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PubMed2004

Deficit in attachment behavior in mice lacking the mu-opioid receptor gene.

Endogenous opioid binding to micro receptors is hypothesized to mediate natural rewards and has been proposed to be the basis of infant attachment behavior. Here, we report that micro-opioid receptor knockout mouse pups emit fewer ultrasonic vocalizations when removed from their mothers but not when exposed to cold or male mice odors. Moreover these knockout pups do not show a preference toward their mothers' cues and do not show ultrasonic calls potentiation after brief maternal exposure. Results from this study may indicate a molecular mechanism for diseases characterized by deficits in attachment behavior, such as autism or reactive attachment disorder.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Misdirected attachment behaviour--an unusual outcome of repeated hospitalization?

This paper describes an infant with multiple congenital anomalies who developed an unusual reaction to recurrent hospitalization before age two. After spending much of her first year in hospital, she protested strongly whenever she left the hospital. We report the evolution and treatment of this patient's misdirected attachment behaviour.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Measuring adult attachment: are self-report instruments congruent?

To assess the association between several recently generated measures of adult attachment, a sample of 160 college students were administered the following 6 scales: Hazan-Shaver attachment self-report (Hazan & Shaver, 1987), Attachment Style Measure (Simpson, 1990), Adult Attachment Scale (Collins & Read, 1990), Attachment Style Inventory (Sperling & Berman, 1991), Reciprocal Attachment Questionnaire (West, Sheldon, & Reiffer, 1987), and Anxious Romantic Attachment Scale (Hindy, Schwarz, & Brodsky, 1989). Findings indicated that scale and subscale reliability and intercorrelations generally show sufficient evidence of expected consistencies. There is also indication for a primary distinction between the omnibus spheres of positive-affiliative attachment versus negative-conflictual attachment, with secondary distinctions among the attachment styles within each sphere. Notwithstanding the overall consistencies, suggestions are offered for context-specific utilization of each of the measures reviewed.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Pathways to anaclitic and introjective depression.

Depression may be conceptualized multidimensionally, owing to marked individual differences in developmental vulnerability and phenomenology. Blatt (Blatt, Quinlan, Chevran, McDonald, Zuroff, 1982; Blatt, Quinlan, Pilkonis, & Shea, 1995) has validated two subtypes of depression. Anaclitic depression involves excessive interpersonal concerns, including feelings of loneliness, weakness, helplessness and abandonment fears. Introjective depression denotes achievement concerns, and is characterized by a tendency towards self-criticism and self-evaluation. Present research examined this distinction by identifying possible differential attachment patterns for the depression subtypes. It was hypothesized that, while secure attachment would negatively relate to depression, insecure attachment would predict anaclitic and introjective subtypes, with perfectionism mediating this relationship. A sample of 245 participants completed the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Multidimensional Perfectionism Questionnaire, and two measures of attachment. Regressional techniques revealed that anaclitic depression was predicted by preoccupied attachment (seeking others' acceptance to bolster low self-worth), with socially prescribed perfectionism (striving to meet the high standards of others) partially mediating the relationship. Introjective depression was predicted by fearful-avoidant attachment (low self-worth and expectations of rejection), with self-oriented perfectionism (self-imposed unrealistic standards) acting as a partial mediator. Findings further validate these depressive subtypes by indicating their different attachment-perfectionism paths. Results are concordant with attachment theory and have implications for both theory and therapy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Attachment, parental bonding and borderline personality disorder features in young adults.

The relations between parental bonding and attachment constructs and borderline personality disorder features were examined in a sample of 393 18-year-old participants. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that parental bonding and attachment scores (especially insecure attachment, anxious or ambivalent attachment, and a perception of a relative lack of caring from one's mother) were uniquely associated with borderline features beyond what could be accounted for by gender, childhood adversity experiences, Axis I disorder, and nonborderline Axis II symptoms. Although relatively modest, these relations suggest that bonding and attachment constructs might be considered in comprehensive etiological models of borderline personality disorder.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Attachment at school age and academic performance.

The association between attachment and school-related cognitive functioning was longitudinally examined for a French Canadian sample of 108 school-age children. The affective quality of mother-child interaction patterns, child cognitive engagement, and quality of child attachment to mother were evaluated during a laboratory visit that included a separation-reunion procedure occurring when the children were approximately 6 years of age. Children's mastery motivation and academic performance were assessed 2 years later (at age 8). Analyses indicated that secure children had higher scores than their insecure peers on communication, cognitive engagement, and mastery motivation. Controlling children were at greatest risk for school underachievement, with the poorest performance on all measures except mastery motivation. Avoidant and ambivalent children were lowest on mastery motivation. Results of mediational analyses support the salience of mother-child interactional processes and child cognitive engagement at school age in explaining relations between attachment and cognitive functioning in school.

