Patients' attachment orientation was found to be an important predictor of the process and outcome of psychotherapy. The present study is the first to examine whether patients' attachment orientation toward significant others predicts their implicit and explicit expectations from the therapist, and whether this effect is moderated by the extent to which the therapist has become an attachment figure. In two studies (N = 308), we developed measures of implicit (lexical decision task) and explicit expectations from therapist, and tested the presence of individual differences in expectations as a function of the patients' attachment orientation, early and late in treatment. Whereas individuals higher on attachment anxiety did not report having fewer positive expectations from therapist early in treatment, they showed lower accessibility of positive expectations when measured implicitly. As treatment progressed, the extent to which the therapist has become an attachment figure may mitigate the adverse effects of pretreatment attachment anxiety. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

---

作为依恋取向的函数，患者对治疗师的内隐和外显期望的个体差异。

发现患者的依恋取向是心理治疗过程和结果的重要预测因素。本研究首次检验了患者对重要他人的依恋取向是否预测了他们对治疗师的内隐和外显期望，以及这种影响是否受到治疗师成为依恋人物的程度的调节。在两项研究 (N = 308) 中，我们开发了治疗师的内隐（词汇决策任务）和外显期望的测量，并测试了个体期望差异的存在，作为患者依恋取向、治疗早期和晚期的函数。而依恋焦虑程度较高的人并没有报告说在治疗早期对治疗师的积极期望较低，当隐含地衡量时，他们表现出较低的积极期望的可及性。随着治疗的进行，治疗师成为依恋人物的程度可能会减轻治疗前依恋焦虑的不利影响。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2021 APA，保留所有权利）。