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An investigation of adult attachment

and coping with exam-related stress
a a
Katherine Berry & Sarah Kingswell
a
School of Psychological Sciences , University of Manchester ,
Manchester , UK
Published online: 21 May 2012.

To cite this article: Katherine Berry & Sarah Kingswell (2012) An investigation of adult attachment
and coping with exam-related stress, British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 40:4, 315-325, DOI:
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 British Journal of Guidance & Counselling,
Vol. 40, No. 4, August 2012, 315
325

An investigation of adult attachment and coping with exam-related stress

Katherine Berry* and Sarah Kingswell

School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

(Received 13 January 2012; final version received 12 April 2012)

Students differ in how they cope with and manage stress associated with
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university life. This study investigates associations between adult attachment

and coping strategies for exam-related stress. Fifty-seven students at a university
in the north of England completed online questionnaires to assess attachment
anxiety and avoidance, helpful and unhelpful coping strategies, and positive and
negative affect. We found that students who were more avoidant in their
attachment relationships were less likely to report using helpful problem-focused
and emotion-focused strategies to cope with their exams. We also found that
students who were more anxious in their attachment relationships reported using
more dysfunctional coping strategies. We discuss the implications of the findings
for university pastoral care and academic support systems.
Keywords: attachment; coping; exams; stress; students

Introduction
Studying at university or college can be a very stressful time and significant numbers
of students experience mental health difficulties (Zivin, Eisenberg, Gollust, &
Golberstein, 2009). It is often the first time that young people have left the parental
home and have to juggle the demands of academic study with developing new peer
relationships and skills in independent living (Lopez & Gormley, 2002). Examination
periods are particularly stressful times for students and have important implications
for their academic success and future careers (Moneta, Spada, & Rost, 2007).
The ability to cope with stress is an important individual difference variable and
students have been found to differ in the ways they cope with and manage stress
associated with university life and examinations in particular (Lopez, Mauricio,
Gormley, Simko, & Berger, 2001; Moneta et al., 2007). Students who engage in more
unhelpful coping strategies when managing exam-related stress may be less likely to
succeed in their university careers and may be vulnerable to the development of
mental health problems. Identifying students who are prone to engaging in
maladaptive methods of coping with exam-related stress and helping them develop
more functional strategies is therefore an important part of improving the academic
potential of students, as well as pastoral care.
Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) transactional model of coping proposes that
individuals employ either problem-focused or emotion-focused coping strategies.
Problem-focused strategies involve active attempts to reduce stressors and include
defining the problem, generating alternative solutions and considering their relative

*Corresponding author. Email: katherine.berry@manchester.ac.uk

ISSN 0306-9885 print/ISSN 1469-3534 online

# 2012 Taylor & Francis
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 316 K. Berry and S. Kingswell

costs and benefits. Emotion-focused strategies seek to lessen the emotional distress
associated with a situation through trying to change one’s feelings about it and
include positive re-appraisals and seeking social support. According to the
transactional model, both types of strategies are helpful in managing stress and
individuals may use a range of different strategies over the course of a stressful
situation. Although Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) model is helpful in drawing a
distinction between two different but potentially equally valid types of coping,
Carver, Scheier and Weintraub (1989) have argued that the model does not
adequately distinguish between helpful and unhelpful coping. Carver et al. (1989)
have therefore identified a third set of dysfunctional coping strategies, which include
focusing on and venting of emotions, denial, behavioural disengagement, mental
disengagement and alcohol or drug use.
In the context of studying for exams, emotion-focused strategies may be useful in
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helping students contain exam-related emotional distress and thus free up resources
for problem-focused coping, such as planning revision schedules and processing and
learning exam material. There is empirical evidence showing associations between
these types of coping and more adaptive approaches to study. Moneta et al. (2007)
investigated predictors of learning style in undergraduate students and found that
problem-focused and emotion-focused coping were associated with more in-depth
and strategic approaches to study, which have been shown to relate to better learning
outcomes. Conversely, dysfunctional coping was associated with surface level
approaches to study, which have been linked to poorer outcomes. Focusing on and
being overwhelmed by negative affect may utilise important cognitive resources, thus
reducing those that are available to process and retain study material. Denial and
disengagement strategies may lead to avoidance of the reality of the stressor and
therefore hinder active problem-focused efforts to carry out the level of study
required. Substance misuse may adversely affect cognitive abilities, as well as having
direct adverse effects on long-term mental and physical well-being.
Although coping may vary across and within situations (Lazarus & Folkman,
1984), individuals experiencing stressful situations may be prone to using habitual
methods of regulating emotions that were developed earlier in life (Carver et al.,
1989). Bowlby (1980) proposed that the attachment system is the individual’s
homeostatic mechanism for regulating distress. Attachment theory was first
formulated in relation to infants and primary caregivers. However, the system is
hypothesised to continue to influence emotional regulation and functioning in
adulthood (Bowlby, 1980). In support of this theory, there is evidence of continuity
between attachment styles in infancy and attachment in adult relationships,
including romantic relationships (Fraley, 2002).
According to Bowlby (1980), if early caregivers are responsive and sensitive to
distress, the individual develops a secure attachment style, which is associated with a
positive self-image, a capacity to manage distress, comfort with autonomy, an ability
to form close relationships with others and seeking help from others when needed.
Conversely, if caregivers are insensitive or unresponsive to distress, the individual
develops alternative methods of regulating affect. If caregivers are inconsistently
available, the individual develops an insecure-anxious attachment pattern. This is
associated with hypervigilance to signs of rejection or separation and a tendency to
be overwhelmed by negative affect or to exaggerate distress in order to elicit a helping
response in others. If caregivers are consistently rejecting or unavailable, the
individual develops an insecure-avoidant attachment pattern. This is associated
 British Journal of Guidance & Counselling 317

