Attachment, Resilience and Life Satisfaction of University Students in Cyprus after the Fourth Wave of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a large-scale crisis that has also impacted the well-being and, more specifically, the life satisfaction of university students. Factors such as attachment dimensions and psychological resilience can provide us with a better understanding of students' life satisfaction levels during the recent pandemic. While previous literature has revealed a significant association between attachment dimensions, resilience, and life satisfaction, very few studies have attempted to address a more complex relationship among all three variables for university students, and even fewer have explored this topic during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to investigate the impact of attachment dimensions on university students' life satisfaction after the fourth wave of COVID-19 in Cyprus, with a focus on the mediating role of psychological resilience. The sample comprised 780 university students, consisting of 323 men and 457 women, aged between 18 and 61 years. Participants were recruited electronically, and after being directed to Google Forms, they completed the ECR-R for their attachment dimensions, the RES for psychological resilience, and the SWLS for life satisfaction. The results indicated significant correlations between attachment dimensions, psychological resilience, and life satisfaction. Notably, psychological resilience was found to partially mediate the relationship between attachment anxiety, as well as attachment avoidance, and life satisfaction. Specifically, attachment anxiety and avoidance negatively affected life satisfaction, partially due to lower levels of psychological resilience. These findings are discussed in relation to the existing literature, and implications for practice are provided.

Psychometric assessment of the 10-item, revised experience of close relationship (ECR-R-10) in nonclinical and clinical populations of adults and older adults in Thailand

The experiences of close relationships-revised (ECR-R) is a widely used 36-item self-report measurement for measuring adult attachment. However, various short versions of the ECR-R have been developed and tested psychometrically. Given the cultural impact, a short version of the Thai ECR-R should be derived from the existing Thai version of the ECR-R. This study aimed to develop a 10-item version of the ECR-R that demonstrates comparable psychometric properties to the previous Thai version and the 18-item ECR-R. This study included four studies with a total of 1,322 participants. In study 1, 434 adults in a nonclinical setting were used for the development of the 10-item Thai ECR-R and tested in an independent sample. Studies 2, 3, and 4 were conducted on 312 adults in the clinical setting, 227 older adults in the nonclinical, and 123 older adults in clinical settings. The Cronbach alphas and corrected correlations between the ECR-R-18 and the ECR-R-10 in each study were calculated. Confirmatory factor analysis of the first-order two-factor solution model with fit statistics was examined with each sample. Correlations of the ECR-R-18 and the ECR-R-10 with other measurements were presented and compared. Known-group validity and measurement invariance test were also examined. The Cronbach alphas of the ECR-R-10 among all samples were acceptable, ranging between .77 and .85 for avoidance subscales and between .82 and .86 for anxiety subscales. The corrected correlation between the ECR-R-18 and ECR-R-10 was between .61 (p < .001) and .82 (p < .001). The values of the comparative fit index and Tucker-Lewis index for the model of ECR-R-10 were between .903 and .985, whereas the root-mean-square error of approximation was between .082 and .036, indicating that the model fits were acceptable. The ECR-R-10 was related to the measurements with a similar construct; however, no difference in the magnitude of correlation was observed between ECR-R-18 and ECR-R-10. Known group validity was established. Measurement invariance was successfully established across different age and gender groups, although it was only partially achieved with respect to clinical status. The ECR-R-10 provided equal or superior psychometric properties to the ECR-R-18 across age groups and settings. As it is a briefer scale, the ECR-R-10 can be practically used in general and clinical samples to reduce the burden of assessment, especially with older adults. Further investigation is needed to test the scale's temporal stability.

How to Help Clients Make Friends

Friendships have been declining for the past 30 years, resulting in severe mental and physical health consequences. However, multiple barriers prevent individuals from initiating and maintaining connections. This paper highlights the individual and societal-level challenges that limit social connection including fear of rejection, insecure attachment style, structural racism, and increased use of technology. To help clients make friends, we recommend clinicians assess loneliness, social competency, and attachment style; administer cognitive behavioral or behavioral activation therapies; and guide clients to assume others like them and be self-compassionate.

Validation of the Korean Version of Culturally Responsive Experiences in Close Relationships-Short Form

The authors developed and validated the Korean version of the Experiences in Close Relationships-Short Form (K-ECRR-SF) with the goal of developing a culturally responsive scale. In study 1, a Rasch analysis was conducted on the 36 original items in the ECR-Revised (ECR-R) to select items that best represent anxiety and avoidance subscales by considering cultural equivalence. In study 2, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted for the selected 12 items with a different sample. The factor structures of the ECR-R and K-ECRR-SF through CFA were then compared through CFA. In addition, the K-ECRR-SF items were tested for related constructs (i.e., reassurance and support seeking, loneliness, dyadic satisfaction, depression, anxiety, and fear of intimacy) to its criterion evidence. The newly developed K-ECRR-SF is confirmed to be valid and culturally responsive scale in measuring attachment in Korea.

