Skip to content

Study of the Association Between the Type of Attachment and the Risk of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Study of the Association Between the Type of Attachment and the Risk of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Prospective Cohort Study in the Forensic Medicine Department of the Hospices Civils de Lyon

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05020197
Acronym
TRAUMAFFECT
Enrollment
268
Registered
2021-08-25
Start date
2022-03-23
Completion date
2024-11-07
Last updated
2024-11-25

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Keywords

Attachment, PTSD, risk factor

Brief summary

Attachment theory models the emotional bonding that is activated in situations of danger, via mental representations of self and others. Four types of attachment (TA) exist in adults: 3 insecure (Preoccupied, Detached, Fearful) and 1 secure. Attachment type is a major factor in the development of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a frequent and disabling mental disorder that occurs after a traumatic event. A meta-analysis based on Anglo-Saxon studies including various populations (general, military or clinical) (n=9268 patients) suggested an association between Fearful BP and high level of PTSD symptoms (r=0.44). Nevertheless, these results did not allow the identification of variations related to the individual risk factors (RDFs) of the subject and his environment, especially in the French socio-cultural context. The investigators propose to study the association between LDs and the risk of PTSD in the days following exposure, their mutual influence in the months following, and their associated factors. Thus, a prospective cohort study among French adult victims of a traumatic event could objectify the link between BP - as close as possible to the event - and the risk of PTSD.

Interventions

DIAGNOSTIC_TESTself-questionnaires on attachment and PTSD

The questionnaires (attachement type, PTSD symptoms) are administered face to face at the inclusion visit (at D0-D3). Validated self-questionnaires in French will be sent to the patients, either electronically or by post, according to their choice at D30 and D90. To describe the characteristics of the subjects, socio-demographic data, lifestyle, and medical history will be collected. The questionnaires will be administered three times to study the evolution of the parameters over time.

Sponsors

Hospices Civils de Lyon
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Major patient * Having experienced a Potentially Traumatic Event within 3 days and according to DSM5 criterion A: Exposure to actual or potential death, serious injury, or sexual violence in one (or more) of the following ways: Directly experiencing the traumatic event, witnessing the event in person by others, learning that the traumatic event (violent or accidental) was experienced by a close family member or friend, experiencing repeated or extreme exposure to the harrowing details of the traumatic event (e.g., first responders or police officers) (exposure through electronic media, television, films, or photographs, if the exposure is work-related) * Good understanding of oral and written French * Having given written consent * Patient affiliated to a social security scheme

Exclusion criteria

* Psychiatric pathology with current clinical instability (agitation, maladaptive consciousness...) or patient unable to understand questionnaires * Vulnerable adult (curatorship, guardianship) * Non French resident

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) attachment questionnaireDay 30Type of attachment Disorder will be measured at inclusion by the ECR-R attachment questionnaire. Each item is rated on a 7-point scale where 1 = strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree.
Questionnaire Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5)Day 30Risk of developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Items are rated on a 5 point scale. The maximum score is 80.
Correlation between Questionnaire PCL-5 AND ECR-R attachment questionnaireDay 30Correlation of outcome 1 and outcome 2

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) attachment questionnaireDay 3Attachment Type. Each item is rated on a 7-point scale where 1 = strongly disagree and 7 = strongly agree
Questionnaire Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5)Day 90Risk of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder at 90 days. Items are rated on a 5 point scale. The maximum score is 80.
Impact of Event Scale RevisedDay 3The IES-R consists of a list of 22 symptoms of PTSD. The person indicates the intensity with which each symptom has manifested itself over the past 7 days, by self-reporting their response on a 5-point Lykert-type scale, ranging from 0 (Not at all) to 4 ( Extremely). The total IES-R score is calculated by adding the values obtained for the 22 items (scores 0-88).
Correlation between PCL-5 questionnaire.And PCL-5 questionnaire.at D90Day 90Correlation between the type of attachment and the risk of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Relationship Scales Questionnaire (RSQ)Day 330-item self-questionnaire that categorizes participants into four categories of attachment (secure or autonomous, avoiding or detached, preoccupied or ambivalent, fearful or disorganized)

Countries

France

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026