with the deactivation of the attachment system, resulting in low levels of overt
negative affect and an avoidance of close relationships (Shaver & Mikulincer, 2002).
Insecure-anxious and insecure-avoidant attachment patterns may be functional in
the context of earlier caregiver relationships. However, these methods of affect
regulation have been shown to have a detrimental impact on the individual’s mental
health and cognitive, emotional and social development in adulthood (Lopez &
Brennan, 2000).
There is empirical evidence from research assessing coping in the context of a
range of different stressful situations that suggests individuals with secure attach-
ment are able to confront life stressors without being overwhelmed. They are able to
seek support in times of distress and use a more diverse range of coping strategies
(Mikulincer, Florian, & Weller, 1993; Mikulincer & Orbach, 1995). Attachment
anxiety and avoidance have also been associated with specific types of maladaptive
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coping strategies, consistent with attachment-related goals and needs. For example,
attachment anxiety has been associated with extreme distress in response to stressors
and the ineffective use of emotion-focused coping, whereas attachment avoidance has
been associated with low levels of support seeking, suppression of negative emotions
and substance misuse (Shaver & Mikulincer, 2008).
These findings have been replicated in research investigating coping in college
samples. Ognibene and Collins (1998) investigated relationships between adult
attachment and coping with everyday stressors in this group. Participants reported
how they coped with a recent stressful life experience and also how they would typically
cope with six scenarios related to college life. As predicted, secure individuals reported
that they were more likely to seek social support. Anxiously attached participants were
also more likely to report seeking social support, in addition to confrontive coping and
escape-avoidance strategies. Individuals who had avoidant attachment due a lack of
trust in others (fearful avoidance) were more likely to report using distancing and
escape-avoidance strategies. However, those who had avoidant attachment due to a
need for self-reliance (dismissing avoidance) were less likely to report using escape-
avoidance coping strategies, possibly because this subgroup of avoidant people may be
less likely to report socially undesirable traits. Lopez and colleagues (2001) also
investigated typical coping styles in relation to everyday stressors and attachment in a
large sample of undergraduate students. They found that anxious attachment was
related to reactive coping and difficulties in repressing or containing negative affect.
Avoidant attachment was related to both suppression and reactive coping, possibly
reflecting the mixed nature of people with avoidant attachment. This study also found
that less adaptive affect regulation and problem coping styles mediated the affect of
attachment on distress. Attachment theory is likely to have particular relevance
for coping with college life, as students may be experiencing significant changes in their
attachment relationships, such as moving away from their parents and other
attachment relationships, such as peers and romantic partnerships, taking on a
more important role (Trinke & Bartholomew, 1997).
We aimed to extend this evidence base by specifically investigating associations
between attachment and coping with exam-related stress, given the centrality and
importance of exams in the lives of students. Our study also built on existing research
by distinguishing between helpful and unhelpful coping strategies. We predicted that
attachment anxiety and avoidance would be negatively correlated with problem-
focused and emotion-focused coping, but positively associated with dysfunctional
coping. We also assessed positive and negative mood states, due to the potential
 318 K. Berry and S. Kingswell

influence of current affect on self-report measures (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988).
Therefore, we hypothesised that the predicted relationships should still be significant
when affect was controlled.

