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PubMed1992

Application of attachment theory to the study of sexual abuse.

Research on sexual abuse frequently fails to address the influence of the family as a risk factor for the onset of all kinds of sexual abuse and as a mediator of its long-term effects. Attachment theory provides a useful conceptual framework for understanding the familial antecedents and long-term consequences of sexual abuse. Themes associated with insecure parent-child attachment (rejection, role reversal/parentification, and fear/unresolved trauma) are frequently found in the dynamics of families characterized by sexual abuse, and specific categories of sequelae are related to probable attachment experiences. Implications for intervention and research on sexual abuse are suggested.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1989

Feelings of attachment to siblings and well-being in later life.

On the basis of an adult model of sibling attachment, I hypothesized that the well-being of older persons depends on their perception of the closeness of the sibling bond, on their perception of any disruption of that bond, and on the sex combination of the siblings being considered. In all, 83 persons, aged 61 to 91 years, were interviewed about their relationships with each of their living siblings. They rated their feelings of closeness, conflict or rivalry, and indifference to the sibling. A measure of depression was used as the indicator of well-being. Separate correlational analyses were carried out for the four sex combinations of siblings. Closeness of the bond to a sister (by both men and women) was related to less depression. Also, women's perceptions of conflict and indifference in their relationships with sisters were related to increased depression. Findings are interpreted in terms of attachment theory and sex role expectations.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2004

When "new" meets "old": configurations of adult attachment representations and their implications for marital functioning.

Two studies addressed the implications of concordance versus discrepancy of attachment representations in individuals at 2 stages in their marital relationships. Engaged (n = 157) and dating (n = 101) couples participated in a multimethod 6-year longitudinal study of adult attachment. Individuals completed the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), the Current Relationship Interview (CRI), and various questionnaires and were observed in interactions with partners. On the basis of AAI and CRI classifications, participants were placed in one of four groups: Secure-sub(AAI)/Secure-sub(CRI), Secure-sub(AAI)/Insecure-sub(CRI), Insecure-sub(AAI)/Secure-sub(CRI), or Insecure-sub(AAI)/Insecure-sub(CRI). Each of the configurations showed a particular pattern of behavior, feelings about relationships and the self, and likelihood of relationship breakup. The findings of the studies address important points about the protective effects of attachment security and have interesting implications for the extension of attachment theory into adulthood.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2006

Attachment, psychotherapy, and assessment: a commentary.

This article, a commentary, discusses questions and issues generated by 7 articles on the relationship between attachment theory and research, and psychotherapy and clinical assessment. The issues include the following: attachment-based therapeutic interventions for adults and child-caregiver dyads, change in attachment status as an outcome goal of therapeutic intervention, attachment pattern as a moderator of treatment outcome and therapeutic approach, clinical use of attachment measures, narrative/discourse and self-report measures of attachment patterns, and application of attachment theory to new areas. In the discussion of each of these issues, suggestions are made for future research.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

How self-evaluations relate to being liked by others: integrating sociometer and attachment perspectives.

What is the relation between self-evaluation and being liked by others? Does being liked by others lead to more positive self-evaluations (as in sociometer theory), or do positive self-evaluations lead to being liked more (self-broadcasting)? Furthermore, what might affect the extent to which self-evaluations are influenced by likability (and vice versa)? The purpose of the present study was twofold. First, it used a naturalistic design to test the direction of the effect between social self-evaluations and others' judgments of likability in real relationships. Second, it examined how individual differences in attachment avoidance and anxiety relate to self-evaluations and likability and whether attachment differences moderate the relation between the two. Social self-evaluations, actual interpersonal liking, and attachment were assessed in participants taking part in a longitudinal group study. The findings supported the sociometer theory: Being liked by others led to more positive self-evaluations. Both anxious and avoidant attachment predicted lower self-evaluations, and anxious attachment predicted stronger reactions to others' liking (i.e., potentiated the sociometer). These findings have several implications for research on self-evaluation, adult attachment theory, and the importance of integrating interpersonal processes and individual differences.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

The attachment script representation procedure in an Italian sample: associations with adult attachment interview scales and with maternal sensitivity.

