Authors
Elizabeth Kehoe, Jonathan Egan
Publication date
2019/4/1
Journal
Journal of obsessive-compulsive and related disorders
Volume
21
Pages
37-45
Publisher
Elsevier
Description
Previous studies have indicated that childhood adversity and emotional attachment difficulties are common in hoarding disorder. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore whether current insecure attachment style, operationalized as insecure attachment to romantic partners, and emotional over-attachment to objects might be one mechanism linking the experience of early adversity to later hoarding tendencies. Data was gathered using an online survey from 463 adult participants; n = 216 scored in the clinical range for hoarding. The experience of two types of childhood trauma (emotional abuse and physical neglect) predicted higher levels of hoarding symptoms. Attachment anxiety and avoidance were positively correlated with hoarding symptoms and with emotional attachment to possessions. Current attachment insecurity and emotional attachment to objects partly mediated the relationship between …
Total citations
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