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Results for “Object Attachment”

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PubMed1999

Autonomy, attachment and psychosocial adjustment during adolescence: a double-edged sword?

Both autonomy and attachment are positively related to psychosocial adjustment during adolescence. The aim of the present study was to examine the assumption that a high level of autonomy within a context of attachment provides the best constellation for psychosocial adjustment. Subjects were 400 adolescents. Attitudinal, emotional and functional autonomy were connected with attachment to father, mother and peers to predict indices of psychosocial adjustment: social competence, academic competence, self-esteem, problem behaviour and depressive mood. Only main effects of autonomy and attachment were found. There was no evidence for an extra positive effect of being both autonomous and strongly attached.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Stability of attachment representations during adolescence: the influence of ego-identity status.

The purpose of this study was to examine two core assumptions of attachment theory. First, internal working models of attachment should increase in stability during the course of development. Second, attachment is related to the adaptive solution of stage-salient issues, in adolescence, specifically to identity formation. Adolescence as a developmental period of change and reorganization might lead to changes in attachment representations by re-evaluating one's life experiences in the course of general identity development. In a longitudinal study, the stability of attachment representations (assessed by the Adult Attachment Interview) between ages 16 and 18 was examined. In addition, the concurrent and longitudinal associations of identity status at age 16 with attachment representations at ages 16 and 18 were tested. Results showed high stability of attachment representation during that age period. Secure attachment representation was positively associated with the identity status achievement, whereas a dismissing status was positively associated with identity diffusion. Longitudinally, identity diffusion at age 16 predicted attachment representation at age 18 even after controlling for earlier attachment representation.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Adult attachment patterns and individual psychotherapy: a review.

Attachment theory provides an empirically grounded framework for understanding important aspects of interpersonal functioning in children as well as adults. Recently attachment theory has found increasing use within the field of individual psychotherapy with adults. This article outlines the theory and measurement of individual differences in adult attachment, and the relevance of such adult attachment patterns to psychotherapy. It then offers a review and discussion of empirical findings regarding the effects of client and therapist attachment patterns on process and outcome in individual psychotherapy with adults. Empirical studies have linked adult attachment patterns to differences in client and therapist in-treatment behaviour, to differences in the quality and development of the therapeutic alliance, and to differences in therapeutic outcome. Although empirical studies on the subject are still few in number, evidence is emerging for the importance of adult attachment patterns in the therapeutic relationship.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Clarifying core characteristics of attachment disorders: a review of current research and theory.

Reactive attachment disorder is a relatively new diagnosis that is not well studied. Conflicting ideas about its etiology and presentation pervade the theoretical, research, clinical, and popular literature. Clarifying core characteristics of this disorder and distinguishing them from comorbid conditions are critical for improved diagnosis and treatment of children with attachment problems.

Child↗

PubMed2003

Toward assessing attachment on an emotional security continuum: comment on Fraley and Spieker (2003).

The article by R.C. Fraley and S.J. Spieker (2003) serves to remind the discipline of the possible virtues of assessing attachments on continua, a practice that has a long history in attachment research. In this commentary, the author further develops the potential contributions of this approach to assessment and advocates renewed efforts toward assessment of attachments on a single continuum of emotional security. The author contends that theory is essential as a guide for new directions in attachment assessment and that Bowlby's notions of secure base and emotional security provide the needed conceptual foundation for these further developments (E. Waters & E. M. Cummings, 2000). Moreover, challenges that have been made historically to the scoring of attachment on a security continuum are addressed. New means for continuously scoring attachment are advocated as a supplement to the primary direction of categorically assessing attachment patterns.

Emotions↗

PubMed2002

Challenging behaviour and insecure attachment.

BACKGROUND: The present authors investigated a database about people with severe intellectual disability (ID) to explore whether secure/insecure attachment plays a role in challenging behaviour. METHODS: The study took the form of a survey of staff and carers involved with a cohort of 54 school-leavers with severe ID. RESULTS: Thirty-four per cent of students were rated by placement staff as 'over-investing in one or a few relationships which become a source of jealousy'. Students without such problems were significantly less likely to show challenging behaviours, while those with them were significantly more likely to be living outside the family home. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary results justify more detailed and longitudinal research into the relationship between attachment status and challenging behaviour.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

The evacuation of British children during World War II: a preliminary investigation into the long-term psychological effects.

