Is an avoidant attachment style a part of BPD? Or not necessarily?
Adult attachments patterns can be distinguished as two dimensions: attachment anxiety and avoidance. Attachment anxiety are fears of separation and abandonment and negative representation of self. Attachment avoidance is discomfort with intimacy and dependency and is related to a negative representation of others. Attachment anxiety is similar to abandonment fears or the "pull" behaviors. Attachment avoidance is similar to the fear of engulfment and "push" behaviors.
Insecure attachment styles are delineated by the amount of attachment anxiety and avoidance. People with high attachment anxiety and avoidance are classified as having a fearful attachment. Those who have high attachment anxiety and low attachment avoidance have a preoccupied or anxious-ambivalent attachment style. Finally, those with low attachment anxiety and high avoidance are classified as a dismissing attachment.
The literature has shown that there is a range of attachment styles associated with BPD in both clinical and non-clinical samples. Most BPD suffers have a fear of abandonment and engulfment. The strength of the fears depends on when a person's attempts to separate and individualize themselves is arrested. Individuals who were arrested before establishing ego boundaries will have fears of engulfment predominate. On the other hand, individuals who established a sense of self, albeit weak, will have abandonment fears predominate.
Attachment styles are not solely a BPD related feature. Non-disordered people can have insecure attachment styles as well.
