Attachment and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis functioning in patients with eating disorders

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S551-S552 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Monaco ◽  
A.M. Monteleone ◽  
F. Pellegrino ◽  
V. Ruzzi ◽  
G. Fico ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Stress Response ◽  
Attachment Style ◽  
Attachment Styles ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Secure Attachment ◽  
Response System ◽  
Avoidant Attachment ◽  
Stress Response System ◽  
Hpa Axis Functioning

IntroductionAttachment theory suggests that different attachment styles influence the development of individual's self-esteem and modulate the individual's ability to manage stressful events by responding with adequate affective adjustment. High levels of insecure attachment are present in adults with Eating Disorders (EDs).ObjectivesThe variables that mediate the association between attachment style and EDs have not been investigated enough. The possibility exists that the endogenous stress response system is involved.AimsTo appraise the role of the endogenous stress response system, we studied the effect of attachment styles on the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning in ED patients.MethodsFifty- two women with EDs and 25 healthy women completed the ECR questionnaire to assess their attachment style. Saliva samples were taken in the morning to measure the Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR). Moreover, the saliva cortisol response to the Trier-Social-Stress-Test (TSST) was measured in 30 ED patients and 15 healthy controls.ResultsPatients with avoidant attachment showed an increased CAR compared to both healthy controls and to patients with anxious and secure attachment styles. In the initial TSST phase, cortisol levels decreased in the secure attachment group but not in patients with avoidant attachment. In the TSST stress response phase, the cortisol raise was higher in insecure patients and delayed in avoidant ones.ConclusionsIn adults with EDs, attachment styles affect the HPA axis functioning and this could have a role in the pathophysiology of EDs.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Attachment style and salivary cortisol awakening response in eating disorders

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S162-S162
Author(s):  
F. De Riso ◽  
R. Giugliano ◽  
A.M. Monteleone ◽  
M. Nigro ◽  
F. Pellegrino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Attachment Style ◽  
Hpa Axis ◽  
Adult Attachment ◽  
Attachment Styles ◽  
Cortisol Awakening Response ◽  
Anxious Attachment ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Anxious Group ◽  
Hpa Axis Functioning

IntroductionEarly life experiences can influence hypotalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis regulation and adult attachment styles. Furthermore, several studies showed that in patients with eating disorders (EDs) there is a prevalence of insecure attachment. However, the relationship between adult attachment style, HPA axis functioning and onset of EDs is largely unknown.Objectives and aimsIn order to evaluate possible associations between attachment styles and HPA axis functioning in EDs, we investigated Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR) in ED patients with different attachment styles.MethodsTwenty adult patients with EDs were classified in three groups, according to the Experience in Close Relationship questionnaire (6 with secure attachment, 6 with anxious attachment and 8 with avoidant attachment). Saliva samples were collected at awakening and 15, 30 and 60 minutes after.ResultsThere was a significant difference among the groups in both awakening and post-awakening cortisol concentrations. In particular, compared to secure and avoidant groups, the anxious group exhibited lower cortisol concentrations at awakening and post-awakening with a preservation of the timing of the CAR.DiscussionPresent findings demonstrate that anxious attachment style is linked to flattened CAR in EDs. This pattern has been associated with other psychiatric disorders. Therefore, attachment style could influence the HPA functioning and it could play, although not specifically, a role in pathophysiology of EDs.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Model of the Relationships between Supervising Working Alliance, Counseling Self-Esteem and Attachment Styles

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 124
Author(s):  
Ahmad Al- Shraifin
Keyword(s):  
Working Alliance ◽  
Attachment Style ◽  
Attachment Styles ◽  
Direct Relationship ◽  
Counseling Students ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Secure Attachment ◽  
Avoidant Attachment ◽  
Indirect Relationship ◽  
The Relationship

The study aimed to explore the causal relationships between supervising working alliance, counseling self-esteem and attachment styles through a causal model adopting a path analysis method. The study sample consisted of 289 counseling students at Yarmouk University. Three scales were administered to measure the supervising working alliance, self-esteem and attachment styles.  Results showed a direct relationship between avoidant attachment styles and supervising working alliance, and an indirect relationship with counseling self-esteem. There was a direct relationship between secure attachment style, supervising working alliance and counseling self-esteem; and between supervising working alliance and counseling self-esteem.  In addition, direct and indirect relationships were evident between avoidant attachment style and special relationship domain of supervising working alliance and counseling self-esteem; whereas it affected client focus domain with a direct relationship. Direct relationships also were evident between secure attachment styles, the relationship domain and self-focus domain.  

scholarly journals Fear of Relationship Loss: Attachment Style as a Vulnerability Factor in Job Burnout

