Effects of repeated attachment security priming in outpatients with primary depressive disorders

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the potential effectiveness of secure attachment priming in outpatients with depressive disorders.

Methods: Forty-eight participants engaged in secure attachment priming or neutral priming in the laboratory (Time 1), after which they received three daily consecutive primes via text message (Times 2-4), aimed at maintaining the effects from Time 1. A follow-up one day later (Time 5) was also included. Dependent measures were assessed at Times 1, 4 and 5.

Results: Participants in the secure attachment priming condition experienced higher felt-security than the control group at all time-points, indicating that the felt-security benefit was maintained through repeated priming. Secure priming had a greater impact on reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression in comparison to the control prime, though the differences were only significant at Time 4.

Limitations: The moderate sample size limited our statistical power.

Conclusions: This study was the first experiment using repeated secure attachment priming within a clinical sample. Our findings have potential clinical implications; security priming could be used alongside other treatments to improve outcome. Recommendations for further research are discussed.

Keywords: Anxiety; Attachment; Depression; Priming; Security priming.