Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T07:40:54.822Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Separation from parents during childhood trauma predicts adult attachment security and post-traumatic stress disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 May 2017

R. A. Bryant ,
M. Creamer ,
M. O'Donnell ,
D. Forbes ,
K. L. Felmingham ,
D. Silove ,
G. Malhi ,
M. van Hoof ,
A. C. McFarlane  and
A. Nickerson
R. A. Bryant*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
M. Creamer
Affiliation:
Phoenix Institute, University of Melbourne, 161 Barry Street, Carlton, VIC 3053, Australia
M. O'Donnell
Affiliation:
Phoenix Institute, University of Melbourne, 161 Barry Street, Carlton, VIC 3053, Australia
D. Forbes
Affiliation:
Phoenix Institute, University of Melbourne, 161 Barry Street, Carlton, VIC 3053, Australia
K. L. Felmingham
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7000, Australia
D. Silove
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
G. Malhi
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Sydney, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia
M. van Hoof
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia
A. C. McFarlane
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia
A. Nickerson
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
*
*Address for correspondence: R. Bryant, Ph.D., School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia. (Email. r.bryant@unsw.edu.au)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Prolonged separation from parental support is a risk factor for psychopathology. This study assessed the impact of brief separation from parents during childhood trauma on adult attachment tendencies and post-traumatic stress.

Method

Children (n = 806) exposed to a major Australian bushfire disaster in 1983 and matched controls (n = 725) were assessed in the aftermath of the fires (mean age 7–8 years) via parent reports of trauma exposure and separation from parents during the fires. Participants (n = 500) were subsequently assessed 28 years after initial assessment on the Experiences in Close Relationships scale to assess attachment security, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was assessed using the PTSD checklist.

Results

Being separated from parents was significantly related to having an avoidant attachment style as an adult (B = −3.69, s.e. = 1.48, β = −0.23, p = 0.013). Avoidant attachment was associated with re-experiencing (B = 0.03, s.e. = 0.01, β = 0.31, p = 0.045), avoidance (B = 0.03, s.e. = 0.01, β = 0.30, p = 0.001) and numbing (B = 0.03, s.e. = 0.01, β = 0.30, p < 0.001) symptoms. Anxious attachment was associated with re-experiencing (B = 0.03, s.e. = 0.01, β = 0.18, p = 0.001), numbing (B = 0.03, β = 0.30, s.e. = 0.01, p < 0.001) and arousal (B = 0.04, s.e. = 0.01, β = 0.43, p < 0.001) symptoms.

Conclusions

These findings demonstrate that brief separation from attachments during childhood trauma can have long-lasting effects on one's attachment security, and that this can be associated with adult post-traumatic psychopathology.

