Attachment Styles and Posttraumatic Growth Among Suicide-Loss Survivors

Background and aims: The world loses approximately one million people to suicide every year, leaving behind many suicide-loss survivors, family members and friends, who are significantly affected by the traumatic loss. Yet some suicide-loss survivors not only manage to cope with the loss, but actually experience posttraumatic growth (PTG). To date, no studies have fully examined the psychological processes that underlie this personal positive change. We hypothesized that attachment style would predict PTG and this association would be mediated by self-disclosure and social support. Method: A community sample of 131 suicide-loss survivors (108 women), aged 18-70, self-reported on attachment style, self-disclosure, social support, and PTG. Results: Securely attached individuals scored highest on PTG compared with other attachment styles. A structural equation model confirmed that self-disclosure and social support mediated the association between attachment and PTG. Suicide-loss survivors with secure attachment tended to self-disclose more and to perceive greater support from others than did suicide-loss survivors with insecure attachment, thus enhancing their chances of PTG. Limitations: The sample comprised mostly female participants, and the findings may not be directly generalizable to male suicide-loss survivors. Conclusion: Our results suggest that different psychological interventions should be utilized for suicide-loss survivors with particular attachment styles. Psychotherapies aiming to modify internal working models may be useful for enhancing PTG among survivors characterized by insecure attachment styles.