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PubMed2004

Pathways to self-esteem in late adolescence: the role of parent and peer attachment, empathy, and social behaviours.

The goal of this study was to examine both the direct and indirect relations of parent and peer attachment with self-esteem and to examine the potential mediating roles of empathy and social behaviour. 246 college students (M age = 18.6 years, S.D. = 1.61) completed self-report measures of parent and peer attachment, empathy, social behaviour, and self-esteem. Structural equation modelling revealed that parental attachment had mostly direct effects on self-esteem. Among females, the links between peer attachment and self-esteem, however, were entirely mediated by empathy and prosocial behaviour. The findings from this study suggest that although close supportive relationships with parents and peers are related to adolescent self-esteem, these links are complex.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1999

Sympathetic activity in alexithymics with mother's low care.

This study examines the relationships between alexithymic characteristics and their psychological factors (i.e., maternal closeness) and the sympathetic system in a sample of male college students. At the resting period, low frequency (LF)/ high frequency (HF) ratio, as an index of sympathetic activity, was significantly higher for students with high scores on global alexithymia or its alexithymia factor (difficulty describing feelings) than those with low scores, suggesting that alexithymic students tend to indicate high sympathetic activity during the resting period. During stress, the increase of LF/HF ratio was higher for students with low scores on alexithymia than those with high scores. Although no significant differences were noted, one may speculate that the differences in stress-related activation of LF/HF are due to higher levels of LH/HF in high alexithymics prior to stress. Our findings indicate that significant association between alexithymia and sympathetic activity during the resting period was controlled for the level of mother's care, suggesting that maternal attachment in infancy and/or childhood may play an important role in the development of alexithymic characteristics and/or sympathetic activity during the resting period.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2004

Adult attachment and sexual offender status.

This study investigates whether insecure attachment distinguishes sexual from nonsexual offenders and whether insecure attachment is reflected in the choices of victims, modus operandi, and nature of the sexual acts. Incarcerated male sexual and nonsexual offenders were surveyed. Insecure attachment distinguished sexual offenders from nonsexual offenders but was not related to the characteristics of the sexual offenses, with the exception of victim age. The methodological, theoretical, and clinical implications of the findings are discussed, and an alternative line of inquiry is proposed.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Attachment theory and adjustment difficulties in siblings of children with cancer.

The demands of the childhood cancer experience on children and their parents has been investigated for a number of years. Despite this research, very little emphasis has been placed on well siblings. In the health care profession today, there is a growing perception that the psychosocial needs of the healthy siblings of children with cancer are less sufficiently met than those of other members of the family system. Previous research proposes that well siblings are especially susceptible to a number of adjustment difficulties (such as depression, anger, anxiety, feelings of guilt, and social isolation) (Murray, 1999). Given these findings, the question arises as to whether the adjustment difficulties seen in siblings are a result of the loss of, or separation from, the attachment figure--the mother who is busy caring for the child with cancer. The purpose of this article is to use attachment theory as a conceptual framework to try to understand the effects of the childhood cancer experience on siblings. Recent findings regarding siblings of children with cancer and some speculations regarding clinical implications are provided.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2006

Attachment and psychopathology in a community sample.

The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID-I) and the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) were administered to 60 women participating in a study (n=226) of mother-child interaction. These women were not referred to the study for psychiatric care. The 60 women interviewed with the AAI were selected from the first 190 women who completed the SCID-I, so that 30 received a diagnosis and 30 did not. Analyses indicated that psychopathology diagnoses were associated significantly with mental representations of attachment classified in the AAI. The non-autonomous groups had increased likelihood of SCID diagnosis, compared to the autonomous group. While 32% of women with autonomous AAI transcripts received SCID diagnoses, 63% of women with Dismissing, 100% of woman with Preoccupied, and 65% of women with Unresolved transcripts received diagnoses. Secondary analyses indicated that Dismissing classifications were associated with Axis I diagnoses and Preoccupied classifications with affective disorders. Of note was that among women with Unresolved classifications, underlying secure attachment was associated with low risk of psychopathology, while underlying anxious attachment was associated with elevated risk of diagnosis. These findings support the premise from attachment theory that early relationships affect patterns of interpersonal expectations and behavior and affect regulation.

Adjustment Disorders↗

PubMed1999

The caregiving system in mothers of infants: a comparison of divorcing and married mothers.

