Forever Imprinted: Understanding the Relationship Between Betrayal Trauma Within Intimate Relationships and Attachment

Abstract

Betrayal trauma from intimate relationships has been found to negatively affect the future intimate relationships of individuals. What is not known, however, is the detailed descriptions of individuals who have experienced betrayal trauma and how this event affected their future intimate relationships and attachment patterns. The purpose of the proposed exploratory mixed methods research study was to explore how individuals describe betrayal trauma as an impactful event in terms of their intimate relationships and attachment. Within the quantitative section of the research the participants completed two surveys: the Impact of Event Scale – Revised (IES-R) and the Adult Attachment Scale – Revised (AAS-R). This part of the study employed a correlation design to address the quantitative research questions and test the corresponding hypotheses. The qualitative portion of the research was a qualitative description research design which was based on the straightforward description of the experiences and perceptions of individuals about a well-defined phenomenon. The qualitative portion consisted of three open-ended questions at the end of the surveys. Participants were asked to discuss the initial physical and mental impact as well as the lasting imprints of their Betrayal Trauma from their intimate relationships. On completion of the surveys all the qualitative data was transcribed. The transcriptions were transferred to the qualitative software, all data was analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis.