CHILDHOOD ATTACHMENT AND ABUSE - LONG-TERM EFFECTS ON ADULT ATTACHMENT, DEPRESSION, AND CONFLICT-RESOLUTION

Citation
T. Styron et R. Janoffbulman, CHILDHOOD ATTACHMENT AND ABUSE - LONG-TERM EFFECTS ON ADULT ATTACHMENT, DEPRESSION, AND CONFLICT-RESOLUTION, Child abuse & neglect, 21(10), 1997, pp. 1015-1023
Citations number
26
Categorie Soggetti
Social Work
Journal title
ISSN journal
01452134
Volume
21
Issue
10
Year of publication
1997
Pages
1015 - 1023
Database
ISI
SICI code
0145-2134(1997)21:10<1015:CAAA-L>2.0.ZU;2-M
Abstract
Objective: The primary aim was to determine the relative contributions of early attachment and abuse history to adult attachment, depression , and conflict resolution behaviors. Differences between abused and no nabused respondents were also assessed. Method: A multi-scale question naire was completed by 879 college students. Hierarchical regression a nalyses were used to answer the primary research question, and analyse s also compared the 26.4% of respondents who reported childhood abuse with those who did not. Results: Respondents who indicated they had be en abused as children reported less secure childhood and adult relatio nships than their nonabused counterparts. They were also more depresse d and more likely to use destructive behaviors in conflict situations. Although both adult romantic attachment and respondents' depression s cores were best accounted for by childhood attachment to mother and fa ther rather than abuse history, the opposite pattern of results emerge d for conflict resolution behaviors. In this case, abuse history was t he stronger predictor, and parental attachment did not account for any significant additional variance. Conclusions: Results suggest that th e long-term impact of childhood abuse may be mediated by early attachm ent experiences, whereas the long-term impact of abuse on conflict res olution behaviors may be considerably more direct. (C) 1997 Elsevier S cience Ltd.