Anorexia and attachment: dysregulated defense and pathological mourning

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychiatry
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Defensive exclusion, involving deactivation and segregated systems, plays a role in early relationship development.
• Attachment styles are associated with the manifestation of eating disorder symptoms.
• Understanding these links is crucial for addressing anorexia nervosa.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the role of defensive exclusion in the development of early relationships.
• To examine the connection between defensive exclusion and eating disorder symptoms.
• To investigate the utility of the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP) in understanding anorexia.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP) for assessment.
• Included 51 women diagnosed with anorexia nervosa (DSM-IV criteria).
• Conducted quantitative and qualitative analyses of defensive exclusion patterns.

Main Results:

• Anorexic patients were predominantly classified as dismissing or unresolved in their attachment style.
• The AAP defense exclusion coding system showed potential benefits for understanding developmental issues in anorexia.
• Specific attachment classifications (dismissing, unresolved) were associated with anorexia.

Conclusions:

• Defensive exclusion, particularly within dismissing and unresolved attachment styles, may underlie pathological mourning processes in anorexia.
• The AAP offers valuable insights into the developmental underpinnings of anorexia nervosa.
• Findings have implications for developmental research and clinical classification of eating disorders.