posted on 2023-02-20, 12:41authored byNoelle Nicola Fitzgerald
Aims: Attachment insecurity has been associated with disordered eating
behaviours (DEBs; e.g., restrained eating, emotional eating and uncontrolled eating).
There is a growing prevalence of such problematic behaviours in our society, yet
DEBs have remained poorly researched and clinically misunderstood phenomena.
The primary aim was to examine the relationships between insecure attachment
styles, DEBs, dispositional mindfulness and body dissatisfaction. These relations
were investigated in a sample of healthy individuals, in individuals seeking treatment
for mental health difficulties and individuals seeking treatment for obesity. This study
also examined whether mindfulness and body dissatisfaction are mechanisms
underlying the relationship between attachment insecurity and greater DEBs.
Method: Data were collected from a convenience sample of 851 individuals
in the general population, 65 individuals attending an adult mental health hospital and
43 individuals attending a weight management service for obesity. A cross-sectional,
survey-based design was employed and regression, correlational statistics and
mediation analyses were utilized to examine the data.
Results: The results suggest that compared to a general healthy sample and
those with mental health difficulties; individuals with obesity reported significantly
greater uncontrolled and emotional eating but no difference was found in restrained
eating. Overall, dispositional mindfulness and body dissatisfaction mediated the
relationship between insecure attachment and DEBs. Specifically, lower levels of
dispositional mindfulness predicted higher body dissatisfaction, which predicted more
DEBs and explained the relationship between insecure attachment styles and DEBs.
Conclusion: The findings from the current study offer a more clinically
representative understanding of insecure attachment styles and DEBs and how they
differ among a clinical, non-clinical and obese population. Two psychological
constructs in which insecure attachment leads to DEBs were also highlighted. The
limitations, clinical implications and directions for future research are considered in
detail in the discussion section of this thesis.