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Results for “Object Attachment”

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PubMedDate not supplied

["Men only make dirt!"--A study of single mothers in a mother-child program].

This paper deals with social case work of single-parent mothers participating in a 'mother and child' programme in Ulm. The social workers realized that these mothers frequently leave the childrens' fathers immediately after the birth of the baby or soon after. The relationships of the mothers with their partners and their families of origin were studied by questionnaires. The authors find that those women who broke the relationships to the childrens' fathers judge their families of origin as significantly more dysfunctional as those mothers who have been relating to their partners. It is assumed that the single parent mothers suffer from insufficient internalizations with their own fathers in regard to attachment behaviour. Tragically these women repeat the instability of their parents' marriages in their own partnerships.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Binding-in: still a relevant concept?

Development of the maternal-fetal relationship was described by Rubin as an intimate "binding-in process." Recent technological advances enabled health care providers to observe, study, diagnose, and treat unborn children and led some to reconsider the relevance of the binding-in concept. Research has focused on prenatal attachment or bonding, maternal characteristics that influence prenatal attachment/bonding, and interventions to promote it. Before binding-in is dismissed as irrelevant, assessment of the prenatal attachment research, consideration of the impact of these ideas on pregnant women and their families, and the implications for maternity nurses must be examined.

Female↗

PubMed1990

Infants of adolescent and adult mothers: two indices of socioemotional development.

This study compared infant-mother attachment and mastery motivation in one-year-old babies born to adolescent and adult mothers. In the laboratory, the infants' mastery motivation was assessed in an experimenter-administered structured toy play session and infant-mother attachment was classified on the basis of the strange situation procedure. The results indicated that there were more, although not significantly so, securely attached infants among those born to adult than to adolescent mothers (70% as compared to 53%). The relatively low number of securely attached infants in the adolescent mother group may reflect the fact that in many cases the mothers were not the primary caretakers. Among the adolescents, the majority were living with their family of origin. Nevertheless, their infants' motivation to master the environment, assessed independently, compared favorably with that of the adult mother group. Infants of adolescent mothers were significantly more persistent than were those born to adult mothers, although they were affectively less positive during the toy play. It is suggested that the socioemotional development of infants born to adolescent mothers may be buffered by a network containing multiple caretakers. Finally, the relationship between attachment and mastery motivation was examined. The results showed that infants with an avoidant or secure attachment relationship were more persistent as well as competent than were ambivalent infants during free play.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The development of attachment behaviors in pregnant adolescents.

The development of attachment behaviors over time in a group of pregnant adolescents, ages 12 to 19, was investigated with Rubin's theoretical framework. Seventy-nine low-income pregnant adolescents enrolled in the study in their first trimester. Follow-up data were collected in the second and third trimesters (n = 64 and 54, respectively) and after delivery (n = 47). Multivariate analysis, using profile analysis, indicated that maternal attachment in adolescents begins in pregnancy and increases over time, especially after quickening. Age-related differences were noted in the development of maternal-fetal attachment behaviors related to giving of self. Results showed a positive relationship between attachment in the third trimester and demonstration of affectionate behaviors toward the infant after birth. These findings are consistent with the theoretical framework.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

Intergenerational aspects of the development of aggression: a preliminary report.

Across studies in a variety of environmental settings, secure attachment relationships early in life are associated with a lower rate of abnormally aggressive patterns of behavior later in childhood. The quality of an attachment relationship can be predicted by a recently developed measure of parents' mental representations of their own early childhood relationships, the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). AAI classifications of single parents of abnormally aggressive preschoolers (n = 10) from two low income day care centers were compared with those of single parents of age-, race-, sex-, and center-matched controls (n = 10). All abnormally aggressive children had parents classified as insecure on the AAI; parents of all but one of the nonaggressive controls were classified as secure (p < .001). The AAI may be a useful intergenerational predictor of antisocial and resilient outcomes among children for whom a single caregiver is the only resource for longstanding attachment relationships. Efforts to enhance the constellation of children's early attachment relationships may serve to prevent antisocial outcome.

Adult↗

PubMed1988

The relationship between social support, self-esteem, and maternal-fetal attachment in adolescents.

Limited information is available about factors related to prenatal attachment in adolescents. In this study, relationships among self-esteem, social support, and maternal-fetal attachment were examined. A culturally diverse sample of 90 adolescents between 14 and 19 years of age was recruited from two of the three licensed residential maternity homes in Los Angeles County. The four research instruments administered included: a background questionnaire, Coopersmith's Self-Esteem Inventory, Norbeck's Social Support Questionnaire, and Cranley's Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale. Although nonsignificant correlations were found between total maternal-fetal attachment scores and measures of self-esteem and social support, four key variables were identified through regression analyses. These significant predictors of prenatal attachment were total functional support, total size of network, planning of pregnancy, and intent to keep the infant. Implications for clinical practice are discussed related to these findings.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Young people's romantic attachment styles and their associations with well-being.

