The effectiveness of attachment-based group training on the psychological well-being of a non-clinical sample of students with preoccupied insecure attachment style

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 MA. in clinical psychology, Faculty of Education Sciences and Psychology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

2 Associate professor of psychology, Faculty of Education Sciences and Psychology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

3 Assistant professor of clinical psychology, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: The importance of the relationship between attachment patterns in childhood and the quality of close relationships in adulthood is one of the issues that have been of great interest to the researchers in recent decades. In this regard, this study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of attachment-based group training on the psychological well-being of a non-clinical sample of students.
 Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial, through convenient sampling, 16 girl students of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in the academic year of 2012-2013 with preoccupied attachment style were selected and randomly allocated to two groups. The Relationship Scales Questionnaire (RSQ) and the Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being (RSPWB) - short form- were used in this study. The experimental group received 7 sessions of 90-minute attachment-based group training while the control group was on the waiting list. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation) and multivariate analysis of covariance by SPSS software version 19. 
 Results: The results revealed that there was not significant difference between two groups in pre-test also there was not significant difference between two groups in the overall score of the psychological well-being in post-test (P>0.05).  
Conclusion: It seems that the application of attachment-based group training in people with preoccupied insecure style cannot lead to the significant improvement of the overall psychological well-being despite improvement in some variables.

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