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Psychiatric Quarterly, Vol. 77, No. 1, Spring 2006 ( CDOI: 10.1007/s11126-006-7962-x
The intense, unstable interpersonal relationships characteristic of patients
with borderline personality disorder (BPD) are thought to represent insecure attachment. The Reciprocal Attachment Questionnaire was used to compare the
attachment styles of patients with BPD to the styles of patients with a contrasting personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD).
The results showed that patients with BPD were more likely to exhibit angry
withdrawal and compulsive care-seeking attachment patterns. Patients with
BPD also scored higher on the dimensions of lack of availability of the attachment figure, feared loss of the attachment figure, lack of use of the attachment
figure, and separation protest. The findings may be relevant for understandingCindy J. Aaronson, M.S.W., Ph.D., is affiliated with Department of Psychiatry, Mount
Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY.Donna S. Bender, Ph.D. and Andrew E. Skodol, M.D., are affiliated with Department of Personality Studies, Columbia University, New York State Psychiatric Institute,
New York, NY.John G. Gunderson, M.D., is affiliated with Personality and Psychosocial Research,
McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA.Address correspondence to Cindy J. Aaronson, M.S.W., Ph.D., Mount Sinai School of
Medicine, One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1230, New York, NY 10029; e-mail: cindy.
[email protected]/06/0300-0069/0 C 2006 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006)COMPARISON OF ATTACHMENT STYLES
IN BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDERAND OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVEPERSONALITY DISORDERCindy J. Aaronson, M.S.W., Ph.D., Donna S. Bender, Ph.D.,Andrew E. Skodol, M.D., and John G. Gunderson, M.D.70 PSYCHIATRY QUARTERLYthe core interpersonal psychopathology of BPD and for managing therapeutic
relationships with these patients.KEY WORDS: attachment style; attachment patterns; borderline personality disorder;
obsessive compulsive personality disorder.Attachment theory has increasingly been employed in the literature
to discriminate amongst different types of psychopathology, especially
personality disorders (14). The theorys usefulness for understanding
personality disorders (PDs) lies in its focus on interpersonal functioning, which is typically impaired in individuals with PDs (56). This is
particularly the case in patients with borderline personality disorder
(BPD), whose interpersonal relationships are characteristically intense
and unstable. BPD has been conceived as a condition of profound insecure attachment, with extreme oscillations between attachment and detachment, between a longing and yearning for secure affectional bonds
alternating with a dread and avoidance of such closeness (7).Attachment theory is primarily concerned with how personality develops in the context of relationships with others....