ANXIOUS ATTACHMENT AS A DETERMINANT OF ADULT PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

Traditionally, an excess of interpersonal dependency has been used to characterize disturbed interpersonal relationships in adults. This app roach stands in sharp contrast to that of attachment theorists who con ceptualize attachment as functionally distinct from dependency. Attach ment theory focuses on anxious attachment in the definition and dynami cs of disturbed adult interpersonal relationships. The purpose of this study was to examine the relevance of anxious attachment to the diffe rentiation of psychiatric outpatients from nonpatients. Empirically, t hree scales (feared loss of the attachment figure, proximity seeking, and separation protest) measure the components of anxious attachment a s defined by Bowlby. The scales were administered to two research samp les. Sample 1 was composed of 136 respondents to a survey within the C algary community. Sample 2 consisted of 110 psychiatric outpatients dr awn from the psychotherapy clinic of the Calgary General Hospital. The results indicate that the three components of anxious attachment offe r a clinically relevant system for differentiating between psychiatric outpatients and nonpatients. Of these three components, feared loss h as the predominant effect. The implications of this finding for the de lineation of disturbed interpersonal relationships in adults is discus sed.