The role of adult attachment styles in psychopathology and psychotherapy outcomes.

Attachment theory provides a model for understanding how the attachment styles formed in infancy systematically affect subsequent psychological functioning across the life span. Attachment styles provide the cognitive schemas, or working models, through which individuals perceive and relate to their worlds. In turn, these schemas predispose the development of psychopathologies and influence outcomes when people undergo psychotherapy. After reviewing recent empirical findings, the authors conclude that an understanding of attachment theory facilitates the conceptualization of clients' problems and the selection of appropriate interventions. Accordingly, attachment styles should be assessed as a standard part of treatment planning. Furthermore, the authors propose that attachment styles should be assessed as individual difference variables in psychotherapy outcome research because adult attachment styles dictate how people perceive and respond to their environments and, therefore, how clients respond differentially to various treatments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Adult Attachment Interview and self-reports of attachment style: An empirical rapprochement.

Although 10 studies have been published on the empirical overlap of the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and measures of self-reported attachment style, results in this literature have been inconsistently interpreted in narrative reviews. This report was designed as a rapprochement of the AAI and attachment style literatures and includes 3 studies. Study 1 (combined N = 961) is a meta-analytic review showing that by J. Cohen's (1992) criteria (mean r = .09), the association between AAI security and attachment style dimensions is trivial to small. Study 2 (N = 160) confirms meta-analytic results with state-of-the-art assessments of attachment security and also examines attachment dimensions in relation to the Big 5 personality traits. Finally, Study 3 is an investigation of 50 engaged couples that shows that developmental and social psychological measures of attachment security predict somewhat distinct--though theoretically anticipated--aspects of functioning in adult relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The stability of individual response styles.

Modeling capabilities for longitudinal data have progressed considerably, but questions remain on the extent to which method bias may negatively affect the validity of longitudinal survey data. The current study addresses the stability of individual response styles. We set up a longitudinal data collection in which the same respondents filled out 2 online questionnaires with nonoverlapping sets of heterogeneous items. Between data collections, there was a 1-year time gap. We simultaneously modeled 4 response styles that capture the major directional biases in questionnaire responses: acquiescence, disacquiescence, midpoint, and extreme response style. Drawing from latent state–trait theory, we specified a 2nd-order factor model with time-invariant and time-specific response style factors and a specifically designed covariance structure for the residual terms. The results indicate that response styles have an important stable component, a small part of which can be explained by demographics. The meaning and implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment in individuals with social anxiety disorder: The relationship among adult attachment styles, social anxiety, and depression.

Despite their apparent implications for social functioning, adult attachment styles have never been specifically explored among persons with social anxiety disorder. In the current study, a cluster analysis of the Revised Adult Attachment Scale (N. L. Collins, 1996) revealed that 118 patients with social anxiety (58.6% males and 41.4% females, mean age 32.43 yrs) were best represented by anxious and secure attachment style clusters. Members of the anxious attachment cluster exhibited more severe social anxiety and avoidance, greater depression, greater impairment, and lower life satisfaction than members of the secure attachment cluster. This pattern was replicated in a separate sample of 56 patients and compared with the pattern found in 36 control participants. Social anxiety mediated the association between attachment insecurity and depression. Findings are discussed in the context of their relevance to the etiology, maintenance, and cognitive-behavioral treatment of social anxiety disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The client-counselor match and the corrective emotional experience: Evidence from interpersonal and attachment research.

Models of brief psychodynamic therapy posit the corrective emotional experience as a key factor in therapeutic change. Although widely taught and used, these models do not have strong empirical support. This article proposes the client-counselor match as a facilitating condition for a corrective emotional experience and reviews the relevant evidence from attachment and interpersonal research. Overall, the notion of the corrective emotional experience has received some support from attachment research, which looks at complementarity of styles at the personality level. Interpersonal research, rather, considers complementarity of actual exchanges in therapy and has yielded mixed results. It thus appears that the validity of the corrective experience has yet to be established, notably through the use of a more fine-grained approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing and interpreting personality change and continuity in patients treated for major depression.