Social media use and mental health in young adults of Greece: A cross-sectional study

Background

Social media use has vastly increased during the past few years, especially among young adults. Studies examining the relationship of social media use with mental health have yielded mixed findings. Additionally, such studies are extremely limited in Greece. The present study aimed to investigate the association between social media use, depressive symptoms and self-esteem among Greek young adults.

Method

A total of 654 individuals (50.5% male) aged 18-30 years (Μ = 23.62, SD = 2.71) completed self-reported questionnaires regarding social media use, depressive symptoms and self-esteem.

Results

Increased daily use of YouTube (more than five hours) showed a significant association with higher depressive symptomatology, b = 2.99, 95% CI [.78, 5.20], p = .008, while daily use of Facebook between two and five hours was related to significantly higher self-esteem, b = 1.61, 95% CI [.78, 2.44], p < .001, after adjusting for participants’ gender, age, educational level and employment status. The association of increased daily use of YouTube with depressive symptoms was more pronounced in males than in females. Moreover, self-reported active use of Facebook and Instagram were linked with significantly lower depressive symptoms and higher self-esteem compared to passive involvement.

Conclusion

The results suggest that social media use is closely related to self-esteem and depressive symptomatology in young adults. These findings may contribute to a deeper clinical understanding of the association between electronic social networking and mental health.

Increased daily time spent in YouTube (more than five hours) was significantly associated with higher depressive symptomatology.

YouTube daily use of more than five hours showed a stronger association with depressive symptoms for males than for females.

Daily use of Facebook between two and five hours was related to significantly higher self-esteem.

Self-reported active use of Facebook and Instagram were linked with significantly lower depressive symptoms and higher self-esteem compared to passive involvement.

Self-construal and Insecure Attachment Variation and Co-variation During a Period of Economic Crisis

Changes in socioeconomic conditions can affect how people understand themselves. The present analyses tested hypotheses on individuals’ self-construal and insecure attachment variation and co-variation during a period of severe and prolonged economic downturn in Greece, a typically more collectivist culture. Adult attachment and self-construal were surveyed in 15 independent samples of young adults collected consecutively between 2004 and 2016. Significantly lower independence, but not higher interdependence, was observed in recent crisis-stricken years of higher unemployment compared to earlier (pre-crisis) years. Participants also reported higher insecure attachment, particularly higher anxious attachment in recent years. However, it were temporal changes in avoidance that were associated with a greater decline in independent self-construal during the time period studied. Avoidance also preceded temporal variability in independent self-construal during this period. The results highlight links between socioeconomic conditions and individual-level variation in cultural understandings of the self and insecure attachment, and point to socio-cognitive processes that may explain interrelationships between two constructs that partly lie at different levels of understanding the self.

Study of the Association of Insecure Attachment With the Dehumanization and Self-Dehumanization of Patients Hospitalized With Psychotic Disorder and Organic Disease

Introduction

Dehumanization is the phenomenon that concerns the non-attribution of humanness to other human beings and has two dimensions, animalistic and mechanistic. The aim of the present study is to study dehumanization and self-dehumanization in patients with psychosis and organic disease.

Methods

The sample consisted of 200 people who were hospitalized in Athens, Greece, in 2017. Participants were asked to answer the dehumanization questionnaire, the mechanistic self-dehumanization scale, the human nature and human uniqueness characteristics questionnaire, and the adult attachment questionnaire. 

Results

It was found that patients with organic disease and patients with psychosis do not perform mechanistic and animalistic dehumanization of themselves. Still, it seems that insecure attachment (anxiety and obsession) contributes positively to their mechanistic dehumanization and negatively to their mechanistic self-dehumanization. From the insecure attachment, only the dimensions of stress and obsession affect the mechanistic dehumanization. 

Conclusions

It is important to take measures to train specialists in the hospital so that they can establish a safe therapeutic relationship with the patient so that patients will not resort to dehumanization and self-dehumanization as a defense against the stress of hospitalization.

Investigation of the Relationship Between Aggression and Adult Attachment in Healthcare Professionals

Introduction

Multiple references to the violent and especially difficult patient have been presented by the international literature. However, there is little literature on the aggressive behaviors of health professionals in their workplaces. The aim of this research is to record and correlate aggression and attachment type data of adult health professionals.

