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PubMed2006

The nature of adult twin relationships: an attachment-theoretical perspective.

Twin relationships have been hailed as one of the most unique and intimate kinds of relationships. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of empirical research that addresses the interpersonal nature of twin relationships. In this article, the authors argue that attachment theory may provide a useful framework for understanding the nature of twin relationships. The authors present data indicating that (a) twins are more likely than non-twin siblings to use their sibling as an attachment figure; (b) the developmental course of twin attachment differs from that of other attachments; and (c) certain factors, such as genetic relatedness, empathy, including the other in the self, and shared experiences, may impact the extent to which twins use one another as attachment figures.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

The association between spouses' self-reports of attachment styles and representations of family dynamics.

The current research assesses the association between spouses' self-reports of attachment style and their perceptions of family dynamics. The sample included 93 Israeli married couples with young children. Both husbands and wives completed the adult attachment style scale and the perceived and ideal versions of FACES III. Findings showed that spouses whose self-reports endorsed the secure style perceived relatively high levels of family cohesion and adaptability; persons who endorsed the anxious-ambivalent style reported high levels of family cohesion but low levels of adaptability; and persons who endorsed the avoidant style reported relatively low levels of both family dimensions. In addition, significant associations were found between reports of attachment styles, on the one hand, and ideal representations of family dynamics, the marital partner's representations of family dynamics, and spouses' discrepancies in these representations, on the other. Findings are discussed in terms of attachment theory.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Evolving the biobehavioral family model: the fit of attachment.

The 1993 Biobehavioral Family model (BBFM) posits that family relational patterns and biobehavioral reactivity interact so as to influence the physical and psychological health of the children. The revised 1999 BBFM incorporates parent-child attachment as a pivotal construct. The current study tests the 1999 BBFM by predicting, in asthmatic children, that child perception of parental relationship quality, triangulation of child in marital conflict, and parent-child security of relatedness will be associated with hopelessness and vagal activation (one mechanism of airway compromise in asthma). In this study, 22 children with asthma (11 males/11 females, aged 8 to 16), watched, alone, an emotionally challenging movie, then engaged in family discussion tasks (problem solving, loss, conflict, cohesion) and completed the Children's Perception of Interparental Scale, the Relatedness Questionnaire, The Multidimensional Scale of Anxiety in Children, and the Hopelessness Scale for Children. Heart rate variability, measured at baseline and throughout the movie and family tasks, was used to compute respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA)--an inferential measure of vagal activation. The child's perception of parental conflict showed trends of association with triangulation and insecure father-child relatedness. Triangulation and hopelessness also were associated with insecure father-child relatedness, all of which were associated with vagal activation. Insecure mother-child relatedness was correlated only with hopelessness. Anxiety was not related to any variables. These findings lend support to the 1999 BBFM, and suggest a key role for parent-child attachment.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

Adult attachment processes: individual and couple perspectives.

This paper overviews a new approach to understanding the range of difficulties experienced in close attachment relationships in adulthood. Drawing on the work of Bowlby, four prototypic adult attachment patterns are defined in terms of the intersection of two underlying dimensions, the positivity of the person's self-image and the positivity of the person's image of others (Bartholomew, 1990; Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991). The distinct interpersonal difficulties associated with each attachment pattern are described. Findings are presented indicating that individual differences in attachment have implications for the quality of adults' romantic relationships, and that attachment theory may be helpful in understanding violent spousal relationships. Five current issues in the study of adult attachment are addressed: the stability of attachment patterns, the associations between attachment and general personality factors, the relative merits of categorical and prototype assessments of attachment, the identification of multiple attachments in adulthood, and the specificity of adult attachment patterns. It is suggested that the four-category model of adult attachment is especially sensitive to the range and complexity of attachment-related difficulties experienced in adulthood.

Adult↗

PubMed1992

The assessment of dimensions relevant to adult reciprocal attachment.

The development and potential clinical uses of the Adult Attachment Dimensions Questionnaire is described. The seven scales of the Adult Attachment Dimensions Questionnaire relate to the aspects of a relationship formed to promote and maintain security. The underlying theory is founded on John Bowlby's work on the attachment behavioural system. The empirical validation was accomplished through three studies involving a clinical group and a non clinical group in a hospital setting and respondents to a community survey. Psychometric validation included measures of internal reliability, test-retest reliability, and construct validity through factor analysis. The resultant 35 item questionnaire should be useful to both clinicians and researchers interested in the characterization of the attachment system for adults.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

The study of interpersonal problems: a Leary legacy.

The Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP) is an instrument based on Leary's original theory that has been used to identify dysfunctional patterns in a person's interpersonal interactions. Interpersonal problems can be organized in 2 dimensions, and the 2-dimensional space can be divided into 8 equal sectors (octants). Subscales of the IIP describe problems in each of these octants. The instrument has been used to identify interpersonal problems that are discussed most often in a brief dynamic psychotherapy and problems that are treated most easily. The results show that problems in the "exploitable" octant improve most frequently, whereas problems in the "dominating," "vindictive," and "cold" octants do not improve as readily. We have also examined people's attachment styles in adulthood (following a model proposed by Bowlby) and found that different attachment styles correspond to different types of interpersonal problems.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Rethinking adult attachment: a study of expert consensus.

