The relationship between social anxiety disorder and attachment strategies among a clinical sample of Jordanian youth

Abstract

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is one of the most common mental health disorders around the world. Empirical Research has shown an association between attachment strategies and SAD. This study explores the association between SAD and attachment strategies from a cultural stance, through the LSAS and CaMir assessment tools, among a clinical sample of Jordanian youth with SAD in Amman-Jordan. The sample constituted 63 participants aged between 15-24 years old from private mental health clinics. The results indicated that the most prevalent attachment strategy in the sample is the unresolved attachment strategy (39.7 %). Besides, the attachment strategies distribution for females and males showed no significant difference. Regarding the correlations between SAD and attachment strategies, unresolved attachment strategy was the only one positively significantly correlated with SAD. The severity of SAD did not vary between the attachment strategies for the whole sample, females, and males. Besides, SAD symptoms (avoidance, fear or anxiety) did not differ in each attachment strategy and between the four attachment strategies.