The association between adult attachment style and delusional-like experiences in a community sample of women.

Community-based surveys have found that many otherwise well individuals endorse delusional-like experiences (DLEs). There is extensive literature that describes the demographic and psychosocial correlates of DLE; however, we know little about the association between DLE and attachment style. The association between DLEs (assessed by the Peters Delusional Inventory [PDI]) and interpersonal relationship style (as assessed by the Adult Attachment Questionnaire and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale) was examined in 3360 women. When adjusted for the presence of depressive and anxiety symptoms, high scores on the PDI (lowest versus highest quartiles) were associated with a) difficulties in adult attachment style particularly in the discomfort with closeness and preoccupation with relationships subscales and b) conflictual dyadic adjustment (adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals, 2.43 and 1.94-3.04, 2.50 and 1.99-3.14, and 2.90 and 1.38-6.06, respectively). The association between adult attachment style and DLE provides new clues into the causal pathway underpinning these common experiences.