Methods

The sample includes 192 individuals (43 men and 149 women) health professionals in the private and public sector, aged 20 to 60 years, who were selected by the method of random sampling. The survey was conducted from February 2018 to May 2018. The Greek version of the Aggression Questionnaire and the Greek version of the Revised Experiences in Close Relationships (G-ECR-R) self-report inventory were used and the analysis was performed with the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS 26) (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY).

Results

The analysis shows that the dimension of avoidance has a positive correlation with hostility and physical aggression and the dimension of stress has a positive correlation with anger, physical aggression and hostility. It also seems that the stress dimension of the adult attachment contributes significantly positively to the prediction of anger and the stress dimension contributes significantly to the prediction of hostility. The dimension of avoiding adult attachment contributes significantly to the prediction of physical aggression.

Conclusions

To our knowledge, no studies were found in the literature to examine the relationship between the subscales of aggression and dimensions of attachment. It is important that violence in the workplace is recognized as an underlying occupational risk and not just as a matter of criminal law. Finally, more research is needed to study the phenomenon in order to make it more understandable.

Dehumanization of Hospitalized Patients and Self-Dehumanization by Health Professionals and the General Population in Greece

Introduction

Dehumanization is defined as the denial to people of their humanness. It is distinguished into animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization. The aim of this study is to examine whether professionals in a public hospital dehumanize the patient and self-dehumanize.

Methods

We used the Dehumanization Questionnaire, the Mechanistic Self-Dehumanization Scale, the Human Nature and Human Uniqueness Characteristics Questionnaire, the General Causality Orientation Scale and the Adult Attachment Questionnaire. The sample consisted of 135 mental health professionals (20 from a general hospital and 115 from a psychiatric hospital), 134 other health professionals from the general hospital and 84 people from the general population.

Results 

Health professionals dehumanize the hospitalized patient more than the general population. The secure attachment acts protectively on self-dehumanization and negatively on the dehumanization of the hospitalized patient. Finally, autonomous people are not self-dehumanized.

Conclusions

Our findings indicate that measures should be taken for health professionals so that they do not dehumanize the patient.

The Study of Security Priming on Avoidant Attentional Biases: Combining Microsaccadic Eye-Movement Measurement With a Dot-Probe Task

Microsaccades are small fixational eye movements that have shown to index covert attentional shifts. The present experiment combined microsaccades with performance measures from a dot-probe task to study influences of attachment security priming on the attentional biases of individuals high in attachment avoidance. Security priming is an experimental manipulation aimed at boosting felt security. Using a randomized, mixed design, we measured differences in attentional vigilance toward angry and neutral faces as a function of priming (neutral vs. secure) and attachment avoidance. Individuals high in avoidance habitually tend to withdraw from, or otherwise dismiss, emotionally salient stimuli. Here, we operationalized attentional withdrawal based on both task performance in the dot-probe task and microsaccadic movements. In addition, unlike previous studies where priming salience for the individual participant has been unclear, we used a standardized narrative method for attachment script assessment, securing an indication of how strongly each participant was primed. Dot-probe data significantly captured the link between avoidance and attentional disengagement, though from all facial stimuli (angry and neutral). Although microsaccadic movements did not capture avoidant attentional disengagement, they positively correlated to dot-probe data suggesting measurement convergence. Avoidance was associated with weaker security priming and no overall effect of priming on attention was found, indicating a need for further exploration of suitable priming methods to bypass avoidant deactivation. Our results provide a first indication that, as an implicit looking measure, microsaccadic movements can potentially reveal where early attention is directed at the exact moment of stimulus presentation.

From pregnancy to 3 months after birth:the beginning of mother-infant relationship from a maternal perspective

BACKGROUND

An early positive mother-child relationship is a central factor in the development of a psychologically balanced personality. The study aims to identify risk and protective factors for the development of a balanced maternal-infant postnatal attachment. We explored the association between maternal-infant attachment and prenatal and postnatal variables potentially implicated in the development of this early bond: maternal-foetal prenatal attachment, social support, memories of parental care, romantic attachment, dyadic adjustment, parity, breastfeeding, planning pregnancy, woman's and infant's age, and difficulty of delivery.

METHODS

123 pregnant women participated in the longitudinal study; they were assessed on the MAAS, PBI, ECR-R, MSPSS (t1: pregnancy), MPAS (t2: 3-months postnatally), DAS , and CES-D (t1, t2).

