Insecure adult attachment and reflective functioning as mechanisms of the relationship between traumatic life events and suicidal ideation: A path analysis

Alessandro Musetti; Luca Pingani; Andrea Zagaria; Daniele Uberti; Salvatore Meli; Vittorio Lenzo; Alessio Gori; Christian Franceschini; Gian Maria Galeazzi

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.985148

Insecure adult attachment and reflective functioning as mechanisms of the relationship between traumatic life events and suicidal ideation: A path analysis

Front Psychol. 2022 Sep 30:13:985148. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.985148. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Industries, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
² Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.
³ Dipartimento ad attività integrata Salute Mentale e Dipendenze Patologiche, Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy.
⁴ Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Roma, Italy.
⁵ Dipartimento di Scienze della Società e della Formazione d'Area Mediterranea, Università per Stranieri Dante Alighieri, Reggio Calabria, Italy.
⁶ Department of Health Sciences, School of Psychology, University of Florence, Firenze, Italy.
⁷ Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.

Abstract

The relationship between traumatic life events and increased suicide risk has been well reported in literature. However, the complex nature of suicidality phenomena still hinders our ability to comprehend the mediation mechanism underlying this association. In this study, we examined the mediating role of adult attachment and reflective functioning in the relationship between traumatic life events and suicidal ideation. Nine hundred and fifty Italian adults completed an online survey evaluating traumatic life events, adult attachment, reflective functioning and suicidal ideation. The path analysis showed that the positive relationship between traumatic life events and suicidal ideation was partially mediated by attachment anxiety and reflective functioning. From a clinical point of view, these results support the relevance of evaluating and improving patients' ability to mentalize as a part of psychotherapeutic intervention aimed at reducing suicidality in people with a history of traumatic experiences and attachment anxiety.

Keywords: attachment; mentalization; reflective functioning; suicidal ideation; suicide risk; traumatic experiences.