Intimate Partner Stalking/Pursuit: A Pathophysiology of Attachment Style.

Catherine J Creamer,Christopher J Hand

doi:10.1177/0306624x211010289

Abstract

Approximately half of stalking victims were previously in an intimate relationship with the perpetrator, and attachment style is strongly correlated with intimate partner stalking (IPS). In the first study to investigate polyvagal theory in IPS, we examined 58 adult participants’ attachment style, sex, history of IPS, vagal tone activity (i.e., heart rate variability; HRV), and cognitive processing disruptions (i.e., Stroop performance) in either participants who wished a relationship or in those who wished to maintain a relationship post-break-up. Results showed that males were more likely to perpetrate IPS than females. Anxious-style participants were more likely to have perpetrated IPS, showed greater cognitive disruption and HRV than avoidant-style participants. Our results support theories that attachment is a biological imperative with neurobiological implications that can be indexed physiologically and cognitively. This study is the first to demonstrate a pathophysiology of attachment style to IPS, in a replicable way. IPS is discussed as reflective of disordered arousal and related to anxiety. Recommendations for further research and clinically-relevant interventions are presented.

Highlights

In line with the difficulties in specific legislation, measuring the prevalence of stalking is problematic and varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction
The overall aim of this study was to test polyvagal theory as applied to Attachment Style and intimate partner stalking (IPS)/Obsessive Relational Intrusion (ORI) and to elucidate the relationship between heart rate variance (HRV) and these variables in response to scenarios depicting the ending of a relationship
The hypothesis that perpetrators of IPS/ORI and those with anxious attachment will have lower vagal tone activity than participants who reported no IPS/ORI in response to internal rejection stimulus was supported, rejection stimulus type did not appear to impact on the level of HRV

Summary

Introduction

In line with the difficulties in specific legislation, measuring the prevalence of stalking is problematic and varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Notwithstanding the point on the subjective nature of fear and unwanted behavior, in the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Bureau of Justice Statistics have detailed definitions of stalking and recent research is rooted more so in definitions that include a pattern of behavior that instills fear in the victim. Given this divergence in the literature, for the purposes of this research, the term relational refers to intimate partner pursuit (IPS), either wanting to establish or to maintain an intimate relationship and the associated behaviors involved in this pursuit. This research is not so much concerned with the definition of stalking, but more the dimensions of pursuit behavior (McEwan et al, 2019) in those with disruptive infant attachment in later intimate relationships; desired or wished to maintain

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Discussion

Conclusion