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PubMed1989

Affect attunement, attachment, temperament, and zygosity: a twin study.

A twin study examines the relationship of affect attunement to four factors of development: zygosity, temperament, attachment, and twin preference. Affect attunement occurs when an infant expresses affect and a mother responds cross-modally, matching duration, intensity, and rhythm. A sample of 16, same sex, healthy twins (8 MZ, 8 DZ) and their mothers were recruited at 10 to 12 months of age. Monozygous twins attuned at more similar rates than dizygous twins. There was no relationship between attunement, attachment, and temperament, nor between affect signal rate and attunement. Five of eight mothers expressed a twin preference. Eleven of the 16 infants were classified securely attached. Affect attunement is discussed as a measure of the complementarity between an infant's affect signaling rate and a mother's contingent responsiveness.

Affect↗

PubMed2004

Attachment representation and illness behavior in somatoform disorders.

Somatoform disorders are characterized by high health care utilization and conflictual interactions with health care providers. The aim of the present study was to explore whether patterns of insecure attachment are a prominent feature of somatoform disorder. In addition, the links between insecure attachment and health care utilization were evaluated. Thirty-seven patients with an International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision diagnosis of somatoform disorders and 20 healthy control subjects matched for age, sex, and education were administered the Adult Attachment Interview. Psychological symptoms and health care utilization were assessed using various self-report measures. There was a clearly higher incidence of insecure attachment in the somatoform group compared with the nonclinical control subjects. In the somatoform group, dismissing attachment occurred approximately twice as frequently as the preoccupied pattern of attachment. The results provide evidence for an association between health care utilization and insecure attachment. Insecure attachment in somatoform disorder may underlie problems in interpersonal functioning and in health care behavior.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

Adult attachment styles, the desire to have children, and working models of parenthood.

College students who had yet to marry and begin a family were asked about their desire to have children and their beliefs and expectations about themselves as parents (Study 1) and the characteristics of their prospective children (Study 2). Persons with more avoidant and anxious-ambivalent models of close adult relationships harbored more negative models of parenthood and parent-child relationships. These findings indicate that working models of parenting and parent-child relationships form well before marriage and the birth of children and that these models are systematically associated with attachment styles in adult relationships. The findings also suggest ways in which insecure attachments between child and parent may be influenced by the caregiver's models of parenting and parent-child relationships.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1987

The development of normal fear: a review.

This review synthesizes literature on how human and other mammalian young develop fear. After an early attachment period there is a rise and fall of certain fears in an ontogenetic sequence. Observation and experiment show how experiential, maturational and genetic factors interact in fears of heights, novelty, strangers and separation.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Cross-cultural perspectives: implications for attachment theory and family therapy.

Cross-cultural perspectives have always been useful for understanding behavior. They clarify the distinction between aspects that are essentially part of the human condition and those that are the most responsive to variation. The interesting article by Rothbaum and his colleagues is in that tradition, contrasting the cultural values and family patterns in Japanese society with those of Western cultures, including our own, and suggesting that these differences shape the nature and course of attachment. It stimulates questions about what we have taken for granted in our theories and in our evaluations of dysfunctional behavior.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

The ecology of attachment in the family.

In this article we outline a conceptualization of attachment processes within the family. We argue that the key elements of attachment processes are affect regulation, interpersonal understanding, information processing, and the provision of comfort within intimate relationships. Although these have been described and assessed primarily in terms of individual functioning and development, they are equally applicable in family systems, provided three farther steps are taken. First, the description of attachment processes at the individual level is applied to the family using the concept of shared frames or representations of emotions, cognitions, and behaviors. Second, there is an explicit formulation of the way in which individual and family processes are linked. Third, there is a conceptualization of the nature and quality of the dynamic between attachment and other processes in family life. In this "ecology" of family processes, those that entail heightened affect and a need to create certainty through action, particularly in response to threats to safety, attachment needs, and discipline challenges, are contrasted with exploratory processes characterized by low affect, tolerance of uncertainty, and opportunities to review existing assumptions and knowledge.

Affect↗

PubMed2004

Predictors of attachment styles of children in foster care: an attachment theory model for working with families.

The purpose of this study was to examine the attachment styles of children in foster care and to use this information to inform clinical practice (N = 110). When examining the relationship between attachment style and child characteristics, no significant differences were found. A structural equation model hypothesizing the relation of individual characteristics, losses, and family contact to avoidant attachment was then tested. Results provided tentative support for the hypothesized model. Implications for therapists include being attentive to attachment injuries, and working to create safe therapeutic environments when working with families involved in the foster care system.

Child↗

PubMed1990

The influence of parity on the experience of pregnancy: a comparison of first- and second-time expectant couples.

There is a belief prevalent in Western society that pregnancy is more stressful for first-time expectant couples. Few research studies have addressed this issue and the existing findings, on both men and women, are conflicting. The present investigation found higher psychological symptom levels in both members of second-time expectant couples in the third trimester; however, differences reached statistical significance only for men. Second-time couples tended to have lower emotional attachment to their unborn baby. The results are discussed in terms of the influence of parity on stresses arising both from the pregnancy experience and the environment.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

The correlates of antenatal attachment in pregnant women.

Maternal-foetal attachment represents the earliest and most basic form of human intimacy, and has both theoretical and clinical significance. Utilizing a previously published self-report questionnaire to assess antenatal attachment, the present paper explores its correlates using 238 women in the third trimester of pregnancy. Extrapolating from studies of maternal-infant attachment, it was hypothesized that depression and a lack of social support would be detrimental to the development of maternal antenatal attachment. The findings confirmed these hypothesized effects. In particular, the subgroup of women having low attachment was characterized by high levels of depression and anxiety, low levels of social support (outside the partner relationship) and high levels of control, domination and criticism within the partner relationship. Antenatal attachment may be predictive for future maternal-infant attachment. The findings suggest that negative mood states and lack of social support during pregnancy may warrant greater attention than has previously been accorded them.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

The role of insecure attachment and gender role stress in predicting controlling behaviors in men who batter.

The authors hypothesized that masculine gender role stress would mediate the relationship between insecure attachment and controlling behaviors in a sample of men who batter. To examine this hypothesis,143 men who were court mandated to attend a batterers' intervention program in a northeastern state completed measures including the Controlling Behavior Index, the Gender Role Stress Scale, the Relationship Questionnaire, and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. After controlling statistically for social desirability, results indicated that both fearful attachment and gender role stress significantly predicted controlling behaviors, with gender role stress partially mediating the relationship between fearful attachment and controlling behaviors. The discussion focuses on the importance of understanding partner abuse through a gendered context.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Using relationship styles based on attachment theory to improve understanding of specialty choice in medicine.

BACKGROUND: Patient-provider relationships in primary care are characterized by greater continuity and depth than in non-primary care specialties. We hypothesized that relationship styles of medical students based on attachment theory are associated with specialty choice factors and that such factors will mediate the association between relationship style and ultimately matching in a primary care specialty. METHODS: We determined the relationship styles, demographic characteristics and resident specialty match of 106 fourth-year medical students. We assessed the associations between 1) relationship style and specialty choice factors; 2) specialty choice factors and specialty match, and 3) relationship style and specialty match. We also conducted mediation analyses to determine if factors examined in a specialty choice questionnaire mediate the association between relationship style and ultimately matching in a primary care specialty. RESULTS: Prevalence of attachment styles was similar to that found in the general population and other medical school settings with 59% of students rating themselves as having a secure relationship style. Patient centeredness was directly associated, and career rewards inversely associated with matching in a primary care specialty. Students with a self-reliant relationship style were significantly more likely to match in a non-primary care specialty as compared to students with secure relationship style (OR = 5.3, 95% CI 1.8, 15.6). There was full mediation of the association between relationship style and specialty match by the specialty choice factor characterized by patient centeredness. CONCLUSION: Assessing relationship styles based on attachment theory may be a potentially useful way to improve understanding and counsel medical students about specialty choice.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Seven ways that the concepts of attachment, mentalization and theory of mind transform family treatment.

The concepts of attachment, mentalization, and theory of mind have significant implications for family treatment. The author explores how these concepts are used to enrich and expand the process of family therapy with the premise that attachment provides a significant conceptual base both for understanding family development and for informing therapeutic interventions. A case example illustrates the use of these concepts in family treatment.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Relation of attachment style with marital conflict.

During the last decade attachment theory has been used as a framework for understanding how adult relationships function. Attachment theory should focus exploration of whether attachment history might be related to later marital conflicts. The aim of this paper was to examine the relationship of attachment styles with marital conflicts. Subjects were 20 couples who entered couples therapy for their marital conflict and a sample of 20 university student couples. All answered the Adult Attachment Inventory and the Golombok-Rust Inventory of Marital State. The university couples described themselves as more securely attached to their partners than the married couples. The Anxious and Avoidant styles were associated with greater problems in the marital relationship. Secure, Anxious, and Avoidant attachment styles seemed to be associated with the quality of marital relationships. Couples who exhibited a Secure attachment style tended to be involved in relationships characterized by greater interdependence, trust, commitment, and satisfaction whereas those with insecure styles tended to be characterized by more problems.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Trauma histories and attachment styles of members of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

The study is focused on the training, demographics, perceived emotional and physical health, past traumatic experience histories, and attachment styles of mental health professionals in the field of trauma (members of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies). While the data set is limited by a low response rate of 20%, the uniqueness of the sample and distinctive themes yield insight into the experience of trauma and its association with attachment style.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Predictors of caregiving in adult intimate relationships: an attachment theoretical perspective.

Romantic couples (N = 194) participated in an investigation of caregiving processes in adulthood. In Phase 1, couple members completed questionnaires designed to identify attachment style differences in caregiving behavior and to explore the underlying (personal and relationship) mechanisms that lead people with different attachment styles to be effective or ineffective caregivers. Results revealed that social support knowledge, prosocial orientation. interdependence, trust, and egoistic motivation mediated the link between attachment style and caregiving. In Phase 2, responsive caregiving was assessed behaviorally by exposing one member of the couple to a stressful laboratory situation and experimentally manipulating his or her need for support. Results revealed that attachment style and mediating mechanisms identified in Phase 1 also predicted observable support behavior in a specific episode in which a partner had a clear need for support.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1984

The Pennsylvania Infant and Family Development Project, III: The origins of individual differences in infant-mother attachment: maternal and infant contributions.

In order to test 4 specific hypotheses regarding the interactional histories associated with variation in quality of infant-mother attachment, data gathered during naturalistic home observations at 1, 3, and 9 months on 60 babies seen in the Ainsworth and Wittig strange situation were examined. Planned comparisons revealed, as predicted, that securely attached infants had experienced intermediate levels of reciprocal interaction and maternal stimulation, considered to be reflective of sensitive care, and that resistant babies had experienced less responsive care than securely attached infants. No support was provided for the hypothesis that avoidant babies had experienced less physical contact with mothers than securely attached infants. Insecurely attached infants were observed to cry significantly more than securely attached infants at 3 and 9 months. A cross-lag panel analysis, designed to assess longitudinal processes of influence, revealed that fussiness was caused by mothering and did not serve to influence mothering. These results are discussed in terms of mothers' relatively greater influence in determining individual differences in attachment, with overstimulation leading to avoidance, understimulation leading to resistance, and intermediate levels of stimulation leading to security.

Child Behavior↗

PubMed1993

Rigidity, sensitivity and quality of attachment: the role of maternal rigidity in the early socio-emotional development of premature infants.

The associations between a mother's rigidity, her sensitivity in early (3 month) interaction and the quality of her premature infant's attachment at 13 months were investigated. Rigidity as a personality characteristic was not found to be significantly associated with sensitivity or quality of attachment. Rigid attitudes to child rearing were related to sensitivity and to the responsivity of the infant. Rigid attitudes were not related to security of attachment. Infants who were rated less responsive at 3 months, however, tended to be less securely attached, and high Attitude Rigidity in the mother increased their chances of an insecure attachment.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

Do first-year intervention effects endure? Follow-up during toddlerhood of a sample of Dutch irritable infants.

This study evaluated the enduring effectiveness of a skill-based training program to enhance maternal sensitivity between 6 and 9 months of age. 82 mothers and their toddlers were evaluated at 18 and 24 months, and 79 at 31/2 years on the bases of observations of free play, everyday interaction, problem solving, and peer interaction. Most of the significant behavioral changes noted in the second year pertain to attachment security, indices of maternal sensitivity across situations, and child cooperation. Some enduring effects on indices of sensitivity appear to be attachment-mediated. In the third year, results revealed direct enduring intervention effects on parental responsiveness and child cooperation. Attachment-mediated effects were evident for maternal assistance, child security, and positive peer contact. Attachment pattern also predicted differences in attractiveness of the focal child as an interactive partner.

Child, Preschool↗