Attachment Styles and Personality Disorders | What is Attachment Theory?

This video answers the questions: What is the attachment theory? How does attachment theory relate to personality disorders? Some researchers believe that attachment theory may be able to partially explain the development of anxiety, depression, personality disorders, as well as other factors like marital problems, poor academic performance, and other negative outcomes. Attachment styles may be a major determining factor in the organization of personality and etiological for psychopathology. Attachment model from Bartholomew and Horowitz: 1. secure attachment: this is considered healthy attachment, we see a capacity maintain close relationships without losing a sense of autonomy, placing value on intimate friendships, and being thoughtful when discussing relationships 2. dismissing attachment: with this style we see someone who has restricted emotions, flat affect, they downplay the importance of close relationships, they place a strong emphasis on being self-reliant and independent, and they are not clear and trustworthy when they discuss relationships 3. preoccupied attachment: here we see someone who needs other people to accept them, they have a tendency to idealize others, they are overinvolved in close relationships, and we see exaggerated emotionality and incoherence when discussing relationships 4. fearful attachment: here we see someone who avoids close relationships because they are afraid of rejection, they tend to distrust other people and they feel insecure Blatt, S. J., & Levy, K. N. (2003). Attachment theory, psychoanalysis, personality development, and psychopathology. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 23(1), 102–150. https://doi-org.mylibrary.wilmu.edu/1... Meyer, B., Pilkonis, P. A., & Beevers, C. G. (2004). What’s in a (Neutral) Face? Personality Disorders, Attachment Styles, and the Appraisal of Ambiguous Social Cues. Journal of Personality Disorders, 18(4), 320–336. doi:10.1521/pedi.2004.18.4.320 Irma G.H. Timmerman, Paul M.G. Emmelkamp, The relationship between attachment styles and Cluster B personality disorders in prisoners and forensic inpatients, International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, Volume 29, Issue 1,2006,Pages 48-56,ISSN 0160-2527, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2005.0.... Brennan, K. A., & Shaver, P. R. (1998). Attachment styles and personality disorders: Their connections to each other and to parental divorce, parental death, and perceptions of parental caregiving. Journal of Personality, 66(5), 835–878. https://doi-org.mylibrary.wilmu.edu/1... Aaronson, C. J., Bender, D. S., Skodol, A. E., & Gunderson, J. G. (2006). Comparison of Attachment Styles in Borderline Personality Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder. Psychiatric Quarterly, 77(1), 69–80. https://doi-org.mylibrary.wilmu.edu/1... Lyddon, W. J., & Sherry, A. (2001). Developmental Personality Styles: An Attachment Theory Conceptualization of Personality Disorders. Journal of Counseling & Development, 79(4), 405. https://doi-org.mylibrary.wilmu.edu/1... Beeney, J. E., Stepp, S. D., Hallquist, M. N., Ringwald, W. R., Wright, A. G. C., Lazarus, S. A., … Pilkonis, P. A. (2019). Attachment styles, social behavior, and personality functioning in romantic relationships. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 10(3), 275–285. https://doi-org.mylibrary.wilmu.edu/1... Support Dr. Grande on Patreon:   / drgrande