PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Object Attachment”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

"Transitional objects" as establishing operations for thumb sucking: a case study.

This study examines the effects of a "transitional object" (surgical cloth) on the thumb sucking of a 3-year-old boy in two conditions: while sitting in the lap of his physical therapist and while alone in his crib. Sucking occurred when the cloth was present and did not occur when it was absent, regardless of condition. These results are discussed in terms of establishing operations, object attachment, and application.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed2005

Attachment style and symptom reporting: examining the mediating effects of anger and social support.

OBJECTIVE: Attachment style has been related to symptom reporting. The aim of this research was to examine whether social support and anger expression or experience mediate this relationship. DESIGN AND METHODS: 141 women and 50 men from a Midlands university completed questionnaires examining attachment style, anger expression and experience, perceived social support, and symptom reporting. RESULTS: Significant differences were found between attachment groups on somatic, anxiety, social dysfunction, and depressive symptoms. Post hoc analysis showed differences were present between secure and preoccupied attachment styles on social dysfunction and depressed symptoms, and secure and fearful attachment styles on somatic, social dysfunction, and depressed symptoms (p < . 05). ANCOVA revealed that there were no differences between attachment styles and any of the symptom scales when perceived social support, anger-in, and trait anger were entered as covariates. CONCLUSION: Results indicate that insecure attachment styles of preoccupied and fearful were associated with increased symptom reporting. Social support and anger mediated the relationship between attachment style and symptom reporting.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

On the evolution of attachment-disordered behaviour.

Using an example of a goose which grew up in complete isolation, this article shows how escape behaviour increases through all its developmental steps by lack of a sufficient secure primary attachment object. If a gosling has no mother, its fear influences wide parts of its behaviour and blocks the capacity to approach another animal in order to form a new attachment. But the urge for attachment is still alive and provokes strong conflicts between this urge and fear. In these situations displacement activities and apathy occur--attachment-disordered behaviour. Under partly artificial circumstances, a change to 'normal' attachment behaviour took place by reduction of escape motivation, which enabled the goose to accept her brood. From this moment on the attachment-disordered behaviour, the displacement activity and the apathy disappeared. Implications to human behaviour are drawn--a comparison between displacement activity and neurotic symptoms, the state of apathy and personal disorder. A synthesis of ethological and psychoanalytical models concerning etiological and therapeutic aspects is discussed. Fear and attachment, not aggression and sexuality--our 'animal heritage'--are the primary factors which influence our development. The balance of fear and attachment is the basis for a healthy or unhealthy development of social relationships. This applies to social living animals as well as to humans.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Preschool age children of divorce: transitional phenomena and the mourning process.

The role of the family home as an attachment object was investigated in 57 preschool age children coping with the stress of a parental divorce. Results indicated that preschool age children of divorce exhibited an increased level of attachment to the family home as compared with children matched for age and socioeconomic status from intact family units who moved away from the family home. In addition, preschool age children who moved from the family home but show a high attachment to it demonstrate better behaviour adjustment than both the groups of children of divorce who showed low attachment after moving from the family home and the group who remained living in the family home after divorce (p less than .05).

Child Reactive Disorders↗
PubMed2004

[Attachment security and quality of life in atopic dermatitis].

OBJECTIVE: Attachment style is an important variable of influence on general and disease specific quality of life. Insecure attachment may go along with increased autonomic vulnerability and with compromised social support and coping resources. Patients with atopic dermatitis often report interactions of the status and severity of their disease with psychic wellbeing. It was the purpose of the present study to clarify the influence of attachment style and social support on the quality of life in probands with atopic dermatitis. We hypothesized that securely attached test persons with severe skin affection feel less constrained in their quality of life, because they may "buffer" strains from the disease more successfully due to better social support deriving from more satisfying relationships. METHOD: We carried through a cross-sectional study on 124 probands with atopic dermatitis of varying severity, assessed with self report (Neurodermitis Severity Index, NSI) and in part by clinical dermatological ratings (NSI/SCORAD). Attachment style was captured with the Relationship Scales Questionnaire (RSQ), social support with the F-SOZU (K-22), and quality of life with the Skindex-29. RESULTS: We found slightly more insecurely attached individuals in the study sample than it was to be expected from representational healthy samples. Securely attached participants have no lower severity of their disease, but show a higher amount of social support. Irrespective of severity, securely attached persons feel less limited in their quality of life compared to insecurely attached participants. In their symptom based quality of life both feel equally limited. Severity predicts quality of life: contrary to our expectation of a buffering effect of attachment security this association is closer in securely attached probands. CONCLUSION: Suffering from atopic dermatitis may go along with more attachment insecurity. The unexpected stronger association between severity and quality of life in securely attached individuals can be interpreted as a more direct reaction to their skin condition in the absence of other encumbering factors (relationship problems etc.).

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2000

Anatomic and biomechanical analysis of the lower lumbar foraminal ligaments.

STUDY DESIGN: An anatomic cadaveric study to characterize the lumbar intraforaminal nerve root attachments. OBJECTIVES: To characterize the intraforaminal nerve root attachments and describe their anatomic relationships and biomechanical properties. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Observations during foraminotomies for lateral recess stenosis as well as lateral approaches for far lateral disc herniation have shown dense attachments between the nerve root and adjacent structures. Little or no information has appeared in the literature describing intraforaminal nerve root attachments. METHODS: Twelve fresh-frozen human cadaveric lumbar spines were used to study intraforaminal ligamentous structures. Four cadavers were cut into sagittal sections for qualitative description, and eight were used for biomechanical testing. Histologic analyses were performed on samples of the foraminal attachments to assure that they were not vascular or neural structures. Biomechanical testing of the nerve roots with ligamentous attachments was performed measuring load to failure along the anatomic axis of the root. RESULTS: The dissections showed four distinct bands extending radially from the nerve root sleeve. The most prominent nerve root attachment was to the facet capsule posteriorly. Other ligaments fanned out with attachments inferiorly and superiorly to the adjacent pedicles and anteriorly to the intervertebral disc. Biomechanical study of the L3, L4, and L5 nerve roots showed a significant increase in strength at failure with axial traction, progressing from L3 to L5. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate that these foraminal ligaments are normal anatomic structures within the intervertebral foramen of the lumbar spine. In addition, they may play a role in limiting motion along the nerve root.

Biomechanical Phenomena↗
PubMed1999

Childhood imaginary companionship and mental health in adolescence.

An imaginary companion (IC) is a frequently encountered childhood fantasy, invisible to anyone but the child, who may be named, addressed or played with. Whether the presence of an IC is a normal developmental feature has not been determined. We examined psychometric measures and the presence/absence of childhood IC in a sample of 850 mentally healthy adolescents. 17.6% of our subjects, more often females, reported having had such a companion. Subjects who reported having had an IC in childhood exhibited higher levels of distress and emotional discontrol, displayed prolonged transitional object attachment and immature modes of coping with stress. Thus, although childhood imaginary companionship is not indicative of psychopathology, it may denote a vulnerability for adolescent perturbation and difficulty in coping with emotionally laden situations.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1999

The phenomenology of homesickness in boys.

Homesickness is the distress or impairment caused by an actual or anticipated separation from home. It is characterized by acute longing and preoccupying thoughts of home and attachment objects. This study extended previous research on the phenomenology of childhood homesickness by assessing a sample of 316 boys, ages 8-16, who were spending 2 weeks at a single-sex residential summer camp. Some 18% of the children reported moderate or high levels of homesickness; 7% reported concomitant severe depressive and anxious symptoms. Homesickness intensity was negatively correlated with separation experience and age. It was most commonly associated with depressive symptoms and internalizing behavior problems. For severely homesick boys, intensity increased over time, decreasing just prior to their return home. Preseparation assessment suggested that severely homesick boys had elevated levels of homesickness and negative emotions months before arriving at camp. One-year follow-up data suggested that the intensity of severe homesickness decreased with age and experience. However, severely homesick boys were less likely than other boys to return to camp. The results demonstrate how brief separations can affect children's well-being and attitudes about separations. Severe homesickness is distinct from separation anxiety disorder, but has elements of this and other psychopathologies. Theories of negative emotion, attachment, and coping complement emerging theories of homesickness.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2003

Anticipatory postural adjustments while sitting: the effects of different leg supports.