Method
Participants and procedure
Participants were students from a university in the north of England who responded
to a web-based advert inviting them to participate in an online study investigating
‘relationship styles and coping with exams’. Undergraduate psychology students
received course credits for participating in the study. The study was online
immediately following the exam period. Measures were administered in the same
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order for each participant.

Measures
Demographic and exam-related information
Participants were asked to report their age, gender, whether they were currently in a
romantic relationship, course of study, year of study and how many exams they had
sat during the recent exam period.

Attachment
The Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Revised (ECRS-R; Fraley, Waller, &
Brennan, 2000) was used to assess attachment. The measure has 36 items with Likert
scales, ranging from 1, ‘strongly disagree’ to 7, ‘strongly agree’. The scale assesses the
two dimensions of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance. It has been shown
to have good reliability and validity (Fraley et al., 2000) and alphas in the present
study were .91 for the anxiety subscale and .94 for the avoidance subscale.

Coping
The Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced scale (COPE; Carver et al., 1989)
measures the strategies people use to respond to difficult or stressful events in their
lives. The measure has 60 items, with Likert scales ranging from 1, ‘I didn’t do this at
all’ to 4, ‘I did this a lot’. Participants were asked to complete the measure in relation
to coping with exams and exam-related stress. The scale consists of three main
groupings with five scales per group and four items per scale: (a) problem-focused
coping: active coping, planning, restraint coping, seeking social support for
instrumental reasons, and suppression of competing activities; (b) emotion-focused
coping: positive reinterpretation and growth, religion, humour, acceptance, and
seeking social support for emotional reasons; and (c) dysfunctional coping: focusing
on and venting of emotions, denial, behavioural disengagement, mental disengage-
ment, and alcohol or drug use. Although the COPE was developed by Carver and
colleagues (1989), Coolidge, Segal, Hook and Stewart (2000) first operationalised the
measure in terms of problem-focused, emotion-focused and dysfunctional coping.
They classified coping strategies according to Carver’s original description, except
that ‘denial’, described by Carver as a type of emotion-focused coping, was classed as
 British Journal of Guidance & Counselling 319

a dysfunctional coping strategy. Denial can be useful in the early stages of a stressful
transaction, and may minimise distress. However, we believed that denial would have
a detrimental effect on exam stress, as it may lead the student to avoid revision.
Alphas for the subscales in the present study were .91 for problem-focused coping,
.85 for emotion-focused coping and .83 for dysfunctional coping.

Affect
The Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS; Watson et al., 1988) was used to
control for the influence of affect. Respondents are asked to rate the extent to which
they have experienced 10 positive and 10 negative affective states during the past week.
The measure has been shown to have good reliability and validity (Watson et al., 1988)
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and in the present study the positive and negative affect scales had alphas of .92 and
.87, respectively.

Data analysis
Fourteen participants had missing responses in their data and to ensure the reliability
of results they were excluded from the analysis. T-tests were performed to assess
whether the group of participants with missing responses differed significantly from
the participants who answered fully on the scales. Associations between measures
were investigated using Pearson’s correlations or independent sample t-tests.
Hierarchical multiple regressions were used to assess whether attachment predicted
the three types of coping
problem-focused, emotion-focused and dysfunctional

when affect and demographic or exam-related variables were controlled. Across all
regression models, there was no evidence of multicollinearity and analyses of
residuals suggested they provided a good fit of the data.
We aimed to recruit approximately 50 participants. As a rule of thumb, 10
participants are needed per predictor variable in a multiple regression (Field, 2005).
We would therefore be able to enter a maximum of five predictors into each
regression model. On the basis of previous research, we estimated that correlations
between attachment and coping would be in the region of .4. We would need a
sample of at least 47 to give us 80% power to detect a correlation of .4 at the .05 level.

