Adult attachment style, reported childhood violence history and types of dissociative experiences

Abstract

p. 142-154Undergraduate and first-year graduate students (n = 410) were assessed for adult attachment, history of exposure to violence in childhood, and frequency of four types of dissociative experiences. Violence history was related to attachment style, as were four factors extracted from two dissociation measures. Each attachment style was predicted by distinct patterns of violence history and dissociation. Importantly, the four types of dissociation, despite their conceptual relationship, were empirically independent clinical phenomena, at times entering the regression equations in significant and opposite directions. The findings are discussed in the context of empirical and clinical issues in adult attachment, child maltreatment, and dissociation