The Influence of Attachment Styles and Personality Organization on Emotional Functioning After Childhood Trauma
Background: Current literature suggests a tenuous link among childhood trauma, personality organization, adult attachment, and emotional functioning in various psychiatric disorders. However, empirical research focusing on the interaction of these concepts is sparse. Therefore, this study intends to...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00643/full |
| _version_ | 1818018784056705024 |
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| author | Jürgen Fuchshuber Jürgen Fuchshuber Michaela Hiebler-Ragger Michaela Hiebler-Ragger Adelheid Kresse Hans-Peter Kapfhammer Human Friedrich Unterrainer Human Friedrich Unterrainer Human Friedrich Unterrainer |
| author_facet | Jürgen Fuchshuber Jürgen Fuchshuber Michaela Hiebler-Ragger Michaela Hiebler-Ragger Adelheid Kresse Hans-Peter Kapfhammer Human Friedrich Unterrainer Human Friedrich Unterrainer Human Friedrich Unterrainer |
| author_sort | Jürgen Fuchshuber |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Current literature suggests a tenuous link among childhood trauma, personality organization, adult attachment, and emotional functioning in various psychiatric disorders. However, empirical research focusing on the interaction of these concepts is sparse. Therefore, this study intends to investigate the influence of personality organization and attachment dimensions on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and emotional functioning in adult life. To assess emotional functioning, we adopted the Affective Neuroscience model of primary emotions, comprising SEEKING, FEAR, ANGER, SADNESS, CARE, and PLAY.Methods: The total sample consisted of 616 nonclinical adults (Age: M = 30; SD = 9.53; 61.9% female). Path analysis was applied to investigate interactions among childhood trauma, personality organization, adult attachment, and primary emotion dispositions.Results: The findings suggest that childhood trauma significantly predicted deficits in personality organization and insecure attachment (all p < 0.001). Furthermore, a reduced level of personality organization was significantly associated with increased ANGER (p < 0.001), whereas adult attachment substantially predicted primary emotion dispositions in general. Moreover, the results indicate significant mediational effects of personality organization and attachment dimensions on the relationship between childhood trauma and primary emotions (p < 0.01). The final model was able to explain 48% of the variance in SADNESS, 38% in PLAY, 35% in FEAR, 28% in CARE, 14% in ANGER, and 13% in SEEKING.Discussion: The findings contribute to the understanding of the relationship between childhood maltreatment and impaired emotional functioning in adult life. Furthermore, the importance of personality organization and attachment dimensions for emotion regulation is underlined. Consequently, the treatment of patients with childhood trauma should focus on facilitating the development of more secure attachment patterns and increased personality functioning to improve overall emotional functioning. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T07:44:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-94419fd70e684158923729cf0af7a2a6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-0640 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T07:44:25Z |
| publishDate | 2019-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj.art-94419fd70e684158923729cf0af7a2a62022-12-22T02:05:23ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychiatry1664-06402019-09-011010.3389/fpsyt.2019.00643435793The Influence of Attachment Styles and Personality Organization on Emotional Functioning After Childhood TraumaJürgen Fuchshuber0Jürgen Fuchshuber1Michaela Hiebler-Ragger2Michaela Hiebler-Ragger3Adelheid Kresse4Hans-Peter Kapfhammer5Human Friedrich Unterrainer6Human Friedrich Unterrainer7Human Friedrich Unterrainer8Center for Integrative Addiction Research (CIAR), GrünerKreis Society, Vienna, AustriaUniversity Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, Graz, AustriaCenter for Integrative Addiction Research (CIAR), GrünerKreis Society, Vienna, AustriaUniversity Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, Graz, AustriaInstitute for Pathophysiology und Immunology, Medical University Graz, Graz, AustriaUniversity Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, Graz, AustriaCenter for Integrative Addiction Research (CIAR), GrünerKreis Society, Vienna, AustriaUniversity Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, Graz, AustriaDepartment of Religious Studies, University of Vienna, Vienna, AustriaBackground: Current literature suggests a tenuous link among childhood trauma, personality organization, adult attachment, and emotional functioning in various psychiatric disorders. However, empirical research focusing on the interaction of these concepts is sparse. Therefore, this study intends to investigate the influence of personality organization and attachment dimensions on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and emotional functioning in adult life. To assess emotional functioning, we adopted the Affective Neuroscience model of primary emotions, comprising SEEKING, FEAR, ANGER, SADNESS, CARE, and PLAY.Methods: The total sample consisted of 616 nonclinical adults (Age: M = 30; SD = 9.53; 61.9% female). Path analysis was applied to investigate interactions among childhood trauma, personality organization, adult attachment, and primary emotion dispositions.Results: The findings suggest that childhood trauma significantly predicted deficits in personality organization and insecure attachment (all p < 0.001). Furthermore, a reduced level of personality organization was significantly associated with increased ANGER (p < 0.001), whereas adult attachment substantially predicted primary emotion dispositions in general. Moreover, the results indicate significant mediational effects of personality organization and attachment dimensions on the relationship between childhood trauma and primary emotions (p < 0.01). The final model was able to explain 48% of the variance in SADNESS, 38% in PLAY, 35% in FEAR, 28% in CARE, 14% in ANGER, and 13% in SEEKING.Discussion: The findings contribute to the understanding of the relationship between childhood maltreatment and impaired emotional functioning in adult life. Furthermore, the importance of personality organization and attachment dimensions for emotion regulation is underlined. Consequently, the treatment of patients with childhood trauma should focus on facilitating the development of more secure attachment patterns and increased personality functioning to improve overall emotional functioning.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00643/fulladult attachmentpersonality organizationstructural equation modelingchildhood traumaprimary emotionsaffect regulation |
| spellingShingle | Jürgen Fuchshuber Jürgen Fuchshuber Michaela Hiebler-Ragger Michaela Hiebler-Ragger Adelheid Kresse Hans-Peter Kapfhammer Human Friedrich Unterrainer Human Friedrich Unterrainer Human Friedrich Unterrainer The Influence of Attachment Styles and Personality Organization on Emotional Functioning After Childhood Trauma Frontiers in Psychiatry adult attachment personality organization structural equation modeling childhood trauma primary emotions affect regulation |
| title | The Influence of Attachment Styles and Personality Organization on Emotional Functioning After Childhood Trauma |
| title_full | The Influence of Attachment Styles and Personality Organization on Emotional Functioning After Childhood Trauma |
| title_fullStr | The Influence of Attachment Styles and Personality Organization on Emotional Functioning After Childhood Trauma |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Influence of Attachment Styles and Personality Organization on Emotional Functioning After Childhood Trauma |
| title_short | The Influence of Attachment Styles and Personality Organization on Emotional Functioning After Childhood Trauma |
| title_sort | influence of attachment styles and personality organization on emotional functioning after childhood trauma |
| topic | adult attachment personality organization structural equation modeling childhood trauma primary emotions affect regulation |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00643/full |
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