Results
Sample characteristics
The sample were 57 participants aged 19
32 years (M 21.18, SD2.75). Eighty-six
percent were female (n 49) and 73.1% (n 42) reported that they were currently in
a romantic relationship. Seventy-two percent were studying for an undergraduate
degree in psychology (n 41), 19.3% were studying for a masters in research methods
in psychology (n11) and 8.8% were studying for non-psychology-related degrees
(n5). A total of 75.4% of participants were in their second year of study (n43),
3.5% were in their first year (n 2) and 1.8% were in their third year (n 1). The
remaining 19.3% were postgraduates (n 11). During the most recent exam period,
57.9% had four exams (n33), 21.1% had one exam (n12), 12.3% had three exams
(n7), 3.5% had five exams (n2) and the remaining three participants had two, six
 320 K. Berry and S. Kingswell

or seven exams. Mean scores and standard deviations for the attachment and coping
variables are presented in Table 1.

Demographics and exam-related variables

Attachment was not related to any of the demographic or exam-related variables
assessed. There was a negative association between age and dysfunctional coping
(r .27, p .04) and a positive association between number of exams and
dysfunctional coping (r .27, p .043). Problem- and emotion-focused coping
were not related to any of the demographic or exam-related variables assessed.
Absence of associations between gender and both attachment and coping may be
explained by the relatively small proportion of male participants.
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Coping and attachment

Table 2 shows correlations between coping and attachment subscales and coping and
affect. As hypothesised, both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping were
significantly negatively correlated with attachment avoidance, but contrary to
predictions, these coping strategies were not related to attachment anxiety. As
hypothesised, dysfunctional coping was significantly positively correlated with
attachment anxiety, but contrary to predictions there was no significant association
between dysfunctional coping and attachment avoidance. All three types of coping
strategies were significantly correlated with positive affect, but not negative affect.
Attachment anxiety was significantly negatively correlated with positive affect
(r .32, p .016), but there were no significant correlations between attachment
anxiety and negative affect (r .19, p .183), nor between attachment avoidance and
positive (r .11, p.430) or negative (.25, p .058) affect.

Regression models
Three separate hierarchical regression analyses were carried out to investigate
independent associations between coping and attachment. In the first two regres-
sions, problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping were the dependent
variables, positive affect was entered into the first block and attachment anxiety and
attachment avoidance were entered into the second block. In the third regression,
dysfunctional coping was the dependent variable, positive affect, age and number of
exams were entered into the first block and attachment anxiety and avoidance were
entered into the second block. Positive rather than negative affect was used in the

Table 1. Mean scores and standard deviations for attachment

and coping variables.

Mean SD

Attachment anxiety 3.08 1.03

Attachment avoidance 3.04 1.10
Problem-focused coping 51.68 11.24
Emotion-focused coping 48.86 9.11
Dysfunctional coping 39.97 10.03
 British Journal of Guidance & Counselling 321

Table 2. Correlations between coping, attachment and affect.

Attachment Attachment Positive Negative

anxiety avoidance affect affect

r p r p r p r p

Problem-focused coping .14 .318 .41 .002 .47 B.001 .06 .672
Emotion-focused coping .04 .749 .27 .045 .38 .004 .12 .360
Dysfunctional coping .51 B.001 .14 .315 .40 .002 .12 .385

regressions as it was a significant univariate correlate of all three types of coping.

Age and number of exams were entered into the regression for dysfunctional coping
for the same reason. For all regressions, the ‘enter’ method was used to add
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predictors.
Adding attachment scores to the regression model for problem-focused coping
resulted in a significant increase in predictive power (R2 change .13, F
change 5.31, d.f. 2, 53, p.008). In the final model, attachment avoidance
(b.37, t 3.26, p.002) and positive affect (b .45, t3.81, pB.001)
were significant predictors of problem-focused coping, but consistent with univariate
analyses, attachment anxiety was not (b.05, t.46, p .650). Adding attachment
scores to the regression model for emotion-focused coping just failed to significantly
increase the predictive power of the model (R2 change .09, F change 3.10,
d.f.2, 53, p.053). In the final model, positive affect (b .42, t3.25, p.002)
and attachment avoidance (b .25, t 2.04, p.046) were significant pre-
dictors, but attachment anxiety was not (b .21, t1.62, p.112). Adding
attachment scores to the regression model for dysfunctional coping significantly
increased the predictive power of the model (R2 change .12, F change 4.95,
d.f.2, 51, p.011). In the final model, positive affect (b .28, t3.00,
p .026) and attachment anxiety (b .38, t3.14, p.003) were significant
predictors, but attachment avoidance was not (b.01, t.10, p .918), nor was
age (b .13, t .91, p.369) or number of exams (b .13, t.85, p .401).