The aim of this study was twofold, to analyze the effects of changes in body position and changes in the location of body supports on anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs). Eight healthy subjects were studied while sitting and standing. Subjects exerted upward or downward vertical force against an object attached to a rigid frame and released the object with a fast bilateral shoulder abduction movement. While sitting, four support conditions were studied: with and without feet support, and with anterior or posterior lower-leg supports. The electromyographic activity of leg and trunk muscles was recorded and quantified for APA activity. APAs in sitting with feet support were attenuated in the leg muscles (tibialis anterior, soleus, rectus femoris, and biceps femoris) but not in trunk muscles (erector spinae, rectus abdominis) when compared with standing. In the sitting task, series with and without feet support showed no difference in APAs. Anterior or posterior supports to the lower legs while sitting were associated with enhanced anticipatory activity in biceps femoris and rectus femoris muscles, respectively. However, trunk muscles showed similar anticipatory patterns across all the support conditions. We conclude that the central nervous system uses flexible, adaptive control strategies to adjust APAs to particular mechanical conditions induced by modification of a leg support.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Calculation of the radii of curvature of the crystalline lens surfaces.

A new computing scheme was developed for calculating the radius of curvature of the anterior and posterior surfaces of the crystalline lens from the measured heights of the Purkinje images. The scheme can be applied to objects at any distance from the corneal vertex, for both a stationary object mounted independently of the camera and for a mobile object attached to the camera where the distance of the object to the corneal vertex will change as the camera is refocused from image PI to PIII and PIV. The method can also be used if different objects are employed to form each Purkinje image. The scheme also avoids the need to collimate objects in order to employ the equivalent mirror theorem or to calibrate phakometers with known spherical surfaces where exact relationships are unknown.

Lens, Crystalline↗
PubMed1982

Attachment to a special object at the age of three years: behavior and temperament characteristics.

This study attempts to estimate the prevalence rate of attachment to a special object in a total population sample of three-year-olds drawn from an ongoing epidemiologic survey. The significance of object attachment at age three for the development of behavioral disturbance is assessed through two separate measures. Data from parental reports of temperament characteristics and observational codings of play sessions in the home setting are also presented. While the authors conclude that attachment to a special object is not related to behavioral disturbance, certain temperamental and play behavior characteristics were found to be significant.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Assessment of adult relatedness: a review of empirical findings from object relations and attachment theories.

Assessment techniques designed to measure adult behavior and mental representation that emphasize relatedness constructs are reviewed. These measures grow out of two traditions, object relations and attachment theories. Although these two paradigms are fairly well elucidated theoretically, the relevant assessment literature is only more recently expanding, especially that focusing directly on adult attachment as opposed to childhood attachment. In addition to a presentation of various projective and objective measures, this review highlights the clinical and research implications for integration of these two paradigms around the cognitive, affective, and behavioral vicissitudes of adult relatedness.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Multiple representations contribute to body knowledge processing. Evidence from a case of autotopagnosia.

Body schema disturbances were studied in a 62-yr-old woman with Alzheimer's disease. She was severely impaired in verbal and nonverbal tasks requiring her to localize body parts (on her own body, the examiner's body or a doll's body) even though she correctly named the same parts when pointed at by the examiner. Pointing responses were misdirected mainly to parts contiguous with the target area and, to a lesser extent, to functionally equivalent body parts. We also found that the patient was able to define body part names functionally but not spatially. In another series of tasks, and in contrast to the above results, performances were normal when small objects, attached to the patient's body, served as pointing targets. Furthermore, on subsequent testing she pointed correctly at the remembered position of these objects. The fact that the same point in 'body space' is localized correctly when it corresponds to an external object and erroneously when it corresponds to a body part contradicts the idea of the body schema as a unitary function. Learning the position of objects on the body surface requires access to some form of body-reference system on which this information can be mapped. We argue that such a system can be available in autotopagnosia and is independent from the visuospatial representations of the body structure that are postulated to be damaged or inaccessible in this syndrome. An integrated account of the present results and of those reported by other authors suggests that multiple levels of representation (e.g., sensorimotor, visuospatial, semantic) are involved in the organization of body knowledge.

Agnosia↗
PubMed2005

The relationship of adult attachment constructs to object relational patterns of representing self and others.

