A pilot study of attachment patterns in adult twins

Torgersen, Anne Mari; Grova, Bj⊘rg K.; Sommerstad, Renate

doi:10.1080/14616730701349705

Cited by 26 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Of note, only 41.7% of the U group had clinical levels of PD, which suggests that the remaining 58.3% of the U group may have other variables that are driving unresolved mourning. For example, there is evidence suggesting a gene-environment interaction for a classification of U (Torgersen, Grova, & Sommerstad, 2007;van IJzendoorn & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2006). Genetic factors may also influence dissociation and supernatural beliefs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Unresolved mourning, supernatural beliefs and dissociation: a mediation analysis

Thomson

Jaque

2014

Attachment & Human Development

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Unresolved mourning is marked by disorganized behavior and states of mind. In this study, we speculated that pathological dissociation would mediate the effects of unresolved mourning on supernatural beliefs. This hypothesis was determined based on findings that indicate an association between higher levels of dissociation, stronger beliefs in the supernatural and unresolved mourning. We examined two groups of participants, one classified as non-unresolved (non-U) (n = 56) and the other as unresolved (n = 26) (U) with respect to past loss/trauma as measured by the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Two self-report instruments were administered to measure supernatural beliefs and dissociation. As hypothesized, the multivariate analysis of variance indicated mean differences between the two groups. The unresolved group had greater belief in the supernatural and more pathological dissociative processes. The mediation analysis demonstrated that pathological dissociation fully mediated the effects of unresolved mourning on supernatural beliefs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Unresolved mourning, supernatural beliefs and dissociation: a mediation analysis

Thomson

Jaque

2014

Attachment & Human Development

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“…The lack of variation in genetic relatedness within sibling pairs (e.g., MZ or DZ twins, biologically related siblings) and between sibling pairs and the parent generation limit our conclusions regarding possible genetic influences on sources of environmental influence (e.g., shared, nonshared) (Reiss et al, 1994;Turkheimer & Waldron, 2000). The untested possibility remains that genetic differences between siblings influenced or were differentially influenced by qualities of the parent -child relationship (e.g., parental sensitivity) and/or impacted potential intervening influences on attachment in adulthood (e.g., romantic relationships) (Fearon, van IJzendoorn, Fonagy, Bakermans-Kranenburg, Schuengel, & Bokhorst, 2006;Torgerson, Grova, & Sommerstad, 2007). Unfortunately, our sample size and study design preclude examination of these processes with our data.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

A sibling adoption study of adult attachment: The influence of shared environment on attachment states of mind

Caspers

Yucuis

Troutman

et al. 2007

Attachment & Human Development

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This study extends existing research investigating sibling concordance on attachment by examining concordance for adult attachment in a sample of 126 genetically unrelated sibling pairs. The Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1985;Main, Goldwyn, & Hesse, 2003) was used to assess states of mind with regard to attachment. The average age of the participants was 39 years old. The distribution of attachment classifications was independent of adoptive status. Attachment concordance rates were unassociated with gender concordance and sibling age difference. Concordance for autonomous/non-autonomous classifications was significant at 61% as was concordance for primary classifications at 53%. The concordance rate for not-unresolved/unresolved was non-significant at 67%. Our findings demonstrate similarity of working models of attachment between siblings independent of genetic relatedness between siblings and generations (i.e., parent and child). These findings extend previous research by further implicating shared environment as a major influence on sibling similarities on organized patterns of attachment in adulthood. The nonsignificant concordance for the unresolved classification suggests that unresolved loss or trauma may be less influenced by shared environment and more likely to be influenced by post-childhood experiences or genetic factors.

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“…In three adult samples, the magnitude of genetic influences on indicators of anxious romantic attachment was low to moderate (25–46%) (Brussoni et al 2000; Crawford et al 2007a, b; Donnellan et al 2008; Torgersen et al 2007). Brussoni et al (2000) studied 116 monozygotic (MZ) and 104 dizygotic (DZ) same sex twin pairs (ages 16–79) who were categorized into four attachment styles based on cut-off scores on the Relationship Scales Questionnaire (Griffin and Bartholomew 1994) a self-report measure of adult attachment (Brussoni et al 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adult Romantic Attachment, Negative Emotionality, and Depressive Symptoms in Middle Aged Men: A Multivariate Genetic Analysis

et al. 2011

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Adult romantic attachment styles reflect ways of relating in close relationships and are associated with depression and negative emotionality. We estimated the extent to which dimensions of romantic attachment and negative emotionality share genetic or environmental risk factors in 1,237 middle-aged men in the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging (VETSA). A common genetic factor largely explained the covariance between attachment-related anxiety, attachment-related avoidance, depressive symptoms, and two measures of negative emotionality: Stress-Reaction (anxiety), and Alienation. Multivariate results supported genetic and environmental differences in attachment. Attachment-related anxiety and attachment-related avoidance were each influenced by additional genetic factors not shared with other measures; the genetic correlation between the attachment measure-specific genetic factors was 0.41, indicating some, but not complete overlap of genetic factors. Genetically informative longitudinal studies on attachment relationship dimensions can help to illuminate the role of relationship-based risk factors in healthy aging.

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A pilot study of attachment patterns in adult twins

Cited by 26 publications

References 18 publications

Unresolved mourning, supernatural beliefs and dissociation: a mediation analysis

Unresolved mourning, supernatural beliefs and dissociation: a mediation analysis

A sibling adoption study of adult attachment: The influence of shared environment on attachment states of mind

Adult Romantic Attachment, Negative Emotionality, and Depressive Symptoms in Middle Aged Men: A Multivariate Genetic Analysis

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