Discussion
In summary, we found predicted independent associations between avoidant
attachment and problem-focused coping, suggesting that students who were more
avoidant in their attachment relationships were less likely to actively engage in
studying for exams. We also found weaker but significant associations between
avoidant attachment and emotion-focused coping, suggesting that these students
were less likely to engage in helpful strategies to reduce emotional distress. As
predicted, we found significant associations between attachment anxiety and
dysfunctional coping, suggesting that students who were more anxious in their
attachment relationships reported using more dysfunctional coping strategies for
managing exam-related stress. Contrary to predictions, we found no associations
between attachment anxiety and either problem-focused or emotion-focused coping,
nor associations between attachment avoidance and dysfunctional coping.
These mixed findings provide partial support for the relationships between adult
attachment and coping with exam-related stress. They are consistent with the
theoretical assertion that attachment patterns that were developed to regulate affect
 322 K. Berry and S. Kingswell

in the context of earlier relationships with caregivers may have a bearing on how one
copes with other sources of stress in later life. They are also consistent with existing
evidence of associations between coping and attachment across a wide range of
different stressors and groups (Mikulincer et al., 1993; Mikulincer & Orbach, 1995;
Ognibene & Collins, 1998; Lopez et al., 2001). Studies have, however, failed to find
consistent evidence of associations between different attachment patterns and
specific types of coping strategies. This is partly attributable to the fact that different
researchers have used different methods of conceptualising both attachment and
coping.
We assessed attachment using the two dimensions of anxiety and avoidance,
which have been shown to underlie self-report measures (Brennan, Clark, & Shaver,
1998). Dimensional approaches to assessing attachment have advantages over
categorical approaches, in terms of increasing reliability and providing a measure
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of the degree to which an individual reports each attachment pattern (Brennan et al.,
1998). However, this method does not distinguish between people who are avoidant
in their attachment relationships due to a lack of trust in others and those who are
avoidant in attachment relationships due to a need for self-reliance (Bartholomew &
Horowitz, 1991). Ognibene and Collins (1998) found that the former but not the
latter type of attachment avoidance was associated with the dysfunctional coping
strategy of escape-avoidance in relation to stressful life events in college. It may be
that our failure to find associations between avoidant attachment and dysfunctional
coping is due to the notion that people who scored high on attachment avoidance
represented people who were avoidant due to a lack of trust in others and a need for
self-reliance. As highlighted in relation to Lopez et al.’s (2001) research, individuals
who are avoidant due to a need for self-reliance (dismissing attachment) may be less
likely to report undesirable traits, such as the use of dysfunctional coping strategies.
We assessed coping in terms of Carver et al.’s (1989) distinctions between
problem-focused, emotion-focused and dysfunctional coping. Both problem-focused
and emotion-focused coping may be useful in terms of helping students to manage
exam-related stress and encourage more functional approaches to study, whereas
dysfunctional coping strategies are likely to have an adverse impact. These three
types of coping include subtypes of coping that may relate to attachment anxiety and
avoidance in different ways. For example, problem-focused coping includes seeking
instrumental support from others and emotion-focused coping includes seeking
emotional support from others. People who score high on scales of attachment
anxiety may seek both instrumental and emotional support from others, as they
value social relationships, thus obscuring any associations between high levels of
attachment anxiety and lower levels of problem-focused or emotion-focused coping.
However, individuals with high levels of attachment anxiety may not be effective in
utilising support from others, due to their over sensitivity to signs of rejection (Shaver
& Mikulincer, 2002). They may also be less able to utilise other forms of problem-
focused and emotion-focused coping effectively. Future studies that investigate
associations between attachment and coping should therefore separate social support
seeking from other types of problem-focused and emotion-focused coping.
We have argued above that a failure to find associations between avoidant
attachment and dysfunctional coping may be explained by the fact that there are
different types of avoidant attachment. It might also be that dysfunctional coping
includes the subcategory of ‘focusing on and venting emotions’. Individuals who
report high levels of attachment avoidance would be more likely to suppress rather
 British Journal of Guidance & Counselling 323

