Impact Of Adult Attachment Styles on Psychological Well-Being of Terminally Ill Survivors

Komal Asim*

Corresponding Author: Komal Asim, Department of Psychology, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan.

CopyRight: © 2022 Komal Asim, This is an open-access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received Date: April 07, 2022

Published Date: May 01, 2022

Abstract

The following study aims to find out Impact of adult attachment styles on psychological well-being of terminally ill survivors. Test measure was defended from A priori test measure calculator. The sample comprised 88 terminally ill survivors. Information was collected from terminally sick survivors from Multan, Punjab (Pakistan). Two questionnaires were employed; the experience in the close relationship questionnaire–revised (ECRQ-R) and Ryff’s psychological well-being scale. Following which results were examined through SPSS.

This study concluded that there's a critical effect of grown-up connection styles on mental well-being of gravely sick survivors. Furthermore, Psychological well-being is higher among males as compared to females terminally ill survivors. Results also exhibited that Adult connection styles are higher among educated people as compared to uneducated terminally ill survivors. Data was analyzed through the descriptive and inferential statistics. Item total correlation method was used to figure out the most correlated items with the following administration of exploratory factor analysis. The practical implications of this study included that this study will be supportive for the understanding of psychological well-being of terminally ill survivors.

Keywords: Attachment styles, ill survivors, psychological, social work, terminally, well-being.
 

Introduction

Attachment style or organization is a term derived from John Bowlby's theory of attachment and situations to the distinctive ways in which an individual relates in intimate care and receives relationships with attachment figures, sometimes one's parents, children and romantic partners. The definition includes one's trust in the availability of the attachment figure for use as a sheltered base from which to explore the world freely when not in distress, as well as protection from whom to look for support, security, and consolation in times of misery. World discovery involves not only the physical world but also the concept that individuals construct internal working models of self and attachment figures that guide the understanding and production of behavior(Bowlby, 1982).

Bowlby (1979), defined working models as internal illustrations of the ego, the environment and other important representations in relation to attachment requirements and objectives. They are based on childcare experiences in which the baby participates in activities that establish or deduce close relationship with the caregiver, with the resulting goal of feeling healthy. These external experiences are internalized when the child learns to represent the attachment mechanisms in a schematic manner.

According to Bowlby (1982), a secure attachment is formed when care is consistently responsive to the infant's physical, emotional, and psychological needs. In these conditions, the child develops a sense of trustfulness, selflessness, love and kindness for others. Combination of conflicting, uninvolved, and rejected caregiving behaviors leads to different sorts of unsteady attachment. In these cases, the child creates negative self-images and/or other images. Of course it is also possible to alter the style of the attachment. Collins and Read (1994) discuss different forces that either augment stability or cause discontinuity. The percentage of adults classified as healthy, avoiding and anxious / uncertain (approx. 56 percent,25% and 19% respectively) has been established by research (Feeney & Noller, 1990; Hasan & Shaver, 1987; Mikulincer & Orbach, 1995). This is typically seen as an indirect indication of the stable style of attachment from childhood to adulthood.

Attainment has been conceptualized on the basis of two orthogonal dimensions: uneasiness with a person looking for closeness, readinessand fondness from an individual who is imperative and anxiety avoidance with which the person is distressed to rely on others and has to quit the quest for closeness. (Ainsworth, 1978; Fraley & Waller, 1998).

The synthesis of these dimensions led to the definition of different attachment orientations: stable attachment when low concentrations are observed in both dimensions; anxious attachments when high anxiety levels and low prevention levels are present; avoiding attachment when low anxiety and high avoidance are present. (Ainsworth, 1978).; (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991).

Attachment theory implies that affective events that occurred during childhood influence the essence and content of the relationships in adult life (Bowlby 1973; Collins & Read 1990; Hazan & Shaver, 1994). Childhood relations with caregivers create an internal working model or psychological image of oneself or one's relationships with others that impact feelings and behaviors, and how the world and future relationships are perceived and interpreted by people (Bowlby 1973; Main, 1985). Strong commitment has been combined with positive emotionality, successful social support and more romantic relationship satisfaction. (Collins & Feeney 2004; Gleeson & Fitzgerald 2014; Öztürk & Mutlu, 2010).

