Citation

Gander M, Buchheim A, Bock A, Steppan M, Sevecke K, Goth K. J. Personal. Disord. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychiatric University Clinics, Basel, Switzerland.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Guilford Publications)

DOI

10.1521/pedi_2020_34_468

PMID

31990614

Abstract

The present study investigates the mediating effect of attachment trauma on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and personality functioning in 199 adolescents (12-18 years) using a novel approach of an in-depth analysis of attachment-related traumatic contents during an attachment interview (AAP). Our findings demonstrate that adolescents with a high amount of traumatic attachment-related material show a lower resilience when facing traumatic childhood experiences, resulting in a greater severity of personality dysfunction. In particular, the associations between emotional abuse and neglect and the domains of identity, empathy, self-direction, and intimacy were mediated by the severity of attachment trauma. These results advance our understanding of the different nuances of attachment-related traumatic material and how they might shape personality structure in an adolescent age group.

Language: en

Keywords

adolescence; attachment; childhood trauma; personality disorders; personality functioning