Title: Explaining the relationship between love addiction, insecure attachment and psychopathological processes: The role of personality characteristics
Abstract:
Background: The scientific evidence suggests that love addiction (LA) is a disordered relationship pattern, characterised by an obsessive need for a partner and a significant challenge in tolerating separation (Peele & Brodsky, 1975). A recent extensive body of literature questions the understanding of the construct (for recent meta-analyses see Cavalli et al., 2025) and the emotional and relational factors involved in the manifestation of LA (Redcay & McMahon, 2021). However, extant studies have focused principally on attachment patterns and psychopathological manifestations, thereby neglecting the potential influence of personality traits.
Purpose: The present study examined the joint role of attachment styles, psychopathological processes and personality traits in understanding individual differences in dysfunctional relationship patterns such as love addiction.
Methods: 1,230 participants (73,5% girls) were invited to answer an online battery of self-reported questionnaires administered through social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp).
Results: A series of mediation models show that personality traits are the best mediators for explaining the relationship between attachment and love addiction. In particular, separation anxiety (=1.36, p<.001), emotional lability (=.69, p<.001), and anxiety (=.90, p<.001) mediate the effects of anxious attachment on love addiction.
Conclusion: Findings suggest that is importance of considering personality traits, in addition to emotional-relational factors, as factors capable of explaining the manifestation of LA. The data also provide an important update to the current literature and a useful starting point for future research.
