Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between attachment style, personality and temperament in patient with bipolar disorder and their children.
Methods: 44 patients with bipolar I disorder and their healthy children (n= 35) were recruited from consecutive admissions and compared with 84 healty controls. Attachment styles, personality and temperament were assessed with Adult Attachment Style Questionnaire, Semistructured Clinical Interwiev DSM-IV and TEMPS-A Turkish version relatively.
Results: Avoidant attachment scores were higher in bipolar patients (p= 0.004) and fearfully attachment scores were higher in children of patients (p= 0.008) than in the controls.
Depressive temperament scores were higher in insecure attached bipolar patients (p= 0.01) whereas irritabl temperament scores were higher in insecure attached children (p= 0.001). Cyclothymic temperament scores were more higher in healthy controls with insecure attached (p= 0.03).
Schizoid, obsessive compulsive, antisocial and borderline personality disorders were more frequent in insecure attached patients than in the controls (p= 0. 05, p= 0.051, p= 0.05 and p= 0.001).
Conclusion: These findings suggest that bipolar disorders symptoms have negative effect on attachment both in bipolar patients and their children. There were significant differences between patients, their children and controls with different attachment styles in terms of personality and temperament.