Attachment insecurity as a vulnerability factor in the development of chronic whiplash associated disorder – A prospective cohort study
File version
Accepted Manuscript (AM)
Author(s)
Sterling, Michele
Maujean, Annick
Meredith, Pamela
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
Size
File type(s)
Location
Abstract
Objectives: Attachment theory represents a dynamic model for understanding how pre-existing personality factors may contribute to the development of chronic pain and disability after whiplash injury. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of attachment insecurity on disability 6-months post-injury. It was hypothesized that: (1) levels of attachment insecurity assessed at baseline would predict levels of disability six months post-injury, and (2) both attachment dimensions (anxiety and avoidance) would moderate associations between pain and disability, and psychological distress and disability. Methods: Questionnaire data were collected consecutively from a 1-year cohort of whiplash-injured. Data were collected from the emergency room within 1-month post-injury and at follow up 6-months post-injury (n = 205). Results: Both attachment dimensions were significantly associated with physical and psychosocial disability. Moreover, when attachment avoidance and attachment axiety were at the mean value (0SD) and high (+1SD), there was a significant positive relationship between pain intensity and disability (physical and psychosocial), with the exception of attachment anxiety, that only moderated the association between pain intensity and psychosocial disability when high. Also, when attachment avoidance and attachment axiety were high there was a significant positive relationship between depression and disability. Finally, when attachment avoidance was at the mean level and high there was a significant positive relationship between pain-catastrophizing and psychosocial disability. Conclusion: Although the effects sizes for the moderations were small, the results support claims that attachment insecurity, measurable before onset of injury, represents a valuable pre-trauma vulnerability for less optimal recovery after whiplash injury.
Journal Title
Journal of Psychosomatic Research
Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume
118
Issue
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement
© 2019 Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, providing that the work is properly cited.
Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject
Biomedical and clinical sciences
Psychology