than be overwhelmed by negative affect. Any associations between attachment

avoidance and dysfunctional coping may therefore be obscured by the inclusion of
this subcategory of coping within the dysfunctional coping subscale.
We found associations between positive affect and all three types of coping
strategies, and in fact positive affect was a stronger independent correlate of
emotion-focused strategies than attachment. Mood may therefore influence report-
ing of coping strategies and should be controlled in future studies investigating
predictors of coping. It is also possible that positive affect is a result of more
successful coping efforts or that positive affect promotes the use of more functional
coping, but these hypotheses need to be tested in longitudinal designs with more
comprehensive measures of affect.
Associations between insecure attachments and less functional coping suggest
that fostering secure attachments in students might promote more successful coping
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in relation to exams. This is likely to lead to both improved academic performance

and enhanced mental well-being. Attachment theory highlights the importance of
responsiveness and sensitivity to distress in the development of secure attachments
(Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978). The promotion of close and supportive
relationships with mentors or academic tutors may provide opportunities for staff to
recognise and respond to students’ distress. Peers can also be important attachment
figures in early adulthood (Trinke & Bartholomew, 1997). Universities should
therefore promote study groups or social events, which provide opportunities to
develop new relationships and support networks.
The findings of this research in particular suggest that those students with high
levels of avoidant attachment might benefit from help in utilising problem-focused
coping in relation to exams, which might include planning revision schedules, setting
aside time to revise and encouraging them to seek out practical assistance from
others. As avoidant attachment is associated with an avoidance of relationships and
help seeking, these individuals may not proactively approach staff in relation to
exams. Increasing staff awareness of this particular type of attachment style may help
them to distinguish between those students who genuinely do not need help and
those who do not tend to ask for support. Associations between attachment anxiety
and dysfunctional coping suggest that those students with high levels of anxious
attachment would benefit from support in helping them to become aware of their
tendency to engage in maladaptive coping and its negative impact. Students who
experience particular difficulties in coping with exams might find it helpful to engage
with student counselling services and formulate the impact of attachment patterns on
current coping styles.
There are a number of limitations to this study which highlight areas for further
investigation. The sample was relatively small, although the fact that findings were
significant highlights that the study was adequately powered. The sample was,
however, primarily female psychology students who were in romantic relationships
and all studying at one university in the north of England. Findings therefore
warrant replication in more diverse samples. The research was cross-sectional, so it is
not possible to determine the direction of associations between variables. However,
from a theoretical perspective, attachment experiences are more likely to precede and
contribute to the development of coping strategies. It is important to replicate the
study using different methods of conceptualising attachment and in particular
distinguishing between different types of avoidant attachment. It would therefore be
useful to assess attachment using alternative methods such as the Adult Attachment
 324 K. Berry and S. Kingswell

Interview (Main & Goldwyn, 1984) or the Attachment Style Interview (Bifulco,
Moran, Ball, & Bernazzani, 2002; Bifulco, Moran, Ball, & Lillie, 2002). Using
interview measures of attachment would also avoid the potential confound of
common method variance. It is important to distinguish support seeking from other
forms of problem- and emotion-focused coping and separate out different forms of
dysfunctional coping. Studies might want to focus on strategies that are likely to have
a particularly adverse effect on academic performance, such as substance misuse. The
extent to which self-reported strategies actually reflect exam performance also needs
to be investigated, although research by Moneta and colleagues (2007) does suggest
that more functional coping is associated with more productive revision strategies.
Despite these limitations, the study is a first step in highlighting the potential
relevance of attachment theory to the investigation of exam-related stress. It makes
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an important contribution to the literature by focusing on one particular stressor

that is pertinent to student life, distinguishing between helpful and unhelpful coping
and assessing and controlling for affect.

Notes on contributors
Katherine Berry is a clinical psychologist and post-doctoral clinical research fellow at the
University of Manchester. She specialises in research in attachment theory, and in particular
the impact of attachment styles on the therapeutic relationship and coping with stressful life
experiences.

Sarah Kingswell carried out the study reported in this article as part of a Masters in Research
Methods at the University of Manchester, under the supervision of Dr Katherine Berry.

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