Attachment and complicated grief: A retrospective study

Abstract

The perception of the caregiver as a haven of safety in painful times is crucial for the development of a secure attachment style. The goal of this study is to retrospectively investigate the association of recalled emotional closeness to parents at the time of loss (REC) and how the news of loss was broken (HOW) with adult Complicated Grief and attachment style in 273 adults who lost a beloved person in childhood, using inventories of Complicated Grief and Parent and Peer Attachment, REC scale and an open-ended questionnaire on the circumstances of death. Data evidenced that REC and HOW scores in the experience of loss in childhood predicted less complicated grief and more secure attachment in the present.