Recent research suggests that individuals with attachment difficulties are at increased risk for experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization. However, most studies conducted on this topic have been cross-sectional, leaving it unclear whether attachment difficulties actually precede this type of violence. The current 6-month prospective study examined the relation between adult attachment and subsequent IPV victimization in a sample of 133 college women. At Time 1, participants completed the Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR) questionnaire to assess the two underlying orthogonal dimensions of adult attachment (anxiety and avoidance) and the Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire (TLEQ) to assess prior exposure to interpersonal traumatic events. At follow-up, participants completed a modified version of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS-2) to assess IPV victimization. Results indicated that attachment anxiety was associated with an increased risk for experiencing physical assault during the 6-month follow-up period, even after statistically adjusting for prior interpersonal trauma. In contrast, attachment avoidance was unrelated to subsequent IPV victimization.
AikinsJ. W.HowesC.HamiltonC. (2009). Attachment stability and the emergence of unresolved representations during adolescence. Attachment & Human Development, 11, 491-512. doi:10.1080/14616730903017019
2.
AllisonC. J.BartholomewK.MayselessO.DuttonD. G. (2008). Love as a battlefield: Attachment and relationship dynamics in couples identified for male partner violence. Journal of Family Issues, 29, 125-150. doi:10.1177/0192513X07306980
3.
BartholomewK. (1990). Avoidance of intimacy: An attachment perspective. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 7, 147-178. doi:10.1177/0265407590072001
4.
BartholomewK.AllisonC. J. (2006). An attachment perspective on abusive dynamics in intimate relationships. In MikulincerM.GoodmanG. S. (Eds.), Dynamics of romantic love: Attachment, caregiving, and sex (pp. 102-127). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
5.
BondS. B.BondM. (2004). Attachment styles and violence within couples. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 192, 857-863. doi:10.1097/01.nmd.0000146879.33957.ec
6.
BowlbyJ. (1973). Attachment and Loss: Vol. 2. Separation: Anxiety and anger. New York, NY: Basic Books.
7.
BowlbyJ. (1979). The making and breaking of affectional bonds. London, England: Tavistock.
8.
BowlbyJ. (1980). Attachment and Loss: Vol. 3. Sadness and depression. New York, NY: Basic Books.
9.
BowlbyJ. (1982). Attachment and Loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. New York, NY: Basic Books. (Original work published 1969)
10.
BowlbyJ. (1984). Violence in the family as a disorder of the attachment and caregiving systems. The American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 44, 9-27. doi:10.1007/BF01255416
11.
BowlbyJ. (1988). A secure base: Clinical applications of attachment theory. New York, NY: Basic Books.
12.
BreidingM. J.SmithS. G.BasileK. C.WaltersM. L.ChenJ.MerrickM. T. (2014). Prevalence and characteristics of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence victimization—National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, United States, 2011. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 63(Suppl. 8), 1-18.
13.
BrennanK. A.ClarkC. L.ShaverP. R. (1998). Self-report measurement of adult attachment: An integrative overview. In SimpsonJ. A.RholesW. S. (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 46-76). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
14.
CokerA. L.DavisK. E.AriasI. D.SujataS. M.BrandtH. M.SmithP. H. (2002). Physical and mental health effects of intimate partner violence for men and women. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 23, 260-268. doi:10.1016/S0749-3797(02)00514-7
15.
CollinsN. L. (1996). Working models of attachment: Implications for explanation, emotion, and behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 810-832. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.71.4.810
16.
CollinsN. L.CooperM. L.AlbinoA.AllardL. (2002). Psychosocial vulnerability from adolescence to adulthood: A prospective study of attachment style differences in relationship functioning and partner choice. Journal of Personality, 70, 965-1008. doi:10.1111/1467-6494.05029
17.
DoumasD. M.PearsonC. L.ElginJ. E.McKinleyL. L. (2008). Adult attachment as a risk factor for intimate partner violence: The “mispairing” of partners’ attachment styles. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 23, 616-634. doi:10.1177/0886260507313526
18.
