Abstract
Background
Adult attachment can be self‐reported by rating anxiety of deception and avoidance of emotional closeness. There are few studies of changes in adult attachment patterns after psychotherapy.
Aim
This study investigated how attachment anxiety and avoidance mean scores changed from pre‐treatment to follow‐up in patients with Axis I disorders only vs. patients with Axis I and comorbid personality disorders (comorbid group) after outpatients psychotherapy.
Method
Of 156 patients with pre‐treatment evaluation, 64 (41%) participated in follow‐up 6 years later. Axis I and personality disorder interviews were performed at pre‐treatment and follow‐up, and the participants self‐reported attachment patterns at both time points.
Results
At both pre‐treatment and follow‐up, the Axis I group had significantly lower attachment avoidance scores than the comorbid group, while no significant between‐group differences were observed for attachment anxiety. After adjustment, neither the Axis I nor the comorbid group showed any significant reductions in attachment anxiety or avoidance over time. The pre‐treatment attachment scores were the only significant predictors of the follow‐up scores.
Conclusion
Neither attachment anxiety nor avoidance were amenable to change over time. These findings may be associated with the psychotherapy given. Pre‐treatment attachment scores were the only significant predictors of these scores at follow‐up. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.