[Styles of attachment and social support perceived in depressed women].
RESULTS
This study, inspired by the attachment model and research in the field of social support, attempts to reveal the link between styles of attachment, social support and depressive vulnerability.


OBJECTIVE
It investigates current styles of attach-ment and the quality of social support perceived by 35 hospitalized, depressed subjects compared to 35 control subjects who exhibited no pathology. After giving their consent, each subject took part in an in-depth psychological investigation consisting of a recorded clinical interview and various clinical scales.


METHODS
The study presents only the responses to the Perception of Relations questionnaire which distinguishes between four styles of attachment (secure, detached, preoccupied and disorganized) and the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ6) which contains two dimensions: social availability and social satisfaction. The results were subjected to statistical analyses: a comparative analysis between the two groups and a correlational analysis between the dimensions of social support and the dimensions of style of attachment. On the one hand, the study reveals that the social network is perceived to be less available by depressed subjects, together with the absence of a current intimate relationship with other people, the absence of people to confide in, and a relationship between this absence and the large number of losses experienced by depressed subjects, in particular the loss of figures of attachment (father and mother). On the other hand, depressed subjects tend to exhibit a preoccupied, disorganized style of attachment which is characterized by negative models of the self.


CONCLUSIONS
The discussion addresses the way these styles of attachment should be understood: do they represent the consequence of the depressive pathology or an older relational style?
Chahraoui
K
K
Université de Bourgogne, Laboratoire de Psychologie Clinique et Sociale, Pôle AAFE, Esplanade Erasme, BP 26513, 21065 Dijon cedex.
Reynaud
M
M
Pinoit
J-M
JM
Bénony
H
H
Bonin
B
B
Gisselmann
A
A
D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D009769:Object Attachment; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016387:Women's Health