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ABSTRACT
Individuals with unresolved/disorganized representations of childhood trauma (U/d attachment) report more psychological distress than others, but little is known about their everyday mentation. In the present study adults with childhood trauma (N = 45) completed the Berkeley-Leiden Adult Attachment Questionnaire-Unresolved (BLAAQ-U) and the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), and reported everyday mentation during 5 days of experience sampling. The BLAAQ-U and the AAI showed a medium association with each other, but only the former significantly predicted negative affect, dissociation, and low control/awareness of mentation. Contrary to our predictions, U/d attachment did not significantly predict mind wandering, but the BLAAQ-U predicted endorsements of a negative mind wandering style. U/d attachment, as assessed by both instruments, was associated with the Poor attentional control style and beliefs in anomalous mental phenomena. Experience sampling is a valuable way to investigate everyday experiences in individuals with U/d attachment.
Acknowledgment
We would like to thank Marinus van IJzendoorn and the anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on a draft of this article.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. The appendix includes our post hoc analysis of whether individuals are more likely to experience detachment when thinking about other people (e.g., parents, friends) and whether U/d attachment moderates these associations.