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 146-154
Author(s):  
Andreja Pšeničny ◽  
Mitja Perat
Keyword(s):  
Attachment Style ◽  
Attachment Styles ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
Burnout Syndrome ◽  
Secure Attachment ◽  
Work Addiction ◽  
Avoidant Attachment ◽  
Addiction Risk ◽  
Burnout Risk ◽  
Preoccupied Attachment

AbstractObjectiveTo investigate the correlation between attachment styles and various burnout risk groups (“relaxed”, “wornout”, “challenged” and “burnout”) and whether attachment styles suitably discriminate between individual burnout risk groups.MethodThe study involved 2,320 participants (1,668 women and 652 men), who completed an adrenal burnout syndrome questionnaire, a performance-based self esteem scale, a work addiction risk test and a relationship questionnaire.ResultsA one-way analysis of variance confirmed attachment style differences between burnout risk groups. The challenged and burnout groups differed from the relaxed and wornout groups by having a significantly lower secure attachment style score and a higher insecure (avoidant and preoccupied) attachment style score. The canonical discriminant analysis showed that the predictors (secure, preoccupied and avoidant attachment styles) can be used to appropriately classify 85.4% of respondents in the predicted burnout risk groups.ConclusionThe study confirmed the hypothesis that two insecure attachment styles (i.e. avoidant and preoccupied) predominate in the challenged and burnout groups, and that a secure attachment style predominates in the relaxed and wornout groups. Burnout syndrome can thus be conceived as the result of excessive and compulsive efforts to retain a relationship that is perceived as insecure or to reduce (excessive) fear of losing this relationship.

scholarly journals Prevalence of a Forgivingness Tolerance Trait among University Students and its Relationship with Attachment Styles

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Ahmad M. Mahasneh
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Attachment Style ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Attachment Styles ◽  
Secure Attachment ◽  
Academic Level ◽  
Avoidant Attachment ◽  
Hashemite University ◽  
Academic Year ◽  
Academic Specialization

This study aimed to identify the prevalence of a forgiveness trait among university students and its relationship with attachment styles, and to determine any differences in the extent of forgiveness based on gender, academic specialization and academic level variables. Participants in the study consisted of 784 male and female undergraduate students at the Hashemite University in the academic year 2013-2014, who completed both the attachment styles and forgiveness traits scales. Results indicated a moderate prevalence of the forgiveness trait and no significant differences were found due to gender, while significant differences were found due to academic specialization in favor of humanist specializations and academic level in favor of third and fourth academic levels. Results also indicated that the secure attachment style indicated a positive relationship with the forgiveness trait, whereas no significant relationship was found between the anxious or avoidant attachment styles, and the forgiveness trait.

Early traumatic experiences impair the functioning of both components of the endogenous stress response system in adult people with eating disorders

2020 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 104644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessio Maria Monteleone ◽  
Francesca Marciello ◽  
Giammarco Cascino ◽  
Monica Cimino ◽  
Valeria Ruzzi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eating Disorders ◽  
Stress Response ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Response System ◽  
Stress Response System

scholarly journals Adult Attachment Styles as Predictors of Different Types of Ingroup Identification

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Rubin
Keyword(s):  
Attachment Style ◽  
Adult Attachment ◽  
Attachment Styles ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Social Identification ◽  
Secure Attachment ◽  
Avoidant Attachment ◽  
Adult Attachment Styles ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Ingroup Identification

The primary goal of the present research was to explore the relationship between adult attachment styles and four different types of identification with social groups. The results confirmed predictions and revealed that particular prototypic attachment styles are associated with an increase in only certain types of ingroup identification. People with secure attachment style had higher social identification than people with a dismissive-avoidant attachment style. Participants with secure attachment style showed higher communal identification than participants who had either a dismissive-avoidant or a fearful-avoidant attachment style. These findings supported the idea that relationship attachment style has an important effect on the way people identify with their social groups and can serve as a predictor of preferred type of ingroup identity

scholarly journals Prevalence of a Forgivingness Tolerance Trait among University Students and its Relationship with Attachment Styles

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Ahmad M. Mahasneh
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Attachment Style ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Attachment Styles ◽  
Secure Attachment ◽  
Academic Level ◽  
Avoidant Attachment ◽  
Hashemite University ◽  
Academic Year ◽  
Academic Specialization

This study aimed to identify the prevalence of a forgiveness trait among university students and its relationship with attachment styles, and to determine any differences in the extent of forgiveness based on gender, academic specialization and academic level variables. Participants in the study consisted of 784 male and female undergraduate students at the Hashemite University in the academic year 2013-2014, who completed both the attachment styles and forgiveness traits scales. Results indicated a moderate prevalence of the forgiveness trait and no significant differences were found due to gender, while significant differences were found due to academic specialization in favor of humanist specializations and academic level in favor of third and fourth academic levels. Results also indicated that the secure attachment style indicated a positive relationship with the forgiveness trait, whereas no significant relationship was found between the anxious or avoidant attachment styles, and the forgiveness trait.

scholarly journals Quantitative Behavioral Analysis and Qualitative Classification of Attachment Styles in Domestic Dogs: Are Dogs with a Secure and an Insecure-Avoidant Attachment Different?

