Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-dnltx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-16T16:49:30.286Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Romantic Attachment in Patients with Mood and Anxiety Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

Donatella Marazziti ,
Bernardo Dell'Osso ,
Mario Catena Dell'Osso ,
Giorgio Consoli ,
Alessandro Del Debbio ,
Francesco Mungai ,
Laura Vivarelli ,
Francesco Albanese ,
Armando Piccinni  and
Paola Rucci
...Show all authors
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Introduction

Romantic attachment is the establishment of a relationship with a partner and is strongly influenced by the individual's attachment style. While several studies have shown that attachment style may contribute to the development of psychopathology, less information is available for romantic attachment.The aim of the present study was to compare romantic attachment styles among patients with different mood and anxiety disorders and control subjects.

Method

The study sample included a total of 126 outpatients, 62 of whom were affected by bipolar disorders, 22 by major depressive disorder (MDD), 27 by panic disorder, 15 by obsessive-compulsive disorder, and 126 healthy control subjects. Romantic attachment was assessed by means of the Italian version of the “Experiences in Close Relationships” (ECR) questionnaire.

Results

The results showed that the secure attachment style was more frequent in the control group, while the preoccupied style prevailed among the patients, with no difference among the diagnostic categories.The scores of the ECR anxiety and avoidance scales were significantly higher in the patients than in the control subjects. A trend toward higher ECR anxiety scale scores in women with panic disorder was detected, with the opposite being true for MDD.

Conclusion

Our findings indicate that patients with different psychiatric disorders would be characterized by higher scores on both the ECR anxiety and the avoidance scales, as well as by the preoccupied style of attachment. In addition, women with panic disorder and MDD seem to be characterized by, respectively, higher and lower scores of the ECR anxiety scale than men.

