Adult Attachment Dimensions,World View Schemas,and the Psychological Health of Parents of Infants in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

This study reports the results of an exploration of the relationship of adult attachment dimensions (closeness, dependence, and anxiety) and world view assumptions (benevolence, meaningfulness, and worthiness) to psychological distress and psychological well-being in 142 parents (71 couples) of newborns recently hospitalized in a neonatal intensive care unit. The results of the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, hierarchical multiple regression, and mediation analyses showed that parents who were more comfortable with attachment-dependence and parents who held more positive beliefs about benevolence and worthiness had less psychological distress and more well-being. In addition, parents with partners who were more comfortable with attachment-dependence had less psychological distress and more well-being. Attachment-dependence partially mediated the relationships of benevolence and worthiness with psychological distress and the relationship of benevolence with psychological well-being, whereas worthiness had a direct relationship with psychological well-being.