RESULTS

Four significant predictors of maternal-infant postnatal attachment (MPAS) emerged: maternal-foetal prenatal attachment (β = 0.379, p < .001), anxiety in the romantic relationships (β=-0.237, p=0.019), prenatal and postnatal dyadic adjustment (t1, β=-0.323, p=0.025 ;t2, β=0.329, p=0.014) in the couple's relationship. These variables explained 20.2% of variance in mother-infant attachment (R²adjusted=0.202).

DISCUSSION

The study highlights associations of maternal-infant postnatal attachment with prenatal and postnatal relational variables and with other variables related to the woman's reproductive and pregnancy history. Clinical attention to these factors could help protect the well-being of mother and child.

Evaluation of a short version of the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised questionnaire (ECR-RD8): results from a representative German sample

BACKGROUND

Attachment insecurity is a prominent risk factor for the development and course of psychiatric and psychosomatic disorders. The Experiences in Close Relationships - Revised (ECR-R) questionnaire is a widely used self-report to assess attachment related anxiety and avoidance. However, its length has the potential to restrict its use in large, multi-instrument studies. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a brief version of the ECR-R, and provide norm values for the German population.

METHODS

A screening version of the original ECR-R was developed through principal components analysis of datasets from several previous studies. In a representative sample of 2428 randomly selected individuals from the German population, we compared fit indices of different models by means of confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). We investigated the convergent validity of the screening version in an independent convenience sample of 557 participants. Correlations between the short and the full scale were investigated in a re-analysis of the original German ECR-R evaluation sample.

RESULTS

CFA indicated a satisfactory model fit for an eight-item version (ECR-RD8). The ECR-RD8 demonstrated adequate reliability. The subscales correlated as expected with another self-report measure of attachment in an independent sample. Individuals with higher levels of attachment anxiety, but especially higher levels of attachment avoidance were significantly more likely to not be in a relationship, across all age groups. Correlations between the short and the full scale were high.

CONCLUSIONS

The ECR-RD8 appears to be a reliable, valid, and economic questionnaire for assessing attachment insecurity. In addition, the reported population-based norm values will help to contextualize future research findings.

Validation of the Relationships Questionnaire (RQ) against the Experience of Close Relationship-Revised Questionnaire in a Clinical Psychiatric Sample

BACKGROUND

The Relationship Questionnaire (RQ) is a commonly used self-reporting questionnaire used to measure adult attachment styles. The RQ has two parts. RQ1, a single item where individuals have to indicate their preferred relationship style, and RQ2, where individuals can rate their relationship style in more detail using four different scales. Agreement is expected between the highest levels selected and the style chosen in RQ1. An advantage of the RQ is its brevity, whereas a disadvantage is that it constitutes a single item. A validation of RQ has not been clearly demonstrated, even though it has convergent validity in relation to other measurements in this area.

METHODS

168 patients completed the RQ, the short version of the Experience in Close Relationships (Revised) questionnaire (ECR-R), and scales of depression and interpersonal problems. Regression analysis was conducted to examine the congruity in regard to attachment theory.

RESULTS

ratings from 15.5% of the patients showed disagreement between RQ1 and RQ2. Each type of attachment measured by the RQ was predicted by the ECR-R scores, as hypothesized. In the predictive analysis of depression and interpersonal problems, both RQ dimensions and ECR-R scores were coherent.

CONCLUSIONS

RQ is a valid self-reported measurement that can be applied clinically on the condition that the rater identifies an agreement between RQ1 and RQ2.

Low hair cortisol concentrations in obsessive compulsive disorder: A cross-sectional study

Recent findings have highlighted the association between changes in the activity of the HPA axis, primarily its end-hormone, cortisol and OCD. However, to date, cortisol levels of OCD patients have been assessed mainly in body fluids, such as serum, saliva or urine, frequently leading to ambiguous results because of their inherent lack of stability. The aim of this study was to investigate time-integrated levels of stress exposure in 32 OCD patients and 32 sex and age-matched healthy controls by measuring endogenous cortisol in hair segments reflecting the last 3 months preceding hair collection. Psychometric parameters, including BDI, FQ, STAI, PSS and ECQ-R, were obtained in all participants; Y-BOCS was performed in the OCD patients. The OCD patients exhibited significantly higher scores in all psychometric instruments administered and lower hair cortisol concentrations than the healthy controls (p = 0.001, r = 0.41). No significant correlations were found between the HCC and the Y-BOCS total scores. After having sorted OCD patients into subtypes, according to the nature of their symptomatology, the "washers/cleaners" category showed the lowest HCC (compared to the "checking/harming", "ordering/symmetry" and "sexual/religious obsessions" categories). The novel finding of chronic low cortisol secretion in OCD patients could be attributed to a possible down-regulation of the HPA axis, as an adaptive response to chronic stress exposure. Given that the OCD subtypes reflect the great heterogeneity in the OCD spectrum, studies with larger samples should extend the investigation of HCC in patients with distinctive symptomatology, so as to develop a basis for better neuroendocrine profiling and understanding of the pathophysiology of OCD. Further work is needed in exploring HPA axis' activity over the natural course and treatments of the disorder.

