Attachment and personality disorders: Exploring maladaptive developmental pathways

Recent theorizing and research from an attachment perspective has begun to trace linkages between attachment in childhood and the later appearance of personality disorders. This paper contributes to this work by identifying consistencies between descriptions of insecure attachment in childhood provided by Crittenden (1995, 1997a, 1997b) and descriptions of personality disorders provided by Millon (1996). Implications for clinical assessment and intervention are discussed. In particular, understanding of dimensional characteristics shared by attachment organization and personality disorders may shed light on the differential use of primarily cognitive-behavioral and primarily psychodynamic clinical interventions.