Attachment Styles and Personality Disorders as Predictors of Symptom Course

Abstract

Adult attachment styles and personality disorders (PDs) show some conceptual and empirical overlap and both may complicate the course of symptoms among psychiatric patients. In this naturalistic prospective study, 149 patients with affective, anxiety, substance use, and other disorders were interviewed shortly after entering treatment, which included psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, or both. Follow-up interviews were conducted 6 and 12 months later. Attachment styles, DSM-III-R PDs, and symptoms were assessed using structured interviews and consensus ratings. At intake, borderline, avoidant, and dependent PD features correlated consistently with symptom severity and secure attachment correlated inversely with two of four symptom scales. Secure attachment was linked with greater relative improvement in global functioning and a more benign course of anxiety symptoms over 6 months. Borderline PD features predicted less relative improvement of depressive symptoms over 6 months. These findings clarify the relations between attachment styles and PD features and they point to potential mediators of treatment response.