Romantic attachment style and borderline personality pathology: A meta-analysis

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) implies profound impairment in interpersonal relationships, particularly romantic relationships (Daley, Burge, & Hammen, 2000). Insecure attachment bears striking resemblance to BPD traits in both empirical and theoretical work (Levy, Johnson, Clouthier, Scala, & Temes, 2015) and may be particularly suited for understanding the BPD-related deficits in romantic functioning. Despite several qualitative reviews concluding that secure attachment is disrupted in those with BPD traits, no consensus has emerged regarding the form of this disruption (Levy et al., 2015), with most reviews focusing on whether BPD is best captured as high levels of attachment anxiety or attachment avoidance. The purpose of the current review is to provide a quantitative synthesis of the strength and direction of the associations between attachment insecurity and BPD traits. Searches on PsycINFO and Pubmed resulted in 27 effect sizes that measured BPD and adult romantic attachment on the two primary dimensions of anxiety and avoidance (Fraley, Waller, & Brennan, 2000). Results demonstrated that attachment anxiety correlates most strongly with BPD traits (r = 0.48); however, attachment avoidance also evinced a significant effect (r = 0.30). Findings from regression analyses indicate that attachment anxiety and avoidance interact, suggesting a particularly strong relationship between attachment disorganization and BPD traits.

The role of attachment anxiety in the relationship between childhood trauma and schizophrenia-spectrum psychosis

Childhood trauma (CT) is a comprehensive concept encompassing experiences of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, and neglect during childhood and adolescence. Patients with schizophrenia-spectrum psychosis (SSP) display higher rates of CT than healthy controls. Among the potential mediators of this association, insecure attachment has gained attention and empirical validation. The present study aimed to extend existing knowledge on this field by exploring the role of the two attachment dimensions, attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance, in the CT-SSP association. A clinical sample of 63 SSP inpatients was compared to a healthy control group on CT and attachment style measures. Correlations between CT, attachment dimensions and psychopathology were sought. Mediation analyses were also performed to examine whether attachment anxiety and/or attachment avoidance mediated the CT-SSP association. Patients displayed higher rates of CT and insecure attachment than controls. Attachment anxiety and severity of Mother Antipathy were linked to severity of hallucinations. Attachment anxiety was recognized as the sole mediator of the CT-SSP association. Our findings suggest that individuals with severe CT and increased attachment anxiety represent a risk population warranting early clinical attention, regular monitoring and tailored therapeutic interventions aimed at reducing the psychological impact of trauma.

Avoidant romantic attachment in adolescence: Gender, excessive internet use and romantic relationship engagement effects

Romantic development is a distinctive characteristic of puberty. However, a significant proportion of adolescents present with avoidant romantic attachment (ARA) tendencies, which have significant impact on their general adaptation. ARA variations have been suggested in relation to age, gender, engagement with a romantic partner and Excessive Internet Use (EIU) behaviours. In this longitudinal, two-wave study of a normative sample of 515 Greek adolescents at 16 and 18 years, ARA was assessed with the relevant subscale of the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised and EIU with the Internet Addiction Test. A three-level hierarchical linear model found ARA tendencies to decrease between 16 and 18 while engagement in a romantic relationship and EIU were associated with lower and higher ARA tendencies respectively. Gender did not differentiate ARA severity either at the age of 16 or its changes over time. Results highlight the need of adopting a longitudinal-contextualized approach and provide implications for prevention and intervention initiatives in relation to the romantic development of adolescents.

