City Research Online

Abstract

High prevalence of childhood trauma is increasingly recognized, but its relationship with dissociation remains under recognized. Theories of trauma and dissociation incorporate attachment and temperament developmental frameworks, positing a critical role for disorganized attachment. However, these relationships have been little studied, and none examined roles of sensitive temperament. This paper centres around a cross-sectional quantitative investigation of the roles of sensitive temperament and insecure attachment along developmental pathways linking childhood trauma and dissociation, with demographic, minimization/denial, and negative affect factors controlled, in a large international online adult population.

Results demonstrated childhood trauma increases sensitive temperament, insecure attachment, and dissociation. Further, higher disorganized attachment and sensitive temperament increase dissociation and mediate between childhood trauma and dissociation, and mediate serially from disorganized attachment to sensitive temperament, and vice versa. Serial mediation through sensitive temperament from anxious attachment increased, while that from avoidant attachment decreased, the childhood trauma and dissociation link. Mediations through disorganized attachment were largest. Attachment, but not sensitive temperament, may also moderate some direct and indirect pathways. Full models explained much more variance in dissociation than simple models.

This provides the first evidence that sensitive temperament has roles in development of insecure attachment and dissociation and key evidence for continuous theories of trauma and dissociation that incorporate attachment and temperament frameworks. Notably, childhood trauma influences dissociation directly and indirectly through both attachment, especially disorganized attachment, and sensitive temperament. Sensitive temperament contributes as serial mediator both before and after development of disorganized attachment, but only after development of avoidant and anxious attachment. These developmental pathways provide essential information for policy, research and nonpathologizing (transdiagnostic) psychological formulation, wherein interventions target trauma and attachment based memories underlying dissociation while attuning to sensitive temperament. For such formulation, an embrained, embodied, and embedded adaptive neurophenomenological model of psychological distress, or a similar model, is recommended.

Publication Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics > RJ101 Child Health. Child health services
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Psychology School of Health & Psychological Sciences > School of Health & Psychological Sciences Doctoral Theses Doctoral Theses

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