This study provides data supporting the reliability and validity of an Italian version of the adult attachment script representation task, designed by Waters & Rodrigues-Doolabh (2004). Specifically, we tested hypotheses concerning positive relations between attachment scriptedness scores and two other representational measures, derived from the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). In addition, we tested the hypothesis that secure base script scores should predict maternal sensitivity in the context of mother - infant interaction. Thirty-one mothers completed narrative protocols and received scriptedness scores using the Waters & Rodrigues-Doolabh (2004) criteria. Prior to the attachment script assessment, mothers had been assessed using the AAI and had been observed in the context of infant - mother interactions to assess maternal sensitivity. Assessment of instrument reliability was satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha >.70) and both hypotheses were supported; the attachment scriptedness score (based on 4 attachment narratives) was positively and significantly associated with the AAI coherence score, the continuous security score derived from the AAI State of Mind scales, and with maternal sensitivity. These data extend to another socio-cultural milieu, previous findings supporting reliability, convergent, and predictive validity of the attachment script representation task as a measure of adult attachment.

Educational Status↗

PubMed1999

Old and new internal working models of attachment: the organization of feelings and language.

Old internal working models of attachment are based on the organization of feelings and behavior which develop on the basis of parents' sensitivity to infants' and young children's attachment and exploratory needs. New internal working models reflect the process of language discourses with older and wiser conversation partners during the many subsequent years of immaturity. It is proposed that successful linguistic co-construction of internal coherence of attachment emotions and their external correspondence may lead to secure states of mind even in cases of less than optimal early attachment experiences--and vice versa. Attachment theory needs to address the problem of how early secure or insecure organizations of attachment emotions interact with the later construction of mature internal working models through language discourse with others, and with what emotional outcome. This would help to solve the theoretical paradox between continuity--unchangeable determinism from early infancy--and non-continuity--irrelevancy of early attachment experiences for later states of mind.

Child↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Reactive attachment disorder of infancy or early childhood.

Since its introduction into DSM-III, reactive attachment disorder has stood curiously apart from other diagnoses for two reasons; it remains the only diagnosis designed for infants, and it requires the presence of a specific etiology. This paper describes the pattern of disturbances demonstrated by some children who meet DSM-III-R criteria for reactive attachment disorder. Three suggestions are made: (1) the sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostic concept may be enhanced by including criteria detailing the developmental problems exhibited by these children; (2) the etiological requirement should be discarded given the difficulties inherent in obtaining complete histories for these children, as well as its inconsistency with ICD-10; and (3) the diagnosis arguably is not a disorder of attachment but rather a syndrome of atypical development.

Adjustment Disorders↗

PubMed2002

Prenatal alcohol exposure and attachment behavior in children.

BACKGROUND: This study examined the association between prenatal alcohol exposure and attachment behavior in 4- and 5-year-old children. Prenatal alcohol exposure was hypothesized to be associated with insecure attachment behavior of the child toward the mother. It was also hypothesized that children with heavier prenatal alcohol exposure would exhibit higher levels of negative affect as well as poorer coping skills. The quality of maternal support in interaction with the child was predicted to mediate prenatal exposure effects. METHODS: Participants were 42 mother-child dyads, the majority of whom came from poverty backgrounds in which the mother was a single parent. Attachment security was measured using the Attachment Q-Set. RESULTS: Results revealed that prenatal alcohol exposure was highly related to attachment insecurity. Eighty percent of children who were exposed to alcohol during gestation were insecure, whereas 36% of unexposed children were insecure. Prenatal alcohol exposure also predicted child negative affect, which was related to lower levels of maternal emotional support of the child. However, when the mothers of the prenatally exposed children provided high levels of support, these children evidenced better coping skills and more secure attachment relations. CONCLUSIONS: Although prenatal alcohol exposure was found to relate to higher levels of insecure attachment, children of mothers who provided them with emotional support were more able to deal with frustration. These children also exhibited higher levels of attachment security. Thus, the mother's supportive presence may mediate the association between prenatal alcohol exposure and the child's security of attachment.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1989

Security of attachment and infant-sibling relationships: a laboratory study.