This study examined the relation between attachment constructs assessed by self-report and object relations constructs assessed from narratives. Young adult participants (N = 65; median age 28) completed the Reciprocal Attachment Questionnaire (West, Sheldon, &Reiffer, 1987), provided a set of interpersonal narratives rated using the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS; Westen, Barends, Leigh, Mendel, &Silbert, 1994), and completed other relationship-related measures. Results suggest some conceptual convergence between internal working models and representations of self, others, and relationships; for example, individuals who perceive significant others as offering a secure base for emotional connection tend to have complex, well-differentiated representations of self and others. In addition, multiple dimensions of object relationships were found to be significantly associated with participants' relationship status (current involvement in a significant relationship) and their parents' marital status.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

From object relations to attachment theory: a basis for family therapy.

This paper describes the essence of object relations theory as developed by Winnicott through his concepts of transtional object, the good enough mother holding a situation for her child and play both solitary and mutual. These concepts are compared and contrasted with the essential features of attachment theory as put forward by Bowlby. It is suggested that Winnicotts object relations concepts and attachment theory each provide a framework to explain similar psychological and interpersonal phenomena. Reasons are put forward for the choice of attachment theory as a basis for family therapy and to suggest hypotheses to investigate the quality and quantity of intrafamilial social interaction and concomitant emotional states. The family in family therapy is described in terms of the interpersonal dynamic suggested by attachment theory. The family is seen as a homoeostatic system of relationships between individuals at different stages of development who share set goals aimed at terminating a specific form of proximity-seeking attachment behaviour and promoting exploratory behaviour.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2002

Attachment and social preferences in cooperatively-reared cotton-top tamarins.

In many primate species a close attachment between mother and infant provides a secure base for the infant when the infant is frightened or under stress. In cooperatively breeding primates infant carrying is divided among several individuals in the group, with the mother often doing little more than nursing. In these species it is not clear which individual would best serve as a secure base for the infant. We studied eight infant cotton-top tamarins from birth through 20 weeks of age, noting who carried the infant during the first 100 days, who transferred food with the infants, and, as infants became independent, with whom they associated during social play and affiliative behavior. From week 9 to week 20, when infants were independent of carriers most of the time, we presented families with six trials (once every 2 weeks) with a threatening stimulus (a human dressed in a lab coat and wearing an animal mask). Infants played primarily with their twin or youngest sibling and had affiliative interactions with many family members. However, in fearful situations, infants ran to those who had carried them and transferred food with them the most-their father or oldest brother (never to the mother). Although adults increased rates of mobbing calls in response to the threat, infants significantly reduced their vocalization rate. For these cooperatively breeding monkeys, the attachment object for infants is the family member that invested the most effort in carrying the infant and transferring food with the infant. These results parallel and extend results from bi-parental infant care species in which the father serves as the primary attachment figure.

Aggression↗
PubMed1991

Microtubule depolymerization promotes particle and chromosome movement in vitro.

We have developed a system for studying the motions of cellular objects attached to depolymerizing microtubules in vitro. Radial arrays of microtubules were grown from lysed and extracted Tetrahymena cells attached to a glass coverslip that formed the top of a light microscope perfusion chamber. A preparation of chromosomes, which also contained vesicles, was then perfused into the chamber and allowed to bind to the microtubule array. The concentration of tubulin was then reduced by perfusing buffer that lacked both tubulin and nucleotide triphosphates, and the resulting microtubule depolymerization was observed by light microscopy. A fraction of the bound objects detached in the flow and washed away, while others stabilized the microtubules to which they were bound. Some of the particles and chromosomes, however, moved in toward the Tetrahymena ghost as their associated microtubules shortened. The mean speeds for particles and chromosomes were 26 +/- 20 and 15 +/- 12 microns/min, respectively. These motions occurred when nucleotide triphosphate levels were very low, as a result of either dilution or by the action of apyrase. Furthermore, the motions were unaffected by 100 microM sodium orthovanadate, suggesting that these forces are not the result of ATP hydrolysis by a minus end-directed mechanoenzyme. We conclude that microtubule depolymerization provided the free energy for the motions observed. All the objects that we studied in detail moved against a stream of buffer flowing at approximately 100 microns/s, so that the force being developed was at least 10(-7) dynes. This force is large enough to contribute to some forms of motility in living cells.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