- Title
- Social anhedonia as a mediator of the attachment avoidance and dispositional mindfulness relationship
- Creator
- Cordingley, Madeline V.
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2021
- Description
- Masters Research - Master of Clinical Psychology (MClinPsych)
- Description
- Objectives: The aim of the study was to contribute to our understanding of the relationship of social anhedonia to attachment expectancies (avoidance and anxiety) and dispositional mindfulness. A model was proposed in which social anhedonia partially mediates the relationship between attachment avoidance and trait mindfulness, suggesting that those who withdraw from social interactions do so due to underlying distress. A secondary aim was to examine the use of the Revised Social Anhedonia Scale (RSAS) in a non-clinical sample, including investigation into its division into subscales. Methods: A secondary analysis was performed on data from an online, cross-sectional survey of 432 undergraduate psychology students. Measures were utilised to assess attachment avoidance and anxiety, social anhedonia, and dispositional mindfulness. Results: Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and mediation analyses were completed. Mediation analyses failed to support social anhedonia as a mediator of the relationship between attachment avoidance and dispositional mindfulness. Relationships between social anhedonia and attachment avoidance, as well as between attachment anxiety and dispositional mindfulness were established. Social anhedonia was not found to be associated with mindfulness. Additionally, the proposition that the RSAS involves two distinct underlying components was supported. Conclusions: The study established a strong relationship between social anhedonia and attachment avoidance, and raises questions about traditional definitions of social anhedonia, and how it is being assessed. Further research into the relationship between attachment avoidance and social anhedonia in clinical and non-clinical populations is needed to promote further understanding of these constructs and their association.
- Subject
- social anhedonia; mindfulness; attachment; mediation
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1429795
- Identifier
- uon:38768
- Rights
- Copyright 2021 Madeline V. Cordingley
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 205 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |