Does adult attachment style mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental and physical health outcomes? (original) (raw)
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Adult attachment style as mediator between childhood neglect/abuse and adult depression and anxiety
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2006
j Abstract Background There has been little prospective investigation of the relationship between adult attachment style and clinical levels of anxiety and major depression. This paper seeks to address this, as well as examining the potentially mediating role of adult insecure attachment styles in the relationship between childhood adverse experience and adult disorder. Methods 154 high-risk community women studied in 1990-1995, were followed-up in 1995-1999 to test the role of insecure attachment style in predicting new episodes of anxiety and/or major depressive disorder. The Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse (CECA) and the Attachment Style Interview (ASI) were administered at first interview and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) administered at first and follow-up interview. Major depression and clinical level anxiety disorders (GAD, Social Phobia or Panic and/or Agoraphobia) were assessed at first contact and for the intervening follow-up period. Results 55% (85/154) of the women had at least one case level disorder in the follow-up period. Only markedly or moderately (but not mildly) insecure attachment styles predicted both major depression and case anxiety in follow-up. Some specificity was determined with Fearful style significantly associated both with depression and Social Phobia, and Angry-Dismissive style only with GAD. Attachment style was unrelated to Panic Disorder and/or Agoraphobia. In addition, Fearful and Angrydismissive styles were shown to partially mediate the relationship between childhood adversity and depression or anxiety. Conclusion In order to correctly interpret lifespan models of adult psychiatric disorder, it is necessary to test for mediating factors. Attachment theory provides a framework for explaining how dysfunctional interpersonal style arising from early childhood perpetuates vulnerability to affective disorders. This has implications for intervention and treatment to break cycles of risk. j
The effects of experienced childhood maternal abuse on adult attachment styles
2007
The relationship between experienced maternal abuse and the development of an insecure attachment style was examined. Data was collected via selfreport questionnaires in a large, urban college campus. The questionnaires used were the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS-2, Straus, Hamby, Boney-McCoy, & Sugarman, 1996) and Attachment Questionnaire (AQ, Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991). The sample included 81 females and 86 males, ranging in age from 18-57 years old. No significant correlation was found between the experience of maternal abuse and the development of a fearful attachment style. The results did support a significant correlation between maternal abuse and the development of an insecure-dismissive attachment style. Future research is needed with more diverse samples that consist of more variability in abuse.
Child Abuse & Neglect, 1997
Objective: The primary aim was to determine the relative contributions of early attachment and abuse history to adult attachment, depression, and conflict resolution behaviors. Differences between abused and nonabused respondents were also assessed. Method: A multi-scale questionnaire was completed by 879 college students. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to answer the primary research question, and analyses also compared the 26.4% of respondents who reported childhood abuse with those who did not. Results: Respondents who indicated they had been abused as children reported less secure childhood and adult relationships than their nonabused counterparts. They were also more depressed and more likely to use destructive behaviors in conflict situations. Although both adult romantic attachment and respondents' depression scores were best accounted for by childhood attachment to mother and father rather than abuse history, the opposite pattern of results emerged for conflict resolution behaviors. In this case, abuse history was the stronger predictor, and parental attachment did not account for any significant additional variance. Conclusions: Results suggest that the long-term impact of childhood abuse may be mediated by early attachment experiences, whereas the long-term impact of abuse on conflict resolution behaviors may be considerably more direct.
Development and psychopathology, 2017
The present report used data from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation to investigate the factor structure and childhood abuse and/or neglect related antecedents of adults' attachment states of mind in a high-risk sample. Adult Attachment Interviews (AAIs) were collected when participants were age 26 years (N = 164) and Current Relationship Interviews (CRIs) were collected from participants (N = 116) and their romantic partners when target participants were between ages 20 and 28 years (M = 25.3 years). For both the AAI and the CRI, exploratory factor analyses revealed that (a) attachment state of mind scales loaded on two weakly correlated dimensions reflecting dismissing and preoccupied states of mind and (b) ratings of unresolved discourse loaded on the same factor as indicators of preoccupied states of mind. Experiencing any subtype of abuse and/or neglect, especially during multiple developmental periods, and experiencing multiple subtypes of abuse and/or...
This study examined the theoretically expected contributions of early emotional abuse, adult attachment, and depression to several aspects of romantic relationship functioning. College students in dating relationships (N = 285) completed an online survey, including measures of childhood emotional maltreatment, adult attachment style, psychological distress, and romantic relationships. Results indicated that childhood emotional maltreatment directly predicted insecure adult attachment. In the full models, emotional maltreatment contributed to dyadic adjustment, but was not a significant predictor of psychological aggression or victimization. In contrast, depression accounted for the largest proportion of variance in the models for reported psychological aggression and victimization, but was nonsignificant for dyadic adjustment. Adult attachment style emerged as an important predictor of all 3 relationship constructs. A vast body of empirical literature supports the association between most forms of childhood maltreatment and a variety of deleterious outcomes in adolescence and adulthood. One exception, however, is that much less is
Impact of maternal childhood abuse history on child’s attachment problems
Background : The aim of this study was to investigate the independent impact of maternal childhood abuse history (MCAH), after controlling for maternal past, current parenting, and paternal past parenting, and maternal mental health (MMH) on the attachment problems of children living in mother-child homes in Japan. Methods : A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted among mothers (N=306) staying in 83 mother-child homes in Japan to assess mothers’ and fathers’ maltreatment toward their children before moving into the homes, mothers’ current maltreatment, MMH and MCAH in relation to their children’s (N=310) attachment problems. Results : MCAHs were significantly and independently associated with children’s attachment problems after controlling for maternal past, current maltreatment, and paternal past maltreatment. Among covariates, MMH, especially dissociation, was independently significantly associated with children’s attachment problems. Conclusions : The finding that MCAH has a significant impact on children’s attachment problems, independent of parental maltreatment, suggests inter-generational continuity of child maltreatment.
Attachment styles, abuse experiences and depression
Educational Research Review, 2013
This study aims to examine the relationship between abuse experiences, depression and attachment styles. The data for this study was collected from 251 students (123 females and 128 males) who attend Mersin University. As a part of the data collection, students completed the Experiences in Affiliation Inventory, Childhood Trauma Scale and Brief Symptom Inventory. Pearson product-moment correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the data. According to the analyses, a positive relationship was found between attachment styles, trauma and depression. According to the results of the regression analysis, avoidant attachment style and physical trauma significantly predict depression level. On the other hand, it was found that anxious attachment and emotional and sexual trauma do not contribute to depression levels among university students. Language: en
The Relationship Between Adult Attachment and Trauma
2010
Prior research has suggested a complex relationship between childhood interpersonal traumas perpetrated by attachment figures and the experience of trauma in adulthood. Very little is known, however, about how various forms of childhood interpersonal abuse and neglect affect trauma sequelae and adult romantic attachment in women during the childbearing years. Using a sample of postpartum women (N = 104), this study examined the associations between a history of attachment-related traumas (operationalized as childhood interpersonal abuse and neglect) and complex trauma sequelae believed to be unique to victims of interpersonal traumas; the possible role that adult romantic attachment anxiety and avoidance (i.e., insecurity-security) may have in understanding these associations was also investigated. This study also examined the associations between secure base scripts, or cognitive structures thought to underlie internal working models of attachment established early in life, and attachment-related traumas, the adult romantic attachment dimensions of anxiety and avoidance, and complex trauma outcomes. Results of this study indicated that attachment-related traumas were associated with adult romantic attachment anxiety and avoidance and complex trauma outcomes, and that adult romantic attachment insecurity-security may be an important mechanism by which early attachment-related traumas influence later complex trauma outcomes. In addition, while results indicated a significant relationship between the two types of secure base scripts, findings revealed no relationship between secure base scriptedness and attachment-related traumas or adult romantic attachment insecurity-security. Finally, both types of secure base scriptedness were related to a self-report measure of trauma-related cognitions. Implications of study findings are discussed in light of previous literature and attachment and trauma theories.
Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 2010
The purpose of this article is to review the theoretical and empirical literature regarding the normative development of the attachment system from infancy through adulthood, and then discuss deviations from the normal developmental pathways that occur in response to emotionally abusive parenting (e.g., strong rejection, intrusive or controlling, hostile, or frightening behavior). A theoretical model grounded in attachment theory is
Attachment Styles and Aggression in Physically Abused and Neglected Children
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 2001
Attachment theory provides a valuable conceptual model for understanding the role of the parent-child relationship and its consequences for the child's emerging selfconcept and view of the social world. Attachment style is an individual-difference variable that is rooted in the child's early rearing experience and provides the context for later emotional, behavioral, and cognitive transactions with the environment. The aim of this study was to compare physically abused (n = 41), and neglected children (n = 38) with nonabused/nonneglected children (n = 35) aged 6-12 years, in terms of their attachment styles and their levels of aggression. We found that the physically abused children were significantly characterized by the avoidant attachment style and manifested significantly higher levels of aggression, and the neglected children were significantly characterized with the anxious/ambivalent attachment style. The strategies that the physically abused and neglected children adapted for interactions with their parents also marked their relationships outside the family. Thus, physically abused children are at risk of antisocial behavior and sustained suspicion toward the others, and neglected children are at risk of social withdrawal, and social rejection and feelings of incompetence.