The Comparison of Attachment Styles in People with and Without Coronary Artery Disease

The present study compared attachment styles in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and healthy controls (non-CAD subjects).
This was a descriptive study with an ex-post facto design. The sample included 60 people (30 patients with CAD and 30 healthy controls), attending the office of an interventional cardiologist in Mashhad, selected by a convenience sampling method. They completed the adult attachment questionnaire. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance.
The results of multivariate analysis of variance revealed that there was a significant difference in attachment styles between CAD patients and healthy controls so that healthy controls in the secure attachment style and CAD patients in the insecure attachment styles had a higher score.
The findings confirm that attachment styles are more insecure in CAD patients than in healthy people. These results suggest that insecure attachment styles increase the risk of coronary heart disease.