Intimate Partner Violence and Attachment Styles as Factors Associated with Coping Stress Styles Among Iranian Women

The current study sought to examine attachment styles as mediators between intimate partner violence (IPV) and stress coping styles among Iranian women. Data were collected from September to December 2020. The study population was composed of 102 women who were referred to Social Emergency Centers in Isfahan and affected by domestic violence. They were given self-report questionnaires to measure IPV (the Haj-Yahia Violence Questionnaire), Stress Coping Styles (CISS), and Attachment Styles (AAQ). Structural Equation Modeling was used to test the hypothesized relationships. Sexual IPV victimization was related to both avoidant attachment (β = .229, p = .015) and anxious attachment (β = .245, p = .008). Anxious attachment style was related to emotion-oriented coping (β = .437, p = .000). There was a negative relationship between avoidant attachment and anxious attachment (β = -.237, p = .032) with avoidance-oriented coping. Sexual IPV victimization and economic IPV victimization were associated with avoidance-oriented coping (β = -.225, t = 0.816, p = .015; β = .188, t = 0.816, p = .044). Women who had experienced IPV and had an insecure attachment style were more likely to utilize avoidance and emotional coping strategies. For women who had a secure attachment style, there was no association was found between IPV victimization and coping styles. Attachment styles may influence the relationship between IPV and coping strategies in Iranian women who have experienced violence.

Brain oscillations during emotion regulation and the two-dimensional model of adult attachment

Emotion Regulation (ER) refers to the processes by which individuals influence their own emotions. It is a crucial aspect of human behavior, affecting everything from interpersonal relationships to mental health. The relationship between ER and Attachment Theory (AT) is pivotal. AT suggests that early bonds with primary caregivers influence future relationship expectations and behaviors. These initial experiences shape internal models of self and others, affecting how individuals regulate their emotions. Understanding the interplay between ER and AT is essential for comprehending the human affective system. In this study, we explored the neural underpinnings of ER, focusing on two distinct strategies: cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. Using electroencephalography (EEG), we examined changes in neural oscillations from 52 adults during an ER task. Specifically, we observed increased frontal theta activity (3-6 Hz) during reappraisal compared to suppression strategies. This frontal theta activity suggests enhanced cognitive control engagement. Conversely, during suppression, we noted a decrease in beta frequency (15-30 Hz) activity from central electrodes, indicative of differing neural processes. Further integrating psychological theories, we explored the relationship between these neural markers and dimensions of human attachment. Employing the Experiences in Close Relationships-12 scale (ECR-12), we identified a negative correlation between attachment anxiety and frontal theta activity. Lower levels of attachment anxiety were associated with increased theta activity, reflecting potentially more effective emotion regulation. Additionally, we found that higher theta activity corresponded with fewer difficulties in emotional control measured by the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Regarding central beta activity, our findings revealed an interesting correlation with Emotional Inattention, a concept tied to Attachment Avoidance. This suggests that central beta activity may serve as a neural marker for specific attachment-related ER processing. These results highlight the distinct neural pathways involved in different ER strategies and their relationship with the AT and neural responses during emotional processing.

Mother-Infant Dyadic Synchrony and Interaction Patterns After Infant Cardiac Surgery

OBJECTIVE

Parents and their infants with complex congenital heart disease (CHD) face relational challenges, including marked distress, early separations, and infant hospitalizations and medical procedures, yet the prevalence of parent-infant interaction difficulties remains unclear. Using a standardized observational paradigm, this study investigated mother-infant dyadic synchrony, interactional patterns, and associated predictors in mother-infant pairs affected by CHD, compared with typically-developing pairs.

METHODS

In this prospective, longitudinal cohort study, mothers and their infants requiring cardiac surgery before age 6-months (n=110 pairs) and an age- and sex-matched Australian community sample (n=85 pairs) participated in a filmed, free-play interaction at 6.9±1.0 months. Mother-infant dyadic synchrony, maternal and infant interactional patterns, and relational risk were assessed using the Child-Adult Relationship Experimental (CARE) Index. Maternal and infant predictors were assessed at 32 weeks gestation, 3- and 6-months postpartum.

