The impact of attachment and coping on post-surgical recovery in older adults

States of dependency in 70 older men (age 55 to 83) were examined as a key mechanism in the recovery from a coronary bypass procedure. Attachment traits and coping strategies were hypothesized to be important predictors of health, anxiety and depression in this population. Coping was hypothesized to act as a mediator on the relationship between attachment and mental and physical health. In general, coping did not mediate attachment on the outcome variables. However, emotion-focused coping was shown to mediate preoccupied traits on anxiety. More general predictions regarding the impact of attachment traits and coping on depression, anxiety, physical functioning, and general health were partly supported. Medium effect sizes were calculated for the relationship between emotion-focused coping and anxiety, and for planning coping on physical functioning. A medium to large effect size resulted for the relationship between preoccupied traits and anxiety. Notably, secure attachment traits were significant predictors of general health, although the effect was small to medium in size.