Attachment insecurity mediates the relationship between childhood trauma and eating disorder psychopathology in a clinical sample: A structural equation model

Tasca, Giorgio A.; Ritchie, Kerri; Zachariades, Fotini; Proulx, Geneviève; Trinneer, Anne; Balfour, Louise; Demidenko, Natasha; Hayden, Genevieve; Wong, Alison G.; Bissada, Hany

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.03.004

Cited by 69 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Another vital contemporary report on impulsiveness in bulimia and the presence of psychological trauma is provided in the works of Keel, Mitchell, Davis, and Crow (2001) and Keel, Gravener, Joiner, and Haedt (2010). The topics of relational trauma, violence and traumatic events (emotional abandonment, long-lasting childhood deprivation of the need for security on the parents/caretakers' part) are present in foreign research works carried out in samples of people with eating disorders (Franzoni et al, 2013;Tasca et al, 2013;Collins et al, 2014;Litwack et al, 2014;McCormack et al, 2014;Hewett & Loma, 2015;Racine & Wildes, 2015;Madowitz et al, 2015;Moulton et al, 2015;Tahilani, 2015;Caslini et al, 2016). In Poland, however, the topic of trauma in eating disorders is poorly explored and research results appear rarely.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerous studies carried out on samples of people with eating disorders that attempt to verify mutual relationships between having experience trauma and developing symptoms of eating disorders can be found in foreign literature also post 2010 (Franzoni et al, 2013;Tasca et al, 2013;Collins, Fischer, Stojek, & Becker, 2014;Litwack, Mitchell, Sloan, Reardon, & Miller, 2014;McCormack, Lewis, & Wells, 2014;Hewett & Loma, 2015;Racine & Wildes, 2015;Madowitz, Matheson, & Liang, 2015;Moulton, Power, Swanson, & Day, 2015;Tahilani, 2015;Caslini et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Trauma in relation to psychological characteristics in women with eating disorders

Izydorczyk¹

2017

Current Issues in Personality Psychology

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Background The aim of the article was to present the results of the author’s own study that sought relationships between having experienced psychological trauma and the psychological characteristics of people with eating disorders. The basic research question was the following: To what degree are the traumatic events experienced by females with various types of eating disorders related to these females’ psychological characteristics? Participants and procedure The sample comprised 120 females with eating disorders: 30 females aged between 20 and 26 diagnosed with bulimia nervosa, 31 females diagnosed with binge-eating disorder and 59 females aged between 20 and 26 diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. The research was carried out in the years 2007-2012 in outpatient clinics treating neuroses and eating disorders and mental health outpatient clinics in Poland. The study employed a clinical and psychometric (i.e., questionnaires for measuring psychological characteristics) approach. Results Statistical analysis confirmed the existence of significant differences between the females with eating disorders who have experienced relational trauma(s) in their lives (particularly in their childhood and adolescence) and those who did not reveal such experience. The females with anorexia and bulimia who have also experienced psychological, physical or sexual violence revealed a significantly different, higher level of bulimic thinking and tendencies for excessively uncontrolled, impulsive behaviors towards food and nutrition (i.e., vomit-provoking and other forms of body purgation, e.g. using purgative drugs and others) than did females with no relational trauma experience. Conclusions The frequency of relational trauma occurrence was significantly higher for females with bulimia and bulimic anorexia. For females with restrictive anorexia and binge-eating disorder, no significantly frequent occurrence of trauma was observed. Diagnosing the occurrence of relational trauma in patients’ histories is a key element that should be involved in the process of psychotherapy for people with eating disorders.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trauma in relation to psychological characteristics in women with eating disorders

Izydorczyk¹

2017

Current Issues in Personality Psychology

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“…Attachment theory has been used in case models for a long time (Markin & Marmarosh, 2010), and mental representations of attachment are accessible from adolescence onwards (Buist, Dekovic, Meeus, & van Aken, 2002), which means that they can be used in therapy. It has also been shown that improvements in attachment are associated with better treatment outcomes in eating disorder patients (e.g., Maxwell et al, 2014;Tasca et al, 2013). But in spite of this there has been no research which investigates treatments that target both patients' dysfunctional attachment functioning and the four transdiagnostic maintaining factors of eating disorders.…”

Section: The Relationship Between Attachment Characteristics and Tranmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive-behavioral and attachment interventions in the transdiagnostic treatment of bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder

Szalai

2016

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Background: The transdiagnostic model of eating disorders provides an evidence-based cognitive-behavioral treatment approach, emphasizing the maintaining factors of low selfesteem, perfectionism, mood intolerance and interpersonal difficulties. Although attachment quality is associated with these factors, there is no treatment model focusing on both attachment-related and cognitive-behavioral maintaining factors of the symptoms. Aims: The aim was to construct and test a multilevel treatment model, which integrates attachment interventions into the transdiagnostic treatment of eating disorders. Methods: Relevant aspects of attachment functioning were joined together with the four cognitivebehavioral maintaining factors of the symptoms, and attachment interventions were incorporated into an extended transdiagnostic treatment of a bulimia nervosa and a binge eating disorder patient. Results: Attachment domains could be integrated into the transdiagnostic model of eating disorders at both the case conceptualization and treatment level. The improvement of attachment functioning was related to treatment outcomes at a one month follow-up. Conclusions: When attachment dysfunctions contribute to precipitating or maintaining mechanisms of eating disorder symptoms a multilevel treatment targeting both the relevant aspects of attachment and cognitive-behavioral functioning can be suggested. Randomized controlled studies with different intervention groups are required to confirm the result of these case studies.

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“…Higher attachment anxiety was found to be related to greater symptom severity in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (Cash, Thériault, & Annis, ; Illing et al, ). In addition to these putative relations between attachment styles and symptom severity, some authors have examined the impaired emotional competences (ECs) that may explain why attachment insecurity places individuals at greater risk of ED (Keating, Tasca, & Hill, ; Tasca, ; Tasca et al, ). EC refer to how individuals identify, express, understand, regulate and use their emotions or those of others (Mikolajczak & Luminet, ; Zysberg, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of intrapersonal emotional competences on the relationship between attachment insecurity and severity of eating disorder symptoms in patients with restrictive anorexia

et al. 2019

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Objective Attachment insecurity and emotional competences (EC) form a key part of conceptual models of anorexia nervosa (AN). We explored the relationship between attachment dimensions and EC on the severity of eating disorders in patients diagnosed with restrictive AN. Method Sixty‐three female patients with restrictive AN and 63 healthy participants completed self‐report measures (eating symptoms, EC, attachment, depression, and anxiety). Result Patients with restrictive AN used fewer adaptive and more maladaptive regulation strategies and showed low levels of intrapersonal EC. The partial least squares path modeling analysis showed that high levels of attachment anxiety or avoidance lead to a decrease in intrapersonal EC, which in turn contributes to greater severity of eating symptoms in anorexic patients. Conclusions Lower intrapersonal EC played an important mediating role in the effects of attachment insecurity on the severity of eating disorders. The joint use of therapeutic programs that target both EC and attachment processes constitutes a promising approach.

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Attachment insecurity mediates the relationship between childhood trauma and eating disorder psychopathology in a clinical sample: A structural equation model

Cited by 69 publications

References 27 publications

Trauma in relation to psychological characteristics in women with eating disorders

Trauma in relation to psychological characteristics in women with eating disorders

Cognitive-behavioral and attachment interventions in the transdiagnostic treatment of bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder

Effect of intrapersonal emotional competences on the relationship between attachment insecurity and severity of eating disorder symptoms in patients with restrictive anorexia

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