This research, based on attachment theory, examined the relationships between romantic attachment styles, romantic attitudes and well-being among 461 tertiary students, aged 17-21 years. Those with secure romantic attachment styles were less stressed, less lonely and more satisfied academically than those with clingy or casual/fickle styles, independent of current relationship status.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1987

Sex differences in sexuality among medical students: effects of increasing socioeconomic status.

Research has consistently shown that, compared to men, women are more cautious and selective and maintain greater marital aspirations in entering and maintaining sexual relationships. One explanation of this sex difference is that women have traditionally had inferior access to earning power and social status and consequently were forced to acquire socioeconomic status (SES) through their choice of marriage partners. A contrasting view is that this difference is a component of the basic sex difference identified in the Kinsey studies: Men are more likely than women to dissociate coitus from emotional attachment and to desire and seek coitus with a variety of partners. These two explanations were explored in open-ended interviews with matched samples of 20 male and 20 female medical students. The results were more consistent with the perspective of basic sex differences than with the differential resources explanation. Increasing female SES does not appear to eliminate or even substantially reduce this sex difference. Increasing SES tends to enlarge the pool of acceptable, available sexual and marital partners for men while it tends to reduce the pool for women. Increasing SES thus tends to have different effects on men and women and may cause sex differences in the tendency to associate coitus with emotional attachments and marital aspirations to be more, rather than less, apparent. Extensive case data with verbatim quotations are presented to reveal the emotions and desires underlying subjects' overt behavior.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Social and family correlates of eating problems and muscle preoccupation in young adolescents.

This study examined the unique contribution of a number of social and familial factors to body change strategies and eating problems in youths. A sample of non-clinical adolescents aged 10 to 16 years (N=405) completed a modified version of the Children's Eating Attitudes Test (ChEAT) and questionnaires for measuring various social and familial factors that may play a role in the etiology of eating problems and muscle preoccupation. Regression analyses indicated that specific eating disorder-related factors (such as the encouragement of peers and parents to lose weight or to become more muscular) and more general factors (such as negative parental rearing behaviors and insecure attachment) made independent contributions to problem eating and muscle preoccupation in youths.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Determinants of bold signal correlates of processing object-extracted relative clauses.

Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to investigate the determinants of blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal correlates of processing relative clauses. Matched pairs of sentences that differed in their processing demands were compared. One member of the pair consisted of a syntactically simpler object-subject (OS) sentence, containing a subject-relativized clause attached to the object noun phrase. The second member of the pair consisted of a syntactically more complex subject-object (SO) sentence, containing an object-relativized clause attached to the subject noun phrase. Participants made plausibility judgments about the sentences in whole sentence visual presentation. Voxel-wise statistical activation maps showed increased BOLD signal in multiple cortical regions for complex compared to simple syntactic structures. This pattern was found for plausible sentences only and, within the set of plausible sentences, for SO sentences in which the head noun of the relative clause was animate and the subject noun of the relative clause was inanimate. These results require a re-interpretation of previous results with the same materials using positron emission tomography.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

The role of child maltreatment and attachment style in adolescent relationship violence.

Utilizing attachment theory as a basis for conceptualizing close relationships among adolescents, this study investigated two important relationship risk factors (child maltreatment, and adolescent self-perceived insecure attachment style) as predictors of "offender" and "victim" experiences in youth relationships. In addition to considering the influence of these risk factors, we further considered their interaction in predicting conflict in close relationships. Of interest was the extent to which attachment styles may function as a moderator of the relationship between childhood abuse and current abuse in teen close relationships. High school students (N = 321) in grades 9 and 10 completed questionnaires tapping their histories of maltreatment, currently viewed styles of attachment, and conflict in close relationships over the past 6 months. Maltreatment alone emerged as the most consistent predictor, accounting for 13-18% of the variance in male's physically, sexually, and verbally abusive behaviors; in contrast, it was not highly predictive of female's abusive behaviors. Maltreatment was predictive of victimization experiences for both males and females. Attachment style did not substantially add to the prediction of relationship conflict beyond maltreatment; however, avoidant attachment style emerged repeatedly as a significant predictor of female abusiveness and victimization. Attachment self-ratings were found to function as a moderator of child maltreatment in predicting primarily male coercive behavior towards a relationship partner as well as predicting male's experience of coercion from a partner. Thus, the presence of childhood maltreatment and adolescent self-perceived insecure attachment style applies predominantly to male youth. The implication of these gender differences for understanding relationship violence is discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1996

Adult attachment security and symptoms of depression: the mediating roles of dysfunctional attitudes and low self-esteem.

Three studies investigated the relation between adult attachment security and symptoms of depression. Study l examined the overall magnitude of the association between adult attachment and depression, and Studies 2 and 3 tested whether this relation was mediated by dysfunctional attitudes and low self-esteem. Results from the three studies were consistent with a mediation model. This model suggests that insecure adult attachment styles are associated with dysfunctional attitudes, which in turn predispose to lower levels of self-esteem. Such depletions in self-esteem are directly associated with increases in depressive symptoms over time. Insecure attachment appears to lead to depressive symptoms in adulthood through its impact on self-worth contingencies and self-esteem.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Adult attachment and the suppression of unwanted thoughts.

Dismissing-avoidant adults are characterized by expressing relatively low levels of attachment-related distress. However, it is unclear whether this reflects a relative absence of covert distress or an attempt to conceal covert distress. Two experiments were conducted to distinguish between these competing explanations. In Experiment 1, participants were instructed to suppression resulted in a decrease in the accessibility of abandonment-related thoughts for dismissing-avoidant adults. Experiment 2 demonstrated that attempts to suppress the attachment system resulted in decreases in physiological arousal for dismissing-avoidant adults. These experiments indicate that dismissing-avoidant adults are capable of suppressing the latent activation of their attachment system and are not simply concealing latent distress. The discussion focuses on development, cognitive, and social factors that may promote detachment.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Attachment styles, emotion regulation, and adjustment in adolescence.

Attachment style differences in psychological symptomatology, self-concept, and risky or problem behaviors were examined in a community sample (N = 1,989) of Black and White adolescents, 13 to 19 years old. Overall, secure adolescents were the best-adjusted group, though not necessarily the least likely to engage in risky behaviors. Anxious adolescents were the worst-adjusted group, reporting the poorest self-concepts and the highest levels of symptomatology and risk behaviors. In contrast, avoidant adolescents reported generally high levels of symptomatology and poor self-concepts but similar levels of risk behaviors to those found among secures. Mediation analyses suggested that the observed differences in problem behaviors were at least partially accounted for by the differential experience of distress symptoms (primarily hostility and depression) and by social competence. Finally, patterns of attachment effects were similar across age, gender, and racial groups, with some important exceptions.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2006

Attachment as moderator of treatment outcome in major depression: a randomized control trial of interpersonal psychotherapy versus cognitive behavior therapy.

Anxiety and avoidance dimensions of adult attachment insecurity were tested as moderators of treatment outcome for interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) and cognitive- behavioral therapy (CBT). Fifty-six participants with major depression were randomly assigned to these treatment conditions. Beck Depression Inventory--II, Six-Item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression scores, and remission status served as outcome measures. Patients higher on attachment avoidance showed significantly greater reduction in depression severity and greater likelihood of symptom remission with CBT as compared with IPT, even after controlling for obsessive-compulsive and avoidant personality disorder symptoms. Results were replicated across treatment completers and intent-to-treat samples. These results suggest that it is important to consider the interaction between attachment insecurity and treatment type when comparing efficacy of treatments.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Attachment, self-concept, and academic motivation in high-school students.

The contributions of parent and teacher attachment and self-concept to academic motivation were examined in a sample of 150 high-school students in the 11th and 12th grades. Findings indicated that parent attachment and attachment to a teacher were individually and collectively related to academic motivation, and that academic self-concept was a significant predictor of academic motivation.

Achievement↗

PubMed1990

Early patterns of maternal attachment.

The relationship between maternal-fetal attachment and maternal-child interaction was examined. The Maternal Fetal Attachment Scale (Cranley, 1981) was administered to 32 women between their 35th and 40th weeks of pregnancy. These mothers were observed again while they fed their infants once on the second and once on the third postpartum days. Their interactive behaviors were then rated on the Nursing Child Assessment Feeding Scale (University of Washington) and the Funke Mother-Infant Interaction Assessment. The findings indicated a positive and significant relationship between maternal fetal attachment behaviors and mother-infant interaction. Qualitative data collected during the research process gave meaning and interpretation to observed behaviors. Implications for nursing practice are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

A vicious circle: transgenerational attachment representations in a case of factitious illness by proxy.

Attachment theory offers a robust way to investigate transgenerational child maltreatment; first because there is a coherent theoretical hypothesis of how this might be mediated by the development of insecure working models of relationships, and second, because there is existing evidence from prospective studies that transgenerational attachment patterns can be predicted. Specifically, attachment theory may be particularly useful in cases of Fictitious Illness by Proxy (FIP), where the maltreating behavior is characterized bv disordered illness behavior and care-eliciting. We present a case history, using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), which examines attachment and child maltreatment in three generations. A single case history allows for hypothesis generation about the genesis of FIP behavior.

Child Abuse↗