Adult Attachment and Life Themes: A qualitative survey through the textual analysis on Adult Attachment Interview

Journal title QUADERNI DI PSICOTERAPIA COGNITIVA
Author/s Giulia Di Fini, Cristina Civilotti, Maria Zaccagnino, Fabio Veglia
Publishing Year 2013 Issue 2013/32 Language Italian
Pages 16 P. 45-60 File size 402 KB
DOI 10.3280/QPC2013-032004
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The narrative approach in psychology involves the theoretical model of the autobiographical construction of life-themes. Veglia’s conceptualization (1999, 2006) postulates the existence of six Life-Themes (Love, Value, Power, Freedom, Truth and Death) that develop trough interpersonal relationships and remain consistent across cultures. They work as meaning organizers around which individuals construct their personal experiences. Early attachment relationship creates the conditions that enable all the other relationships in the life course. In fact first cognitive and emotional structures develop in interpersonal representations and autobiographical memories mediated by attachment system (Bowlby 1969/1982). The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the presence of these six Life-Themes and how they recur within and across Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) transcripts. Linguistic choices and Life-Themes were analyzed with a qualitative methodology. Fifteen AAI transcripts were analyzed at two levels: (a) thematic text analysis to find what sub-themes emerge from narratives by coding meaningful units of text; (b) semantic text analysis to specify the nature of relations among Life-Themes and sub-themes by demonstrating the network of meaning within the data. Codification and interview analyses have been carried out using ATLAS.ti software. The association between Life-Themes and AAI categories was examined from an explorative view. Data have corroborate the existence of Life-Themes linked to personal attachment histories. Results showed twenty sub-themes, each of which was characterized by reciprocal links. Limitations and future directions of the study will be discussed.

Keywords: Narrative themes, attachment, Adult Attachment Interview, autobiography, qualitative research