RESULTS

Most mother-infant interactions were classified as "high risk" or "inept" (cardiac: 94%, control: 81%; p=.007). Dyadic synchrony (p<.001), maternal sensitivity (p=.001), and infant cooperativeness (p=.001) were lower for cardiac than control pairs. Higher maternal traumatic stress at 6-months postpartum predicted lower dyadic synchrony for mother-infant pairs affected by CHD (B=-.04, p=.03). Dyadic synchrony was higher among older infants in the total (B=.40, p=.003) but not cardiac sample (B=.24, p=.06).

CONCLUSIONS

Relational difficulties were almost universal among mother-infant pairs affected by CHD and were also high in the Australian community sample. Widespread education initiatives are recommended to increase awareness of heightened mother-infant relational risk in congenital heart care and well-child settings, alongside relationally-focused prevention and early intervention programs.

Attachment processes in posttraumatic stress disorder: A review of mechanisms to advance theories and treatments

Current conceptualisations of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are driven by biological, learning, and cognitive models that have shaped current treatments of the disorder. The strong influence of these models has resulted in a relative neglect of social mechanisms that can influence traumatic stress. There is abundant evidence from experimental, observational, and clinical studies that social factors can moderate many of the mechanisms articulated in prevailing models of PTSD. In this review it is proposed that attachment theory provides a useful framework to complement existing models of PTSD because it provides explanatory value for social factors can interact with biological, learning, and cognitive processes that shape traumatic stress response. The review provides an overview of attachment theory in the context of traumatic stress, outlines the evidence for how attachment factors can moderate stress responses and PTSD, and considers how harnessing attachment processes may augment recovery from and treatment of PTSD. This review emphasizes that rather than conceptualizing attachment theory as an independent theory of traumatic stress, there is much to gain by integrating attachment mechanisms into existing models of PTSD to accommodate the interactions between cognitive, biological, and attachment processes.

Attachment insecurities, caregiver burden, and psychological distress among partners of patients with heart disease

Caregiver psychological distress (i.e., depression and anxiety) is harmful to both caregiver and patient. Different affect-regulation strategies associated with attachment orientations may impact a caregiver’s perception of their caregiving role as a burden, thereby contributing to their psychological distress. The aim of the present investigation was to examine the links among attachment orientations, caregiver burden, and psychological distress in a cardiac context. Participants (N = 181, Mage = 61.79, SD = 10.49; males = 24.7%) were romantic partners of patients with heart disease (i.e., informal caregivers) who completed validated questionnaires. The majority of caregivers had partners with coronary artery disease (n = 127, 70. 2%). 66.3% of caregivers reported low burden, 87.6% reported low levels of depression and 89.9% reported low levels of anxiety. The mean anxious attachment score was 2.74 (SD = 1.37) and the mean avoidant attachment score was 2.95 (SD = 1.26). Four mediation analyses were run using PROCESS macro for IBM SPSS (version 26). Statistical models showed that the relationships between attachment anxiety and psychological distress were mediated by caregiver burden [abanxiety= 0.15, 95% C.I. (0.04, 0.29); abdepression = 0.15, 95% C.I. (0.05, 0.28)] and that attachment avoidance was not a significant covariate (cvanxiety = −0.02, p>0.05; cvdepression = 0.40, p>0.05). The relationships between attachment avoidance and psychological distress were also mediated by caregiver burden [abanxiety = 0.23, 95% C.I. (0.10, 0.42); abdepression = 0.21, 95% C.I. (0.09, 0.37]with attachment anxiety as a significant covariate (cvanxiety = 1.09, p<0.001; cvdepression = 1.09, p<0.001). Interventions for caregivers reporting attachment insecurity and burden should be explored to potentially lessen caregiver distress as they support their partners with heart disease.