Anxiously attached individuals create negative images of themselves, perceiving them as benign, believing that they are undeserving of love, while their image of others is positive. These people worry about being abandoned or unwanted, and so seek closeness as well as approval (Bartholomew & Horowitz 1991; Collins & Read 1990; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2009). Evenwhen others carry on in a valuable and positive way, nervous individuals find more tension in their relationships (Campbell, 2005).

Patients’ mental alteration contrasts with different variables including components of their insinuate relationships. Interpersonal relationships have an important role to play in how people cope with anxiety and respond to all sorts of life crises. Attachment styles have been found relevant to coping with stressful events because they influence self-efficacy and care expectations from important ones. Anxiety of adult attachment is described as the intense need for acceptance, and fear of other factors like being rejected and abandoned. Evasion of adult attachment is characterized as the need for excessive self-reliance and fear of dependency on others. There is other evidence that individuals who are more nervous or evasive show greater emotional ups and downs in their relationships, smaller networks of social support and less satisfaction with their welfare (Campbell, 2005).

Objectives

1. To check the connection between adult attachment styles and psychological well-being of terminally ill survivors.
2. To check the effect of attachment styles on psychological well-being of terminally ill survivors.
3. To check the effect of adult attachment styles among male and female terminally ill survivors.
4. To check the psychological well-being among educated and uneducated terminally ill survivors.

Hypotheses

1. H1 There would be a positive correlation between adult attachment styles and psychological well-being among terminally ill survivors.
2. H2 There would be an association existing between adult attachment styles and psychological well-being of terminally ill survivors.
3. H3 Psychological well-being would be higher among males as compared to terminally ill female survivors.
4. H4 Adult attachment styles would be higher among educated as compared to uneducated terminally ill survivors.

Method of Calculation

Sample

Sample size was calculated from a free a-priori sample calculator; A-priori is equal to 88 persons per group. Cross-sectional research was done to find the impact of adult attachment styles on psychological well-being of terminally ill survivors. Specific demographic variables were also taken in consideration to understand the association among them. These variables included age, gender, education, marital status and socio-economic status as well as family system.

Instruments

Demographic forms in which standard demographic questions were asked, including age, gender, and education.

Procedure

The present research was quantitative; cross-sectional research design was applied in this research. Scales were selected according to study. Permission was required for all scales. Proper permissions were taken for the use of scales by their Authors. Data was collected from Multan, Punjab. In total, 88 Questionnaires were distributed to terminally ill survivors with their consent, and they were asked to answer the whole questionnaire as per their knowledge and consensus. As with some cases, people tend to avoid participating in these types of research works because of lack of clarity or preconception.As a result, efforts were made that full concealment was maintained for valid and reliable results.

Results

The correlation and regression estimates were made for determining the relationship between study variables.  The results obtained from correlation analysis are as follows:

The results showed that both of scales were found in the acceptable range of Cronbach’s alpha for reliability. The Cronbach’s alpha of adult attachment style was .78 and the Cronbach’s alpha of psychological well-being test was 77.

H1 There would be a positive correlation between adult attachment styles and psychological well-being among terminally ill survivors.

The results showed that adult attachment style was significant predictor (R2 = .04, p <.01) in psychological well-being.In other words, adult attachment style significantly impacts psychological well-being.

H3 Psychological well-being would be higher among males as compared to terminally ill female survivors.

The above table showed that the mean of adult attachment style was significantly higher among female respondents than male respondents, while, the mean of psychological well-being was significantly higher among male respondents as compared to female respondents.

H4 Adult attachment styles would be higher among educated as compared to uneducated terminally ill survivors.

The above table showed that the mean of adult attachment style and psychological well-being was significantly higher among educated respondents than uneducated respondents.

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of impact of adult attachment styles on psychological well-being of terminally ill survivors. Generally, there was partial support for the main hypotheses. The results of the study showed that there is significant impact of adult attachment styles on psychological well-being of terminally ill survivors. Furthermore, Psychological well-being is higher among males as compared to terminally ill female survivors. Results also displayed that adult attachment styles are higher among educated as compared to uneducated terminally ill survivors. After the successful collection of data on the selected measures, the results were analyzed, and interpretation was drawn.

