Dissociation and the Adult Attachment Interview in artists and performing artists

Abstract

Attachment patterns were investigated in a group of professional and pre-professional artists (n = 51). Given the high level of absorption/imagination required of artists, this study examined normative and pathological dissociation (PD) and considered links with Adult Attachment Interview responses, with particular attention to the AAI classification Unresolved (U) for past loss or trauma. Results indicated: (1) artists had elevated mean scores for absorption/imagination, (2) all but one artist had adverse trauma or loss experiences, (3) 17 (36%) met criteria for PD and 9 (53%) of those in the PD range had a classification of Unresolved (U) on the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), (4) U was associated with PD, but not normative dissociation (absorption/imagination), (5) even with a primary U classification many individuals had an alternate secure/autonomous classification, and (6) 88% of the artists were classified as secure/autonomous in a three-way analysis on the AAI, but in a four-way analysis 27.5% were classified as U. Although 36% presented with PD, the majority of artists studied were stable, coherent and autonomous.

Keywords:

• dissociation
• attachment
• unresolved trauma/loss

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Drama Department at University of Cape Town, South Africa; York University, Canada; California State University, Northridge; Maurice Godin for his editing advice; and to the second reliable coder, Melissa Mose, for blind coding a large proportion of the AAI sample. Paula Thomson and Melissa Mose are certified in AAI coding by Mary Main and Erik Hesse at the University of California, Berkeley.