Dismissing Attachment and Global and Daily Indicators of Subjective Well-Being: An Experience Sampling Approach

The present research examined whether a dismissing attachment style (i.e., being high in attachment avoidance and low in attachment anxiety) is a risk factor for low subjective well-being (SWB). Specifically, we examined the associations between dismissing attachment and two indicators of SWB: global life satisfaction and daily affect. Self-reports of attachment and overall life satisfaction were collected from 257 adults at an initial lab session. Afterward, experience sampling methodology was used to gather repeated measures of positive and negative affect, as well as social context, from the sample for 8 days. Our findings indicate that, on average, dismissing people reported fairly modest levels of overall life satisfaction. Moreover, they experienced relatively low levels of both negative affect and positive affect across the 8-day study period. Overall, our results suggest that dismissing people have a "muted" or dull emotional life.

Adolescents' attachment, quality of relationships with residential caregivers, and emotion regulation

INTRODUCTION

Adolescents in residential care are more likely to report insecure and especially disorganized attachments, which lead to difficulties in emotion regulation and compromise the quality of their interpersonal relationships. In residential care, it is expected that sensitive and responsive caregivers are able to help adolescents regulate their feelings of distress, enabling them to experience a sense of emotional security. The present study sought to analyze the effects of the quality of attachment on emotion regulation and to test the moderating effect of quality of relationship (from adolescents' and caregivers' perspectives) on this association.

METHODS

The sample involved 306 adolescents, 12-18 years of age, living in residential care and 70 caregivers.

RESULTS

The findings underscored the importance of the quality of the relationship with residential caregivers on adolescents' emotion regulation competencies over time. The results also showed that the quality of relationship (emotional closeness) as perceived by the caregivers moderated the association between adolescents' attachment avoidance levels and their emotion regulation strategies.

CONCLUSIONS

The results are discussed according to attachment theory, and underscore the role the relationship with caregivers plays in the affective reorganization of adolescents living in residential care.

Enhancing the "broaden-and-build" cycle of attachment security as a means of overcoming prejudice, discrimination, and racism

Attachment theory emphasizes both the importance of supportive relationship partners, beginning in infancy, for developing a sense of security, and the adaptive benefits of this sense. In this article, we consider bolstering the sense of attachment security as a means of reducing and overcoming prejudice, discrimination, and racism. We review basic concepts of attachment theory, focusing on what we call the broaden-and-build cycle of attachment security. We review studies showing that the sense of attachment security is associated with reduced prejudice and less discriminatory attitudes and behavior toward people outside one's own social or racial group. Finally, we propose theoretical ideas and research suggesting that attachment security can protect against the adverse psychological effects of others' acts of prejudice and discrimination toward oneself. We conclude that, despite large gaps in the research literature, attachment theory is a useful conceptual framework for understanding and combatting prejudice, discrimination, and racism.

Parent-child bonding and attachment during pregnancy and early childhood following congenital heart disease diagnosis

Diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart disease (CHD) can present challenges to the developing parent-child relationship due to periods of infant hospitalization and intensive medical care, parent-infant separations, child neurodevelopmental delay and feeding problems, and significant parent and child distress and trauma. Yet, the ways in which CHD may affect the parent-child relationship are not well-understood. We systematically reviewed the evidence on parental bonding, parent-child interaction, and child attachment following CHD diagnosis, according to a pre-registered protocol (CRD42019135687). Six electronic databases were searched for English-language studies comparing a cardiac sample (i.e., expectant parents or parents and their child aged 0-5 years with CHD) with a healthy comparison group on relational outcomes. Of 22 unique studies, most used parent-report measures (73%) and yielded mixed results for parental bonding and parent-child interaction quality. Observational results also varied, although most studies (4 of 6) found difficulties in parent-child interaction on one or more affective or behavioural domains (e.g., lower maternal sensitivity, lower infant responsiveness). Research on parental-fetal bonding, father-child relationships, and child attachment behaviour was lacking. Stronger evidence is needed to determine the nature, prevalence, and predictors of relational disruptions following CHD diagnosis, and to inform targeted screening, prevention, and early intervention programs for at-risk dyads.