Keywords

Attachmentchildhoodpost-traumatic stress disorderseparation
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 47 , Issue 11 , August 2017 , pp. 2028 - 2035
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aikins, JW, Howes, C, Hamilton, C (2009). Attachment stability and the emergence of unresolved representations during adolescence. Attachment and Human Development 11, 491–512.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ainsworth, MDS (1973). The development of infant–mother attachment. In Review of Child Development Research, vol. 3 (ed. Ricciuti, BM), pp. 1–94. University of Chicago: Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2001). Census of Population and Housing: Socio-economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), Australia – Data Cube Only. Australian Bureau of Statistics: Canberra.Google Scholar
Beijersbergen, MD, Juffer, F, Bakermans-Kranenburg, MJ, van IJzendoorn, MH (2012). Remaining or becoming secure: parental sensitive support predicts attachment continuity from infancy to adolescence in a longitudinal adoption study. Developmental Psychology 48, 1277–1282.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bentler, PM (1990). Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological Bulletin 107, 238–246.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blanchard, EB, Jones-Alexander, J, Buckley, TC, Forneris, CA (1996). Psychometric properties of the PTSD checklist (PCL). Behaviour Research and Therapy 34, 669–673.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowlby, J (1982). Attachment and loss: retrospect and prospect. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 52, 664–678.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowlby, J (1988). Developmental psychiatry comes of age. American Journal of Psychiatry 145, 1–10.Google ScholarPubMed
Cassidy, J, Shaver, PR (1999). Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Applications. Guilford Press: New York.Google Scholar
Coffino, B (2009). The role of childhood parent figure loss in the etiology of adult depression: findings from a prospective longitudinal study. Attachment and Human Development 11, 445–470.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ditzen, B, Schmidt, S, Strauss, B, Nater, UM, Ehlert, U, Heinrichs, M (2008). Adult attachment and social support interact to reduce psychological but not cortisol responses to stress. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 64, 479–486.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fish, M (2004). Attachment in infancy and preschool in low socioeconomic status rural Appalachian children: stability and change and relations to preschool and kindergarten competence. Developmental Psychopathology 16, 293–312.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fraley, RC, Roisman, GI, Booth-LaForce, C, Owen, MT, Holland, AS (2013). Interpersonal and genetic origins of adult attachment styles: a longitudinal study from infancy to early adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 104, 817–838.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Groh, AM, Roisman, GI, Booth-LaForce, C, Fraley, RC, Owen, MT, Cox, MJ, Burchinal, MR (2014). IV. Stability of attachment security from infancy to late adolescence. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 79, 51–66.Google Scholar
Gunnar, MR, van Dulmen, MH; International Adoption Project Team (2007). Behavior problems in postinstitutionalized internationally adopted children. Developmental Psychopathology 19, 129–148.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hawk, B, McCall, RB (2010). CBCL behavior problems of post-institutionalized international adoptees. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review 13, 199–211.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hobfoll, SE, Watson, P, Bell, CC, Bryant, RA, Brymer, MJ, Friedman, MJ, Friedman, M, Gersons, BP, de Jong, JT, Layne, CM, Maguen, S, Neria, Y, Norwood, AE, Pynoos, RS, Reissman, D, Ruzek, JI, Shalev, AY, Solomon, Z, Steinberg, AM, Ursano, RJ (2007). Five essential elements of immediate and mid-term mass trauma intervention: empirical evidence. Psychiatry 70, 283–315.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hu, L, Bentler, PM (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling 6, 1–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, DW, King, LA, Foy, DW, Keane, TM, Fairbank, JA (1999). Posttraumatic stress disorder in a national sample of female and male Vietnam veterans: risk factors, war-zone stressors, and resilience–recovery variables. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 108, 164–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lau, JT, Yu, X, Zhang, J, Mak, WW, Choi, KC, Lui, WW, Zhang, J, Chan, EY (2010). Psychological distress among adolescents in Chengdu, Sichuan at 1 month after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Journal of Urban Health 87, 504–523.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levendosky, AA, Bogat, GA, Huth-Bocks, AC, Rosenblum, K, von Eye, A (2011). The effects of domestic violence on the stability of attachment from infancy to preschool. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology 40, 398–410.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McFarlane, AC (1987). The relationship between patterns of family interaction and psychiatric disorder in children. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 21, 383–390.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McFarlane, AC, Van Hooff, M (2009). Impact of childhood exposure to a natural disaster on adult mental health: 20-year longitudinal follow-up study. British Journal of Psychiatry 195, 142–148.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mikulincer, M, Birnbaum, G, Woddis, D, Nachmias, O (2000). Stress and accessibility of proximity-related thoughts: exploring the normative and intraindividual components of attachment theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 78, 509–523.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mikulincer, M, Gillath, O, Shaver, PR (2002). Activation of the attachment system in adulthood: threat-related primes increase the accessibility of mental representations of attachment figures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 83, 881–895.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mikulincer, M, Shaver, PR (2007 a). Attachment Patterns in Adulthood: Structure, Dynamics, and Change. Guilford Press: New York.Google Scholar
