Secure attachment imagery facilitates help-seeking and help-acceptance in psychosis
Secure attachment imagery facilitates help-seeking and help-acceptance in psychosis
Objectives: people with psychosis delay accessing recommended treatments, resulting in poor healthcare outcomes and increased risk of relapse. Means of improving help-seeking and help-acceptance could reduce duration of untreated psychosis (DUP). This study examined the role of attachment style in help-seeking and help-acceptance in psychosis.
Design: we used an experimental design to test the effect of attachment imagery priming on help-seeking and help-acceptance intentions, in a sample with self-reported psychosis. The independent variables were attachment imagery condition (secure vs. avoidant) and time (pre- vs. post-prime). The dependent variables were state paranoia, help-seeking intentions and help-acceptance intentions.
Methods: we used an online research platform to recruit people with psychosis (n = 61). Participants were randomly allocated to the secure or avoidant attachment priming condition. All completed measures of state paranoia, help-seeking, and help-acceptance, before and after priming.
Results: in comparison with the avoidant condition, secure attachment imagery resulted in reduced paranoia and increased help-seeking and acceptance intentions, all with large effect sizes.
Conclusions: this is the first study to use an experimental design to assess the role of attachment style in help-seeking and help-acceptance in a clinical sample. Attachment style is causally linked to behavioural intentions that contribute to DUP. Clinicians should assess attachment and help-seeking and acceptance, highlight these in formulation, and prioritise in treatment planning. Interventions that enhance help-seeking and acceptance could improve access to recommended treatments and reduce DUP.
attachment, attachment imagery, experimental, help-acceptance, help-seeking, paranoia, psychosis, security priming
Skrobinska, Laura
4f905b58-4693-4d62-8d50-437b3929580f
Newman-Taylor, Katherine
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Carnelley, Kathy
02a55020-a0bc-480e-a0ff-c8fe56ee9c36
Skrobinska, Laura
4f905b58-4693-4d62-8d50-437b3929580f
Newman-Taylor, Katherine
e090b9da-6ede-45d5-8a56-2e86c2dafef7
Carnelley, Kathy
02a55020-a0bc-480e-a0ff-c8fe56ee9c36
Skrobinska, Laura, Newman-Taylor, Katherine and Carnelley, Kathy
(2024)
Secure attachment imagery facilitates help-seeking and help-acceptance in psychosis.
Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice.
(doi:10.1111/papt.12530).
Abstract
Objectives: people with psychosis delay accessing recommended treatments, resulting in poor healthcare outcomes and increased risk of relapse. Means of improving help-seeking and help-acceptance could reduce duration of untreated psychosis (DUP). This study examined the role of attachment style in help-seeking and help-acceptance in psychosis.
Design: we used an experimental design to test the effect of attachment imagery priming on help-seeking and help-acceptance intentions, in a sample with self-reported psychosis. The independent variables were attachment imagery condition (secure vs. avoidant) and time (pre- vs. post-prime). The dependent variables were state paranoia, help-seeking intentions and help-acceptance intentions.
Methods: we used an online research platform to recruit people with psychosis (n = 61). Participants were randomly allocated to the secure or avoidant attachment priming condition. All completed measures of state paranoia, help-seeking, and help-acceptance, before and after priming.
Results: in comparison with the avoidant condition, secure attachment imagery resulted in reduced paranoia and increased help-seeking and acceptance intentions, all with large effect sizes.
Conclusions: this is the first study to use an experimental design to assess the role of attachment style in help-seeking and help-acceptance in a clinical sample. Attachment style is causally linked to behavioural intentions that contribute to DUP. Clinicians should assess attachment and help-seeking and acceptance, highlight these in formulation, and prioritise in treatment planning. Interventions that enhance help-seeking and acceptance could improve access to recommended treatments and reduce DUP.
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Attachment and help-seeking - empirical - accepted ms
- Accepted Manuscript
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Psychol Psychother - 2024 - Skrobinska - Secure attachment imagery facilitates help‐seeking and help‐acceptance in
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 7 May 2024
e-pub ahead of print date: 29 June 2024
Keywords:
attachment, attachment imagery, experimental, help-acceptance, help-seeking, paranoia, psychosis, security priming
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 492028
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/492028
ISSN: 1476-0835
PURE UUID: 958e1ced-61c8-4e99-9cdb-1610a5c1033e
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Date deposited: 11 Jul 2024 17:15
Last modified: 13 Jul 2024 02:00
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Author:
Laura Skrobinska
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