Moment-to-moment changes in attachment behaviour.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Symptom-specificity in terms of moment-to-moment changes in attachment behaviour.
IRAS ID
135675
Contact name
Richard Bentall
Contact email
Research summary
Attachment theory is concerned with the emotional bonds infants form with their primary caregivers to establish a feeling of security and safety. Interactions with primary caregivers are therefore characterized by proximity seeking and maintaining behaviours. Over time the child’s perception of these interactions forms internal working models of the self and others (Bowlby, 1973). Working models act as archetypes throughout the lifespan, helping individuals interpret and anticipate others’ behaviour (Bowlby, 1973). Although early interactions are thereby thought to structure later relationships, there is inconsistency in research showing whether attachment representations are stable across time.
Research suggests that people who experience hallucinations or paranoia have had significant negative life experiences (Read et al., 2005; Bentall et al., 2012; Varese et al., 2012). Such adverse experiences could be impacting the formation and alteration of schemas about the self and about others, in which the world is conceptualised as a dangerous place, and therefore others cannot be trusted. Additional research also suggests that insecure attachment (anxious, avoidant) is more implicated in paranoia than in hallucinations (Pickering et al., 2008).
This study will utilise a self-report measure of attachment style. Although research examining the stability of attachment style using test-retest reliability found that approximately 30% of individuals changed in their classification, this could be a reflection of moment to moment fluctuations in attachment, suggesting that the construct may be susceptible to daily environmental factors, and that the measure is not necessarily unreliable (Baldwin & Fehr, 1995). Based on this evidence, it is important to explore attachment as a fluctuating construct, hence the primary goal of this study is to explore whether there will be moment to moment fluctuations in attachment representations in individuals who experience hallucinations and paranoia, and whether an increase in moment-to-moment insecure attachment will lead to an increase in paranoid feelings.REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/NW/0783
Date of REC Opinion
18 Dec 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion