The mediating role of mentalization and depression in the relationship between adult attachment and existential anger

The model of this study predicts that insecure attachment, especially when triggered by a real or potential loss, rejection or abandonment, would be inclined to generate depressive symptoms due to the inadequacy of the mentalization capacity and as a consequence the depression would likely to arouse existential anger. Existential anger, the dependent variable of the study, is an intense, fundamental, pre-intentional rage against the meaninglessness of life and being obliged to endure and suffer a life that has not been chosen. Derived from the concept of existential anxiety, however distinct from the other derivatives, existential anger is situated towards meaninglessness and is perceived to be an issue of attachment difficulties. The mediating variable of the study, mentalization is the capacity to conceive of mental states such as feelings, thoughts, desires, beliefs, attitudes, needs, goals and intentions, as the explanations of behavior in oneself and in others. Being both explicit and implicit, cognitive and affective, past and present oriented, mentalization encompasses the related concepts of empathy, mindfulness, psychological mindedness and incorporates more than each one of these concepts individually possess. Inadequate mentalization is analyzed in two sub-dimensions, which are hypomentalization and hypermentalization. The evaluation of mentalization is conducted by The Reflective Functioning Questionnaire. The second mediating variable of the study, depression, is measured by Beck Depression Inventory. The other questionnaires utilized in the study are Experience in Close Relationships-II and Existential Anger Scale as well as a demographic form used to collect personal information about the participants. The hypotheses of the study were tested on a sample of 441 participants, using Structural Equation Modeling for nested models methodology. The results of the study indicated that hypomentalization mediated the relationship between both avoidant and anxious attachment styles and depression. However, hypermentalization did not have a significant mediating role on this relationship. The other finding of the study confirmed that depression mediated the relationship between avoidant and anxious attachment styles and existential anger. The secondary aim of the study was to determine the attachment styles of the participants by applying K-means cluster analysis and to report whether the attachment styles led to any significant differences in the demografic characteristics of the participants.