Self-reported attachment, interpersonal aggression, and personality disorder in a prospective community sample of adolescents and adults.
Anxious and avoidant attachment were assessed in the Children in the Community (CIC) Study during adolescence and adulthood using self-report scales developed for this prospective study. The convergent and discriminant validity of the new CIC attachment scales were evaluated and their stability was assessed across a 17-year interval. Attachment scales predicted DSM-IV personality disorders in theoretically coherent and clinically meaningful ways, especially when supplemented with a separate measure of interpersonal aggression. Cluster B and C personality disorder symptoms were associated with elevated anxious attachment. Avoidant attachment was positively associated with Cluster A symptoms and inversely associated with Cluster B and C symptoms. Interpersonal aggression was higher in Cluster B symptoms and lower in Cluster C symptoms, thus differentiating between these symptom clusters.
Crawford
Thomas N
TN
Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute, NY, USA. crawfor@pi.cpmc.columbia.edu
Shaver
Phillip R
PR
Cohen
Patricia
P
Pilkonis
Paul A
PA
Gillath
Omri
O
Kasen
Stephanie
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009518:New York; D009769:Object Attachment; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019962:Reactive Attachment Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012494:Sampling Studies; D013223:Statistics as Topic