The authors used attachment theory to hypothesize about the possible long-term psychological effects of evacuation during World War II, focusing on children who were evacuated unaccompanied by their parents. The study aimed to establish whether this experience had long-term effects on psychological well-being, and to investigate mediating and moderating factors. The study utilized a retrospective non-randomized design, comparing 169 former evacuees with 43 people who were children during the war but not evacuated. No differences between the groups were found in terms of demographic variables or exposure to war-related events. All participants completed a range of standardized self-report questionnaires. Findings indicated that former evacuees were more likely to have insecure attachment styles and lower levels of present psychological well-being. Satisfaction with, but not quantity of, current social support was found to mediate the relationship between attachment style and present psychological well-being. Conclusions are limited due to the method of measurement of attachment style, non-randomized design and method of recruitment. Nevertheless, findings offer an indication that the experience of evacuation is associated with long-term psychological vulnerability through its relationship with insecure attachment.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2004

An attachment-based treatment of maltreated children and young people.

Repetitive, intrafamilial abuse and neglect leads to a complex array of deficiencies and symptoms that reflect both the traumatic effects of maltreatment on children as well as the effects of their failing to develop a coherent pattern of attachment behaviours toward their caregivers. This article will attempt to describe principles of a psychological treatment for maltreated children and young people who have been placed in foster care and adoptive homes. This treatment, based on attachment theory, provides dyadic interventions that aim to be transforming and integrative. The co-regulation of affect and the co-construction of meaning are central to the treatment process, just as they are central features in attachment security.

Adoption↗

PubMed2006

Attachment style and individual differences in leadership perceptions and emergence.

The authors examined whether individuals' approaches to relationships, expressed in terms of attachment styles, was related to how they viewed ideal leadership and to their degree of tendency to emerge as team leaders. Specifically, the authors hypothesized that attachment styles, or cognitive representations of orientation to others, would explain individual differences in leadership perceptions and emergence. Participants were 127 American students in college teams. The authors found that securely attached individuals (n = 81) perceived themselves as more effective team members than did insecurely attached individuals (n = 46) and that fellow team members saw securely attached team members as emerging team leaders significantly more often than they did insecurely attached team members.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Relationship between general and context-specific attachment orientations in a Turkish sample.

The authors explored the relationship between general and context-specific attachment orientations involving family, peer, and romantic contexts. Participants were 110 Turkish university students (50 men, 60 women). The authors used the Turkish form of K. Bartholomew and L. M. Horowitz's (1991) Relationship Questionnaire (RQ) to measure participants' general and specific attachment orientations. Using 5-point Likert-type scales, participants specified the degree to which each of the 4 descriptions of RQ (i.e., of secure, preoccupied, dismissing, and fearful orientations) represented (a) how they generally felt in close relationships; and then how they felt in their (b) family relationships, (c) romantic relationships, and (d) peer relationships. The present results indicated that participants who were generally high rather than low on a particular attachment orientation tended to be so across the 3 contexts, thereby supporting the trait-like conceptualization of attachment styles. However, the present results also supported conceptualization of attachment orientations as specific context-related tendencies because regardless of their general orientations, participants reported feeling relatively more secure in some relationships (e.g., family) than in others (e.g., romantic). The authors discussed the present results as supporting (a) the coexistence of both general and specific attachment orientations in the cognitive system and (b) the cross-cultural validity of attachment orientations.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

[Early adult attachment styles and social adjustment].

We conducted this study in order to examine the relationships between early adult attachment styles and social adjustment, such as mental health and self-perception in the context of close relationships. Questionnaires were administered, 460 undergraduates participated in the study, and their data were analyzed. Results showed that secure attachment was positively related to better mental health and positive self-perception in close relationships. In contrast, insecure attachment, especially ambivalent style, was negatively related to social adjustment. As for attachment dimensions, "Anxiety" was significantly associated with negative states in mental health, such as anxiety, insomnia, and sever depression, and lower self-perceived confidence in close relationships, and "Avoidance" with low self-perceived sociability and attractiveness in close relationships. These results were discussed in terms of the theoretical concepts of adult attachment styles.

Adult↗

PubMed1985