Self-inconsistency and attachment insecurity mediate and moderate the association between anxiety and reasons for living in Chinese college students

Suicide remains a major public health concern, and reasons for living are an important protective factor against suicide risk. However, the processes through which anxiety relates to reasons for living are not well specified. Drawing on self-system and attachment theories, this cross-sectional study tested whether self-inconsistency and attachment avoidance mediate, and attachment anxiety moderates, the association between anxiety and reasons for living among Chinese college students. Participants were 416 undergraduates who completed measures of anxiety, reasons for living, self-inconsistency, and adult attachment. Bootstrapped regression analyses (5000 resamples) indicated that higher anxiety was associated with fewer reasons for living. These relationships were mediated by self-inconsistency and attachment avoidance, and moderated by attachment anxiety, such that the negative effect of anxiety on reasons for living was stronger at higher levels of attachment anxiety. These findings indicate that intrapersonal self-system disruption and attachment-related coping processes account for a significant portion of the association between anxiety and diminished reasons for living, underscoring the distinct contributions of attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety in college populations.