Coping with Stress Among Israeli-Palestinian High School Students: The Role of Self-Control, Religiosity, and Attachment Pattern

Israeli-Palestinian adolescents living in Israel may have a unique set of stressors, given the societal tension between Israeli and Palestinian practices that may influence youths' identities (e.g., modernization, gender roles). However, little research has examined risk factors that may undermine one's ability to cope with stress effectively within this population. Thus, the current study examined the role of religiosity, self-control skills and emotional attachment style as risk factors for less effective (more passive, fewer active strategies) coping with stressful situations. Participants (n  = 487) were recruited from seven junior high schools located in the Northern Triangle region of Israel. Consistent with hypotheses, poorer self-control skills, and anxious and avoidant emotional attachment style were each associated with a greater likelihood to engage in passive coping skills. In addition to positive correlation between religiosity and active coping skills in response to stressful situations, these findings parallel prior studies that have examined broader demographic samples, suggesting the cross-cultural relevance of these risk factors for effective coping with stress.

Coping strategies among adults with ADHD: The mediational role of attachment relationship patterns

BACKGROUND

For adults with attention/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), research is scarce on their coping with stress (despite studies demonstrating other self-regulation deficits) and their attachment patterns (despite rare research in younger persons with ADHD showing high vulnerability to insecure attachments). Attachment was linked with coping and self-regulation in general populations but not yet in ADHD. This study explored the possible mediational role of attachment patterns in explaining associations between adults' ADHD symptoms and dysregulated coping.

METHODS

Participants comprised 62 adults (32 females, 30 males) ages 21-40 years (M = 27.60, SD = 4.80) in two groups: 31 adults with formally diagnosed ADHD and 31 demographically matched adults without ADHD. Instruments included computerized neuropsychological tests (sustained/executive attention) and self-reports (ADHD, coping, attachment).

RESULTS

Disorder status was verified via ADHD-symptom self-reports and computerized testing. Preliminary analyses revealed significant intergroup differences on coping strategies and attachment. PROCESS analyses (Hayes, 2013) pinpointed attachment measures' mediating role (especially attachment anxiety) regarding ADHD's association with coping.

CONCLUSIONS

Significantly more maladaptive attachment and coping outcomes emerged for adults with ADHD than controls. Attachment insecurity's role in mediating ADHD's association with coping was partially supported. Possible unique adaptive value of attachment relationships was discussed for coping with stressors in adulthood with ADHD.

Attached at the lips: The influence of romantic kissing motives and romantic attachment styles on relationship satisfaction

Although romantic kissing is an important part of relationship functioning, little research has focused on motives for romantic kissing and how they may relate to other aspects of romantic relationships. To understand how romantic kissing impacts romantic relationship functioning, the current study assessed the relationship between romantic attachment, romantic kissing motives, and relationship satisfaction. Overall, it was hypothesized that (a) those reporting more sexual/explicit kissing motives and fewer goal attainment/insecurity motives would report higher relationship satisfaction, (b) those reporting a more secure attachment style would report higher relationship satisfaction, and (c) the relationship between romantic kissing motives and relationship satisfaction would vary according to one’s romantic attachment styles. Results from a hierarchical linear regression with 286 adults, all of whom were currently in romantic relationships, revealed that sexual/relational (β = 0.25) and goal attainment/insecurity kissing motives (β = -0.35) predicted relationship satisfaction. However, the impact of kissing motives on relationship satisfaction varied according to one’s romantic attachment. Specifically, the influence of sexual/relational motives was only significant for avoidantly attached individuals, whereas the influence of goal attainment/insecurity motives was significant for avoidantly and anxiously attachment individuals. Overall, this suggests that sexual/explicit romantic kissing motives serve to enhance the relationships of insecurely attached individuals, but not securely attached individuals. Furthermore, goal attainment/insecure motives had a negative effect on the relationship satisfaction of insecurely attached individuals, but not securely attached individuals. This study has important implications for both practitioners working with romantic couples and researchers studying romantic relationships.