The relation between infant-sibling affective involvement and the attachment security of each child to the mother was examined in the present laboratory investigation. In mothers' presence, securely attached infants were less likely to protest and aggress against mothers and older siblings when mothers played only with the older child. In mothers' absence, more secure older siblings were more likely to respond to infant distress with caregiving than were less secure older siblings. Although infant attachment behavior to older siblings was rare, it occurred only when the older sibling was more secure. Sibling dyads with a secure infant and a more secure older child appeared to be most likely to develop nonantagonistic relationships, whereas sibling dyads with an insecure infant and a less secure older child appeared least likely to do so. These findings were discussed in terms of the putative role of attachment security in shaping sibling bonds.

Affect↗

PubMed1994

The influence of temperament and mothering on attachment and exploration: an experimental manipulation of sensitive responsiveness among lower-class mothers with irritable infants.

6-month-old infants selected on irritability shortly after birth and their mothers were randomly assigned to 2 intervention and 2 control groups to test the hypothesis that enhancing maternal sensitive responsiveness will improve quality of mother-infant interaction, infant exploration, and attachment. The intervention lasted 3 months and ended when the child was 9 months of age. When infants were 9 months of age, intervention group mothers were significantly more responsive, stimulating, visually attentive, and controlling of their infant's behavior than control group mothers. Intervention infants had higher scores than control infants on sociability, self-soothing, and exploration, and they cried less. Quality of exploration also improved, with intervention infants engaged in cognitively sophisticated kinds of exploration more than control infants. At 12 months of age, significantly more intervention group dyads were securely attached than control group dyads.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

Associations among adult attachment representations, maternal sensitivity, and infant-mother attachment in a sample of adolescent mothers.

Associations among adolescent attachment organization, maternal sensitivity, and infant attachment organization were examined prospectively in 74 teenaged mother-infant dyads. Pregnant teenagers' attachment organizations predicted both sensitivity and infant-mother attachments. Mothers classified autonomous (F) in the prenatal period showed higher levels of sensitivity at both 3 and 9 months than mothers classified dismissing (Ds), preoccupied (E), or unresolved (U). Correspondence between maternal attachment (F vs. Ds/E/U) and infant attachment (secure [B] vs. avoidant [A]/resistant [C]/disorganized [D]) was observed in 58 of 74 (78%) dyads. Exact 4-group (Ds/E/F/U and A/B/C/D) agreement was observed in 50 of 74 (68%) families. In contrast, associations between maternal sensitivity and infant attachment were not significant, leading to questions about the processes that link attachment representations, maternal behavior, and infant attachment in adolescent mothers.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Chronic family adversity and infant attachment security.

A beginning step in the prevention of psychopathology in children is the identification of conditions and events associated with a disproportionately high incidence of behavior problems. Rutter, Cox, Tupling, Berger and Yule (1975a, British Journal of Psychiatry, 126, 493-509) have reported a dramatic increase in the probability of children's adjustment difficulties as a function of multiple family stressors. However, this association has never been tested with infants. Among instruments of infant behavior, attachment classification has been found to be a significant predictor of later adjustment problems, particularly among low-income samples. The present investigation examines the relation between six significant familial stressors and infant attachment security in a sample of 100 low-income parent-infant dyads. Family stressors included parental criminality, maternal depressive symptomatology, maternal personality risk, overcrowding in the home, and the quality of the relationship with a significant other. Cumulative family adversity was found to differentiate secure from insecure infants, but only among families with three or four stressors present. There also was moderate support for one hypothesis derived from attachment theory, namely that stressors more closely associated with maternal functioning are more common among families with insecurely attached infants. Conceptual links between stressors and attachment are discussed, including pathways by which chronic stressors may interfere with the formation and maintenance of secure mother-infant attachment relations.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

The importance of parenting in the development of disorganized attachment: evidence from a preventive intervention study in adoptive families.

