Attachment styles in transsexual patients and clinical and nonclinical control groups: Comment on colizzi etal

摘要

In the Journal of Sexual Medicine article by Colizzi et al. [1], the authors described the attachment styles of 50 transsexual (TS) patients who completed the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) [2]. They compared these results with normative attachment style data for clinical and nonclinical groups compiled by Van IJzendoorn and Bakermans-Kranenburg [3]. Unfortunately, Colizzi et al. inaccurately reported these normative data, rendering their statistical comparisons incorrect. The three main AAI attachment styles, with their corresponding standard symbols in parentheses, are the following: Autonomous (F), Preoccupied (E), and Dismissing (DS) [2,3]. Colizzi et al. employed alternative, equivalent terms: Secure (= F), Anxious (= E), and Avoidant (= DS). Table 1 compares the prevalence of these attachment styles and Insecure (Anxious + Avoidant) attachment in Colizzi et al.'s TS patients, in Colizzi et al.'s inaccurate reports of Van IJzendoorn and Bakermans-Kranenburg's normative data for clinical and nonclinical groups, and in the latter authors' actual normative data. The Table uses both Colizzi et al.'s terms and the corresponding standard symbols to denote attachment styles.