Attachment reorganization following divorce: normative processes and individual differences

This paper uses attachment theory as a lens for reviewing contemporary research on how adults cope with marital separation and loss. The first section of the paper discusses the process of normative attachment reorganization, or the psychology of adaptive grief responses following relationship transitions. We argue that changes two processes, in particular, can be uses to track changes in this normative reorganization process: narrative coherence and self-concept clarity. The second section of the paper suggest that individual differences in attachment anxiety and avoidance shape the variability in this normative reorganization process, largely as a result of the characteristic ways in which these styles organize emotion-regulatory tendencies. The paper closes with a series of integrative questions for future research, including a call for new studies aimed at understanding under what contexts anxiety and avoidance may be adaptive in promoting emotion recovery to separation and divorce experiences.

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.

Attachment orientations and emotion regulation

According to attachment theory, individual differences in the availability and responsiveness of close relationship partners, beginning in infancy, and the resulting formation of fairly stable attachment orientations are crucial for understanding the ways people experience and regulate emotions. In this article, we review what has been learned during the last decade about attachment-related individual differences in emotion regulation. We begin with a brief account of the hypothesized links between different forms of attachment insecurity (anxiety, avoidance) and strategies people use in regulating distress and coping with threatening events. We then review findings from correlational and experimental studies showing that individual differences in attachment orientation are reflected in cognitive, behavioral, and neural patterns of emotion regulation.

Risk and Resilience Factors Related to Parental Bereavement Following the Death of a Child with a Life-Limiting Condition

This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on risk and resilience factors impacting on parental bereavement outcomes following the death of a child with a life-limiting condition. Over the past few decades, bereavement research has focussed primarily on a risk-based approach. In light of advances in the literature on resilience, the authors propose a Risk and Resilience Model of Parental Bereavement, thus endeavouring to give more holistic consideration to a range of potential influences on parental bereavement outcomes. The literature will be reviewed with regard to the role of: (i) loss-oriented stressors (e.g., circumstances surrounding the death and multiple losses); (ii) inter-personal factors (e.g., marital factors, social support, and religious practices); (iii) intra-personal factors (e.g., neuroticism, trait optimism, psychological flexibility, attachment style, and gender); and (iv) coping and appraisal, on parental bereavement outcomes. Challenges facing this area of research are discussed, and research and clinical implications considered.

Subjective happiness among mothers of children with disabilities: The role of stress, attachment, guilt and social support

BACKGROUND

Parenting a child with disabilities might affect the happiness of the mothers. Hence we adapted Wallander, Varni, Babani, Banis, and Wilcox's (1989) disability-stress-coping model to examine the impact of risk factors (specific stressors related to the child's disability) on the mother's adaptation (happiness). Intrapersonal factors (attachment) and social-ecological factors (social support) were hypothesized to predict adaptation. Both constitute 'risk-resistant' factors, which are mediated by the mother's perceived general stress and guilt.

METHOD

191 mothers of a child with a developmental disability (ages 3-7) answered questionnaires on happiness, specific and general stress, attachment, guilt and social support.

RESULTS

Attachment avoidance was directly and negatively associated with mothers' happiness. General stress was negatively associated with happiness, and mediated the association between anxious attachment, support, and specific stress with happiness. Guilt was negatively associated with happiness, and served as a mediator between attachment anxiety and support and happiness.

CONCLUSION

The findings of the current research show direct and indirect associations of risk factors with happiness and the role of general stress and feelings of guilt as mediators.

IMPLICATIONS

This study stresses the importance of attachment and social support to happiness and sheds light on the unique role of guilt in promoting or inhibiting happiness.

Attachment Style and Subjective Motivations for Sex

The relation of attachment style to subjective motivations for sex was investigated in an Internet survey of 1999 respondents. The relations of attachment anxiety and avoidance to overall sexual motivation and to the specific motives for emotional closeness, reassurance, self-esteem enhancement, stress reduction, partner manipulation, protection from partner’s negative affect and behavior, power exertion, physical pleasure, nurturing one’s partner, and procreation were explored. As predicted, attachment anxiety was positively related to overall sexual motivation and to all specific motives for sex, with the exception of physical pleasure. Avoidance was negatively related to emotional closeness and reassurance as goals of sex and positively related to manipulative use of sex but minimally related to most other motives. Sexual passion was positively related to attachment anxiety and negatively related to avoidance, and anxiety was related to the maintenance of passion over time, whereas avoidance was related to loss of passion over time.