Structural, mean- and individual-level, differential, and ipsative personality continuity were examined in 599 patients treated for major depression assigned to 1 of 6 forms of a 6-month pharmaco-psychotherapy program. Covariation among traits from the Five Factor model remained invariant across treatment, and patients described themselves as slightly more extraverted, open to experience, agreeable and conscientious, and substantially more emotional stable after treatment. Trait changes were only to a small extent explained by changes in depression severity. There was evidence for differential, individual-level, and ipsative stability, with stable personality profiles in terms of shape and to a lesser extent in terms of scatter and elevation. Traits remain relatively stable, except for emotional stability, despite the depressive state and the psychopharmacological interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of adult attachment styles on the association between marital adjustment and depressive symptoms.

This study tested the hypothesis that attachment styles moderate the relationship between marital adjustment and depressive symptoms among husbands and wives. In a sample of 91 married couples, ratings of the anxious-ambivalent attachment style moderated the relationship between marital adjustment and depressive symptoms for both husbands and wives. Additionally, ratings of the secure attachment style moderated the relationship between marital adjustment and depressive symptoms for wives, with a trend for husbands. These findings suggest a relationship between insecurity and a predisposition to depressive symptoms in marital relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of caregiving in adult intimate relationships: An attachment theoretical perspective.

Romantic couples (N?=?194) participated in an investigation of caregiving processes in adulthood. In Phase 1, couple members completed questionnaires designed to identify attachment style differences in caregiving behavior and to explore the underlying (personal and relationship) mechanisms that lead people with different attachment styles to be effective or ineffective caregivers. Results revealed that social support knowledge, prosocial orientation, interdependence, trust, and egoistic motivation mediated the link between attachment style and caregiving. In Phase 2, responsive caregiving was assessed behaviorally by exposing one member of the couple to a stressful laboratory situation and experimentally manipulating his or her need for support. Results revealed that attachment style and mediating mechanisms identified in Phase 1 also predicted observable support behavior in a specific episode in which a partner had a clear need for support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the temporal stability of personality: Evidence for differential stability and the role of life experiences.

The authors investigated the stability of personality and trait affect in young adults. In Studies 1 and 2, young adults were retested on a Big Five personality measure and a trait affect inventory over a 2.5-year and a 2-month period, respectively. Results from Study 1 point to positive mean-level changes; participants scored higher on Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness at Time 2. Affectively, participants experienced less negative affect and more positive affect at Time 2. Results from both retests provide clear evidence of differential stability. Affective traits were consistently less stable than the Big Five. Other analyses suggest that life events influence the stability of affective traits more than the Big Five. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Short-term stability of NEO–PI–R personality trait scores in opioid-dependent outpatients.

The present study examined the short-term stability of personality trait scores from the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO–PI-R) among 230 opioid-dependent outpatients. The NEO–PI-R is a 240-item empirically developed measure of the five-factor model of personality (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness). Participants completed the NEO–Pl-R at admission and again approximately 19 weeks later. Results indicated fair to good stability for all NEO–PI-R factor domain scores, with coefficients ranging from .68 to .74. Stability of NEO–PI-R scores was decreased among potentially invalid response patterns but was not significantly affected by drug-positive versus drug-negative status at follow-up. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The attachment system in fledgling relationships: An activating role for attachment anxiety.

