Volume_6_Issue_1_Digest

4 TPC Digest T he attachment work of John Bowlby affords clinicians and researchers the opportunity to view psychopathology as relationally based, rather than as unique to the individual. Anxiety is a particularly fitting place to focus this type of investigation since understanding its meaning and function within the context of human development lies at the center of attachment theory. Through the use of instruments designed to measure attachment style, early bonding memories, and five types of anxiety, the study presented here utilized an attachment perspective to examine the correlations between adults’ perceptions of their past and present relational experiences and their current anxiety levels. Predictions for the study flowed from the research literature and our premise was that adult attachment and parental bonding are interconnected but separate aspects of relational experience. We conjectured a low to moderate relationship between attachment and early bonding memories; a strong negative association between each type of anxiety studied and secure attachment style; a strong positive correlation between these same types of anxiety and insecure styles of attachment (e.g., fearful, preoccupied and dismissing); positive correlations between anxiety and the overprotection dimension of parental bonding; and negative correlations between anxiety and the care dimension. To index our variables of interest, we utilized seven self-report instruments to assess adult attachment style, early bonding memories, and the tendency toward obsessive-compulsive symptomatology, panic, worry, post-traumatic symptomatology, and social anxiety in a sample of 201 undergraduate psychology students. Data analysis involved the calculation of Pearson’s r for the relationships between attachment and bonding scores, between attachment scores and scores on each of the five anxiety indices we used, and between bonding scores and scores on each of the five anxiety indices. Results supported the majority of our predictions. However, contrary to prediction, only post-traumatic and social anxiety were negatively associated with the care dimension of bonding and positively associated with the overprotection dimension. In addition, the dismissing attachment preference did not correlate with any anxiety type or with either the care or overprotection dimension of parental bonding. Counselors who consider client attachment style and early bonding memories may provide enhanced treatment for clients with anxiety conditions. The idea that attachment and bonding are related but distinct and separate constructs has the potential to broaden counselors’ conceptualization of the manner in which relational involvement may impact anxiety and thereby contribute to improved treatment efficacy. Ideally, treatment of anxious clients will include an individualized approach that takes into account the way in which each person forms attachments to others and with regard for the relationship between the type of anxiety being treated and memories of the early child–caregiver bond. Ellen W. Armbruster, NCC, is an Assistant Professor at Central Michigan University. David C. Witherington is an Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico. The authors also wish to acknowledge the contributions of David Olguin, Jay Parkes, Gene Coffield and Jeffrey Katzman. Correspondence can be addressed to Ellen Armbruster, Education and Human Services Bldg. #353, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859, armbr1ew@cmich.edu. 4