Thinking of attachments reduces noradrenergic stress response

Although there is much evidence that activating mental representations of attachments figure is beneficial for psychological health and can reduce stress response, no research has directly investigated whether attachment activation can ameliorate hormonal stress response. This study investigated whether activating an attachment figure or a non-attachment figure following administration of a socially evaluated cold pressor test to elicit stress impacted on glucocorticoid and noradrenergic response. Participants (N = 61) provided baseline salivary samples, underwent a cold pressor test, then imagined an attachment or non-attachment figure, and finally provided subsequent saliva samples. Participants who imagined a non-attachment figure had greater noradrenergic response following the stressor than those who imagined an attachment figure. These findings highlight that activating attachment representations can ameliorate the immediate noradrenergic stress response.

Parents' self-reported attachment styles: a review of links with parenting behaviors, emotions, and cognitions

For decades, attachment scholars have been investigating how parents' adult attachment orientations relate to the ways in which they parent. Traditionally, this research has been conducted by developmental and clinical psychologists who typically employ the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) to measure adult attachment. However, dating back to the mid-1990s, social and personality psychologists have been investigating how self-reported adult attachment styles relate to various facets of parenting. The literature on self-reported attachment and parenting has received less attention than AAI research on the same topic and, to date, there is no comprehensive review of this literature. In this article, we review more than 60 studies of the links between self-reported attachment styles and parenting, integrate the findings to reach general conclusions, discuss unresolved questions, and suggest future directions. Finally, we discuss the potential benefits to the study of parenting of collaborations among researchers from the developmental and social attachment research traditions.

Development of a measure for maternal confidence in knowledge and understanding and examination of psychosocial influences at the time of a child's heart surgery

PURPOSE

The purpose was to develop a maternal confidence in knowledge and understanding scale (Maternal Knowledge and Understanding Scale [MKUS]) and examine the effect of psychosocial factors at the time of a child's heart surgery.

DESIGN AND METHODS

Using cross-sectional design, the MKUS was developed and tested. Validated instruments were used to examine the impact of psychosocial factors.

RESULTS

The MKUS showed acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha .78). Higher levels of maternal anxiety and lower levels of social support were associated with lower MKUS scores (p < .05).

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

A measure of maternal confidence in knowledge and understanding could draw attention to psychosocial factors and opportunities to enhance nursing support.

Influence of employees' attachment styles on their life satisfaction as mediated by job satisfaction and burnout

The aim of this study was to obtain better insight into the associations between attachment styles and employees' life satisfaction. This was achieved by examining the mediating roles of burnout and job satisfaction. Three hundred and thirty-nine employees, from a convenience community sample, participated in the current study. Results of the mediation model indicated that the associations between avoidance and life satisfaction were mediated by burnout and job satisfaction. However, the associations between attachment anxiety and life satisfaction were mediated by burnout but not by job satisfaction. Theoretical and practical implications for organizations and for attachment theory at work are discussed.

Understanding parental behavior in pediatric palliative care: Attachment theory as a paradigm

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this conceptual paper was to present important constructs in attachment theory as they apply to parent and caregiver behavior in pediatric palliative care. Clarification of these constructs is provided with specific reference to their clinical application as well as their reflection in current empirical literature. Social attachment theory is proposed as a developmentally contextual model for the study of parenting in pediatric palliative and end-of-life care.

METHOD

A comprehensive search was conducted of pertinent literatures. These included classic as well as recent theory and research in attachment theory in addition to the empirical literatures on parent and family experience in pediatric palliative care, serious illness, and beyond to parental bereavement. Other relevant literature was examined with respect to the phenomena of concern.

RESULTS

The empirical literature in pediatric palliative care supports the use of central concepts in attachment theory as foundational for further inquiry. This is evidenced in the emphasis on the importance of parental protection of the child, as well as executive activities such as decision making and other prominent parental operations, parental psychological resolution of the child's diagnosis and illness as well as coping and meaning making, and the core significance of parental relationships with providers who provide secure-base and safe-haven functions.

SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS

The promise for developing integrated, conceptually based interventions from construction through implementation is of urgent importance to children and families receiving pediatric palliative care services. Focusing on key parental behaviors and processes within the context of a well-studied and contextually appropriate model will inform this task efficiently. The attachment paradigm meets these criteria and has promise in allowing us to move forward in developing well-defined, inclusive, and conceptually grounded protocols for child and family psychosocial research, practice, and education in this specialty.

Caregiving spouses' attachment orientations and the physical and psychological health of individuals with Alzheimer's disease

OBJECTIVE

Attachment theory is a useful framework for understanding how caregiving dyads regulate emotions and maintain feelings of security in reaction to a loved one's chronic illness. In this study we examined the extent to which the attachment orientations (anxiety and avoidance) of persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and their spousal caregivers were associated with each partner's report of the physical and psychological health symptoms of the person with AD.

METHOD

Fifty-eight individuals with AD and their spousal caregivers each completed a 12-item self-report measure of trait attachment orientation and rated the physical and psychological health symptoms of the person with AD over the past two weeks. Data from the persons with AD were used after determining that they were able to provide reliable responses.

RESULTS

As predicted, individuals with AD who were high in anxious attachment self-reported more physical and psychological symptoms, particularly when their caregivers were high in anxious attachment. Also, caregivers perceived more physical symptoms in individuals with AD who were high in avoidant attachment.

CONCLUSION

This study highlights the importance of considering the attachment security of both caregivers and persons with AD when considering how each partner views the psychological and physical health symptoms of the person with AD. Our results have implications for providing care-recipients and caregivers with improved, tailored care.

Quick, simple measures of family relationships for use in clinical practice and research. A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Family functioning has been implicated in the onset of child and adult psychopathology. Various measures exist for assessing constructs in the areas of parent-child relationships, parental practices and discipline, parental beliefs, marital quality, global family functioning and situation-specific measures.

OBJECTIVES

To identify systematically all questionnaire measures of family functioning appropriate for use in primary care and research.

METHODS

A systematic literature review was conducted, following PRISMA guidelines and searching 14 bibliographic databases using pre-determined filters, to identify family functioning measures suitable for use in families with children from 0 to 3 years old.

RESULTS

One hundred and seven measures of family functioning were reported and tabulated and the most commonly used measures were identified.

CONCLUSIONS

There are numerous measures available demonstrating characteristics, which make them suitable for continued use. Future research is needed to examine the more holistic measurement of family functioning using integration of multi-informant data.

Contributions of Maternal Adult Attachment to Socialization of Coping

This research examined whether maternal adult attachment predicted the coping suggestions mothers made to their children. A sample of 157 youth (M age = 12.42, SD = 1.20) and their maternal caregivers completed semi-structured interviews and questionnaires in a two-wave longitudinal study. Results revealed that maternal insecure attachment predicted fewer engagement coping suggestions (orienting toward stress) and heightened disengagement coping suggestions (avoiding or denying stress) both concurrently and over time. These associations were found after adjusting for other relevant characteristics of the child, mother, and family context. This study contributes to our understanding of the implications of adult attachment for parenting behavior, suggesting that insecure attachment undermines a parent's ability to provide adaptive coping guidance to their children.

Attachment, Marital Satisfaction, and Divorce During the First Fifteen Years of Parenthood

This study examines two overlapping longitudinal samples of U.S. couples with children, covering a period of 15 years after the first child's birth. The first sample extended from the pregnancy with a first child until that child was 5.5 years old; the second from ages 4.5 to 14.5. Growth curve analyses revealed that marital satisfaction declined over 15 years for both husbands and wives. Attachment security measured in the second sample was associated with greater marital satisfaction, but did not buffer against declines in marital satisfaction over time. Husbands' lower initial level of marital satisfaction measured around the first child's transition to school was the only significant predictor of marital dissolution. The discussion emphasizes theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Avoiding interference: adult attachment and emotional processing biases

