Attachment anxiety and avoidance as mediators of the association between childhood maltreatment and adult personality dysfunction

Cohen, Lisa J.; Ardalan, Firouz; Tanis, Thachell; Halmi, Winter; Galynker, Igor; von Wyl, Agnes; Hengartner, Michael Pascal

doi:10.1080/14616734.2016.1253639

Publication type:	Article in scientific journal
Type of review:	Peer review (publication)
Title:	Attachment anxiety and avoidance as mediators of the association between childhood maltreatment and adult personality dysfunction
Authors:	Cohen, Lisa J. Ardalan, Firouz Tanis, Thachell Halmi, Winter Galynker, Igor von Wyl, Agnes Hengartner, Michael Pascal
DOI:	10.1080/14616734.2016.1253639
Published in:	Attachment & Human Development
Volume(Issue):	19
Issue:	1
Page(s):	58
Pages to:	75
Issue Date:	2017
Publisher / Ed. Institution:	Routledge
ISSN:	1461-6734 1469-2988
Language:	English
Subject (DDC):	155: Differential and developmental psychology 616.8: Neurology, diseases of nervous system
Abstract:	This paper tests the hypothesis that the association between childhood maltreatment and adult personality dysfunction is at least partially attributable to insecure attachment, that is that attachment style mediates the relationship between childhood maltreatment and adult personality dysfunction. Associations between childhood trauma, as measured by the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), anxious and avoidant attachment in romantic relationships, as measured by the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R), and five personality domains, as measured by the Severity Indices of Personality Problems (SIPP-118), were examined in a sample of 72 psychiatric inpatients. The SIPP-118 domains included relational capacities, identity integration, self-control, responsibility, and social concordance. The direct effect of childhood trauma on all SIPP-118 domains was not significant after controlling for the indirect effect of attachment. In regression modeling, a significant indirect effect of childhood trauma via adult attachment style was found for SIPP-118 relational capacities, identity integration, self-control, and social concordance. Specifically, anxious attachment was a significant mediator of the effect of childhood trauma on self-control, identity integration, and relational domains. These results suggest that childhood trauma impacts a broad range of personality domains and does so in large part through the pathway of anxious romantic attachment style.
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/2256
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	Licence according to publishing contract
Departement:	Applied Psychology
Organisational Unit:	Psychological Institute (PI)
Appears in collections:	Publikationen Angewandte Psychologie

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Cohen, L. J., Ardalan, F., Tanis, T., Halmi, W., Galynker, I., von Wyl, A., & Hengartner, M. P. (2017). Attachment anxiety and avoidance as mediators of the association between childhood maltreatment and adult personality dysfunction. Attachment & Human Development, 19(1), 58–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2016.1253639

Cohen, L.J. et al. (2017) ‘Attachment anxiety and avoidance as mediators of the association between childhood maltreatment and adult personality dysfunction’, Attachment & Human Development, 19(1), pp. 58–75. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2016.1253639.

L. J. Cohen et al., “Attachment anxiety and avoidance as mediators of the association between childhood maltreatment and adult personality dysfunction,” Attachment & Human Development, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 58–75, 2017, doi: 10.1080/14616734.2016.1253639.

COHEN, Lisa J., Firouz ARDALAN, Thachell TANIS, Winter HALMI, Igor GALYNKER, Agnes VON WYL und Michael Pascal HENGARTNER, 2017. Attachment anxiety and avoidance as mediators of the association between childhood maltreatment and adult personality dysfunction. Attachment & Human Development. 2017. Bd. 19, Nr. 1, S. 58–75. DOI 10.1080/14616734.2016.1253639

Cohen, Lisa J., Firouz Ardalan, Thachell Tanis, Winter Halmi, Igor Galynker, Agnes von Wyl, and Michael Pascal Hengartner. 2017. “Attachment Anxiety and Avoidance as Mediators of the Association between Childhood Maltreatment and Adult Personality Dysfunction.” Attachment & Human Development 19 (1): 58–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2016.1253639.

Cohen, Lisa J., et al. “Attachment Anxiety and Avoidance as Mediators of the Association between Childhood Maltreatment and Adult Personality Dysfunction.” Attachment & Human Development, vol. 19, no. 1, 2017, pp. 58–75, https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2016.1253639.