Karagiannopoulou, Evangelia;
Lianos, Panagiotis;
Andriopoulou, Panoraia;
Rentzios, Christos;
Fonagy, Peter;
(2025)
Attachment and epistemic trust in junior and senior university students. The mediating role of affect regulation and mentalizing. Who is at risk?
PLoS ONE
, 20
(8)
, Article e0304749. 10.1371/journal.pone.0304749.
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Abstract
Research on emotional factors and mental health in higher education has gained traction. Much attention has focused on first-year students as a potentially at-risk group, though some studies suggest that all students might face similar risks. This study examines differences between junior and senior undergraduates in terms of mentalizing, emotion regulation (ER), and psychological mindedness, involving cognitive capacities significantly developed by late adolescence. These constructs relate to understanding one’s own and others’ mental states, potentially mediating the relationship between attachment and epistemic trust (ET). The current study includes 460 undergraduate students, most of whom are female (96%). Results show that senior students score higher on reappraisal, certainty, and interest/curiosity compared to junior students. However, these factors did not mediate the relationship between anxious attachment orientation and ET. Certainty and interest/curiosity mediated the relationship between avoidant attachment orientation and ET, suggesting similar mediation patterns for junior and senior students. On the other hand, suppression and uncertainty/confusion were critical mediators in the relationship between insecure (anxious and avoidant) attachment orientations and epistemic trust. Findings suggest that universities should (a) foster environments that support psychological capacity and facilitate positive learning experiences, and (b) enhance epistemic trust through safe curiosity and develop protective and preventive interventions.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Attachment and epistemic trust in junior and senior university students. The mediating role of affect regulation and mentalizing. Who is at risk? |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0304749 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304749 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2025 Karagiannopoulou et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10209491 |
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