Autonomic correlates of attachment insecurity in a sample of women with eating disorders

• Published in: Attachment & human development Vol. 13; no. 2; pp. 155 - 167
• Main Authors: Dias, Pedro, Soares, Isabel, Klein, John, Cunha, João P.S., Roisman, Glenn I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 01-03-2011; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Adult Attachment Interview; autonomic correlates of attachment; Autonomic Nervous System - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Ciências Sociais; Dreams - psychology; Eating behavior disorders; Eating Disorders; Feeding and Eating Disorders - epidemiology; Feeding and Eating Disorders - psychology; Female; Humans; Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; Object Attachment; Psicologia; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychometrics; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; psychophysiology; Risk Factors; Skin Physiological Phenomena; Social Sciences; Statistics as Topic; Young Adult; Human; Affect affectivity; Adult Attachment Interview; Affective attachment; Correlation analysis; Female; psychophysiology; eating disorders; Woman; Eating disorder; autonomic correlates of attachment
• ISSN: 1461-6734; 1469-2988
• DOI: 10.1080/14616734.2011.554005

This study examined associations between attachment insecurity and autonomic response during the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) in a sample of 47 women with eating disorders using a new system for the synchronous acquisition of behavioral and physiological data: the Bio Dual-channel and Representation of Attachment Multimedia System (BioDReAMS; Soares, Cunha, Zhan Jian Li, Pinho, & Neves,
1998
). Consistent with the emerging literature on the psychophysiology of adult attachment, insecurity was positively correlated with electrodermal reactivity during the AAI. Furthermore, relatively secure patients showed some evidence of parasympathetic withdrawal, which can be conceptualized as evidence of more effective emotion regulation. Results suggest that, even among women with diagnosed psychopathology, security is associated with moreproductive patterns of psychophysiological response to attachment-related challenges.