Adult Attachment, Shame, Depression, and Loneliness: The Mediation Role of Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction

This study examined basic psychological needs satisfaction (i.e., the need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness) as a mediator between adult attachment (i.e., anxiety and avoidance) and distress (i.e., shame, depression, and loneliness). A total of 299 undergraduates from a Midwestern university participated. Results from structural equation modeling analysis indicated that basic psychological needs satisfaction partially mediated the relationship between attachment anxiety and shame, depression, and loneliness and fully mediated the relationship between attachment avoidance and shame, depression, and loneliness. Bootstrap methods were used to assess the magnitude of these indirect effects. Attachment anxiety and avoidance explained 35% of the variance in basic psychological needs satisfaction, and attachment anxiety and basic psychological needs satisfaction explained 51%, 72%, and 74% of the variance in shame, depression, and loneliness, respectively.