Attachment, childhood trauma, and dreaming

Abstract

Two studies were conducted to examine the relationship between psychological attachment, childhood trauma, and a variety of dream experiences. Study 1 involved 114 Chinese young adults, with 100 Chinese young adults in Study 2. In both studies, participants completed the Revised/Adult Attachment Scale, Dream Intensity Scale, Ego Ideal Scale, Object Relation Scale, and Paranoiac Relation Scale. In addition to these scales, the Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire was adopted in Study 2. Study 1 showed that attachment anxiety positively predicted dream themes surrounding ego-ideal, object-relation, and paranoiac issues. Study 2 demonstrated that attachment avoidance significantly mediated the effect of the childhood trauma on dreaming paranoiac-relation and ego-ideal themes. The overall evidence suggests that despite its significant mediation effect, attachment avoidance does not seem to fully explain the relationship between childhood trauma and current dream experiences.