This study was designed to investigate (1) the construct validity of a measure of the mother's internal representation of herself as a secure base in samples of married and divorcing mothers and infants, and (2) the relative contribution to infant security of this measure and a second representational measure, termed Psychological Protection, which focused specifically on the mother's responsiveness to the infant in the context of father visitation. There were 144 mothers and their first-born infants, age 12 to 20 months, who participated in the study. Of these, 51 dyads were from intact families; 93 were from families who had never married, had recently separated, or were in the process of divorce. Divorcing families were further divided into those in which the infant was participating in overnight timesharing arrangements with the father (n = 44) and those in which the infant was not (n = 49). Mothers completed questionnaires, they participated with their infants in the Strange Situation, and an hour-long, semi-structured Caregiving Interview was administered to them. Ratings of mothers on the Secure Base and Psychological Protection scales were based on verbatim transcripts of this interview. As predicted, mothers of securely attached infants in all family groups were discriminated from mothers of insecurely attached infants on the basis of Secure Base scores. Within the group of divorcing mothers, Secure Base scores were correlated with a rating of the mother's Psychological Protection of the infant in the context of visitation and both measures made independent contributions to infant attachment security. These findings are interpreted in terms of a more general model of the caregiving system. The manner in which the divorce context can disrupt the mothers' caregiving behavioral strategies and representations is also discussed.

Child Custody↗

PubMed2003

Personality disorders and adult attachment dimensions in a mixed psychiatric sample: a multivariate study.

The associations between personality disorders and adult attachment dimensions were assessed in a sample of 487 consecutively admitted psychiatric subjects. Canonical correlation analysis showed that two sets of moderately correlated canonical variates explained the correlations between personality disorders and adult attachment patterns. The first and second attachment variates closely resembled the avoidance and anxiety attachment dimensions, respectively. The first personality disorder variate was mainly characterized by avoidant, depressive, paranoid, and schizotypal personality disorders, whereas dependent, histrionic, and borderline personality disorders loaded on the second canonical variate. However, these linear combinations of personality disorders were different from those obtained from principal component analysis. The results extend previous studies linking personality disorders and attachment patterns and suggest the importance of focusing on specific constellations of symptoms associated with dimensions of insecurity.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Couple psychotherapy from an attachment theory perspective: a case study approach to challenging the dual nihilism of being an older person and someone with a terminal illness.

This article outlines the basic tenets of attachment theory and its relevance to adult couple psychotherapy. The paper also explores the nihilism around psychic change in older people and people with cancer and explores some possible reasons for this nihilism. A case study of older people, a couple, one of whom has a terminal cancer diagnosis, is presented to demonstrate the usefulness of therapeutic intervention in such cases from an attachment theory perspective. A discussion of the usefulness and difficulties of this approach follows. Other therapeutic models could also be applied usefully to this type of clinical presentation. However, the focus of this paper is the specific elucidation of attachment theory to demonstrate that change can occur regardless of a person's age and physical circumstances. The particular therapeutic approach presented here also represents the specialist interest and training of the writer in regard to couple work.

Aged↗

PubMed1989

Early childhood antecedents of aggression and passive-withdrawal in early elementary school.

Early childhood antecedents of elementary school aggression and passive-withdrawal were evaluated in a large longitudinal study (N = 191). With teacher ratings as outcome measures, a variety of predictor variables were selected from a comprehensive data base. Predictors were selected to represent several major factors: (a) a developmental history of insecure attachment and poor adjustment; (b) inadequate or hostile parental care; and (c) stressful or chaotic life circumstances. Support was found for the prediction of these behavior problems from early childhood measures (up to one third of the variance), with results varying with sex and outcome measure. Results were stronger for boys than girls, and stronger for aggression than for passive-withdrawal. Boys' outcome was strongly related to attachment classification at 18 months. It is suggested that these findings support Bowlby's view that early acquired "working models" of self and other affect later interpersonal functioning.

Aggression↗

PubMed1985

Infants' affective responses in the strange situation: effects of prematurity and of quality of attachment.

