<p>To date, researchers who have studied the relationship between attachment representations and mindfulness have consistently reported significant associations with attachment anxiety and but arrived at mixed conclusions concerning the associations with attachment avoidance. In this study, we tested John Bowlby’s proposition that the attachment system was not always “on” but engaged when individuals experienced a threat or stressor that triggered a need for felt security to explain the inconsistent associations between attachment avoidance and mindfulness. Our sample included 727 undergraduate student participants ranging in age from 17 to 56&#xa0;years from a small Canadian University who completed an online survey consisting of measures of attachment, mindfulness, levels of perceived stress, and depressive symptoms. Structural Equation Modeling techniques were used to test the hypothesized relationships between attachment, mindfulness, and distress. Our findings clearly highlighted support for Bowlby’s caution that it is always necessary to consider distress when examining the effects of attachment. Specifically, the results of our structural model suggested an indirect effect for attachment anxiety supporting that the effects of attachment anxiety on mindfulness were completely mediated through distress; however, the effects of attachment avoidance were only partially mediated by distress – both direct and indirect effects were found. Our findings suggest a number of things that relationship researchers may wish to consider including the importance of distress when exploring the effects of attachment and the importance of individuals’ view of other people on the success of interventions.</p>