Year: 2005
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Background: The overall aim of the present study was to clanfy the role of\nattachment as a vulnerability factor towards depression. Further aims were to\nexamine whether attachment was continuous and offered a conduit through which\nchildhood experiences could have an effect on mood In adulthood; and to explore\nwhether each of childhood and adulthood attachment each had separate roles with\nregards to vulnerability towards depression due to discontinuity between childhood\nand adulthood attachment, It was hypothesised that the attachment system would not\nact as a conduit between childhood experiences and depression. It was\nhypothesised that the association between childhood attachment and depression\ncould instead be mediated by a third variable outside of the attachment system; the\nInvoluntary Defeat Strategy.\nAttachment theory holds that attachment style moderates the effect of stressors upon\ndepression. It was therefore hypothesised that adult attachment style would\nmoderate the association between stressors and depression. The temporal\nassociation between adult attachment and depression is unclear. Based on the\nfindings of prospective studies, It was hypothesised that adult attachment would\npredict depression over time\nprevious research had used the Parental Bonding Instrument (Parker, Tupling, &\nBrown, 1979) as an indicator of childhood attachment. It was hypothesised that the\nParental Bonding Instrument was not an adequate measure of attachment and by\nusing this measure, past research had been Impeded. A new measure of childhood\nattachment was therefore constructed for the present study.\nMethod. Data were collected using questionnaires on current depression, childhood\nattachment experiences, adult romantic attachment, social comparison, and defeat.\n1\nData were collected at two stages, with a five month interval. Intemet Mediated data\ncollection and the "paper and pencil" method were both used there were 244 (200\nfemales and 44 males) participants at time one, of which 70 (55 females and 15\nmales) returned at time two.\nResults: It was found that the new measure was an improved measure of childhood\nattachment when compared with the Parental Bonding Instrument. As expected, the\nassociation between childhood attachment and depression was mediated by the third\nvariable outside of the attachment system; the Involuntary Defeat Strategy. Contrary\nto expectations, the association between childhood attachment and depression was\nmediated by adulthood attachment Changing to a secure adult attachment style had\nthe effect of attenuating the influence of childhood experiences on depression. As\nhypothesised, It was found that adulthood attachment moderated the association\nbetween a stressor and depression specifically, a significant association was found\nbetween a stressor and depression only for those participants with an insecure attachment style. Finally, the temporal association between adult attachment and\ndepression could not be established. Both attachment and depression were\nconsistent over time.\nConclusions: It was concluded that attachment was a stable vulnerability factor\nthrough which childhood experiences could have an effect on depressed mood in\nadulthood. The pathway from childhood attachment to depression was also\nmediated by the Involuntary Defeat Strategy. It was concluded that childhood\nattachment presented an early vulnerability factor, and adult attachment moderated\nthe association between a source of stress and depression suggestions were made\nfor future research where a temporal association between adult attachment and\ndepression would be detected.
Author: Wendy Nicholls
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W815833541