Containing Attachment Concerns: Does Trait Mindfulness Buffer the Links between Attachment Insecurity and Maladaptive Sexual Motivations?
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to determine whether trait mindfulness moderates the links between attachment insecurity and maladaptive sexual motives.
Results Summary
Higher levels of the acting with awareness facet of trait mindfulness eliminated the links between attachment anxiety and maladaptive sexual motives (e.g., sex to cope and affirm the self). However, mindfulness increased maladaptive sexual motives in individuals with attachment avoidance.
Population
194 participants with measures of trait mindfulness, general sexual motivations, and attachment.
Effective Dosage
Not specified
Duration
Not specified
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
trait mindfulness | no change | links between attachment insecurity and maladaptive sexual motives | Participants (N = 194) | - | moderates the links between attachment insecurity and maladaptive sexual motives | #1 |
acting with awareness facet of trait mindfulness | decrease | links between attachment anxiety and having sex to cope and affirm the self | individuals reporting higher levels of the acting with awareness facet of trait mindfulness | - | eliminated | #2 |
acting with awareness mindfulness | increase | extent to which more avoidantly attached individuals reported coping and self-affirmation-based sexual motives | more avoidantly attached individuals | - | appeared to increase the extent | #3 |
Individuals reporting greater insecure attachment are more likely to report maladaptive sexual motivations, such as sex to avoid negative relational and personal outcomes (e.g., conflict). Despite the costs of such sexual motivations, research is less clear regarding what might buffer the extent to which attachment insecurities manifest in such motives. The current study examined whether trait mindfulness moderates the links between attachment insecurity and maladaptive sexual motives. Participants (N = 194) completed measures of trait mindfulness, general sexual motivations, and attachment. As predicted, the links between attachment anxiety and having sex to cope and affirm the self were eliminated among individuals reporting higher levels of the acting with awareness facet of trait mindfulness. No such buffering effects were seen for attachment avoidance. Instead, acting with awareness mindfulness appeared to increase the extent to which more avoidantly attached individuals reported coping and self-affirmation-based sexual motives. These findings contribute to knowledge regarding the potential utility and limits of mindfulness in relational and sexual contexts, perhaps suggesting that mindfulness may help anxiously attached individuals manage the extent to which attachment concerns manifest in maladaptive sexual motivations. Findings of the study may inform both theory regarding mindfulness in interpersonal functioning and how mindfulness interventions might be deployed in sex therapy contexts.