Is it sensible to study attachment dynamics between potential romantic partners before they share a full-fledged attachment bond? The present data indicate that such an approach may reveal novel insights about initial attraction processes. Four studies suggest that the state-like experience of attachment anxiety has functional implications within fledgling (i.e., desired or undeveloped) romantic relationships, well before the formation of an attachment bond. Studies 1 and 3 reveal that attachment anxiety directed toward a particular romantic interest is elevated before (in comparison with after) participants report being in an established relationship. Studies 2 and 3 demonstrate that such partner-specific attachment anxiety predicts attachment-relevant outcomes in fledgling relationships, including proximity seeking, safe haven, secure base, passionate love, and other approach behaviors. These associations were reliable above and beyond (and were typically as strong as or stronger than) the effect of sexual desire. Finally, Study 4 presents evidence that partner-specific attachment anxiety may cause several of these attachment-relevant outcomes. Attachment anxiety seems to be a normative experience and may signal the activation of the attachment system during the earliest stages of romantic relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Internalized homophobia and adult attachment: Implications for clinical practice.

Two hundred eighty-six men and women who identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) were surveyed using measures of attachment, internalized homophobia, shame, and guilt. Results indicated that secure attachment was negatively correlated with internalized homophobia, shame, and guilt. Fearful and preoccupied attachments were positively correlated with these constructs, accounting for 36.9% of the variance in scores. Results are discussed in terms of the therapeutic relationship, with the therapist serving as a secure base for LGB clients working through issues of internalized homophobia and social isolation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Five-factor trait instability in borderline relative to other personality disorders.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is related to five-factor model (FFM) traits and can be characterized as involving psychological and behavioral instability. A previous study comparing the FFM trait stability across individuals with borderline and other personality disorders found that the BPD group tended to have lower stability, particularly on neuroticism and conscientiousness and the overall configuration of FFM profiles over 6 years, suggesting that associated psychological and behavioral variability may be due to trait variability. The current study was designed to test the degree to which these findings replicate in another sample using different diagnostic and trait measures and extending the measurement period to 10 years. Results are consistent with previous findings in showing lower differential (rank-order) stability on conscientiousness, greater mean-level decreases on neuroticism, lower individual-level stability on conscientiousness, and lower ipsative stability of trait profile configurations among those with BPD. However, unlike the previous study, no differences were observed for differential or individual-level neuroticism or mean-level conscientiousness. Overall, findings show that the instability characteristic of BPD extends into typically stable personality traits, and that it does so with some specificity in terms of which traits are affected and how instability manifests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Application of adult attachment theory to group member transference and the group therapy process.

Although clinical researchers have applied attachment theory to client conceptualization and treatment in individual therapy, few researchers have applied this theory to group therapy. The purpose of this article is to begin to apply theory and research on adult dyadic and group attachment styles to our understanding of group dynamics and processes in adult therapy groups. In particular, we set forth theoretical propositions on how group members’ attachment styles affect relationships within the group. Specifically, this article offers some predictions on how identifying group member dyadic and group attachment styles could help leaders predict member transference within the therapy group. Implications of group member attachment for the selection and composition of a group and the different group stages are discussed. Recommendations for group clinicians and researchers are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Volunteer client adult attachment, memory for in-session emotion, and mood awareness: An affect regulation perspective.

In this study, the authors examined relations between volunteer client adult attachment and both (a) memory for negative affect occurring within the first session of therapy and (b) mood awareness (mood labeling and mood monitoring). Participants were 80 volunteer clients (students with a personal issue who volunteered to participate in the research for credit) who participated in 2 counseling sessions with a counselor trainee. As hypothesized, higher levels of attachment anxiety were associated with (a) greater memory for negative affect and (b) more mood monitoring but, contrary to expectation, were not associated with mood labeling. Also contrary to expectation, attachment avoidance was not associated with a minimizing strategy with respect to memory for emotion or monitoring of mood, but it was negatively related to mood labeling. As hypothesized, some evidence emerged for an Attachment Anxiety × Avoidance interaction in predicting memory for negative affect. There were no significant Attachment Anxiety × Avoidance interactions in predicting mood labeling or mood monitoring. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical assessment of attachment patterns and personality disorder in adolescents and adults.

