title: Adult attachment as a predictor of posttraumatic stress and dissociation.
abstract: This study examined whether K. Bartholomew's (1990) self-report dimensions of adult attachment (secure, dismissing, preoccupied, and fearful) mediate or moderate links from victimization/abuse to posttraumatic stress and dissociation. Participants were 199 college women with and without a history of childhood physical abuse, childhood sexual victimization, and adolescent/adult sexual victimization. Path analysis revealed no significant mediation effects for attachment; however, hierarchical multiple linear regression indicated that dismissing attachment moderated the link between victimization/abuse and posttraumatic stress (i.e., the relationship was strongest for women with high dismissing scores). All 4 attachment dimensions uniquely predicted posttraumatic stress, whereas only fearful attachment uniquely predicted dissociation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, California State University East Bay, Hayward, California 94542, USA. david.sandberg@csueastbay.edu
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Sandberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009769:Object Attachment; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D011902:Rape / Q000523:psychology; D019962:Reactive Attachment Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult