Psychopathological Organizations and Attachment Styles in Patients with Fear of Flying: A Case Study

Objectives The scope of the study is to identify the leading “organization of meaning” in patients affected by
aviophobia and the related attachment style. Specifically we hypothesized that participants with fear of flying would predominantly
display a phobic organization of meaning, associated with an anxious-ambivalent attachment style. Methods
150 adults, divided between an experimental group (FOF) and a control group (CON), completed three research instruments:
two self-report questionnaires assessing attachment style (AAQ and ASQ) and the self-characterization, a qualitative
constructivist tool. Results The insecure attachment style prevailed in aviophobics rather than control group. Socioeconomic
and gender differences were found. The vocabulary used by the group with flying phobia featured a system of
meaning referring to “freedom” family semantics. Conclusions Attachment style appears to be a necessary but insufficient
condition for predicting fear of flying. A greater role in the disorder is played by the organization of patients’ personality,
as argued by socio-constructionist and constructivist authors. Implication for clinical work and psychotherapy are discussed.