Date of Conferral

4-15-2024

Date of Award

April 2024

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Denise Horton

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative research was to study the relationship between avoidant attachment, coping styles, and body image in adults with trichophagia and onychophagia disorders. The repeated failed attempts of patients to reduce or stop their compulsive behavior persist as a significant health concern for clinicians and researchers alike. Previous literature indicated that a lack of recognition of the underlying mental illness in these conditions exists and may be due to the absence of individualized treatment. Attachment theory, proposed in this study, integrates psychosocial and neurobiological factors to examine this study’s therapeutic constructs. Sixty-seven adults with trichophagia (N= 50) and onychophagia (N=17) disorders completed the Relationship Scale Questionnaire (RSQ), Brief Cope Inventory (Brief-COPE), and Body Image Disturbance Questionnaire (BIDQ). Results revealed that all three measures, RSQ, Brief-COPE, and BIDQ, showed good validity in this sample. RSQ showed avoidant and anxious attachment accounted for 14.1% and 2.9% of the variation in the body image of the trichophagia sample. The findings indicate that increased body image in the trichophagia sample was associated with increased avoidant and anxious attachment styles. The higher levels of avoidant attachment in the trichophagia sample was positively associated with avoidance coping, and negatively associated with problem-focused coping. In the onychophagia sample, negative body image was associated with higher levels of anxious attachment style and increased use of avoidance coping. This study can contribute to social change by proposing an integrated multidisciplinary intervention to alleviate symptoms in these patient groups.

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