TPC-Journal-V6-Issue1

33 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 . Ellen W. Ambruster, David C. Witherington Adult Attachment and Parental Bonding: Correlations Between Perceived Relationship Qualities and Self-Reported Anxiety Adult attachment and parental bonding have been linked to anxiety disorders, but rarely have these associations been demonstrated in the same study. To fill this gap in the research literature, we utilized several different self-report measures to examine the relationships among adult attachment style, memories of early bonding experiences, and five types of anxiety in a sample of 201 undergraduate psychology students. Significant correlations were found between early bonding memories and secure, preoccupied and fearful attachment styles, but not between early bonding memories and dismissing attachment style. Secure attachment style negatively correlated with every type of anxiety, whereas preoccupied and fearful attachment styles positively correlated with every type of anxiety. Dismissing attachment style did not correlate with any anxiety type. Results also indicated correlations between early bonding memories and both post-trauma and social anxiety symptoms, but there was no relationship between bonding and obsessive-compulsive symptoms, panic or worry. Keywords: attachment, bonding, anxiety, parental, relationships The attachment work of John Bowlby (1988) affords clinicians and researchers the opportunity to view psychopathology as relationally based, rather than as unique to the individual to whom a specific label has been given. Anxiety is a particularly fitting place to focus this type of investigation since understanding the meaning and function of anxiety within the context of human development lies at the center of attachment theory. Bowlby integrated the time-honored notion that the early child-caregiver bond is critical to the child’s survival and well-being into his knowledge of scientific facts and meaning and provided an interpersonal understanding of healthy as well as pathological development. Bowlby’s thoughts, flowing as they did from psychoanalysis and object relations, revolutionized the analytic world by removing dysfunction from the center of the individual and placing it in the space between interacting humans. Through the use of instruments designed to measure attachment style, early bonding memories and five different types of anxiety, this study utilizes Bowlby’s viewpoint as a springboard from which to examine the correlations between adults’ perception of their past and present relational experiences and their current levels of anxiety. Relationship of Attachment and Bonding to Anxiety Disorders There is a sizeable body of research suggesting a relationship between anxiety and attachment or bonding experiences (e.g., Cassidy, Lichtenstein-Phelps, Sibrava, Thomas, & Borkovec, 2009; Cavedo & Parker, 1994; Chorpita & Barlow, 1998; Eng & Heimberg, 2006; Eng, Heimberg, Hart, Schneier, & Liebowitz, 2001; Manicavasagar, Silove, Wagner, & Hadzi-Pavlovic, 1999; Marazziti et al., 2007; Meites, Ingram, & Siegle, 2012; O’Connor & Elklit, 2008; Pacchierotti et al., 2002; Parker, 1979; Renaud, 2008; Seganfredo et al., 2009; Turgeon, O’Connor, Marchand, & Freeston, 2002). We will first The Professional Counselor Volume 6, Issue 1, Pages 33–49 http://tpcjournal.nbcc.org © 2016 NBCC, Inc. and Affiliates doi:10.15241/ewa.6.1.33