Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/808749
being close with other people. Someone high on at tachment avoida nce wou ld feel ver y uncomfor table being close to someone. ... The genera l idea is, if you're high on either or both of those dimen- sions, you are more likely to experience stress in your ever yday life." Children in low-SES households a re believed to form insecure attachments more frequently for a variety of reasons. For example, parents may work multiple jobs or lon ger hou rs a nd, t hus, have less time to spend with their children. To determine the role attachment ori- entation may play in faci litating t he relationship bet ween low chi ld hood SES a nd poor adult hea lth, resea rchers f rom R ice Un iversit y a na ly zed dat a f rom P it t sbu rg h Cold St udy 3 . A lso know n a s The Common Cold Project, Pittsburgh Cold Study 3 obta ined self- repor ted information about measures such as childhood SES and adult hea lth from 213 hea lthy pa r ticipa nts who live in the Pittsburgh a rea . Study results suppor ted ea rlier f ind- ings showing a direct link between low childhood SES a nd poor self-repor ted adult hea lth. Adults whose childhood SES ra nked in the bot tom 25 percent h a d 65 percent poorer a du lt hea lt h r e g a r d l e s s o f t h e i r c u r r e n t S E S . Beyond providing a n additiona l layer of ev idence for t he SES-adu lt hea lt h association, the study found that attach- ment anxiety may be a partia l mediator of this association. Low childhood SES was linked with higher levels of attach- ment anxiety, which is related to higher levels of stress throughout the lifespan. T he h i g her respondent s rat ed t hei r stress levels, the poorer their overa ll self-reported hea lth. This pathway was obser ved only for attachment a n xiet y. " The impor ta nt piece that this adds to the literature is that attachment ori- entation a nd, specif ica lly, attachment a n xiet y may be one of the underly ing mecha nisms bet ween socioeconomic stat us a nd poor hea lt h later i n li fe," Murdock says. "... Fea r of aba ndonment a nd t he st ress a ssociat ed w it h t hat could be driving [this] effect." ■ " Early experiences matter a lot. So, investing in early daycare, investing in helping parents who might not have the means to give quality care to their child because they're working three jobs — that kind of stuff isn't just important in the moment. It really affects people across the lifespan." ¢ CHRISTOPHER FAGUNDES, PhD, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY AT RICE UNIVERSITY AND SENIOR AUTHOR OF THE ANNALS OF BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE STUDY 2 1 M D N E W S .C O M /// M D N E W S S A N A N T O N I O ■ 2 017