The persistence of attachment: complicated grief, threat, and reaction times to the deceased's name.
The persistence of attachment: complicated grief, threat, and reaction times to the deceased's name.
复制标题
依恋的持续性：复杂的悲伤、威胁和对死者名字的反应时间。
DOI：
10.1016/j.jad.2012.01.032
复制
发表时间：
2012
影响因子：
6.6
通讯作者：
Bonanno,GeorgeA
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Mancini,AnthonyD;Bonanno,GeorgeA
背景复杂的悲痛越来越被认为是一种会造成严重心理和健康后果的衰弱障碍。然而，复杂悲痛的潜在机制仍不清楚。在本研究中，我们考察了依恋理论衍生出的复杂悲伤(CG)的特定机制：在威胁条件下死者心理表征的可及性。方法在复杂(n=26)和无症状悲伤(n=30)的配对比较中，我们使用潜意识威胁或中性启动后的情绪Stroop任务来考察死者、当前依恋人物和亲密他人的心理表征的可及性。结果复杂的悲痛者没有证据表明在启动条件下死者的心理表征的可及性存在差异，而无症状的悲痛者表现出死者心理表征的可及性降低(去激活)，特别是在威胁的首要条件下。这些影响与抑郁症状无关。在悲痛者中，依恋焦虑和回避对死者名字在威胁条件下的可及性有独特的预测作用。本研究的局限性在于样本量小和对模拟依恋威胁的依赖。结论这些数据支持死者在威胁情境中的心理表征的可及性是复杂和无症状悲痛的重要组成部分，依恋不安全感导致对死者作为依恋人物的不适应依赖。
BACKGROUNDComplicated grief is increasingly recognized as a debilitating disorder with significant mental and health consequences. The underlying mechanisms of complicated grief remain unclear, however. In the present study, we investigated a specific mechanism of complicated grief (CG) derived from attachment theory: the accessibility of the deceased's mental representation under threat.METHODSIn a matched comparison of complicated (n=26) and asymptomatic grievers (n=30), we used an emotional Stroop task following subliminal threat or neutral primes to examine the accessibility of mental representations of the deceased, current attachment figures, and close others.RESULTSComplicated grievers did not evidence differential accessibility to the deceased's mental representation across priming conditions, whereas asymptomatic grievers showed reduced accessibility (deactivation) of the deceased's mental representation specifically in the threat prime condition. These effects were independent of depressive symptoms. Across grievers, attachment anxiety and avoidance uniquely predicted accessibility of the deceased's name in the threat condition.LIMITATIONSThe limitations of this study are its small sample size and reliance on analog attachment threats.CONCLUSIONSThese data support that accessibility of the deceased's mental representation in threatening contexts is an important component of complicated and asymptomatic grieving and that attachment insecurity contributes to a maladaptive reliance on the deceased as an attachment figure.