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Giacomo Riggio ◽  
Angelo Gazzano ◽  
Borbála Zsilák ◽  
Beatrice Carlone ◽  
Chiara Mariti
Keyword(s):  
Attachment Style ◽  
Attachment Styles ◽  
Secure Attachment ◽  
Strange Situation ◽  
Continuous Sampling ◽  
Avoidant Attachment ◽  
Sample Test ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
Qualitative Classification

Since several modified Strange Situation Procedures (SSP) have been used to investigate dog-to-owner attachment, in this study two different samples of dog-owner dyads underwent two modified versions of the SSP. Dogs’ attachment style to the owner was assessed based on a novel adaptation of the attachment pattern classification used for infant-caregivers. Dogs’ behavioral data were collected using continuous sampling and, in the second protocol, also with a scoring system for greeting and social play. In both studies, secure and avoidant dogs’ behavior was compared using the Mann Whitney test, while differences within each group across episodes were analyzed using the Wilcoxon paired sample test. The classification seemed to be effective at identifying both avoidant and secure attachment patterns in dogs. As expected, differences in key attachment behaviors, such as proximity/contact seeking toward the caregiver, between secure and avoidant dogs were more evident in the final episodes of the test. Differently from secure dogs, avoidant dogs did not show an increase in proximity/contact seeking behavior with the caregiver in any of the procedures. Further studies with larger samples are needed to support the effectiveness of this classification and investigate on the remaining attachment styles.

scholarly journals Predictive Ability of Social Intelligence from Attachment Styles

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 131
Author(s):  
Alghamdi Michaeel A. ◽  
Al.Qudah Mohammad F. ◽  
Albursan Ismael S. ◽  
Abduljabbar Adel S. ◽  
Bakhiet Salaheldin F.
Keyword(s):  
Attachment Style ◽  
Attachment Styles ◽  
Social Intelligence ◽  
Predictive Ability ◽  
Secure Attachment ◽  
King Saud University ◽  
Avoidant Attachment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Adult Attachment Styles ◽  
Preparatory Year

<p>With our present study we aimed to explore the prevalent attachment styles among female university students and to investigate the extent to which attachment styles (secure, avoidant and anxious-ambivalent) may interpret differences in Social Intelligence (SI). Our subjects were 404 female students randomly selected from the preparatory year and the fourth year at King Saud University in Riyadh. We used and extracted the psychometric characteristics of the Adult Attachment Styles Scale and the Social Intelligence Scale. Data revealed that the most prevalent attachment style among our sample of students at King Saud University was secure attachment followed by avoidant and then anxious-ambivalent attachment. Analysis of multiple regression showed that both secure and anxious-ambivalent attachment contributed significantly to predicting SI. Avoidant attachment, on the other hand, did not prove to be a strong SI predictor.</p>

scholarly journals The role of cognitive schemas in the relationship between attachment style and emotional intelligence

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-69
Author(s):  
Elena Morena Scarlat
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Attachment Style ◽  
Attachment Styles ◽  
Cognitive Schemas ◽  
Secure Attachment ◽  
Anxious Attachment ◽  
Avoidant Attachment ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship

The current study focuses on the idea that the relationship between attachment styles and emotional intelligence can be influenced by cognitive schemas. It is well known that the first interaction between the child and his mother lays the foundations of attachment. The extent to which it develops guides the individual throughout his life making him responsible for his own actions and decisions. In this way studying the three variables becomes the main objective of the study. The data were collected on an online form, using the snowball method by which subjects were able to share the questionnaire to acquaintances to gather a larger number of people. The study was attended by 281 people aged between 18 to 40 years, M = 21.98, SD = 4.10, of which, 52 were males (18.50%) and 229 females (81.50%), 134 were single (47.69%) and 147 were in a relationship (52.31%), 48 people come from single-parent families (17.08%) and 233 come from two-parent families (82.92%). The results were as expected, secure attachment constitutes a significant positive predictor of emotional intelligence while the anxious attachment was a significant negative predictor of emotional intelligence. The results also showed that avoidant attachment would be a significant positive predictor of emotional intelligence. Following the results it was observed that there is a mediation between cognitive schema and the relationship between attachment styles and emotional intelligence. The secure attachment style was significantly negatively associated with all three types of schemas as expected.

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