Configurations of Adult Attachment, Indicators of Mental Health and Adverse Childhood Experiences in Women: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

The relationship between adverse childhood experiences, attachment and adult mental health has been pointed out in a large amount of studies. In a sample of 339 women receiving support from mental health and social services, this research analyzed the association between three adult attachment variables (fear of rejection or abandonment—FRA; desire for closeness—DC; preference for independence—PI) and four mental health indicators. After dichotomizing these variables, we constructed eight configurations of attachment and examined their association with mental health indicators. BAB people (those below the median in FRA, above in DC and below in PI) obtained the most favorable scores in mental health, whereas the ABA configuration (above the median in FRA, below in DC and above in PI) was the least favorable. The association between attachment configurations and mental health indicators was different to what might be expected, aggregating the effects of individual attachment variables. When analyzing the relationship between configurations and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), women with an ABA configuration reported the highest number of ACEs and eight ACE types had a higher-than-expected contingency coefficient. In conclusion, these findings suggest that certain adult attachment configurations are associated with a greater number of ACEs and poorer mental health indicators in adult women.