Intimate Partner Stalking/Pursuit: A Pathophysiology of Attachment Style

• Author: Catherine J. Creamer,Christopher J. Hand
• Published date: 01 April 2022
• Date: 01 April 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X211010289
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X211010289

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2022, Vol. 66(5) 604 –624

© The Author(s) 2021

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sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/0306624X211010289

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Article

Intimate Partner Stalking/

Pursuit: A Pathophysiology

of Attachment Style

Catherine J. Creamer1

and Christopher J. Hand1

Abstract

Approximately half of stalking victims were previously in an intimate relationship with

the perpetrator, and attachment style is strongly correlated with intimate partner

stalking (IPS). In the first study to investigate polyvagal theory in IPS, we examined 58

adult participants’ attachment style, sex, history of IPS, vagal tone activity (i.e., heart

rate variability; HRV), and cognitive processing disruptions (i.e., Stroop performance)

in either participants who wished a relationship or in those who wished to maintain

a relationship post-break-up. Results showed that males were more likely to

perpetrate IPS than females. Anxious-style participants were more likely to have

perpetrated IPS, showed greater cognitive disruption and HRV than avoidant-style

participants. Our results support theories that attachment is a biological imperative

with neurobiological implications that can be indexed physiologically and cognitively.

This study is the first to demonstrate a pathophysiology of attachment style to IPS,

in a replicable way. IPS is discussed as reflective of disordered arousal and related to

anxiety. Recommendations for further research and clinically-relevant interventions

are presented.

Keywords

attachment, stalking, vagal tone, intimate partner stalking, heart rate variability,

intimate partner violence, obsessive relational intrusion, autonomic nervous system,

anxiety, polyvagal theory

1Glasgow Caledonian University, UK

Corresponding Author:

Catherine J. Creamer, Department of Psychology, Glasgow Caledonian University, 70 Cowcaddens

Road, Glasgow G4 0BA, UK.

Emails: Catherine.Creamer@gcu.ac.uk; catherinejcreamer@gmail.com

1010289IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X211010289International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyCreamer and Hand

research-article2021

Creamer and Hand 605

Introduction

In line with the difficulties in specific legislation, measuring the prevalence of stalking

is problematic and varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In the United States, the

National Crime Victimization Survey (Baum et al., 2009) estimated that approxi-

mately 3.4 million Americans were stalked in the 12 months preceding the survey.

According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, 4.6% of women and 2.5% of

men aged 16 to 74 were victims of stalking in 2019/2020. Difficulties tend to arise in

the definition of the term “stalking.” Cupach and Spitzberg (2004) have defined

another type of problematic behavior, which they term Obsessive Relational Intrusion

(ORI). Broadly speaking, ORI is defined as a “pattern of repeated, unwanted pursuit

and invasion of one’s sense of physical or symbolic privacy by another person, either

stranger or acquaintance, who desires and/or presumes an intimate relationship” (p.

358). They suggest this differs from the term “stalking” in that the legal criteria for

stalking in many jurisdictions includes repeated actions, victim fear and in some cases,

intent to produce fear, with either strangers, or non-strangers (Dutton & Winstead,

2006, 2011). In ORI, the term “relational” is important in defining the phenomenon,

since the main motivation is to initiate or maintain an intimate relationship, and not

necessarily to produce fear (Cupach & Spitzberg, 2004; Cupach et al., 2011).

Nevertheless, there is significant variation in the literature regarding the definitions of

stalking from both a legal and empirical perspective because of the highly subjective

nature of the perception and emotional reaction as to what constitutes unwanted

behavior (Patton et al., 2010). Notwithstanding the point on the subjective nature of

fear and unwanted behavior, in the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

and the Bureau of Justice Statistics have detailed definitions of stalking and recent

research is rooted more so in definitions that include a pattern of behavior that instills

fear in the victim. Given this divergence in the literature, for the purposes of this

research, the term relational refers to intimate partner pursuit (IPS), either wanting to

establish or to maintain an intimate relationship and the associated behaviors involved

in this pursuit. Acknowledging the divergence in the literature relating to the term

stalking, the terms IPS and pursuit/ORI are used interchangeably. However, it is this

relational term that has driven the development of theoretical assumptions and thus

drives the current research in testing these assumptions. This research is not so much

concerned with the definition of stalking, but more the dimensions of pursuit behavior

(McEwan et al., 2019) in those with disruptive infant attachment in later intimate rela-

tionships; desired or wished to maintain.

Whereas most stalkers are known to their victims, the number of people who report

being pursued in the context of relationship pursuit represents approximately 46% of

all stalking cases (Boehnlein et al., 2020; Metropolitan Police, 2020; Weller et al.,

2013). This is likely to be an underestimation of the extent of the problem, given that

individuals may be reluctant to disclose such experiences for a variety of different

reasons. Further, despite no contact or restraining orders, prosecuting perpetrators of

stalking does not always lead to the behavior stopping (Eke et al., 2011; McEwan

et al., 2019). One significant difference between stranger stalking and intimate partner