Abstract
This study examined differences in self-reported psychiatric symptomatology on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 according to adult attachment status on the Adult Attachment Interview in first-time mothers from a high-risk poverty sample. Participants reported fairly high levels of symptomatology regardless of attachment status. The dismissing adult attachment group reported comparatively little psychiatric distress, emphasized independence, and scored the lowest on self-reported anxiety. The preoccupied group was highest on a range of indices of psychiatric symptoms indicative of self-perceived distress and relationship problems. The autonomous group's scores ranged between the scores of the other 2 groups on most scales. These different symptom patterns are consistent with adult attachment status as an index of self-representation and as a set of strategies for processing emotions and thoughts related to distress and to attachment relationships.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 273-281 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology |
Volume | 64 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 1996 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Psychology
- Psychiatry and Mental health