Abstract
As Ainsworth (1982, 1989) and Bowlby (1979, 1980) pointed out, all infants develop some form of attachment to their primary caregiver. Indeed, attachment began at infancy and continued throughout life. Secure attachment is a necessary precursor of the ability to regulate affect and to reflect on the emotional functioning of self and others (Fonagy, 2001). According to Hazan and Shaver (1987), the purpose of this survey is to investigate the relationship between attachment styles and emotional dysregulation, and between adult attachment and metacognition in patients with personality disorders. The research has involved 120 participants, aged 18 - 65 years and recruited during psychotherapy training. Control group is formed by 60 adults (mean = 30.07; standard deviation = 14.09); experimental group is formed by 60 patients with personality disorder (mean = 31.88; standard deviation = 12.21) grouped into three clusters: A (the “odd, eccentric” cluster), B (the “dramatic, emotional, erratic” cluster), and C (the “anxious, fearful” cluster). Paricipants completed the following tests: Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory, ECR, Alexithymia Scale, TAS-20 and Metacognitive Functions Screening Scale, MFSS-30. The results confirm the relationship between attachment styles, emotional dysregulation, and metacognitive functions in patients with personality disorders. More specifically, adult attachment and metacognitive functions seem to be positively related, while adult attachment and emotional dysregulation seem to be inversely related.
Highlights
Bowlby’s (1969, 1973, 1980) attachment theory is a useful framework for understanding how early adverse experiences influence later emotional and behavioural development
The results show that the large majority of adults in control group are capable of “secure attachment”
As we expected, experimental group is more Fearful Avoidant attached than control group
Summary
Bowlby’s (1969, 1973, 1980) attachment theory is a useful framework for understanding how early adverse experiences influence later emotional and behavioural development. As children develop in line with environmental and developmental changes, they incorporate the capacity to reflect and communicate about past and future attachment relationships (Ainsworth, 1982, 1989; Bowlby, 1979, 1980) In this system, Internal Models regulate, interpret, and predict attachment-related behaviour in the self and the attachment figure like as a romantic relationship. Collins and Read (1990) assumed a precise relationship between adult attachment styles and metacognitive functioning (Flavell, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1987) Consisted of both monitoring and regulation aspects, Flavell defined metacognition as follows: “In any kind of cognitive transaction with the human or non-human environment, a variety of information processing activities may go on. Metacognitive functioning includes the abilities of representing emotions and mental events, attributing mental states to oneself and to other persons, and predicting behaviors on the basis of mental representations
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