Conclusion

This study concluded that there is a noteworthy effect of Grown-up Connection Styles on Mental Well-being of terminally sick survivors. Moreover, Psychological well-being is higher among males as compared to terminally ill female survivors. Results also depicted that Adult attachment styles is higher among educated as compared to uneducated terminally ill survivors.
 

Reference

1. Ainsworth, M. D., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

2. Bartholomew, K., & Horowitz, L. M. (1991). Attachment styles among young adults: A test of a four-category model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 226–244. https ://doi. org/10.1037/0022-3514.61.2.226.

3. Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss: Separation: Anxiety, and anger (Vol. 19). New York: Basic Books.

4. Campbell, L., Simpson, J. A., Boldry, J., &Kashy, D. A. (2005). Perceptions of conflict and support in romantic relationships: The role of attachment anxiety. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 510–531. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.88.3.510.

5. Deimling, G.T., Kahana, B., Bowman, K.F., & Schaefer, M.L. (2002). Cancer survivorship and psychological distress in later life. Psycho-Oncology, 11, 479-494.

6. Ellis, J., Lin, J., Walsh, A., Lo, C., Shepherd, F. A., Moore, M., Li, M., Gagliese, L., Zimmermann, C. and Rodin, G. (2009). Predictors of referral for specialized psychosocial oncology care in patients with metastatic cancer: the contributions of age, distress and marital status. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 27, 5, 699–705.

7. Feeney, J.A., &Noller, P. (1990). Attachment style as a predictor of adult romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58(2), 281-291

8. Fraley, R. C., & Waller, N. G. (1998). Adult attachment patterns: A test of the typological model. In J. A. Simpson & W. S. Rholes (Eds.), Attachment theory and close relationships (pp. 77–114). New York: Guilford Press.

9. Grassi, L., &Rosti, G. (1996). Psychosocial morbidity and adjustment to illness among long- term cancer survivors. Psychosomatics, 37, 523-532.

10. Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2001). Attachment theory and intergroup bias: Evidence that priming the secure base schema attenuates negative reactions to out-groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 97–105.

11. Öztürk, A., &Mutlu, T. (2010). The relationship between attachment style, subjective well-being, happiness and social anxiety among university students’. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 9, 1772–1776.   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspr o.2010.12.398.

12. Rando, 2000; Theut, Jordan, Ross, & Deutsch. (1991).  Risk Factors for Anticipatory Grief in Family Members of Terminally Ill Veterans Receiving Palliative Care Services https://doi.org/ 10.1080/15524256.2015.1110071

13. Roberts, J. E., Gotlib, I. H., & Kassel, J. D. (1996). Adult attachment security and symptoms of depression: The mediating roles of dysfunctional attitudes and low self-esteem. Personality Processes and Individual Differences, 70, 310–320.

14. Schmidt, S. D., Blank, T. O., Bellizzi, K. M., & Park, C. L. (2012). The relationship of coping strategies, social support, and attachment style with posttraumatic growth in cancer survivors. Journal of Health Psychology, 17(7), 1033-1040.

15. Shaver, P. R., &Hazan, C. (1989). Being lonely, falling in love: Perspectives from attachment theory. In M. Hojat& R. Crandall (Eds.), Loneliness: Theory, research, and applications (pp. 105–124). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

16. Thomas, S.F., Glynne-Jones, R., Chait, I., Marks, D.F. (1997). Anxiety in long-term cancer

17. Wagner, P. E., & Tangney, J. P. (1991). Affective style, aspects of the self, and psychological symptoms. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychology, George Mason University.

18. Wei, M., Vogel, D. L., Ku, T.-Y., &Zakalik, R. (2005). Adult attachment, affect regulation, negative mood, and interpersonal problems: The mediating roles of emotional reactivity and emotional cutoff. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52, 14–24.

19. West, M., Livesey, W. J., Reiffer, L., & Sheldon, A. (1986). The place of attachment in the life events model of stress and illness. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 31, 202–207.