A model for brief assessment of attachment and its application to women ininpatient treatment for trauma-related psychiatric disorders

We adapted self-report measures of attachment style to the psychological as sessment of women in specialized inpatient treatment for trauma-related dis orders. The study employed 2 measures of adult attachment style, the Relati onship Questionnaire (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991) and the Adult Attachmen t Scale (Collins & Read, 1990) as well as our Current Attachment Relationsh ips questionnaire, which assesses the extent of social support in secure at tachments. We administered these measures to 99 patients and to a convenien ce sample of 154 women in the community. We found modest correspondence bet ween the 2 attachment style measures and substantial relations between atta chment styles and range of secure attachment relationships. Women in the tr auma sample reported insecure attachment styles and relatively few secure a ttachment figures. We discuss the implications of these findings for clinic al assessment.