20 full-term and 20 preterm infants and their mothers were videotaped in the Strange Situation, and the security of their attachment relationships was later determined. Each episode was subsequently divided into consecutive 15-sec intervals, during each of which ratings of facial expressions were performed. From these ratings several summary dimensions of affect were derived (e.g., affective peak and range during all episodes, latency and rise time for onset of distress during separation episodes, and recovery time during reunions). Term and preterm infants did not differ from one another in either the security of attachment or their affective expression and regulation. When groups were combined, patterns of affective expression were significantly different for infants classified as insecure-avoidant, insecure-ambivalent, and securely attached, as well as for group B1 + B2 infants compared to group B3 + B4 babies. The findings indicated that attachment-related affect may reflect an affect continuum that underlies certain mother- and stranger-directed behaviors in the Strange Situation, but that not all aspects of reunion behavior can be predicted by prior separation reactions.

Affect↗

PubMed1993

[Role of the family in the development of borderline personality disorder].

The role of family in the development of borderline personality disorder is examined with an emphasis on dimensions of family functioning. A synthesis of theoretical concepts implicating such factors, derived mostly from psychoanalysis, is proposed with an emphasis on separation-individuation, early frustrations, regression to recognition memory, oscillations in attachment and social influences. Empirical studies are reviewed. Affective neglect and parental overprotection are often cited, although dysfunctional behaviour control may have a regulatory effect on these factors and a crucial impact on psychic reality of the patient recalling his childhood.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Parenting stress and parental bonding.

Attachment experiences are thought to be important because of their implications for later development. The authors' aim with the questionnaire-based study was to investigate the differences between recalled parental bonding regarding 4 types of maternal and paternal bonding with respect to experienced parenting stress caused by child characteristics, parent attributes, and life events under the consideration of the child's gender and age. The authors gathered parental bonding behavior data with the German version of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI). The authors assessed parenting stress with their German version of the "Parenting Stress Index (PSI)." They found significant differences among 120 mothers grouped in the 4 maternal and the 4 paternal bonding types regarding parenting stress caused by child, maternal bonding: F(5, 113) = 4.13, p = .002, paternal bonding: F(5, 111) = 8.50, p < or = .0001, and parent characteristics, maternal bonding: F(5, 113) = 3.33, p = .008, paternal bonding: F(5, 111) = 7.80, p < or = .0001. The lowest level of parenting stress was experienced by mothers who themselves recalled the "optimal parental bonding type" with respect to the child and parental domain. The authors did not find any significant differences between the 4 maternal, F(5, 113) = 1.25, p = .29, and the 4 paternal, F(5, 111) = 1.87, p = .106, bonding types with respect to the life stress. According to the authors' findings, the representation of attachment relationships seems to have a special impact on the adult's capacity to cope with challenges and stress, either directly or indirectly as an internal working model of attachment. For the clinical practice, these findings seem to recommend the combination of both the PSI and PBI regarding the diagnostic of stressful mother-child system to plan an optimal intervention program.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

The mother-child relationship following in vitro fertilisation (IVF): infant attachment, responsivity, and maternal sensitivity.

Infant attachment and mother-child interaction were evaluated for 65 primiparous women and their singleton infants conceived through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and a control group of 61 women and their infants conceived naturally. The sample was enrolled during pregnancy as part of a longitudinal study. At 12 months postpartum, security of infant attachment was assessed using the Strange Situation procedure, and mother-child interaction was assessed in a free play context using the Emotional Availability Scales. IVF children demonstrated predominantly secure attachment relationships with their mothers (64.6% IVF, 55.9% controls), and there were no significant between-group differences in the proportion of IVF compared to control group children classified in any of the secure or insecure attachment groups. Furthermore, there were no significant group differences on maternal (sensitivity, structuring, hostility) or child (responsivity, involving) dimensions of interaction during play. The majority of IVF mothers (86%) were sensitive and their infants responsive (91%). Contrary to expectation, mother's ratings of greater anticipated infant difficultness assessed during pregnancy and higher ratings of infant temperament and behaviour difficulty assessed at 4 and 12 months postpartum were associated with secure attachment relationships and more optimal mother-child interaction in both the IVF and control groups.

Adult↗

PubMed1988

Attachment, loss and rediscovery.

This paper suggests that separation and loss in early childhood may be less critical to later life than some people believe. Rather, internalization--after as well as before, age five--may be a developmental process to which psychotherapists need to pay particular attention. By attending to our patient's experiences of separation and loss, we allow them a metaphor, a language, with which they can describe the vicissitudes of lasting attachments. Similarly, the separation/individuation process of infancy, popularized by Klein and Mahler, is important, not just because it describes the biosocial fact of preverbal infancy but because it draws our attention to a metaphor that describes the struggle for identity that characterizes young adulthood.