  1. Chiarolanza C., De Gregorio E. (2007). L’analisi dei processi psico-sociali. Lavorare con ATLAS.ti. Roma: Carocci Faber.
  2. Bruner J. (2002). La fabbrica delle storie. Diritto, letteratura, vita. Bari: Laterza.
  3. Bruner J. (2004). Life as Narrative. Social Research, 71(3): 691-710.
  4. Charmaz K. (1995), Grounded Theory. In: Smith J.A., Harrè R., Van Langenhove L. (eds.), Rethinking Methods in Psychology. London: Sage.
  5. Appelman E. (2000). Attachment Experiences Transformed Into Language. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70(2): 192-202. DOI: 10.1037/h0087760
  6. Armezzani M. (2004). La ricerca costruttivista. In M. Armezzani (ed.), In prima persona, Milano: Il Saggiatore.
  7. Bowlby J. (1969). Attachment and loss, vol. I, Attachment. London: Hogarth Press, nuova ed., 1988 (trad. it. Attaccamento e perdita, vol. I, L’attaccamento alla madre. Torino:
  8. Boringhieri, 1972, nuova ed. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri, 1988).
  9. Bowlby J. (1973). Attachment and loss, vol. 2, Separation: Anxiety and anger. London: Hogarth Press (trad. it.: Attaccamento e perdita, vol. 2, La separazione dalla madre. Torino: Boringhieri, 1975).
  10. Bowlby J. (1980). Attachment and loss, vol. 3, Loss.: Sadness and depression. London: Hogarth Press (trad. it. Attaccamento e perdita, vol. III, La perdita della madre. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri, 1983).
  11. Bruner J. (1988). La mente a più dimensioni. Bari: Laterza.
  12. Bruner J. (1990). La ricerca del significato. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri.
  13. Bruner J. (1997). La costruzione narrativa della “realtà”. In M. Ammaniti, D.N. Stern. (eds.), Rappresentazioni e narrazioni. Bari: Laterza.
  14. Fivush R., Haden C.A., Reese E. (2006). Elaborating on Elaborations: Role of Maternal Reminiscing Style in Cognitive and Socioemotional Development. Child Development, 77(6): 1568-1588. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00960.
  15. Fonagy P. (2006). The mentalization-focused approach to social development. In J.G. Allen, P. Fonagy, Handbook of mentalization-based treatment, Chichester: Wiley.
  16. George C., Kaplan N., Main M. (1985). Adult Attachment Interview. Unpublished Manuscript. Barkley: University of California.
  17. Glaser B.G., Strauss A.L. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Chicago: Aldine.
  18. Guidano V.F. (1999). La storia del paziente secondo Vittorio F. Guidano. In F. Veglia (a cura di), Storie di Vita. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri.
  19. Lambruschi F., Lenzi S., Leoni F. (2004). Sviluppo del modello clinico cognitivista in età evolutiva. In F. Lambruschi (ed.), Psicoterapia cognitiva dell’età evolutiva. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri.
  20. Liotti G. (1994). La dimensione interpersonale della coscienza, Roma: NIS.
  21. Liotti G. (2001). Le opere della coscienza. Psicopatologia e psicoterapia nella prospettiva cognitivo-evoluzionistica. Milano: Cortina.
  22. Liotti G. (2005). Il ruolo dell’attaccamento nella conoscenza e nella regolazione delle emozioni.
  23. In B.G. Bara (ed.), Nuovo manuale di psicoterapia cognitiva, Vol. 1. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri.
  24. MacLean P. (1984). Evoluzione del cervello e comportamento umano, Torino: Einaudi.
  25. McAdams D.P. (1999). Personal narratives and the life story. In L.A. Pervin, O.P. John (eds.), Handbook of Personality: Theory and research (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford.
  26. McAdams D.P. (2001). The Psychology of Life Stories. Review of General Psychology, 5(2): 100-122. DOI: 10.1037/1089-2680.5.2.100.
  27. McAdams D.P. (2006). The role of narrative in personality. Narrative Inquiry, 16(1): 11-18. DOI: 10.1075/ni.16.1.04mca
  28. McAdams D.P., Hoffman B.J., Mansfield E.D., Day R. (1996). Themes of Agency and communion in Significant Autobiographical Scenes. Journal of Personality, 64(2). DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.1996.tb00514.x
  29. Muhr T. (2004). User’s Manual and References for Atlas.ti 5.0. Berlino: Scientific Software Development.
  30. Oppenheim D., Waters H.S. (1995). Narrative Processes and Attachment Representations: Issues of Development and Assessment. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 60(2/3): 197-215. DOI: 10.2307/1166179
  31. Rampazi M., Oevermann U., Zoll R. (1997). Dalle strutture di senso latenti ai modelli sociali di interpretazione. In F. Neresini (a cura di), Interpretazione e ricerca sociologica. Urbino: Quattroventi.
  32. Veglia F., Pellegrini R. (2003). C’era una volta la prima volta. Trento: Erickson.
  33. Waldinger R.J., Seidman E.L., Gerber A.J., Liem J.H., Allen J.P. (2003). Attachment and Core Relationship Themes: Wishes for Autonomy and Closeness in the Narratives of Securely and Insecurely Attached Adults. Psychotherapy Research, 13(1): 77-98. DOI: 10.1093/ptr/kpg00

  • Narrative and Bodily Identity in Eating Disorders: Toward an Integrated Theoretical-Clinical Approach Rosa Antonella Pellegrini, Sarah Finzi, Fabio Veglia, Giulia Di Fini, in Frontiers in Psychology 785004/2021
    DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.785004

Giulia Di Fini, Cristina Civilotti, Maria Zaccagnino, Fabio Veglia, Attaccamento Adulto e Temi di Vita: una ricerca qualitativa attraverso l’analisi testuale delle Adult Attachment Interview in "QUADERNI DI PSICOTERAPIA COGNITIVA" 32/2013, pp 45-60, DOI: 10.3280/QPC2013-032004