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. 2021 Mar 16;12(1):1888539.
doi: 10.1080/20008198.2021.1888539.

Dissociation and insecure attachment as mediators of the relation between childhood emotional abuse and nonclinical paranoid traits

Yoki Linn Mertens  1 , Anna Racioppi  2 , Tamara Sheinbaum  3 , Thomas Kwapil  4   5 , Neus Barrantes-Vidal  2   6   7
Affiliations

Dissociation and insecure attachment as mediators of the relation between childhood emotional abuse and nonclinical paranoid traits

Yoki Linn Mertens et al. Eur J Psychotraumatol. .

Abstract
in English, Spanish, Chinese

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.

Antecedentes: La investigación sugiere que la disociación y el apego inseguro sirven como mecanismos explicativos en el camino del trauma infantil a la paranoia. Sin embargo, trabajos anteriores no han examinado estos mecanismos concurrentemente en poblaciones no clínicas.Objetivo: El estudio actual buscó examinar la disociación y el apego inseguro como mediadores paralelos de la asociación entre el abuso emocional infantil y los rasgos paranoides. Además, se exploró un modelo de mediación en serie con apego inseguro como precedente de la disociación en la vía explicativa.Métodos: Ochenta y nueve adultos jóvenes no evaluados clínicamente fueron medidos en cuanto a abuso emocional infantil, disociación, estilos de apego y rasgos paranoides. Se probaron modelos de mediación en paralelo y en serie.Resultados: La asociación del abuso emocional infantil con rasgos paranoides tanto basados en entrevistas como auto-reporte fue mediada significativamente por la disociación y el apego preocupado. El apego temeroso fue un mediador significativo en el modelo de rasgos paranoides auto-reportados. No se encontró evidencia de mediación en serie.Conclusiones: Los presentes hallazgos apoyan a la disociación y la inseguridad del apego como mecanismos subyacentes a la asociación entre el maltrato emocional infantil y los rasgos paranoides. Una investigación longitudinal sería necesaria para explorar si el apego inseguro contribuye a la disociación en la vía del desarrollo de los rasgos paranoides.

背景: 研究表明, 解离和不安全依恋是从童年期创伤到偏执症的解释机制。但是, 以往的工作并未在非临床人群中同时考查这些机制。目的:本研究试图将解离和不安全依恋作为童年期情感虐待与偏执特质之间联系的平行中介因子。此外, 探索了在解释路径中不安全依恋在解离之前的链式中介模型。方法:评估了89名非临床明确的青壮年的童年期情感虐待, 解离, 依恋风格和偏执特质。考查了平行和链式中介模型。结果:童年期情感虐待与基于访谈和自我报告的偏执特质的相关由解离和先占型依恋显著中介。恐惧型依恋是自我报告偏执特质模型的显著中介。未发现链式中介效应的证据。结论:本研究结果支持解离和依恋不安全感作为童年期情感虐待与偏执特质之间联系的机制基础。需要进行纵向研究, 以了解不安全依恋是否会导致解离与偏执特质一起。.

Keywords: Paranoia; attachment style; childhood trauma; dissociation; schizotypy.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Parallel mediation model
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Serial multiple mediator model
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