Grief↗

PubMed2005

[The compatibility of housing needs and housing conditions and and its impact on experiencing attachment to a district].

Based on the "complementary-congruence model" of person-environment (p-e) fit, this study focuses on housing in old age as an interaction between housing needs and housing conditions in urban settings. The research aims are: (1) To establish a set of housing-related p-e fit indices based on the relationship between environmental needs and existing conditions in different physical and social domains, and to describe housing among elders aged 51-80 years and in different urban districts with these indices. The study distinguishes between basic, higher-order and social needs relating to housing; (2) To explain outdoor place attachment as an indicator for quality of life in different urban districts with a set of predictors including these person-environment fit indices. Data were drawn from telephone-based interviews with 365 older adults (51-80 years) who were questioned about individual housing needs and housing conditions. Results revealed higher p-e fit scores in the domains of higher-order and social housing needs and conditions in the districts which were considered to be more pleasant but had poor access to the city and to public transportation. In contrast, age was more important in explaining differences in the domain of basic housing needs and conditions with higher p-e fit scores among older participants in all settings. In explaining outdoor place attachment, the fit between basic and social housing needs and conditions was important, but the higher-order fit did not play a role.

Age Distribution↗

PubMed2004

Chondrocytes attach to hyaline or calcified cartilage and bone.

OBJECTIVE: The initial attachment of transplanted chondrocytes to the surface of a cartilage defect is crucial for the success of chondrocyte transplantation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the early interaction of chondrocytes with the deep or calcified zones of cartilage or the subchondral bone, joint surfaces to which transplanted chondrocytes might have to attach in vivo. DESIGN: Freshly isolated (primary) or passaged (P1) chondrocytes were seeded on the top of bone plugs having either a surface composed of mid-deep zone hyaline cartilage or calcified cartilage or bone only. The percent of cells that attached, the role of integrins in cell attachment, and gene expression after placement of the cells on the different surfaces were determined. RESULTS: Both primary and passaged chondrocytes attached efficiently to all three surfaces (over 88% of seeded cells). The chondrocytes showed a punctate distribution of beta 1-integrin and vinculin, which in areas co-localized with actin, suggesting that the cells formed focal adhesions. The primary chondrocytes had a different shape, appearance of focal contacts, and actin distribution when compared to passaged cells and these did not appear to be influenced by the type of surface to which the cells attached. Blocking either beta 1-integrin or alpha v beta 5 integrin partially inhibited (between 27 to 48% and 26 to 37% respectively) attachment of both primary and passaged chondrocytes to all surfaces. Blocking alpha v beta 3 had no effect on adhesion. There was expression of type II collagen and aggrecan core protein mRNA by 2h. The different surfaces did not appear to affect the expression of these genes up to 24h although gene levels were lower in passaged cells. CONCLUSIONS: Chondrocytes, either freshly isolated or passaged, have the potential to adhere to the different joint surfaces that could be exposed in a cartilage defect. Understanding how chondrocytes adhere and interact with damaged joint surfaces may help identify methods to enhance the retention of transplanted cells in the defect site and cartilage tissue formation.

Actins↗

PubMed1999

Attachment to groups: theory and measurement.

Aspects of people's identification with groups may be understood by borrowing theoretical ideas and measurement strategies from research on attachment in close relationships. People have mental models of the self as a group member and of groups as sources of identity and esteem. These models affect thoughts, emotions, and behaviors related to group membership. Three studies show that two dimensions of attachment to groups, attachment anxiety and avoidance, can be assessed with good reliability, validity, and over-time stability. These factors are distinct from relationship attachment and from other measures of group identification. Group attachment predicts several important outcomes, including emotions concerning the group, time and activities shared with a group, social support, collective self-esteem, and ways of resolving conflict. This conceptualization provides new insights into the nature of people's psychological ties to groups.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Attachment experiences transformed into language.

This exploratory study examined the linguistic components of adults' narratives on their attachment experiences, focusing on the process of transformation of the nonverbal experience into language. Securely attached mothers were found to differ significantly from insecurely attached mothers on cognitive ability to connect between experience and language. Results support the notion that language becomes the dynamic tool through which the individual negotiates meaning and transforms the nonverbal organized pattern of relatedness. Applications for therapy and directions for further research are discussed.

Adult↗