The Relationship between Attachment and Alexithymia in Street Children

The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between attachment styles and alexithymia levels in street children. The study population of the research included 76 street children from the central districts of Konya Province. The distribution of the children in the study population by age included 16 children (21, 1%) in 8-9 age range, 33 children(43, 4%) in 10-11 age range, 27 children(35, 5%) in 12-13 age range. In the distribution by family structures, there were 32 children (42, 1%) in the nuclear family type, 27 children (35, 5%) in the extended family type and 17 children(22, 4%) in the fragmented family type. The data were collected by using The Alexithymia Scale for Children, The Relationships Scales Questionnaire and Personal Information Form. In the analyses of the data, canonical correlation analysis was done using SPSS. The findings of the research show that externally oriented thinking increases when preoccupied attachment increases. Besides, findings reveal that difficulty identifying feelings increases if fearful and preoccupied attachment increases. The results were discussed in the light of the literature and several suggestions were made.