BACKGROUND: As infant disorganized attachment is a serious risk factor for later child psychopathology, it is important to examine whether attachment disorganization can be prevented or reduced. METHOD: In a randomized intervention study involving 130 families with 6-month-old adopted infants, two attachment-based intervention programs were tested. In the first program, mothers were provided a personal book, and in the second program mothers received the same personal book and three home-based sessions of video feedback. The third group did not receive intervention (control group). RESULTS: The intervention with video feedback and the personal book resulted in enhanced maternal sensitive responsiveness (d=.65). Children of mothers who received this intervention were less likely to be classified as disorganized attached at the age of 12 months (d=.46), and received lower scores on the rating scale for disorganization than children in the control group (d=.62). In the book-only intervention group children showed lower disorganization ratings compared to the control group, but no effect on the number of infants with disorganized attachment classifications was found. CONCLUSION: Our short-term preventive intervention program with video feedback and a book lowered the rate of disorganized attachment. The effectiveness of our intervention documents the importance of parenting in the development of infant attachment disorganization.

Adoption↗

PubMed1991

A developmental view of therapeutic bonding in the family: treatment of the disconnected family.

Data from an ongoing research study have been used to identify a subgroup of families of severely ill, young adults who present formidable treatment challenges to the family therapist. The disconnected family is characterized by disturbances in attachment between one or both parents and the patient. In many cases, disturbances in attachment and caretaking in the family of origin are reported for the parents in these families. Disconnected families that also have intense emotional styles of relating are particularly difficult to treat. A treatment model that focuses on intergenerational attachment issues is described.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

Mental health and adequacy of social support: a four-wave panel study.

LISREL analyses with manifest variables were used to examine the causal relationship between mental health and adequacy of social integration and of attachment, measured at four consecutive waves each four months apart, in a representative sample of 225 adult residents in Canberra. Mental health was assessed with the 30-item General Health Questionnaire. The analyses suggest that while there is no temporal relationship between adequacy of attachment and mental health, adequacy of social integration is influenced by earlier mental health. The temporal relationship between adequacy of attachment and adequacy of social integration appears to be reciprocal.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Organization and predictive power of general and relationship-specific attachment models: one for all, and all for one?

Given recent evidence for multiple attachment models, we examined the organization and predictive power of general and relationship-specific attachment representations in two samples using two distinct measures of attachment models. With regard to associations among relationship-specific models, peer models (romantic partner and friend) and parental models (mother and father) were more similar to each other than to any other models, and anxiety/self-model representations were more consistent across relationships than avoidance/other-model representations. With regard to links between general and specific models, romantic and friend models made the strongest and independent contributions to general models, and romantic relationship involvement moderated the importance of romantic models to general models. With regard to differential predictive power of multiple models, general, romantic partner, and mother attachment made unique contributions to well-being indicators; relationship outcomes, however, were only predicted by individuals' corresponding relationship-specific models. Implications for the measurement and conceptualization of adult attachment are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2002

Adult attachment interview, thematic analysis, and communicative style in families with substance use disorder.

The paper examined the Adult Attachment Interview with special reference to thematic and semantic analysis in line with the discourse study (van Dijk, 1997). The hypothesis was that correspondence between the communicative organization of speech and the mental representations of the attachment experiences would be substantial. Eight Adult Attachment Interview transcripts of fathers with a heroin addicted young son were analyzed at two levels, (a) thematic analysis to individuate the topics of their talk applying the structural and semantic study of discourse and (b) enunciative analysis of speech to define their linguistic patterns utilizing a set of linguistic micro- and macro-units. Results showed nine main topics in the Adult Attachment Interview, each of which was characterized by a distinctive linguistic profile. In this perspective this device seems to be effective not only for discriminating attachment styles between subjects but also to identify differences within subjects belonging to the same attachment pattern.

Adolescent↗