ABSTRACT

Background: Research suggests dissociation and insecure attachment serve as explanatory mechanisms in the pathway from childhood trauma to paranoia. However, past work has not examined these mechanisms concurrently in nonclinical populations.

Objective: The current study sought to examine dissociation and insecure attachment as parallel mediators of the association between childhood emotional abuse and paranoid traits. Furthermore, a serial mediation model with insecure attachment preceding dissociation in the explanatory pathway was explored.

Methods: Eighty-nine nonclinically ascertained young adults were assessed for childhood emotional abuse, dissociation, attachment styles, and paranoid traits. Parallel and serial mediation models were tested.

Results: The association of childhood emotional abuse with both interview-based and self-reported paranoid traits was significantly mediated by dissociation and preoccupied attachment. Fearful attachment was a significant mediator in the model for self-reported paranoid traits. No evidence for a serial mediation effect was found.

Conclusions: The present findings extend support for dissociation and attachment insecurity as mechanisms underlying the link between childhood emotional maltreatment and paranoid traits. Longitudinal research is needed to inform whether insecure attachment contributes to dissociation along the pathways to paranoid traits.

摘要

背景：研究表明，分离和不安全的依恋是从童年创伤到偏执狂的路径中的解释机制。然而，过去的工作并没有在非临床人群中同时检查这些机制。

目标：当前的研究旨在检验分离和不安全依恋作为童年情感虐待与偏执特质之间关联的平行中介。此外，还探讨了在解释性途径中解离之前具有不安全依恋的连续调解模型。

方法：对 89 名非临床确定的年轻人进行了童年情感虐待、分离、依恋风格和偏执狂特征的评估。测试了并行和串行中介模型。

结果：童年情感虐待与基于访谈和自我报告的偏执特质的关联在分离和全神贯注的依恋中显着介导。恐惧依恋是自我报告的偏执特征模型中的重要中介。没有发现连续中介效应的证据。

结论：目前的研究结果扩展了对分离和依恋不安全感的支持，作为儿童情感虐待和偏执特质之间联系的潜在机制。需要进行纵向研究来了解不安全的依恋是否会导致沿着通往偏执特质的路径解离。