students | Completed measures at one time point | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale–Revised (ECR-R) The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA) |
Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) Toronto Mindfulness Scale (TMS) |
Attachment anxiety and avoidance significantly negatively correlated with mindfulness | Weak |
| Wilson (2012); USA | Undergraduate students 1st phase—315 2nd phase—232 |
Completed measures pre and post trauma writing intervention | Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECR) | Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS) | Attachment anxiety significantly negatively correlated with total KIMS mindfulness, describe, act with awareness, and accept significantly positively correlated with observe subscale. Attachment avoidance significantly negatively correlated with total KIMS mindfulness, describe, act with awareness, and accept | Moderate |
aDenotes studies not included in the meta-analyses