Attachment and dissociation as mediators of the link between childhood trauma and psychotic experiences

This study was the first to examine whether dissociation and insecure attachment styles mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and these psychotic experiences. One hundred and twelve participants experiencing clinical levels of psychosis completed measures of dissociation, childhood trauma, attachment, voices, and paranoia. Results revealed positive associations between fearful (but not dismissive and anxious) attachment, dissociation, trauma, and psychotic experiences. Mediation analyses indicated that dissociation, but not fearful attachment, significantly mediated the relationship between trauma and voices. Conversely, both dissociation and fearful attachment significantly mediated the relationship between trauma and paranoia. The findings suggest that insecure attachment might be more strongly related to paranoia than hallucinations and suggest that fearful attachment may be a more promising mechanism to explain this relationship. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the impact of dissociation on psychotic experiences may extend to paranoia. Future research is required to replicate these findings using interview‐based attachment measures. Key practitioner messages Dissociation is a robust mediator of the link between childhood trauma and experiences of psychosis, and as such, clinicians should routinely enquire about the presence of dissociation. Clinicians should consider dissociation when formulating clients' difficulties and include dissociation as a po...
Source: Clinical Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research