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Adult Attachment Orientations, Depressive Symptoms, Anger, and Self-Directed Aggression by Psychiatric Patients

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Abstract

This study applied adult attachment theory to better understand self-directed aggression, defined as suicide attempts and nonsuicidal self-injury, reported by 109 hospitalized psychiatric patients. As expected, patients with higher levels of adult attachment anxiety were more likely to report suicide attempts and self-injury. We tested depressive symptoms and anger as mediators of the relationship between attachment orientations and self-directed aggression. As hypothesized, depressive symptoms partially mediated the relationship between attachment anxiety and self-directed aggression, but unexpectedly, anger did not. The results support that levels of depression partially explain the associations between attachment anxiety and self-directed aggression. Subsidiary analyses suggested that patients with higher levels of adult attachment avoidance were more likely to report histories of nonsuicidal self-injury but not suicide attempts. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

While conducting this research, the first author was supported by a Clinical Services Research Training Grant (T32 MH 18261) from the National Institute of Mental Health. The project was also supported by a Research and Allocation Committee grant from the University of California, San Francisco. The authors thank Jane P. Eisner for her assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counseling and Psychological Services, Georgia State University, P. O. Box 3980, Atlanta, GA, 30302-3980, USA

    Barbara Gormley

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Dale E. McNiel

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  1. Barbara Gormley
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  2. Dale E. McNiel
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Correspondence to Barbara Gormley.

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Gormley, B., McNiel, D.E. Adult Attachment Orientations, Depressive Symptoms, Anger, and Self-Directed Aggression by Psychiatric Patients. Cogn Ther Res 34, 272–281 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-009-9267-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-009-9267-5

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