Type
Original Research
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 12 , Issue 10 , October 2007 , pp. 751 - 756
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.Ainsworth, MDS, Blehar, MC, Waters, E, Wall, S. Patterns of Attachment: Assessed in the Strange Situation and at Home. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Inc; 1978.Google Scholar
2.Bifulco, A, Moran, PM, Ball, C, Lillie, A. Adult attachment style. II. Its relationship to psychosocial depressive-vulnerability. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2002;37:60–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Bowlby, J. Attachment and Loss: Attachment. New York, NY: Basic Books; 1969.Google Scholar
4.Bowlby, J. Attachment and Loss. Separation: Anxiety and Anger. New York, NY: Basic Books; 1973.Google Scholar
5.Bowlby, J. Attachment and Loss: Loss, Sadness and Depression. New York, NY: Basic Books; 1980.Google Scholar
6.Klohnen, EC, Bera, SJ. Behavioral and experiential patterns of avoidantly and securely attached women across adulthood: a 31-year longitudinal perspective. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1998;74:211–223.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Waters, E, Merrick, S, Treboux, D, Crowell, J, Albersheim, L. Attachment security in infancy and early adulthood: a twenty-year longitudinal study. Child Dev. 2000;71:684–689.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Gillespie, CF, Nemeroff, CB. Early life stress and depression: childhood trauma may lead to neurobiologically unique mood disorders. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2005;10:1–7.Google Scholar
9.Kaufman, J, Plotsky, PM, Nemeroff, CB, Charney, DS. Effects of early adverse experiences on brain structure and function: clinical implications. Biol Psychiatry. 2000;15;48:778–790.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Amini, F, Lewis, T, Lannon, L, et al.Affect, attachment, memory: contributions toward psychobiologic integration. Psychiatry. 1996;59:213–239.Google ScholarPubMed
11.Siegel, DJ. The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are. New York, NY: Guilford Press; 1999.Google Scholar
12.Grossman, KE, Grossman, K. Attachment Across the Life Cycle. London, England: Routledge Press; 1991:45–67.Google Scholar
13.Goldberg, D. Vulnerability, destabilization and restitution in anxious depression. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2003;418(suppl 2):81–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Allen, JP, Hauser, ST, Borman-Spurrell, E. Attachment theory as a framework for understanding sequelae of severe adolescent psychopathology: an 11-year follow-up study. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1996;64:254–263.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15.Bartholomew, K, Horowitz, LM. Attachment styles among young adults: a test of a four-category model. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1991;61:226–244.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Troisi, A, D'Argenio, A. The relationship between anger and depression in a clinical sample of young men: the role of insecure attachment. J Affect Disord. 2004;79:269–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Hazan, C, Shaver, P. Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1987;52:511–524.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18.Brennan, KA, Clark, CL, Shaver, PR. Attachment Theory and Close Relationships. New York, NY: Guilford Press; 1998:46–76.Google Scholar
19.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press; 1994.Google Scholar
20.First, MB, Spitzer, RL, Gibbon, M, Williams, JBW, eds. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders–Patient Edition (SCID-IP Version 2.0 4/97 revision). New York, NY: Biometrics Research Department, New York State Psychiatric Institute; 1997.Google Scholar
21.Picardi, A, Bitetti, D, Puddu, P, Pasquini, P. Further evidence of the validity of the Italian version of the questionnaire “Experiences in Close Relationships” (ECR): a self-report instrument to assess adult attachment [Italian]. The Italian Journal of Psychopathology. 2000;35:114–120.Google Scholar
22.Gjerde, PF, Onishi, M, Carlson, KS. Personality characteristics associated with romantic attachment: a comparison of interview and self-report methodologies. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2004;30:1402–1415.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23.Riggs, GA, Paulson, A, Tunnell, E, Sahl, G, Atkinson, HI, Ross, CA. Attachment, personality, and psychopathology among adult inpatients: self-reported romantic attachment style versus Adult Attachment Interview states of mind. Dev Psychopathol. 2007;19:263–269.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24.Mickelson, KD, Kessler, RC, Shaker, PR. Adult attachment in a nationally representative sample. J Pers Soc Psychology. 1997;73:1092–1106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25.van IJzendoorn, MH. Adult attachment representations, parental responsiveness, and infant attachment: a meta-analysis on the predictive validity of the Adult Attachment Interview. Psychol Bull. 1995;117:387–403.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26.van IJzendoorn, MH, Bakermans-Kranenburg, MJ. Attachment representations in mother, father, adolescents, and clinical groups: a meta-analytic search for normative data. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1996;64:1:8–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27.Fonagy, P, Leigh, T, Steele, M, et al.The relation of attachment status, psychiatric classification, and response to psychotherapy. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1996;64:22–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
28.West, M, Rose, MS, Verhoef, MJ, Spreng, S, Bobey, M. Anxious attachment and self-reported depressive symptomatology in women. Can J Psychiatry. 1998;43:294–297.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
29.de Ruiter, C, van Ijzendoorn, MH. Agoraphobia and anxious-ambivalent attachment: an integrative review. J Anxiety Disord. 1992;6:365–381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30.Sperling, MB, Sharp, JL, Fishler, PH. On the nature of attachment in a borderline population: a preliminary investigation. Psychol Report. 1991;68:543–546.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31.Evans, L, Wertheim, EH. Intimacy patterns and relationship satisfaction of women with eating problems and the mediating effects of depression, trait anxiety and social anxiety. J Psychosom Res. 1998;44:355–365.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
32.Muller, RT, Sicoli, LA, Lemieux, KE. Relationship between attachment style and posttraumatic stress symptomatology among adults who report the experience of childhood abuse. J Trauma Stress. 2000;13;2:321–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
33.Fonagy, P, Steele, H, Steele, M. Maternal representations of attachment during pregnancy predict the organization of infant-mother attachment at one year of age. Child Dev. 1991;62:891–905.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
34.Radke-Yarrow, M, Cummings, EM, Kuczynski, L, Chapman, M. Patterns of attachment in two- and three-year-olds in normal families and families with parental depression. Child Dev. 1985;56:884–893.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
35.Myhr, G, Sookman, D, Pinard, G. Attachment security and parental bonding in adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder: a comparison with depressed out-patients and healthy controls. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2004;109:447–456.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed