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PubMed2002

Subjective physical complaints and hypochondriacal features from an attachment theoretical perspective.

The main goal of the present study was to examine the association between physical complaints, hypochondriacal features and attachment characteristics in a representative German general population sample. A total of 1997 German adults, 883 males and 1114 females, completed the Revised Adult Attachment Scale (RAAS), the short form of the Giessen Subjective Complaints List (GSCL) to investigate gender-related bodily complaints and the Whiteley Index for assessing hypochondriacal concerns. Item response theoretical methods, i.e. mixed Rasch analysis, were used in order to identify the best model for the attachment items. Findings suggested that five latent classes yielded the best model fit. The findings provided evidence that attachment styles displayed different profiles of subjective physical complaints. The highest amount of physical symptoms and hypochondriacal features was identified in anxiously attached individuals with two subsets displaying functionally different subjective symptoms. Secure attachment was, in contrast, not related to a higher amount of specific symptoms. Results are discussed in terms of a developmental approach to symptom experience and somatization.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Treating attachment injured couples with emotionally focused therapy: a case study approach.

This paper compared the attachment injury resolution process in two distressed couples undergoing ten sessions of Emotional Focused Therapy (EFT), a short-term empirically validated treatment for relational distress. An attachment injury is a newly coined clinical construct that denotes a specific type of betrayal within the couple's relationship. The incident is so potent that it calls into question assumptions about the safety of the relationship. The task analytic method was used to examine the pathways of change as related to attachment injury of each couple. Several outcome and process measures were employed in order to differentiate the therapeutic process between the resolved versus non-resolved couple. Results indicated that the couple who resolved their identified attachment injury at the outset of therapy adhered to the attachment injury resolution model, while the non-resolved couple showed marked deviations from the expected pathways of change. Findings suggest that the resolved couple tended to show more differentiation of interactional positions and greater levels of experiencing throughout the therapeutic process in relation to the non-resolved couple. It is recommended that further research is necessary to examine the clinical utility of the attachment injury resolution model in the context of a larger number of case studies.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Self-defeating personality and attachment revisited.

The present study showed for 98 adult men and 104 adult women that those who described their adult romantic attachments as secure were significantly less likely to have characteristics of the self-defeating personality than those who described their adult attachments as avoidant (p < 0.001) or anxious-ambivalent. The present results were consistent with those of two earlier studies with college-age subjects.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Maternal-fetal attachment in relation to self-concept and anxiety.

This study investigates the association that maternal-fetal attachment has with self-concept, state anxiety, and trait anxiety. One hundred third trimester pregnant women attending prenatal classes were studied. Data were collected by using three psychometric instruments: Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale, the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The findings do not show a significant relationship between the overall level of maternal-fetal attachment and self-concept. The findings do show significant inverse correlations between state (temporary) anxiety and the overall Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale. An inverse but non-significant relationship between maternal-fetal attachment and overall scores representing trait (long-term) anxiety was found. The study failed to demonstrate the strong association between anxiety and maternal-fetal attachment described by other theorists. The author speculates that the chosen instrument does not adequately differentiate between the mother's anxieties regarding self and those related to the fetus.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Continuity of individual adaptation from infancy to kindergarten: a predictive study of ego-resiliency and curiosity in preschoolers.

In this longitudinal study, individual differences in security of attachment at 18 months and effective autonomous functioning at age 2 years were related to the dimensions of ego-control and ego-resiliency at age 4--5 years. The kindergarten or nursery school teachers of 26 children completed California Child Q-Sorts. The children were also given a short form of the Block's laboratory battery (Banta's curiosity box, level of aspiration, motor impulse control delay of gratification, the Shure and Spivack Preschool Interpersonal Problem-solving Test, and the Lowenfeld mosaics). Following the Blocks, composited ego-resiliency and ego-control scores were derived from each data set. Children earlier classified as securely attached were, as predicted, significantly higher on ego-resiliency on both laboratory and Q-sort composites. They were also higher than anxiously attached infants on 3 independent measures of curiosity. An independently composited index of competence from 2-year tool-using measures also correlated significantly with later resiliency, as did 2-year measures of mothers' support and quality of assistance. The data provide initial links between the infant's quality of attachment, the toddler's effectiveness in a problem-solving situation, and competence during the preschool years.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Quality of attachment representation, social integration and use of social network resources in advanced age].

This study explores a possible biographical basis of interindividual differences in the extent of social integration and use of network resources in old age. Attachment theory was therefore integrated into a sociogerontological research approach. The attachment representations of 48 elderly people were assessed with the Adult Attachment Interview by Main and Goldwyn (31, 56, 57), whereas the subjects' social network was examined using a network questionnaire by Schütze (72). Results indicate that elderly persons' availability as well as use of social resources were, among other things, related to the biographically based attachment representation, which has been shown to be closely connected to emotional experiences usually made in one's family of origin.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

Correlates of attachment at school age: maternal reported stress, mother-child interaction, and behavior problems.

The contribution of attachment, maternal reported stress, and mother-child interaction to the prediction of teacher-reported behavior problems was examined for a French-Canadian sample of 121 school-age children. Attachment classifications were assigned on the basis of reunion behavior with mother when the children were between 5 and 7 years of age. Maternal reported stress and mother-child interaction patterns were assessed concurrent to the attachment measure, whereas behavior problems were evaluated both at ages 5 to 7 and 7 to 9 years. Security of attachment significantly predicted the likelihood of school-age behavior problems: Controlling/other children were most at risk for both externalizing and internalizing problems across both age periods. Younger ambivalent children presented clinical cut-off levels of externalizing problems, and older avoidant boys had higher internalizing scores. Patterns of maternal-reported stress and mother-child interaction differed across attachment groups and contributed to prediction of school-age behavior problems, partially mediating the relation between attachment and adaptation. Results support the importance of attachment in explaining school-age adaptation and validity of attachment coding for children of this age.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Mechanisms of change in mentalization-based treatment of BPD.

There are very few less contentious issues than the role of attachment in psychotherapy. Concepts such as the therapeutic alliance speak directly to the importance of activating the attachment system, normally in relation to the therapist in individual therapy and in relation to other family members in family-based intervention, if therapeutic progress is to be made. In group therapy the attachment process may be activated by group membership. The past decade of neuroscientific research has helped us to understand some key processes that attachment entails at brain level. The article outlines this progress and links it to recent findings on the relationship between the neural systems underpinning attachment and other processes such as making of social judgments, theory of mind, and access to long-term memory. These findings allow intriguing speculations, which are currently undergoing empirical tests on the neural basis of individual differences in attachment as well as the nature of psychological disturbances associated with profound disturbances of the attachment system. In this article, we explore the crucial paradoxical brain state created by psychotherapy with powerful clinical implications for the maximization of therapeutic benefit from the talking cure.

Borderline Personality Disorder↗
PubMed1995

Infant attachment in a sample adolescent mothers.

Thirty-eight, healthy, full-term, first-born infants of adolescent mothers were assessed in a standardized laboratory setting using a modified Ainsworth Strange Situation procedure for assessing attachment. The security rate within this sample was 23.7% which differed considerably from that reported in most white middle class samples of approximately 55-65%. Within this sample, 31.6% were classified as insecure/disorganized which contrasts with 12% in middle class white samples reported by Main & Weston. A racial difference was evident. Fewer black infants were securely attached than were white. This paper presents the findings according to race, sex and age and discusses the implications.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Adolescents' attachment style and early experiences: a gender difference.

We examined gender differences in perceived rearing and adult attachment style in adolescents. A total of 3,912 senior college students (1,149 men and 2,763 women) ages 18-23 (men's M = 20.1 years, women's M = 20.0 years) were administered a set of questionnaires including Relationship Questionnaire (to measure adult attachment), the Parental Bonding Instrument (perceived rearing), and a list of early life events. In the men, positive adult total attachment style was predicted by the scores of paternal care and low scores on maternal overprotection in a hierarchical regression analysis. On the other hand, in the women, positive adult total attachment style was predicted by the scores of paternal and maternal care, and low score on maternal overprotection. Adult attachment was also predicted by fewer Peer Victimization experience as a child in both men and women. However, while men's adult attachment was predicted by Self Disease experiences, women's adult attachment was predicted by Top Star experiences and fewer Relocation experiences. The adult attachment style was predictable from early experiences but there existed some gender differences.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Evolved mechanisms in adolescent anxiety and depression symptoms: the role of the attachment and social rank systems.

One hundred and forty adolescent students were assessed on measures of attachment, social rank (social comparison and submissive behaviour), and depression and anxiety symptoms. Secure attachment was significantly correlated with positive social comparison and inversely with submissive behaviour, depression and anxiety symptoms. In contrast, insecure attachment of both avoidance and ambivalence was associated with unfavourable comparison with others, and positively correlated with submissive behaviour, depression and anxiety symptoms. Exploring the relationship of attachment with depression and anxiety symptoms revealed that this link might have different routes through social rank perceptions. For secure attachment, social rank concerns (i.e. social comparison and submissive behaviour) did not mediate the linkage with anxiety or depression symptoms. However, for insecure attachment, social rank concerns showed either a partial or complete mediation of these relationships. This data may indicate that insecure attachment sensitizes individuals to become focused on the competitive dynamics of groups, the power of others to shame, hurt or reject, and the need to defend against these possibilities.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Implications of attachment theory for developmental psychopathology.

Bowlby's attachment theory is a theory of psychopathology as well as a theory of normal development. It contains clear and specific propositions regarding the role of early experience in developmental psychopathology, the importance of ongoing context, and the nature of the developmental process underlying pathology. In particular, Bowlby argued that adaptation is always the joint product of developmental history and current circumstances (never either alone). Early experience does not cause later pathology in a linear way; yet, it has special significance due to the complex, systemic, transactional nature of development. Prior history is part of current context, playing a role in selection, engagement, and interpretation of subsequent experience and in the use of available environmental supports. Finally, except in very extreme cases, early anxious attachment is not viewed as psychopathology itself or as a direct cause of psychopathology but as an initiator of pathways probabilistically associated with later pathology.

Humans↗
PubMed2000

Early elementary school-aged child attachment to parents: a test of theory and implications for intervention.

Child attachment to parents has been shown in the literature to reduce the likelihood of problem behaviors through enhancing resiliency. Research examining attachment and its relationship to antisocial behavioral outcomes in adolescents has been shaped largely by social control theorists who have theorized that attachment to prosocial others inhibits the expression of antisocial behavioral outcomes (Hirschi, 1969). This paper seeks to expand the literature by investigating the development of child attachment to parent(s) during the early elementary school years as specified theoretically by the social development model (Catalano & Hawkins, 1996). Using structural equation modeling, the results support the theoretical model as proposed by the social development model. School-aged children's attachment to parents can be successfully predicted by constructs outlined in the social development model. Finally, implications for interventions that enhance child attachment to parent(s) are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1996

Introduction to the special section on attachment and psychopathology: 2. Overview of the field of attachment.

J. Bowlby (1969) proposed that the child's insistence on maintainance of proximity to protective (parental) figures was attributable to the activities of an attachment behavioral system which regulates primate safety and survival. M. D. S. Ainsworth, M. C. Blehar, E. Waters, and S. Wall's (1978) Strange Situation procedure later delineated 3 categories of 1-year-old response to brief laboratory separations from the parent (secure, avoidant, and resistant), each found systematically related to parent-infant interaction, and predictive of favorable versus unfavorable sequelae in middle childhood. Recently, a fourth, disorganized-disoriented infant Strange Situation category has been identified, and infant attachment has been found to predict child narratives. Additionally, an Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and corresponding system of discourse analysis has been devised that assesses variations in the ability to maintain coherent, collaborative discourse while discussing early relationships and their influences. Among parents, differences in patterning of AAI response predict corresponding forms of infant Strange Situation behavior, both concurrently and before the birth of the first child. Parents who are coherent-collaborative in discussing even highly unfavorable histories have infants who are secure. A strong majority of clinically distressed individuals are insecure with respect to attachment, and special vulnerabilities are appearing in disorganized-disoriented children. Relations to behavior genetics, family interaction patterns, psychophysiology, and treatment outcome studies are emerging or are anticipated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Symbolic immortality and the management of the terror of death: the moderating role of attachment style.

Three studies were designed to examine the contribution of R. J. Lifton's (1979) symbolic immortality construct to the management of the terror of death and to investigate whether attachment style may underlie this contribution. Using a sample of 420 Israeli students, Study 1 revealed an inverse correlation between self-reports of symbolic immortality and fear of personal death. This finding was validated in Study 2 (N = 120), which found that high symbolic immortality reduced the effects of a death salience manipulation on the level of punishment given to a social transgressor. Study 3 (N = 270) refined the association between symbolic immortality and fear of death. The inverse correlation found in Study 1 was revealed only among securely attached persons. The discussion emphasizes the interconnectedness between personality, symbolic immortality, and the management of the terror of death.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

Adult attachment styles: their relations to family context and personality.

This study used a sample of 304 adults to examine mean differences in family climate and personality variables on the basis of individuals' attachment styles. Also examined was whether mean differences varied by age group. Findings showed significant main effects of attachment style, but no Attachment Style x Age Group interactions. Compared with adults with an insecure attachment style, persons with a secure attachment style described their family of origin and their current family more positively and scored higher on personality variables indicative of self-confidence, psychological well-being, and functioning in the social world. When the family climate and personality variables were included in a discriminant function analysis, 2 significant functions were obtained. The 1st function discriminated adults with a positive self-model from those with a negative self-model. The 2nd function contrasted participants with a positive other-model from those with a negative other-model. Thus, this study provided evidence in support of the self- and other-models as the fundamental dimensions of adults' attachment system.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Attachment change processes in the early years of marriage.

The authors examined 4 models of attachment change: a contextual model, a social-cognitive model, an individual-difference model, and a diathesis-stress model. Models were examined in a sample of newlyweds over the first 2 years of marriage, using growth curve analyses. Reciprocal processes, whereby attachment representations and interpersonal life circumstances affect one another over time, also were studied. On average, newlyweds became more secure over time. However, there was significant within-subject variability on attachment change that was predicted by intra- and interpersonal factors. Attachment representations changed in response to contextual, social-cognitive, and individual-difference factors. Reciprocal processes between attachment representations and marital variables emerged, suggesting that these factors influence one another in an ongoing way.

Adaptation, Psychological↗