The Link between Types of Attachment and Childhood Trauma

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between childhood trauma and types of attachment and the predictive role of childhood trauma on types of attachment. The sample was composed of 911 (492 female; 419 male) university students at Mugla Sitki Kocman University, in Turkey. Data were collected using the brief screening version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and Relationship Scales Questionnaire. Pearson product-moment correlation analysis was employed to search for relationship between childhood trauma and types of attachment; structural equation modeling was also used for explaining the predictive role of childhood trauma on types of attachment. It was found that the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and physical and emotional neglect subdimensions of childhood trauma were positively related to fearful, preoccupied, and dismissing attachment styles; whereas these same variables were negatively related to the secure attachment style. Results were discussed in the light of previous findings and in the context of childhood trauma and attachment styles. Further replications using larger samples should be conducted to explore the relationship between childhood trauma and attachment styles.

When a Head Is about to Burst: Attachment Mediates the Relationship Between Childhood Trauma and Migraine

“…The effect of childhood trauma on attachment insecurity found in all the research groups in our study supports the extensive findings in this field in samples of children [28,29], university students [30,31], and the adult population as well as in clinical samples [32][33][34]. The effect of chronic stress and fear following child abuse and neglect on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction [88] makes insecurely attached individuals more susceptible to stress and more prone to risky health behaviors, physical and mental illnesses, and poorer disease outcomes [3][4][5]35,36].…”

“…Several studies suggest that maltreated children show insecure attachment patterns [28,29]. Attachment insecurity in university students was associated with childhood trauma [30,31] and was linked to experiencing depression and using destructive behavior [31]. A meta-analytic study [32], a prospective study [33], and a study comprising population and clinical samples [34] brought clear evidence that adults with a history of abuse and neglect have mostly insecure states of mind, in the sense of preoccupied, dismissive, and fearful attachment.…”

Ghosts from the past? The association between childhood interpersonal trauma, attachment and anxiety and depression in late life

“…Additionally, childhood trauma as opposed to adulthood trauma has been linked to the development of insecure attachment patterns (Ogle, Rubin & Siegler, 2015), without consistent evidence for the differential impact of different types of trauma on attachment (e.g. Erozkan, 2016). Insecure attachment patterns, in their turn, affect the quality of relationships and psychological function in an ongoing fashion (Fowler, Allen, Oldham, & Frueh, 2013).…”

Early life experiences and social cognition in major psychiatric disorders: A systematic review

“…dismissive-avoidant, fearful-avoidant and anxious-pre-occupied [17]) have also been related to psychopathology in adulthood [18–20]. The link between childhood trauma and insecure attachment has been supported by a number of studies showing that a history of childhood trauma is significantly positively associated with attachment insecurities in later life [21–24], indicating significant overlap between these experiences. This suggests that adverse childhood experiences may provoke the development of insecure types of attachment.…”