Author(s)

IRINA G. MALKINA-PYKH, YURI A. PYKH

Abstract

Disasters, whether natural, man-made, or technological, all have the potential to affect psychological health, including the onset of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Several theories have been presented to explain the development of, and recovery from PTSD. This paper considers the possible role of adult attachment in the development of PTSD symptoms after natural disasters. Attachment style is formed in childhood through infant interactions with their primary caregiver. An adult’s attachment style is thought to be founded on the beliefs, expectations and feelings that they learnt as an infant with their caregiver and includes secure, avoidant, anxious/ambivalent and fearful attachments. Various mechanisms of how attachment style relates to PTSD symptoms have been proposed. Research has consistently shown that secure attachment is negatively associated with the subsequent development of PTSD and insecure attachment is associated with higher PTSD symptoms in a variety of adult trauma victims. However, none of these investigated samples have experienced a natural disaster. Also, despite an increasing number of studies considering the relationship between attachment and PTSD symptoms, results are mixed and often difficult to compare, first of all, because linear statistical approaches were used. The aim of the study was to present theoretical background for the development of the generalized multiplicative model (GMultM) for predicting PTSD after natural disasters with attachment styles as predictors.

Keywords

natural disaster, posttraumatic stress disorder, adult attachment, generalized multiplicative model