Ambivalent attachment in female adolescents: Association with affective instability and eating disorders

✍ Scribed by Salzman, Judith P.

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 188 KB
• Volume: 21
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0276-3478
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-108x(199704)21:3<251::aid-eat5>3.0.co;2-j

✦ Synopsis

Objective: This report reviews narrative data from the ambivalent attachment subgroup of a larger attachment investigation, in order to probe beyond substantive results showing significant differences between secure and ambivalent attachment, with respect to hypothesized personality correlates. Method: Two readers coded common themes in semistructured 2-hr interviews, which focused on attachment to mother and experience of self, using a sample of 28 female college undergraduates classified as secure (n = 10), ambivalent (n = 11), or avoidant (n = 7) in their primary attachments. Results: Coded data revealed two striking correlates of ambivalent attachment not anticipated by the study's hypotheses: (1) reports of affective instability in 9 of 11 ambivalent subjects; (2) histories of anorexia, sometimes followed by bulimia, in 7 of 11 ambivalent subjects. Discussion: A provisional understanding of possible links among ambivalent attachment, affective instability, and anorexia is offered.