title: Assessing patterns of adult attachment in medical patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Patterns of adult attachment affect physical health and yet are unfamiliar to many clinicians. The purpose of this review was to derive descriptions of prototypic patterns of adult attachment that are relevant to health care.
  
  
  METHODS
  Observations from attachment research using diverse methods to measure adult attachment were reviewed. A synthetic approach was used to integrate these observations into coherent descriptions of prototypic patterns of attachment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four patterns of adult attachment (secure, preoccupied, dismissing and fearful) are distinguished by prototypic patterns in intimate relationships, affect regulation, use of social support, trait descriptors, mentalization and narrative coherence. These patterns are linked to health care relationships and health outcomes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prototypic descriptions of patterns of adult attachment may guide clinicians in appreciating individual differences in interpersonal style that affect the health of patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. rmaunder@mtsinai.on.ca
authors.forename: Robert G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Maunder
authors.forename: Jonathan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Hunter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D009769:Object Attachment; D010551:Personality; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D012944:Social Support