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Cushing, Toby, Robertson, Sarah, Mannes, Julia, Marshall, Nicole, Carey, Mark James, Duschinsky, Robbie and Meiser-Stedman, Richard 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0262-623X
(2924)
The relationship between attachment and posttraumatic stress in children and adolescents: A meta-analytic review.
Development and Psychopathology, 36 (3).
pp. 1055-1069.
ISSN 0954-5794
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Abstract
The relationship between attachment and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) has been researched extensively within adult samples, with findings consistently demonstrating a relationship between insecure attachment and increased PTSS, and between secure attachment and decreased PTSS. To a lesser extent, such relationships have also been explored within child and adolescent samples. The evidence to date is equivocal and there have been no attempts to synthesize studies. This meta-analysis aimed to provide a quantitative synthesis of studies reporting a relationship between attachment orientation (on both developmental and social psychological measures) and PTSS within children and adolescents. A random effects model was used to pool 30 studies (N = 10,431) reporting exposure to a range of traumatic events including maltreatment and war trauma. Results demonstrate a negative correlation between secure attachment and PTSS (r = −.16) and a positive correlation between insecure attachment (r = .20), avoidant attachment (r = .20), anxious attachment (r = .32), and disorganized attachment (r = .17) and PTSS. These findings indicate a small but significant relationship between attachment and PTSS in children and adolescents. Exposure to maltreatment did not moderate the relationship between secure attachment and PTSS, though strengthened the relationship between insecure attachment and PTSS.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | Funding information: Work on this paper by Robbie Duschinsky was supported by a Medical Humanities Investigator Award from the Wellcome Trust (Grant WT103343MA). Toby Cushing was a Trainee Clinical Psychologist on a Health Education England-funded training program. |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | adolescents,attachment,children,meta-analysis,posttraumatic stress,developmental and educational psychology,psychiatry and mental health ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3200/3204 |
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Mental Health Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Lifespan Health |
| Related URLs: | |
| Depositing User: | LivePure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 28 Apr 2023 10:30 |
| Last Modified: | 14 Oct 2024 10:30 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/91904 |
| DOI: | 10.1017/S0954579423000299 |
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