The present study investigated attachment-related differences in emotional processing biases. Consistent with the proposal that avoidant individuals limit attention to potentially distressing information, attachment avoidance was associated with reductions in emotional Stroop (ES) interference for attachment-related words (e.g., intimate, loss). These biases were strongest among individuals who were currently in a romantic relationship, suggesting that being in a close relationship may activate avoidant defensive strategies. In addition, avoidant attentional biases were attenuated under cognitive load, suggesting that inhibiting attention to attachment-related information requires cognitive effort. Finally, avoidance was unrelated to ES performance for emotional, nonattachment-related words, demonstrating the specificity of these attentional biases. The present findings suggest that avoidant individuals can inhibit attention to potentially threatening information, that this ability requires cognitive effort, and that relationship status may be an important moderator of avoidant defensive strategies. The implications of these strategies for emotional functioning and well-being are discussed.

Adult attachment style and parental responsiveness during a stressful event

Despite widespread use of self-report measures of adult attachment, relatively little research has explored the predictive utility of these measures in the domain of parent-child relationships. The present study examined the association between self-reported attachment style and parental responsiveness during a stressful event. Children and their parents were observed while children received an inoculation at a county immunization clinic. Children's reactions to the inoculation were rated and parents' responsiveness was assessed with the Emotional Availability Scales (EAS). Results revealed that children of parents scoring high on self-reported attachment avoidance were more distressed during the inoculation than children of parents scoring low on avoidance. Moreover, parents high on avoidance were less responsive when children were highly distressed, whereas this pattern was reversed among parents scoring low on avoidance. Finally, the influence of adult attachment on parental behavior and children's distress was found to be independent of children's temperament and parental personality. These findings suggest that self-report adult attachment measures may be useful in the domain of parent-child relationships.

Attachment-Related Strategies During Thought Suppression: Ironic Rebounds and Vulnerable Self-Representations

The authors conducted 2 studies of attachment-related variations in thought suppression. Participants were asked, or not asked, to suppress thoughts about a relationship breakup and then to perform a Stroop task under high or low cognitive load. The dependent variables were the rebound, of previously suppressed separation-related thoughts (Study 1) and the accessibility of self-traits (Study 2). Under low cognitive load, avoidant individuals did not show any rebound of separation-related thoughts and activated positive self-representations. Under high cognitive load, avoidant participants failed to suppress thoughts of separation and were more likely to activate negative self-representations. Attachment anxiety was associated with high activation of negative self-representations and unremitting separation-related thoughts. The results are discussed in terms of the hidden vulnerabilities of avoidant individuals.

Attachment and exploration in adulthood

In the present work, the relationship between attachment and exploration in adulthood is examined from both theoretical and empirical standpoints. Theoretically, attachment theory's exploration system is linked to R. W. White's (1959) concept of effectance motivation, and to the motive and goals constructs that are central to the achievement motivation literature. Empirically, 4 studies are presented that document a link between adult attachment (operationalized using categorical, continuous, and dimensional measures) and achievement motives (need for achievement and fear of failure) and achievement goals (mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, performance-avoidance, and approach relative to avoidance personal strivings). Mediational analyses establish the role of challenge construal, threat construal, and competence valuation in accounting for the observed relationships.

Attachment-related psychodynamics

Because there has been relatively little communication and cross-fertilization between the two major lines of research on adult attachment, one based on coded narrative assessments of defensive processes, the other on simple self-reports of 'attachment style' in close relationships, we here explain and review recent work based on a combination of self-report and other kinds of method, including behavioral observations and unconscious priming techniques. The review indicates that considerable progress has been made in testing central hypotheses derived from attachment theory and in exploring unconscious, psychodynamic processes related to affect-regulation and attachment-system activation. The combination of self-report assessment of attachment style and experimental manipulation of other theoretically pertinent variables allows researchers to test causal hypotheses. We present a model of normative and individual-difference processes related to attachment and identify areas in which further research is needed and likely to be successful. One long-range goal is to create a more complete theory of personality built on attachment theory and other object relations theories.