Contextual determinants of psychopathology. The singularity of attachment as a predictor of mental dysfunction

The general aim of this research is to evaluate the singular weight of attachment relationships in psychopathology, to determine the point to which these relationships cannot be subsumed by other variables that are famously related to attachment, such as experience of stressful life events, social support, and coping styles. 172 people treated in mental health centers provided data related to these four aspects and about manifestations of psychopathology. Multiple linear regression analyses determined that 51% of the variance in the level of symptomatology is explained with six variables: two related to adult attachment (fear of rejection and abandonment in romantic relationships, and the degree of similarity to the fearful prototype), one related to social support (family appreciation), one to life events (overall perceived stress), and two to coping style (cognitive restructuring and social withdrawal). Fear of rejection was the variable accounting for the most variance. The findings suggest that adult attachment is a non-redundant individual factor associated with manifestations of psychological dysfunction and highlight the desirability of taking attachment history into account in clinical practice.

Testing the Incremental Value of a Separate Measure for Secure Attachment Relative to a Measure for Attachment Anxiety and Avoidance

Abstract. Research on attachment in middle childhood and early adolescence has typically relied on either unidimensional measures of attachment security (vs. insecurity) or on differentiated measures of attachment anxiety and avoidance. This study addressed the question whether there is a need to add an explicit measure of security when operationalizing parent-child attachment in terms of anxiety and avoidance. Both dimensional (i.e., regression analyses) and person-centered analyses (i.e., cluster analysis) are used in this study (N = 276, 53% boys, mean age = 10.66) to examine the incremental value of a scale for attachment security (in this study, the Security Scale) in addition to a scale for attachment anxiety and avoidance (in this study, the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Revised – Child version; ECR-RC). The present results suggest that an assessment of anxious and avoidant attachment (using the ECR-RC) may suffice to capture the quality of parent-child attachment in middle childhood and early adolescence.

Validation of a 16-Item Short Form of the Czech Version of the Experiences in Close Relationships Revised Questionnaire in a Representative Sample

The aim of this study was to create a shorter Czech version (ECR-R-16) of the Revised Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR-R) questionnaire and to assess its psychometric properties. Data from a representative sample of the Czech population from 15 to 90 years old (N = 1000, M age = 46.0 years, SD = 17.3) were collected using a face-to-face structured interview in 2014. The developed short form of the Czech version of the ECR-R showed good internal consistency (alphas varied from .84 to .90), and both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses replicated the two-dimensional model. The results also demonstrated concurrent validity with measures of neuroticism, self-esteem, and positive and negative affect. People living with a partner and people with higher educational levels had significantly lower Avoidance scores than people living alone and people with lower educational levels. It was concluded that the ECR-R-16 questionnaire has good psychometric properties and is a valid assessment method in the Czech cultural context, suitable for research and clinical studies, when the shorter form of a measure is desirable.

Signal and Noise in the Perception of Facial Emotion Expressions

Human interactions are replete with emotional exchanges, and hence, the ability to decode others’ emotional expressions is of great importance. The present research distinguishes between the emotional signal (the intended emotion) and noise (perception of secondary emotions) in social emotion perception and investigates whether these predict the quality of social interactions. In three studies, participants completed laboratory-based assessments of emotion recognition ability and later reported their perceptions of naturally occurring social interactions. Overall, noise perception in the recognition task was associated with perceiving more negative emotions in others and perceiving interactions more negatively. Conversely, signal perception of facial emotion expressions was associated with higher quality in social interactions. These effects were moderated by relationship closeness in Greece but not in Germany. These findings suggest that emotion recognition as assessed in the laboratory is a valid predictor of social interaction quality. Thus, emotion recognition generalizes from the laboratory to everyday life.

Identifying the Best-Fitting Factor Structure of the Experience of Close Relations - Revised in a Scandinavian Example

The aim of this study was to enhance the understanding of cultural and sample differences in the assessment of attachment by examining the factor structure of the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R). The ECR-R is a self-report measure of adult romantic attachment dimensions. The present study used a Danish sample with the purpose of addressing limitations in previous studies, such as the lack of diversity in cultural background, restricted sample characteristics, and poorly fitting structure models. Participants consisted of 253 parents of children between the ages of 7 and 12 years, 53% being mothers. The parents completed the paper version of the questionnaire. Confirmatory Factor Analyses were carried out to determine whether theoretically and empirically established models including one and two factors would also provide adequate fits in a Danish sample. A previous study using the original ECR suggested that Scandinavian samples may best be described using a five-factor solution. Our results indicated that the one- and two-factor models of the ECR-R did not fit the data well. Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed a five-factor model. Our study provides evidence that further investigation is needed to establish which model may provide the best model fit in the Scandinavian countries.

Psychometric Properties of an Italian Version of the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) Scale

This study examined the psychometric properties of a newly translated Italian version of the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR–R) Scale. The sample comprised 1,363 adults (906 women, 456 men, 1 unreported sex; ages 18–64 yr., M=33.4, SD=8.9; 84.4% reported being engaged in a romantic relationship, 9.4% declared being single), all living in Italy and speaking Italian as their first language. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed the expected bi-factorial (anxiety/avoidance) structure and a close correspondence between factors and scales. Test-retest and internal consistency reliabilities were adequate. Correlations with the Relationship Questionnaire, a categorical measure of attachment, and with the Dyadic Adjustment Scale were consistent with the theoretical relations among the constructs. The findings confirm the transcultural validity of the ECR–R.

Romantic attachment in Chilean adults: development of a short-form version of the experiences in close relationships

Though the study of romantic attachment has expanded into all areas of psychology, it remains the case that there is no valid, reliable test available to measure it in Latin America. The present research objective was to adapt a Chilean version of the Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR; Brennan, Clark, & Shaver 1998) questionnaire, developing a short-form version, and to determine its factor structure in two samples of Chilean adults of different ages. A pool of 25 items was chosen to capture the two dimensions (Anxiety and Avoidance), which were obtained through principal components analysis in a sample of 477 adults. Subsequently, the short-form ECR's two-dimensional structure was confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis in a new sample (N = 296). All sub-dimensions' internal consistencies were found to be satisfactory. Evidence for the test's concurrent validity with the variables age, gender, and socioeconomic status was also obtained. The dimensions of romantic attachment showed no differences according to age or gender. However, participants of high socioeconomic status exhibited lower levels of anxious attachment than those with low socioeconomic status. It was concluded that the Chilean short-form version of the ECR has good psychometric properties and is a suitable assessment of adult attachment.

Relationship duration moderates associations between attachment and relationship quality: meta-analytic support for the temporal adult romantic attachment model

Although research has examined associations between attachment dimensions and relationship outcomes, theory has ignored how these associations change over time in adult romantic relationships. We proposed the Temporal Adult Romantic Attachment (TARA) model, which predicts that the negative associations between anxious and avoidant attachment on one hand and relationship satisfaction and commitment on the other will be more negative as relationship durations increase. Meta-analyses largely confirmed that negative associations between both insecure attachment dimensions and both relationship outcomes were more negative among longer relationship durations in cross-sectional samples. We also explored gender differences in these associations. The present review not only integrates the literature on adult attachment and romantic relationship satisfaction/commitment but also highlights the importance of relationship duration as a key moderator of the associations among these variables. We discuss the broad implications of these effects and our meta-analytic findings for the TARA model, attachment theory, and romantic relationships.

[The influence of the attachment dimensions "anxiety" and "avoidance" on psychosomatic complaints]

OBJECTIVES

In contemporary literature, insecure attachment styles have been identified as nonspecific vulnerability factors for psychosomatic disorders. Further, they are also associated with aggravation of the assessment of complaints (Maunder and Hunter 2001; Strauß and Schwark 2007). The present study investigates the extent to which attachment-related anxiety and avoidance are related with the intensity of psychosomatic complaints.

METHODS

Prior to an initial diagnostic interview, 166 patients from a psychosomatic outpatient department were tested with the questionnaires ECR-RD and SCL-90-R. A model of two latent attachment dimensions, fear (BANG) and avoidance (BVER) in close relationships, underlying the scales of the ECR-RD, was used (Ehrenthal et al. 2009). The GSI was chosen as a good validated, global value from SCL-90-R (Franke 2002) for measuring the psychosomatic pressure caused by complaints.

RESULT

As expected, our results demonstrate strong positive correlations between BANG and GSI, whereas BVER and GSI showed a moderate, positive connection. Thus, both attachment dimensions were able to predict a significant ratio of GSI in a multiple regression analysis.

CONCLUSION

This study confirmed a systematic relationship between insecure attachment representations and psychosomatic complaints, although some limitations must be noted due to the heterogeneous answer patterns of the BVER-scale. However, in our view, the ECR-RD measure should be used in other clinical studies, the goal being to become a diagnostic standard screening tool for assessing the influence of patients' attachment style on their presentation of psychosomatic complaints.