Self-report questionnaires designed to assess attachment in adulthood potentially confound global valence of relationships (e.g., liking and disliking) with attachment. The authors surveyed an international panel of experts to develop items for a new measure of attachment that systematically distinguishes between attachment and non-attachment aspects of relationships. The survey yielded a large set of items on which there is consensus in five domains: secure attachment, dismissing attachment, preoccupied attachment, positive non-attachment, and negative non-attachment. This report presents a content analysis of the core themes in each of these five domains and discusses implications of these results for conceptualizing and researching adult attachment.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Sex differences in infant-mother attachment.

A sex difference in security of infant attachment was found in a sample of 52 infant-mother dyads. The infants were enrolled in early care and education programs within a predominantly small-town geographic area in the southwest. Security of attachment was assessed using the Strange Situation procedure. Male infants (76%) were significantly more likely to be securely attached than female infants (39%). No other variables related to the infants' early care and education experience or mothers' age, race, marital status, and education were significantly associated with infants' attachment status.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

[The relationship between affective responses in preseparation episodes and patterns of attachment behaviors in the strange situation].

Fifty-six first born Japanese 12-month-old infants were observed in the Strange Situation and the relationship between affective responses in the preseparation episodes and patterns of attachment behaviors in the following episodes was examined. In the preseparation episodes, 18 infants were rated as displaying distress (HS) and 38 infants did not display distress (LS). HS infants were acutely distressed in the separation episodes, and did not easily recover from distress even after regaining close physical contact with mother in the reunion episodes. In contrast, LS infants did not show distress in the first separation and reunion episodes. Although they were distressed in the second separation, they recovered more easily than HS infants in the second reunion episode. Resistant behaviors in the second reunion were observed more frequently and were stronger in HS infants than LS infants. Eighty-three percent of B4 and C were HS infants and 84% of B were LS infants. These results indicated that the affective responses in the preseparation episodes could predict the patterns of attachment behaviors in the following episodes.

Affect↗

PubMed1981

Mothers' characteristics, interactions, and infants' characteristics.

Stable characteristics of rhesus monkey mothers, in terms of Confident and Excitable scores, were significantly positively correlated with the respective scores of their daughters but not their sons. With sons, mothers' Excitable scores were significantly negatively correlated with sons' Confident scores. Correlations of the maternal scores with earlier mother/infant interactions suggest how mothers' characteristics could have influenced infant characteristics. Mothers' Confident scores were negatively correlated with both rejecting and leaving their daughters. When a year old the daughters, on the other hand, left mothers relatively frequently and played a relatively low role in maintaining proximity. For both sons and daughters, mothers' Excitable scores were positively correlated with approaching and leaving their infants, as well as restricting at the age of weaning. Infants approached Excitable mothers relatively frequently, and year-old sons played a relatively high role in maintaining proximity with mother. In terms of attachment theory, Confident mothers appear to provide a "secure base" for their daughters, but reject their sons when very young. Excitable mothers appear to behave inappropriately to both sons and daughters, producing infants who may be "insecurely attached."

Aggression↗

PubMed1980

Attachment behavior of day-care children: naturalistic and laboratory observations.

Relationships between day care and attachment were assessed with alternative procedures: (1) hypothesized normal patterns of attachment were tested naturalistically in day-care centers; (2) day-care and home-reared children were compared in a laboratory setting. Naturalistic observations were conducted on 20 middle-class day-care children, 17--38 months of age. 14 of the day-care children were compared with 14 matched home-reared children in a strange-situation procedure. Naturalistic data confirmed hypothesized patterns of attachment behavior. Preference for mother over familiar caregivers was demonstrated both in a comparison constructed to bias results against mother and in a less stringent test. Expected heightening of attachment behaviors following all-day separations, and predicted age trends also were found. In the strange situation, there were very few rearing group differences in children's behavior to mother; the day-care group, however, interacted less with the stranger. Complementary findings from naturalistic and laboratory situations indicate that day care is compatible with normal patterns of attachment behavior.

Child Day Care Centers↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Influence of family functioning on maternal-fetal attachment.

Although the development of a positive relationship between the mother and infant most likely begins during pregnancy, the correlates of maternal-fetal attachment are poorly understood. This study examined the influence of family functioning on maternal-fetal attachment in a sample of varied ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. The authors surveyed 339 pregnant women in their last trimesters with the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales-III (FACES-III), Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale (MFA), and a demographic interview. On the basis of correlational and regression analyses, the demographic variables of parity, ethnicity, age, education, and occupation of primary wage earner correlated significantly with maternal-fetal attachment. When entered in a multiple regression analysis, parity, ethnicity, and occupation explained 12% of the variance in the MFA scores. The FACES-III total score and the subscale scores of adaptability and cohesion also correlated significantly with scores on the MFA and explained an additional 3% of the variance in the MFA beyond that explained by the demographics. Support of positive family dynamics during pregnancy by health care workers may potentially increase the quality of maternal-fetal attachment.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1986