TITLE:
Personality Vulnerability as a Mediator between Attachment and Depression: The Moderating Role of Self-Esteem
AUTHORS:
Antonios Kalamatianos, Lissy Canellopoulos, Kalliope Kounenou, Ntina Kourmousi
KEYWORDS:
Depression, Attachment, Dependency, Self-Criticism, Self-Esteem
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.14 No.8,
August
27,
2026
ABSTRACT: Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of insecure attachment to depression, through the mediation of personality vulnerability and the simultaneous moderation of self-esteem, in the context of a two configurations psychodynamic conceptual framework, namely interpersonal relatedness and self-definition. Methods and Measures: The participants were 323 outpatients, recruited from mental health centers and the psychiatric departments of general hospitals in Athens, Greece. They were administered the Cartes de Modèles Individuels de Relations—CAMIR, the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire—DEQ, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale—RSES, and the Beck Depression Inventory—BDI. We employed hierarchical regression and moderated mediation analysis. Results: Depression correlated negatively with self-esteem and positively with all the other measures and was significantly predicted by all the variables. Consistent to our expectations, results also indicated that the self-critical mediating process, that is responsible for producing the effect of the detached attachment style on depressive symptoms, depends significantly on the value of self-esteem. However, the, mediated by dependency, association between preoccupied attachment pattern and depressive symptomatology was not significantly moderated by self-esteem. Discussion: The identification of at-risk individuals and the selection of the suitable and effective intervention may be especially helpful for the clinicians who work with individuals with depression.