title: Script-like attachment representations in dreams containing current romantic partners.
abstract: Recent research has demonstrated parallels between romantic attachment styles and general dream content. The current study examined partner-specific attachment representations alongside dreams that contained significant others. The general prediction was that dreams would follow the "secure base script," and a general correspondence would emerge between secure attachment cognitions in waking life and in dreams. Sixty-one undergraduate student participants in committed dating relationships of six months duration or longer completed the Secure Base Script Narrative Assessment at Time 1, and then completed a dream diary for 14 consecutive days. Blind coders scored dreams that contained significant others using the same criteria for secure base content in laboratory narratives. Results revealed a significant association between relationship-specific attachment security and the degree to which dreams about romantic partners followed the secure base script. The findings illuminate our understanding of mental representations with regards to specific attachment figures. Implications for attachment theory and clinical applications are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD, USA. dselter@umd.edu
authors.forename: Dylan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Selterman
authors.forename: Adela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Apetroaia
authors.forename: Everett
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Waters
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition; D004325:Dreams / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008149:Love; D008297:Male; D008606:Mental Processes; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D033262:Narration; D009769:Object Attachment; D010465:Perception; D012890:Sleep; D014473:Unconscious, Psychology; D055815:Young Adult