Child↗
PubMed2004

Maternal-fetal attachment: searching for a new definition.

Maternal-fetal attachment is the purest source of the powerful attachment relationship, the gradual internalisation of the life within unspoilt by the realities and complexities of early parenting. This qualitative study searches for a definition of attachment utilising a phenomenological framework. An opportunity sample of 10 women in the final trimester of pregnancy was interviewed. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using Glaser & Strauss's (1967) constant comparative methodology. Thirteen key themes were identified, of these 4 were specific to parenting experience. A novel finding contrary to earlier studies was that women reported their overwhelming emotion was not love but an innate desire to protect. Protection, the developmental nature of attachment and importance of the emotional and physical support of a partner or parent form the kernel of an evolving paradigm.

Empathy↗
PubMed1991

Relations between attachment, gender, and behavior with peers in preschool.

40 4-year-old children and their mothers participated in a study investigating concurrent links between attachment and peer interactions. Security of attachment was assessed in the laboratory from reunion episodes following a 10-min separation. Focal child observations were carried out during indoor free play in preschool. Relations between insecure attachment and peer interactions were different for boys and girls. Insecure boys showed more aggressive, disruptive, assertive, controlling, and attention-seeking behavior than secure children. Insecure girls showed more dependent behavior than secure children but less assertive and controlling behavior, and more positive expressive behavior and compliance. Secure girls and secure boys did not differ significantly. Gender differences in social behavior may be accounted for by a subgroup of children, those classified as insecure, and the same attachment classification may lead to different predictions depending on whether the child is a boy or a girl.

Aggression↗
PubMed1985

Attachment theory.

Maternal-infant attachment theory is another example of a theory borrowed from one discipline and adapted to another. Ethological observations of species-specific behavior exhibited by animals at the time of birth generated the hypothesis that perhaps humans also had species-specific behaviors which could have lasting effects on the relationship between mother and baby. While one cannot generalize the attachment theory, it has opened the way for a more humanistic approach to birthing.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Perceptions of emotional support from mother and friend in middle childhood: links with social-emotional adaptation and preschool attachment security.

Children's (N = 58) perceptions of emotional support from mother and best friend were assessed at age 8. Perceptions of support from mother were predicted by attachment security at age 4, suggesting continuity in the children's internal working model of self in relation to mother. Preschool attachment security predicted age 8 perceptions of maternal support better than the mother's actual behavior at age 8. Identification of the best friend as a member of one's emotional support network was not related to security, but was positively related to social competence. However, among insecurely attached children, the greater the reliance on the best friend for emotional support, the greater the externalizing problems. Compensatory effects of best friend support on the social-emotional adaptation of insecurely attached children were not found.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

Attachment and adolescent psychosocial functioning.

To explore the meaning and function of attachment organization during adolescence, its relation to multiple domains of psychosocial functioning was examined in a sample of 131 moderately at-risk adolescents. Attachment organization was assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview; multiple measures of functioning were obtained from parents, adolescents, and their peers. Security displayed in adolescents' organization of discourse about attachment experiences was related to competence with peers (as reported by peers), lower levels of internalizing behaviors (as reported by adolescents), and lower levels of deviant behavior (as reported by peers and by mothers). Preoccupation with attachment experiences, seen in angry or diffuse and unfocused discussion of attachment experiences, was linked to higher levels of both internalizing and deviant behaviors. These relations generally remained even when other attachment-related constructs that had been previously related to adolescent functioning were covaried in analysis. Results are interpreted as suggesting an important role for attachment organization in a wide array of aspects of adolescent psychosocial development.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Instrumental and social/relational correlates of perceived maternal and paternal attachment in adolescence.

This study investigated the relationship of the affective and fostering of autonomy components of maternal and paternal attachment with indices of instrumental and social/relational competence among 172 10th and 12th grade male (75) and female (97) students. Sons and daughters rated fathers higher than mothers on fostering of autonomy. Consistent with traditional gender-role socialization, boys rated themselves higher than girls on several indices of instrumental competence, and girls rated themselves higher, in comparison with boys, on several indices of social/relational competence. Overall, the affective and fostering of autonomy dimensions of maternal and paternal attachment were associated with a range of instrumental and social/relational competencies. Parental attachments were associated with adolescent competencies in ways that are consistent with and that challenge traditional gender-role socialization.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Adult attachment security and college student substance use.

