Attachment, psychological health and interpersonal functioning: a comparison of clinical and non-clinical groups of people with intellectual disability

Attachment, psychological health and interpersonal functioning: a comparison of clinical and non-clinical groups of people with intellectual disability Lucy Bateman, Andrea Flood, Deanna Jayne Gallichan, Leonardo De Pascalis Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, Vol. ahead-of-print, No. ahead-of-print, pp.- Insecure and unresolved attachments have been linked to poorer psychological health and interpersonal functioning for people with intellectual disabilities (IDs), but research in this area is limited, especially for adults. Studies using the Adult Attachment Projective (AAP) have been restricted to clinical samples, where insecure and unresolved attachments are typically more prevalent. The purpose of this study is to compare clinical and non-clinical groups of adults with IDs on the AAP, plus measures of psychological health and interpersonal functioning, to investigate whether group differences found in the typically developing population are also present for adults with IDs.A cross-sectional, between-group design was used. Adults with IDs (clinical group n = 11 and non-clinical group n = 13) completed measures of attachment, psychological distress/positive well-being and interpersonal functioning. Attachment classifications were compared in the clinical versus non-clinical groups. Measures of psychological distress, positive well-being and interpersonal functioning were compared between those with insecure-organised versus unresolved classifications.N...

Source: Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities - May 15, 2023 Category: Disability Authors: Lucy Bateman Andrea Flood Deanna Jayne Gallichan Leonardo De Pascalis Source Type: research