The relevance of attachment theory and research for practice has become increasingly clear. The authors describe a series of studies with 3 aims: (a) to validate measures of attachment for use by clinicians with adolescents and adults, (b) to examine the relation between attachment and personality pathology, and (c) to ascertain whether factor analysis can recover dimensions of attachment reflecting both interpersonal and narrative style. In 3 studies, experienced clinicians provided psychometric data using 1 of 4 attachment questionnaires (2 adolescent and 2 adult samples). Attachment dimensions predicted both personality pathology and developmental experiences in predictable ways. Factor analysis identified 4 dimensions that replicated across adolescent and adult samples on the basis of a combination of interpersonal and narrative indicators: secure, dismissing, preoccupied, and incoherent/disorganized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Client attachment to therapist: Relation to client personality and symptomatology, and their contributions to the therapeutic alliance.

This study examined the relation of client attachment to the therapist to diverse facets of the therapeutic alliance, client personality, and psychopathological symptoms, as well as the relative importance of therapeutic attachments, personality, and symptomatology in predicting the alliance. Eighty clients in ongoing therapy completed measures of client attachment to therapist (CATS), personality (6FPQ), psychopathological symptoms (BSI), and therapeutic alliance (WAI–Short, CALPAS, HAQ). Secure and Avoidant–Fearful attachment to the therapist correlated positively and negatively, respectively, with total and subscale alliance scores. Preoccupied-Merger therapeutic attachment was unrelated to the alliance. Exploratory analyses suggested however that the relationship between Preoccupied–Merger attachment and the alliance was moderated by the extent to which clients were distressed. Clients' therapeutic attachments were unrelated to basic personality dimensions. Preoccupied–Merger attachment to the therapist correlated significantly with several symptom dimensions. Clients' therapeutic attachments emerged as superior and more consistent predictors, relative to client personality and symptomatology, of the therapeutic alliance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child-care and family predictors of preschool attachment and stability from infancy.

This study used multinomial logistic regression to examine relationships between child-care experience (in the context of overall family functioning) and preschool attachment. Attachment behavior was assessed at 36 months with the Strange Situation, and A, B, C, and D attachment classifications were assigned using the MacArthur coding system. Maternal sensitivity was the strongest predictor of preschool attachment classification. With respect to child-care effects, as at 15 months, no child-care factors (quantity, quality, or type) predicted, in and of themselves, attachment security at 36 months. However, 1 of 3 interactions involving child care that were detected at 15 months reemerged at 36 months: When maternal sensitivity was low, more hours per week in care somewhat increased the risk of the insecure-ambivalent (C) classification. There was significant but modest stability of attachment classifications from 15 to 36 months, especially for children with A and C classifications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dating couples' attachment styles and patterns of cortisol reactivity and recovery in response to a relationship conflict.

This study investigated theoretically predicted links between attachment style and a physiological indicator of stress, salivary cortisol levels, in 124 heterosexual dating couples. Cortisol was assessed at 7 points before and after an experimental conflict negotiation task, creating a trajectory of stress reactivity and recovery for each participant. Growth modeling of cortisol data tested hypotheses that (a) insecurely attached individuals show patterns of greater physiological stress reactions to interpersonal conflict than do securely attached individuals and (b) people with insecurely attached partners show patterns of greater stress in reaction to relationship conflict than those with securely attached partners. Hypothesis 1 was supported, but men and women differed in the type of insecure attachment that predicted stress trajectories. Hypothesis 2 was supported for men, but not for women. The discussion emphasizes the role of gender role norms and partner characteristics in understanding connections between adult attachment and patterns of cortisol responses to interpersonal stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An empirical comparison of two methods of test selection and weighting.

Based on data on 9 tests for 2 samples of Navy trainees (N = 184, 176) the Wherry-Doolittle Test Selection Technique was compared with a short-cut method proposed by Jenkins, using a table. The composite r between Grade Point Average and the predicted composite for the Wherry-Doolittle method was .648, while that for Jenkin's method was .646. Jenkin's method takes one-fifth to one-eighth less time than the Wherry-Doolittle. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)