title: Attachment as a partial mediator of the relationship between emotional abuse and schizotypy.
abstract: Developmental theories highlight the salience of attachment theory in explaining vulnerability towards psychosis. At the same time there is increasing recognition that psychosis is associated with childhood trauma variables. This study explored the interaction between attachment and several trauma variables in relation to schizotypy levels in a non-clinical sample. 283 non-clinical participants completed online measures of schizotypy, attachment, childhood abuse and neglect. When five types of abuse/neglect were entered into a linear regression analysis emotional abuse was the sole independent predictor of schizotypy. Age, attachment anxiety and avoidance were independent predictors after the effects of emotional abuse were controlled for. The overall model was significant, explaining 34% of the variation in schizotypy. Moderation analysis indicated that the effect of emotional abuse was not conditional upon attachment. Parallel mediation analysis indicated small but significant indirect effects of emotional abuse on schizotypy through attachment avoidance (13%) and attachment anxiety (8%). We conclude that emotional abuse contributes to vulnerability towards psychosis both directly and indirectly through attachment insecurity.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK. Electronic address: karen.goodall@ed.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Goodall
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Sciences, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rush
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychology and Sociology, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Grünwald
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychology and Sociology, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Darling
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Niko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tiliopoulos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D019962:Reactive Attachment Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012569:Schizotypal Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attachment; Emotional abuse; Mediation; Psychosis; Schizotypy; Trauma