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

Abstract

Background: People exposed to childhood trauma show insecure attachment patterns and are more prone to chronic and pain-related conditions, including migraine. The aim of this study was to explore the mediating role of attachment in the association between childhood trauma and adulthood chronic health conditions, with a focus on migraine. Methods: Respondents from a representative sample of citizens of the Czech Republic (n = 1800, mean age: 46.6 years, 48.7% male) were asked to report various chronic and pain-related conditions, childhood trauma (The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, CTQ), and attachment anxiety and avoidance (The Experience in Close Relationships Revised, ECR-R) in a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey conducted in 2016. Structural equation models (SEM) adjusted for sociodemographic variables were used to assess the relationship between childhood trauma, adulthood attachment, and adulthood chronic health conditions (migraine, other pain-related conditions, chronic health conditions other than pain, no chronic health complaints). Results: After adjusting for sociodemographic variables, SEM confirmed a significant mediation of the relationship between childhood trauma and migraine through adulthood attachment. There was no mediation effect of adulthood attachment found in other health complaints. Conclusion: This study highlights the mediation effect of attachment in the link between childhood trauma and migraine. Attachment-based therapeutic interventions can be useful in the treatment of patients with migraine.

Attachment anxiety as mediator of the relationship between childhood trauma and personality dysfunction in borderline personality disorder

“…The mediating role of attachment anxiety in the relationship between childhood trauma and psychopathology that we found has also been described in other conditions. Attachment anxiety was found to be the sole mediator between childhood trauma and the occurrence of schizophrenia spectrum psychosis (Chatziioannidis et al, 2019), to fully mediate the relationship between specific types of trauma (emotional abuse, physical abuse and physical neglect) and dissociation in adults (Kong et al, 2018), and even to mediate the relationship between childhood trauma and migraines (Kascakova et al, 2020). The comorbidity of BPD with other psychiatric conditions, such as substance abuse, eating disorders or affective disorders, is well established (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), as is the weight that childhood trauma, attachment and emotional dysregulation have been described to have on them (Brustenghi et al, 2019; Dagan et al, 2018; Fairbairn et al, 2018; Kim et al, 2018; Tasca, 2019; Zaorska et al, 2020).…”

Effects of childhood trauma on pain‐related distress in adults

“…(Opendak et al., 2017)). The volume of work in humans is also accumulating, however, with findings indicating a potentially complex set of biopsychosocial interactions in forming the response to trauma in those with significant ACEs, including hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis activity(Engert et al., 2010) or vasopressin receptor 1a function(Liu et al., 2015) that may or may not be mediated by strength of adult social attachment (Kascakova et al., 2020) and tendency for psychological rumination on the experiences of distress and trauma. (Morris & Shakespeare‐Finch, 2011).…”

Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form: Evaluation of Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance

“…Traumatic experiences in childhood are also linked to abnormal inflammatory biomarker activity (e.g., C-reactive protein and neuroendocrine dysfunction; disturbances in TNF-α, interleukin-6, and fibrinogen activity) originating from heightened levels of anxiety, avoidance, and psychological instability that, under normal circumstances, reflect innate immune responses to injuries, infections, and diseases. Abnormal inflammatory biomarker activity is associated with high rates of autoimmune disorders, cardiac disease, and neurological conditions such as migraines and fatigue among adults who report experiencing traumas as children (Bottiroli et al, 2018;Deighton et al, 2018;Kascakova et al, 2020;Salihoğlu et al, 2018).…”