DuttonD. G. (1995). Male abusiveness in intimate relationships. Clinical Psychology Review, 15, 567-580. doi:10.1016/0272-7358(95)00028-N
19.
FanslowJ. L.RobinsonE. M. (2011). Physical injuries resulting from intimate partner violence and disclosure to health care providers: Results from a New Zealand population-based study. Injury Prevention, 17, 37-42. doi:10.1136/ip.2009.026104
20.
FeeneyJ. A. (2008). Adult romantic attachment: Developments in the study of couple relationships. In CassidyJ.ShaverP. (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (2nd ed., pp. 456-481). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
21.
GoldingJ. M. (1999). Intimate partner violence as a risk factor for mental disorders: A meta-analysis. Journal of Family Violence, 14, 99-132. doi:10.1023/A:1022079418229
22.
GormleyB. (2005). An adult attachment theoretical perspective of gender symmetry in intimate partner violence. Sex Roles, 52, 785-795. doi:10.1007/s11199-005-4199-3
23.
GreenbergL. S.JohnsonS. M. (1988). Emotion Focused Couples Therapy. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
24.
HayesA. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
25.
HendersonA. Z.BartholomewK.DuttonD. G. (1997). He loves me; He loves me not: Attachment and separation resolution of abused women. Journal of Family Violence, 12, 169-191. doi:10.1023/A:1022836711637
26.
HendersonA. Z.BartholomewK.TrinkeS. J.KwongM. J. (2005). When loving means hurting: An exploration of attachment and intimate abuse in a community sample. Journal of Family Violence, 20, 219-230. doi:10.1007/s10896-005-5985-y
27.
HolmesJ. (1993). John Bowlby and attachment theory. New York, NY: Routledge.
28.
JohnsonM. P. (2008). A typology of domestic violence: Intimate terrorism, violent resistance, and situational couple violence. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press.
29.
JohnsonS. M.WhiffenV. E. (2003). Attachment processes in Couple and Family Therapy. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
30.
KossM. P.BaileyJ. A.YuanN. P. (2003). Depression and PTSD in survivors of male violence: Research and training initiatives to facilitate recovery. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 27, 130-142. doi:10.1111/1471-6402.00093
31.
KubanyE. S.HaynesS. N.LeisenM. B.OwensJ. A.KaplanA. S.WatsonS. B.BurnsK. (2000). Development and preliminary validation of a brief broad-spectrum measure of trauma exposure: The Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire. Psychological Assessment, 12, 210-224. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.12.2.210
32.
KuijpersK. F.van der KnaapL. M.WinkelF. W. (2012). Risk of revictimization of intimate partner violence: The role of attachment, anger and violent behavior of the victim. Journal of Family Violence, 27, 33-44. doi:10.1007/s10896-011-9399-8
33.
LinehanM. (1993). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of borderline personality disorder. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
34.
LopezF. G.GormleyB. (2002). Stability and change in adult attachment style over the first-year college transition: Relations to self-confidence, coping, and distress patterns. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 49, 355-364. doi:10.1037/0022-0167.49.3.355
35.
MayselessO. (1991). Adult attachment patterns and courtship violence. Family Relations: Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Studies, 40, 21-28. doi:10.2307/585654
36.
MikulincerM.ShaverP. R. (2007). Attachment patterns in adulthood: Structure, dynamics, and change. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
37.
MikulincerM.ShaverP. R. (2011). Attachment, anger, and aggression. In ShaverP. R.MikulincerM. (Eds.), Human aggression and violence: Causes, manifestations, and consequences (pp. 241-257). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
38.
MossE.CyrC.BureauJ. F.TarabulskyG. M.Dubois-ComtoisK. (2005). Stability of attachment during the preschool period. Developmental Psychology, 41, 773-783. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.41.5.773
39.
