Sex as a moderator in the association between Callous-Unemotional Traits and Attachment Styles

Kyriakou, Mikaela, Ms (2024) Sex as a moderator in the association between Callous-Unemotional Traits and Attachment Styles. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.

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Abstract

Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits (lack of guilt, and empathy among others) have long been a topic of interest to researchers. Studies have shown an association between children’s attachment style to their parents and the development of CU traits. More recently, the variable of sex has been investigated to determine the biological factors that might influence the appearance of CU traits. We aimed to investigate the influence of CU traits (IV) on attachment constructs; Attachment Avoidance (DV) and Attachment Anxiety (DV) and the moderating effect of sex in that association. Hypotheses predicted that 1) CU traits will be higher in males than females and 2) sex will moderate the association between CU traits and attachment styles. Participants consisted of 63 undergraduate psychology students who responded to an online survey. The survey included four questionnaires, but only the results of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) youth version (Frick, 2017) and the Experiences in Close Relationships - Revised (ECR-R) questionnaire (Fraley et al., 2000) were analysed for this study. The results of the analysis showed no significance difference between the average CU trait score between males and females. There were also no significant results in the regression analyses between CU traits (IV) and the attachment constructs when sex was added as a moderator. Future research should focus on a clinically relevant samples, supplementary questionnaires on CU traits and attachment and neuroimaging techniques to yield more reliable results. Keywords: callous-unemotional traits, attachment styles, attachment avoidance, attachment anxiety, sex

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor)
Supervisor name:	Kleine Deters, R. and Borger, N.A.
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	None [Bachelor Psychology]
Date Deposited:	25 Jul 2024 12:18
Last Modified:	25 Jul 2024 12:18
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4151

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