The attachment style and stress coping strategies in adult men and women

Abstract

This paper contains an analysis of the determinants of predispositions of individuals to cope with stress in adulthood, very likely shaped in childhood. The theoretical part defines stress and ways to cope with it and describes the conclusions reached to date of studies on attachment styles determinants to cope with stress. Presents the results of the author’s own research showing the preferences of choosing different strategies to cope with stress depending on an attachment style shaped in childhood. The research conducted in 2013 and 2014 was participated by 180 women and 180 men aged 20-40 (M = 28.99, SD = 4.23), living in the Zachodniopomorskie and Lubuskie Voivodeships in Poland. Participants filled in questionnaires defining their ways of coping with stress and their attachment style. The research results obtained show that the respondents who the most frequently manifest active coping with stress and seeking support in difficult situations come from families that built in their child a secure attachment style. Helplessness and avoidant behaviours are more often evinced in stressful situations by the respondents brought up in families who built an anxiety-ambivalent and an avoidance attachment style.