OrcuttH. K.GarciaM.PickettS. M. (2005). Female-perpetrated intimate partner violence and romantic attachment style in a college student sample. Violence and Victims, 20, 287-302. doi:10.1891/vivi.20.3.287
40.
ParksS. E.KimK. H.DayN. L.GarzaM. A.LarkbyC. A. (2011). Lifetime self-reported victimization among low-income, urban women: The relationship between childhood maltreatment and adult violent victimization. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26, 1111-1128. doi:10.1177/0886260510368158
41.
PearlmanL. A.CourtoisC. A. (2005). Clinical applications of the attachment framework: Relational treatment of complex trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 18, 449-459. doi:10.1002/jts.20052
42.
PedersonL. (2012). The expanded Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills training manual. Eau Claire, WI: CMI Education Institute.
43.
RobertsN.NollerP. (1998). The associations between adult attachment and couple violence: The role of communication patterns and relationship satisfaction. In SimpsonJ. A.RholesW. S. (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 317-350). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
44.
SandbergD. A.SuessE. A.HeatonJ. L. (2010). Attachment anxiety as a mediator of the relationship between interpersonal trauma and posttraumatic symptomatology among college women. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 25, 33-49. doi:10.1177/0886260508329126
45.
SimpsonJ. A.RholesW. S.PhillipsD. (1996). Conflict in close relationships: An attachment perspective. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 899-914. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.71.5.899
46.
SladeA. (2008). The implications of attachment theory and research for adult psychotherapy: Research and clinical perspectives. In CassidyJ.ShaverP. (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications (2nd ed., pp. 762-782). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
47.
SolomonJ.GeorgeC. (1999). The place of disorganization in attachment theory: Linking classic observations with contemporary findings. In SolomonJ.GeorgeC. (Eds.), Attachment disorganization (pp. 3-32). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
48.
StrausM. A.HambyS. L.Boney-McCoyS.SugarmanD. B. (1996). The Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2). Journal of Family Issues, 17, 283-316. doi:10.1177/019251396017003001
49.
StrausM. A.GellesR. J. (1986). Societal change and change in family violence from 1975 to 1985 as revealed by two national surveys. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48(3), 465-479. doi:10.2307/352033
50.
TjadenP.ThoennesN. (2000). Prevalence and consequences of male-to-female and female-to-male intimate partner violence as measured by the National Violence Against Women Survey. Violence Against Women, 6, 142-161. doi:10.1177/10778010022181769
51.
Van der KolkB. A. (1996). The complexity of adaptation to trauma: Self-regulation, stimulus discrimination, and characterological development. In Van der KolkB. A.McFarlaneA. C.WeisaethL. (Eds.), Traumatic stress: The effects of overwhelming experience on mind, body, and society (pp. 182-213). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
52.
WatersE.MerrickS.TrebouxD.CrowellJ.AlbersheimL. (2000). Attachment security in infancy and early adulthood: A twenty-year longitudinal study. Child Development, 71, 684-689. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00176
53.
WeiM.RussellD. W.MallinckrodtB.VogelD. L. (2007). The Experiences in Close Relationship Scale (ECR)–Short Form: Reliability, validity, and factor structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 88, 187-204. doi:10.1080/00223890701268041
54.
WekerleC.WolfeD. A. (1998). The role of child maltreatment and attachment style in adolescent relationship violence. Development and Psychopathology, 10, 571-586.
55.
WestM.GeorgeC. (1999). Abuse and violence in intimate adult relationships: New perspectives from attachment theory. Attachment & Human Development, 1, 137-156. doi:10.1080/14616739900134201
56.
WilsonS. R. (2009). Traumatic brain injury and intimate partner violence. In MitchellC.DeirdreA. (Eds.), Intimate partner violence: A health-based perspective (pp. 183-199). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
57.
ZlotnickC.JohnsonD.KohnR. (2006). Intimate partner violence and long-term psychosocial functioning in a national sample of American women. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 21, 262-275. doi:10.1177/0886260505282564
