Ambivalent attachment in female adolescents: Association with affective instability and eating disorders

OBJECTIVE: This report reviews narrative data from the ambivalent attachment subgroup of a larger attachment investigation, in order to probe beyond substantive results showing significant differences between secure and ambivalent attachment, with respect to hypothesized personality correlates. METHOD: Two readers coded common themes in semistructured 2-hr interviews, which focused on attachment to mother and experience of self, using a sample of 28 female college undergraduates classified as secure (n = 10), ambivalent (n = 11), or avoidant (n = 7) in their primary attachments. RESULTS: Coded data revealed two striking correlates of ambivalent attachment not anticipated by the study's hypotheses: (1) reports of affective instability in 9 of 11 ambivalent subjects; (2) histories of anorexia, sometimes followed by bulimia, in 7 of 11 ambivalent subjects. DISCUSSION: A provisional understanding of possible links among ambivalent attachment, affective instability, and anorexia is offered.