title: Attachment style and interpersonal trauma in refugees.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Refugees can suffer many experiences that threaten their trust in others. Although models of refugee mental health have postulated that attachment securities may be damaged by refugee experiences, this has yet to be empirically tested. This study aimed to understand the relationship between the nature of traumatic experiences sustained by refugees and attachment styles.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a cross-sectional study, treatment-seeking refugees (N = 134) were assessed for traumatic exposure using the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire and Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale. Attachment style was assessed using the Experiences in Close Relationship Scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Whereas gender and severity of interpersonal traumatic events predicted avoidant attachment style (accounting for 11% of the variance), neither these factors nor non-interpersonal trauma predicted anxious attachment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Exposure to interpersonal traumatic events, including torture, is associated with enduring avoidant attachment tendencies in refugees. This finding accords with attachment theories that prior adverse interpersonal experiences can undermine secure attachment systems, and may promote avoidance of attachment seeking. This finding may point to an important process maintaining poor psychological health in refugees affected by interpersonal trauma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland naser.morina@usz.ch.
authors.forename: Naser
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Morina
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schnyder
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Matthis
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schick
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nickerson
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bryant
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009769:Object Attachment; D000067073:Psychological Trauma / Q000523:psychology*; D012036:Refugees / Q000523:psychology*; D014104:Torture / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Refugee; attachment; avoidant attachment; interpersonal trauma; torture