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Cited by 357Personality Disorders and PsychopathologyPersonality Traits and PsychologyAttachment and Relationship Dynamics

Attachment Styles and Personality Disorders: Their Connections to Each Other and to Parental Divorce, Parental Death, and Perceptions of Parental Caregiving

Brennan, Kelly A., Shaver, Phillip R.·1998·Journal of Personality
DOI 10.1111/1467-6494.00034
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Abstract

Attachment theory was explored as a means of understanding the origins of personality disorders. We investigated whether adult attachment styles and personality disorders share a common underlying structure, and how both kinds of variables relate to family background factors, including parental death, parental divorce, and current representations of childhood relationships with parents. A nonclinical group of 1407 individuals, mostly adolescents and young adults, were surveyed about their attachment styles, parental marital status, parental mortality status, perceptions of treatment by parents in childhood, and 13 personality disorders. Results indicated substantial overlap between attachment and personality‐disorder measures. Two of the personality‐disorder dimensions are related to the two dimensions of the attachment space; that is, there is a two‐dimensional space in which both the attachment patterns and most of the personality disorders can be arrayed. The one personality‐disorder factor that is unrelated to attachment appears akin to psychopathy. Both personality disorders and attachment styles were associated with family‐of‐origin variables. Results are discussed in terms of encouraging further research to test the idea that insecure attachment and most of the personality disorders share similar developmental antecedents.

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Crossref · 10.1111/1467-6494.00034

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88 of 88 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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Authors
Brennan, K. A., & Shaver, P. R.
Affiliations
  • State University of New York (US)
  • University of California, Davis (US)
ORCID
Shaver, Phillip R.
Venue
Journal of Personality
Publisher
Wiley
Published
1998-10
Volume
66
Issue
5
Pages
835-878
ISSN
  • 0022-3506 (ISSN-L)
  • 1467-6494
DOI
10.1111/1467-6494.00034
OpenAlex
W2040357744
Cited by
353
References
92
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 20 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 11
FWCI
7.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor, 1191 d)
Locations
  • Journal of Personality (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
Keywords
attachment styles, personality disorders, insecure attachment, parental divorce, parental death, parental care, psychopathy, family of origin, adolescents and young adults
MeSH terms
Adult, Analysis of Variance, Death, Divorce, Family Characteristics, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Object Attachment, Parent-Child Relations, Personality Disorders, Psychological Theory, Texas, Prevalence, Discriminant Analysis

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