Attachment Anxiety and Solitude in the Age of Smartphones

The incapacity to tolerate and benefit from solitude is theorized to originate in deficits in the early caregiving environment and has been implicated in adult psychopathology. Attachment anxiety, theoretically linked to an incapacity to be alone, has been shown to positively predict smartphone dependency among young adults. The present study examined the relationships between attachment anxiety, the capacity to be alone, and smartphone dependency among young adults. It was hypothesized that the association between attachment anxiety and smartphone dependency would be mediated by the capacity to be alone. Participants were 181 ethnically diverse young adults. Personality variables and smartphone dependency were assessed via self-report. Smartphone use was measured behaviorally through Apple’s Screen Time smartphone application. Greater attachment anxiety was associated with greater smartphone dependency; this relationship was mediated by the capacity to be alone. By contrast, neither attachment anxiety nor the capacity to be alone was predictive of actual smartphone use. These results inform our understanding of smartphone dependency and underscore the importance of the capacity to be alone for psychological well-being.