Depressive symptoms and attachment with mother and father in Iranian young adults: The mediating role of reflective functioning and loneliness

To better understand the attachment-depression link among undergraduate students in Iran, the current study examined reflective functioning (RF) and loneliness as variables explaining the relationship between attachment avoidance and anxiety and depressive symptoms. Participants were 423 undergraduate female students in Tehran, Iran, aged between 18 and 25 years old. Participants reported attachment anxiety and avoidance with both parents (ECR-RS), as well as reflective functioning (RFQ-17) and Loneliness (UCLA). Multiple mediation analyses revealed that reflective functioning and loneliness partially explained the relationship between avoidant and anxious attachment toward both parents and depressive symptoms. Results suggested that reflective functioning and loneliness provide two distinctive explanations of the link between insecure attachment and depressive symptoms.