Adult Attachment Styles and Psychosis: an Investigation of Associations Between General Attachment Styles and Attachment Relationships with Specific Others

Background: If attachment theory is to help inform our understanding of relationship difficulties in people with psychosis, it is first important to understand the composition of attachment networks in this group and how attachment style measured with reference to relationships in general actually relates to attachment in relationships with specific others.

Method: We examined attachment networks and associations between general attachment style and attachment in relationships with parents and psychiatric staff in a sample of 58 patients with psychosis. We assessed attachment dimensions of anxiety and avoidance using the Psychosis Attachment Measure (PAM) and an adapted version of the instrument asking about relationships with specific others.

Results: Patients reported a median of two attachment relationships. Both attachment anxiety and avoidance measured with reference to close relationships in general were positively correlated with attachment in key worker and parental relationships, although levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance did vary across relationships.

Conclusion: Future research should determine factors influencing variations in attachment working models in samples of people with psychosis, as it may be possible to help individuals with insecure attachment styles develop more positive relationships with others.