Previous research has demonstrated strong links between quality of adult attachment styles and various forms of psychological distress. A burgeoning literature further points to a relationship between insecure attachment and drug use, particularly alcohol consumption. In the present study, we expanded upon the existing literature by examining the relationship between adult attachment style and use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana in a sample of 212 college students. Moreover, based on our previous work [Hankin, B.L., Kassel, J.D., and Abela, J.R.Z. (2005). Adult attachment dimensions and specificity of emotional distress symptoms: prospective investigations of cognitive risk and interpersonal stress generation as mediating mechanisms. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 136-151.], we proposed a conceptual model positing that adult attachment style influences both frequency of drug use and stress-motivated drug use through its impact on dysfunctional attitudes and self-esteem. Initial correlational analyses indicated significant (positive) associations between anxious attachment (tapping neediness and fear of abandonment) and both drug use frequency and stress-motivated drug use. Simultaneous regression analyses revealed that, for drug use frequency, the influence of anxious attachment operated primarily through its effect on dysfunctional attitudes and self-esteem. Regarding drug use attributable to negative affect reduction, anxious attachment demonstrated direct, independent effects on both cigarette smoking and alcohol use. These findings highlight the potential importance of adult attachment styles as a risk factor for drug use among college students.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Attachment characteristics and behavioural problems in rural and urban juvenile delinquents.

Self-reported attachment characteristics, substance use and behavioural problems were assessed in 68 male juvenile delinquents from rural and urban areas. As was predicted, insecure attachment characteristics were related to behavioural problems, substance use, and poor family functioning. Urban delinquents reported more substance use and more interpersonal problems with peers and family members than their rural counterparts. Contextual influences on adolescent attachment relationships and adjustment problems may have implications for the administration and delivery of psychological treatments in youth correctional settings.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Attachment theory as a framework for understanding sequelae of severe adolescent psychopathology: an 11-year follow-up study.

This study examined long-term sequelae of severe adolescent psychopathology from the perspective of adult attachment theory. The study compared 66 upper-middle-class adolescents who were psychiatrically hospitalized at age 14 for problems other than thought or organic disorders, to 76 sociodemographically similar high school students. When reinterviewed at age 25, virtually all of the previously hospitalized adolescents displayed insecure attachment organizations, in contrast to a more typical mixture of security and insecurity in the former high school sample. Lack of resolution of previous trauma with attachment figures accounted for much of this insecurity. Insecurity in adult attachment organization at age 25 was also linked to self-reported criminal behavior and use of hard drugs in young adulthood. These findings are discussed as reflecting a substantial and enduring connection between attachment organization and severe adolescent psychopathology and a possible role of attachment organization in mediating some of the long-term sequelae of such psychopathology.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Within-person variation in security of attachment: a self-determination theory perspective on attachment, need fulfillment, and well-being.

Attachment research has traditionally focused on individual differences in global patterns of attachment to important others. The current research instead focuses primarily on within-person variability in attachments across relational partners. It was predicted that within-person variability would be substantial, even among primary attachment figures of mother, father, romantic partner, and best friend. The prediction was supported in three studies. Furthermore, in line with self-determination theory, multilevel modeling and regression analyses showed that, at the relationship level, individuals' experience of fulfillment of the basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness positively predicted overall attachment security, model of self, and model of other. Relations of both attachment and need satisfaction to well-being were also explored.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2005

Dyadic characteristics of individual attributes: attachment, neuroticism, and their relation to marital quality and closeness.

The present article focuses on couple types based on 2 personality traits, attachment security and neuroticism, as they relate to 2 facets of the marital relationship--a global evaluation of relationship quality and dyadic closeness-distance. The sample consisted of 248 married couples who completed measures of attachment anxiety and avoidance, neuroticism, and marital quality, as well as levels of closeness reported over 7 consecutive days. Cluster analyses yielded 3 types of dyadic attachment configurations (secure, fearful avoidant, and insecure-mixed) and 4 types of dyadic neuroticism (low couple neuroticism, high couple neuroticism, wife neuroticism, and husband neuroticism). Significant differences were found among attachment and neuroticism dyadic types in marital quality. The findings are discussed in terms of the viability of dyadic types based on individual traits, implying that attachment security yields itself to dyadic conceptualization more than neuroticism.

Adult↗