Mikulincer, M, Shaver, PR (2007 b). Boosting attachment security to promote mental health, prosocial values, and inter-group tolerance. Psychological Inquiry 18, 139–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mikulincer, M, Shaver, PR, Pereg, D (2005). Attachment theory and affect regulation: the dynamics, development, and cognitive consequences of attachment-related strategies. Motivation and Emotion 27, 77–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mikulincer, M, Solomon, Z, Shaver, PR (2014). Attachment-related consequences of war captivity and trajectories of posttraumatic stress disorder: a 17-year longitudinal study. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 33, 207–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moss, E, Cyr, C, Bureau, JF, Tarabulsy, GM, Dubois-Comtois, K (2005). Stability of attachment during the preschool period. Developmental Psychology 41, 773–783.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muthén, LK, Muthén, BO (1998–2011). Mplus User's Guide, 6th edn. Muthén & Muthén: Los Angeles, CA.Google Scholar
Norris, FH, Friedman, MJ, Watson, PJ (2002). 60,000 Disaster victims speak: part I. An empirical review of the empirical literature, 1981–2001. Psychiatry 65, 207–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olsson, I, Sorebo, O, Dahl, AA (2010). The Norwegian version of the Experiences in Close Relationships measure of adult attachment: psychometric properties and normative data. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry 64, 340–349.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pinquart, M, Feussner, C, Ahnert, L (2013). Meta-analytic evidence for stability in attachments from infancy to early adulthood. Attachment and Human Development 15, 189–218.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Powers, SI, Pietromonaco, PR, Gunlicks, M, Sayer, A (2006). Dating couples’ attachment styles and patterns of cortisol reactivity and recovery in response to a relationship conflict. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 90, 613–628.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raby, KL, Cicchetti, D, Carlson Egeland, B, Collins, WA (2013). Genetic contributions to continuity and change in attachment security: a prospective, longitudinal investigation from infancy to young adulthood. Journal of Child Psychiatry and Psychology 54, 1223–1230.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raby, KL, Roisman, GI, Booth-LaForce, C (2015). Genetic moderation of stability in attachment security from early childhood to age 18 years: a replication study. Developmental Psychology 51, 1645–1649.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simard, V, Moss, E, Pascuzzo, K (2011). Early maladaptive schemas and child and adult attachment: a 15-year longitudinal study. Psychology and Psychotherapy 84, 349–366.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tizard, B, Hodges, J (1978). The effect of early institutional rearing on the development of eight year old children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 19, 99–118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Usami, M, Iwadare, Y, Kodaira, M, Watanabe, K, Aoki, M, Katsumi, C, Matsuda, K, Makino, K, Iijima, S, Harada, M, Tanaka, H, Sasaki, Y, Tanaka, T, Ushijima, H, Saito, K (2012). Relationships between traumatic symptoms and environmental damage conditions among children 8 months after the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami. PLOS ONE 7, e50721.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waters, E, Merrick, S, Treboux, D, Crowell, J, Albersheim, L (2000 a). Attachment security in infancy and early adulthood: a twenty-year longitudinal study. Childhood Development 71, 684–689.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Waters, E, Weinfield, NS, Hamilton, CE (2000 b). The stability of attachment security from infancy to adolescence and early adulthood: general discussion. Childhood Development 71, 703–706.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weathers, FW, Litz, BT, Herman, DS, Huska, JA, Keane, TM (1993). The PTSD checklist (PCL): reliability, validity, and diagnostic utility. Paper presented at the 9th Annual Conference of the ISTSS, San Antonio, TX.Google Scholar
Wolff, PH, Fesseha, G (1999). The orphans of Eritrea: a five-year follow-up study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 40, 1231–1237.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zeanah, CH, Egger, HL, Smyke, AT, Nelson, CA, Fox, NA, Marshall, PJ, Guthrie, D (2009). Institutional rearing and psychiatric disorders in Romanian preschool children. American Journal of Psychiatry 166, 777–785.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Bryant supplementary material

Table S1

Download Bryant supplementary material(File)
File 34.3 KB