The promotion and development of resilience in children and young people has become increasingly the focus of many preventative and treatment interventions. This is informed by evidence that suggest that a high proportion of mental health difficulties start by adolescence and can have enduring consequences later in life. One of the psychological presentations that cause significant difficulties is personality disorder. Attachment theory has been connected to both resilience and personality disorders, however their interaction has not yet been studied. This thesis aims to bring together these concepts in an attempt to contribute to the evidence of developmental pathways to personality disorders and to resilience. Chapter one presents a systematic review of the association between attachment and personality disorders in children and adolescents. The findings of the review support the literature that has previously documented this association and confirms that attachment theory is a meaningful framework for the understanding of personality disorders in children and young people. Furthermore, it includes additional factors that may interact within this relationship. This has clinical and research implications that are discussed along with the limitations of the review. Chapter two contains an empirical paper that focuses on the interaction of resilience with attachment and personality disorder. Findings from this study support existing evidence that additional factors help explain the relationship between attachment and the development of personality disorders. Thus the empirical paper enhances the findings from the literature review. Chapter three offers an account of the author’s experiences of research, including reflections on personality constructs. It encompasses these reflections within the wider experiences of clinical training to finally consider these topics in the wider context of mental health services.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:714886 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Llanos Aria, Cristina de |
| Publisher | University of Warwick |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/88061/ |
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