Objective To explore the influence of attachment anxiety on subjective well-being of warship officers and soldiers, and reveal the mediating roles of self-esteem and negative emotions between them. Methods A total of 288 warship officers and soldiers were enrolled by convenience sampling method. Adult attachment scale, self-esteem scale, generalized anxiety disorder-7 items scale, patient health questionnaire-9 and Memorial University of Newfoundland scale of happiness were used for questionnaire survey. Pearson correlation analysis, multiple linear regression analysis and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the relationships between attachment anxiety, self-esteem, negative emotions and subjective well-being. Results Correlation analysis showed that attachment anxiety, self-esteem, anxiety, depression and subjective well-being were significantly correlated (all P＜0.01). Multiple regression analysis showed that attachment anxiety, self-esteem, depression and anxiety could jointly predict 42.4% of subjective well-being. The analysis of chain mediating effect (χ²/df＝0.170, P＝0.844, good fit index [GFI] ＝0.999, adjusted GFI＝0.996, normative fit index [FI] ＝0.999, relative FI＝ 0.997, comparative FI＝1.000, root mean square error of approximation＝0.000) showed that self-esteem and negative emotions played complete chain mediating roles between attachment anxiety and subjective well-being. Conclusion Attachment anxiety of warship officers and soldiers can affect their subjective well-being not only through the mediation of self-esteem and negative emotions, but also through the complete chain mediation of self-esteem and negative emotions.