Doctors' emotion regulation and patient satisfaction: a social-functional perspective

Emotion regulation has been identified as an important component of medical consultation but there is limited research on the topic. Two studies tested expected relationships between doctors' emotion regulation (ER) skills and patient satisfaction and quality of doctor-patient interaction, focusing in particular on the role patient perceptions' of doctors' emotion regulation skills play in these associations. Study 1 comprised 100 patients reporting on their perceptions of doctors' overall emotion regulation skills, communication quality and nonverbal immediacy, and their satisfaction with the care provided. Patients' perceptions of doctors' emotion regulation skills were associated with patient satisfaction and communication quality; patient perceptions of doctors' nonverbal immediacy partially mediated these relationships. Study 2 collected data from 30 doctors who reported on their typical emotion regulation strategies of reappraisal and suppression and 139 of their patients who reported on satisfaction with the medical treatment and positive affect. As expected, doctors' self-reported reappraisal was positively associated with their patients' satisfaction and positive affect. Doctors' suppression was also positively associated with patient satisfaction, while patients' gender moderated these effects. The two studies empirically document proposed links between doctors' emotion regulation and patient satisfaction. Notably, the results underline the role of patients' perceptions of doctors' emotion regulation skills and emotion expressions for patient outcomes and are in line with functional models of emotion in social interaction.

A short version of the revised 'experience of close relationships questionnaire': investigating non-clinical and clinical samples

AIM

This study seeks to investigate the psychometric properties of the short version of the revised 'Experience of Close Relationships' questionnaire, comparing non-clinical and clinical samples.

METHODS

In total 702 subjects participated in this study, of whom 531 were non-clinical participants and 171 were psychiatric patients. They completed the short version of the revised 'Experience of Close Relationships' questionnaire (ECR-R-18), the Perceived Stress Scale-10(PSS-10), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and the UCLA Loneliness scale. A retest of the ECR-R-18 was then performed at four-week intervals. Then, confirmatory factor analyses were performed to test the validity of the new scale.

RESULTS

The ECR-R-18 showed a fair to good internal consistency (α 0.77 to 0.87) for both samples, and the test-retest reliability was found to be satisfactory (ICC = 0.75). The anxiety sub-scale demonstrated concurrent validity with PSS-10 and RSES, while the avoidance sub-scale showed concurrent validity with the UCLA Loneliness Scale. Confirmatory factor analysis using method factors yielded two factors with an acceptable model fit for both groups. An invariance test revealed that the ECR-R-18 when used on the clinical group differed from when used with the non-clinical group.

CONCLUSIONS

The ECR-R-18 questionnaire revealed an overall better level of fit than the original 36 item questionnaire, indicating its suitability for use with a broader group of samples, including clinical samples. The reliability of the ECR-R- 18 might be increased if a modified scoring system is used and if our suggestions with regard to future studies are followed up.

The effect of attachment insecurity in the development of eating disturbances across gender: the role of body dissatisfaction

The present study examined the effects of insecure attachment on the development of negative body image as a contributing factor to the development of disturbed eating patterns in male and female university students. Participants were nonclinical male (n = 100) and female (n = 381) university students. Administering self-report questionnaires, the authors assessed demographic information (gender, age), anthropometric data (Body Mass Index [BMI], age), romantic attachment (ECRS-R; R. C. Fraley, N. G. Waller, & K. A. Brennan, 2000), body dissatisfaction (BSQ), and disturbed eating (EAT-26). The authors found body dissatisfaction to fully mediate the relationship between attachment anxiety and disordered eating in women. Body dissatisfaction mediated anxious attachment and dieting in men. In addition, attachment avoidance had a direct impact on eating behaviors for both genders, without the mediation of any variables measured in this study. The findings of the present study suggest that the anxiety and avoidance dimensions of attachment insecurity affect eating behaviors differently, and the effects are different across genders. The authors discuss results in the context of therapeutic interventions design.

The Norwegian version of the Experiences in Close Relationships measure of adult attachment: psychometric properties and normative data

BACKGROUND

Self-report questionnaires have facilitated attachment research, and validation of these instruments in different languages and cultures has become of importance. The Experiences in Close Relationships measure (ECR) is a well-established and suitable tool for cross-cultural comparisons of adult attachment.

AIMS

The aim of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the ECR and to develop a shorter version. We also investigated the associations between socio-demographic characteristics and attachment styles as measured by the ECR on the anxiety and avoidance subscales.

METHODS

Data were anonymously collected by a mailed questionnaire to young adults aged 30, 40 and 45 years. With a response rate of 29%, 437 individuals were included. Exploratory factor analysis was performed and confirmatory factor analysis was done by structural equation modelling.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

The psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the ECR were satisfying and comparable with the properties reported by other translations. Individuals who scored low on both avoidance and anxiety scales were more likely to live in paired relations, have paid work, rate themselves with good health and in general be more satisfied with their lives. A new 12 item short version of the ECR showed good psychometric properties and similar associations to socio-demographic variables. Taking into account its brevity and feasibility further research on attachment style with ECR in clinical samples should be performed.