The Influence of Attachment Styles and Personality Organization on Emotional Functioning After Childhood Trauma

Abstract

Background: Current literature suggests a tenuous link among childhood trauma, personality organization, adult attachment, and emotional functioning in various psychiatric disorders. However, empirical research focusing on the interaction of these concepts is sparse. Therefore, this study intends to investigate the influence of personality organization and attachment dimensions on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and emotional functioning in adult life. To assess emotional functioning, we adopted the Affective Neuroscience model of primary emotions, comprising SEEKING, FEAR, ANGER, SADNESS, CARE, and PLAY.Methods: The total sample consisted of 616 nonclinical adults (Age: M = 30; SD = 9.53; 61.9% female). Path analysis was applied to investigate interactions among childhood trauma, personality organization, adult attachment, and primary emotion dispositions.Results: The findings suggest that childhood trauma significantly predicted deficits in personality organization and insecure attachment (all p < 0.001). Furthermore, a reduced level of personality organization was significantly associated with increased ANGER (p < 0.001), whereas adult attachment substantially predicted primary emotion dispositions in general. Moreover, the results indicate significant mediational effects of personality organization and attachment dimensions on the relationship between childhood trauma and primary emotions (p < 0.01). The final model was able to explain 48% of the variance in SADNESS, 38% in PLAY, 35% in FEAR, 28% in CARE, 14% in ANGER, and 13% in SEEKING.Discussion: The findings contribute to the understanding of the relationship between childhood maltreatment and impaired emotional functioning in adult life. Furthermore, the importance of personality organization and attachment dimensions for emotion regulation is underlined. Consequently, the treatment of patients with childhood trauma should focus on facilitating the development of more secure attachment patterns and increased personality functioning to improve overall emotional functioning.

Pinpointing Neural Correlates of Attachment in Poly-Drug Use: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study

“…In line with a significant amount of research (Schindler et al, 2005;Zellner et al, 2011;Schindler and Broning, 2015;Hiebler-Ragger et al, 2016;Unterrainer et al, 2016Unterrainer et al, , 2017a our results suggest that addiction might be understood as a dysfunctional compensation strategy against an insecure attachment organization, which utilizes psychoactive substances as soothing and seemingly "secure" attachment figures (Flores, 2004). This result corresponds to recent findings highlighting the important role of attachment in emotional functioning and affect regulation (Fuchshuber et al, 2019b;Hiebler-Ragger et al, under review), which is, in turn, frequently considered as a crucial etiological factor regarding SUD development (Cheetham et al, 2010;Khantzian, 2013). In particular, Fuchshuber et al (2019b), was able to show that a secure attachment attitude is substantially associated with a decreased disposition toward the primary emotion SADNESS, as elaborated by Panksepp (1998).…”

“…This result corresponds to recent findings highlighting the important role of attachment in emotional functioning and affect regulation (Fuchshuber et al, 2019b;Hiebler-Ragger et al, under review), which is, in turn, frequently considered as a crucial etiological factor regarding SUD development (Cheetham et al, 2010;Khantzian, 2013). In particular, Fuchshuber et al (2019b), was able to show that a secure attachment attitude is substantially associated with a decreased disposition toward the primary emotion SADNESS, as elaborated by Panksepp (1998). In relation to this, further research suggests that an increased disposition toward SADNESS constitutes a significant vulnerability regarding substance abuse and SUD (Zellner et al, 2011;Unterrainer et al, 2017a;Fuchshuber et al, 2019a).…”

“…Attachment security is associated with the ability to regulate emotions in a relatively autonomous way (Fonagy, 2018), as well as the ability to form functional and stable relationships, which allows for the regulation of emotions with the help of others (Coan, 2008). In contrast, insecure attachment patterns are linked to dysfunctional emotion regulation abilities and obstruct the formation of beneficial relationships (Schore, 2001;Belsky, 2002;Fonagy, 2010;Fuchshuber et al, 2019b). Previous research suggests, that this relationship might rely especially on the strong association between insecure attachment and increased sadness disposition (Fuchshuber et al, 2019b), as increased sadness was repeatedly observed as a typical vulnerability factor in substance use disorder (SUD;Unterrainer et al, 2017a;Fuchshuber et al, 2019a).…”

“…With regard to the relationship between WM integrity and attachment security, the existing literature suggests that the process of increased myelination from childhood to adolescence is sensitive to the quality of parental care and early childhood attachment experiences (Daniels et al, 2013;Hanson et al, 2013;Bick et al, 2015;McCarthy-Jones et al, 2018). Considering the substantial association between early dysfunctional childhood relationships and insecure attachment in adults (Lyons-Ruth and Block, 1996;Waters et al, 2000b;Cyr et al, 2010;Fuchshuber et al, 2019b), it seems plausible that adult attachment patterns are linked to the integrity of WM fiber tracts.…”

Childhood Trauma, Personality, and Substance Use Disorder: The Development of a Neuropsychoanalytic Addiction Model

“…For this purpose, the first study (158), tested assumptions proposed by Zellner et al (85) and Solms et al (84) focusing on the role of childhood trauma, despair, and personality organization in the development of SUD and depressive symptoms. (118), which was based on an extended sample of Fuchshuber et al (158), examined the role of childhood trauma, adult attachment, and personality organization on overall primary emotion functioning in more detail. Finally, study three (159) conducted a secondary analysis of the sample described in study two (118), but focused on the relationship between primary emotions, symptoms of SUD, and mood pathology as well as gender.…”