Instability of infant–parent attachment security.

Data from 2 separate projects were examined to address the stability of infant–parent attachment security. Both included infant–mother attachment classifications at 12 and 18 mo of age (n?=?125, n?=?90), and 1 included infant–father classifications at 13 and 20 mo (n?=?120). Significant stability was not discerned in attachment security, either at the level of ABC or secure–insecure classifications. Rates of stability ranged from 46–55%. Results are discussed in terms of the select nature of the samples studied (all sons in 1, some depressed mothers in the other), the fact that past estimates of stability are based on small samples, the potential influence that coding for disorganized behavior may have on how Strange Situations are classified, and the changing ecology of infancy over the past 10–15 years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Security of attachment and stranger sociability in infancy.

Examined the relationship between stranger sociability and the security of the infant–mother attachment relationship in 43 infants observed at 12? mo and again at 19? mo of age. The sociability measure was a sequential-initiatives procedure and was followed by the Ainsworth Strange Situation (ASS). Reaction in the ASS allowed Ss to be classified as securely attached (B), avoidant (A), or resistant (C). Subgroups within these classifications reflect variation in reunion behaviors. At both ages, Ss in subgroups B? and B? had the highest sociability scores, whereas A? and C? Ss had the lowest. Analysis of the relationship between stranger sociability and interactive behaviors in the ASS revealed the centrality of a distal interactive mode in both contexts. Because of a high incidence of family change, only 53% of Ss had the same overall attachment classification at both ages. Sociability scores at 12? and 19? mo were highly correlated when attachment status was temporally consistent. Absolute changes in sociability scores reflected a similar pattern of results. Cross-lagged correlational analyses suggested that predictive relationships with the security of attachment are meaningful only when attachment status itself is consistent over time. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contributions of specific cell information to judgments of interevent contingency.

College students considered the possible effect of an experimental drug on a skin rash. The information came from a 2?×?2 contingency table involving receipt or nonreceipt of the drug and improvement or nonimprovement of the rash: Cell A?=?receipt–improvement; Cell B?=?receipt–nonimprovement; Cell C?=?nonreceipt–improvement; Cell D?=?nonreceipt–nonimprovement. Without numerical information, Ss judged cells to be ordered A?>?B?>?C?>?D. The same order held when the contribution of each cell was derived from the contingency judgments of other Ss given numerical information. No such consistency was seen when one group of Ss made both judgments; whether individual Ss equally or unequally assessed the importance of the four cells, their contingency estimates showed cell use to be ordered A?>?B?>?C?>?D. These findings may result from strong biases that Ss harbor in processing contingency information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Risk factors in infant-mother attachment.

In Exp I, 56 preterm Ss born at less than 1,500 g were assessed at 6 wks; at 3, 6, and 9 mo; and at 1 yr for avoidant, secure, and ambivalent attachment patterns. In Exp II, 109 Ss (aged 2–4.5 yrs) with delayed development due to Down's syndrome, diagnosed neurological disorders, and undiagnosed disorders were assessed in a strange-situation setting. In Exp III, 15 Ss with cystic fibrosis and 15 normal Ss (aged 12–18 mo) were assessed for attachment patterns. Data indicate that none of the medical problems had a significant impact on the child–mother relationship. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infant-adult attachments on the kibbutz and their relation to socioemotional development 4 years later.

Studied the predictive validity of Stange Situation classifications among infants raised on kibbutzim in Israel. C-type (resistant) attachments are frequently found on Israeli kibbutzim, but the long-term correlates of this "insecure" pattern have not been identified. 59 Ss, whose attachments to parents and metaplot were assessed at age 11–14 mo, were seen again when they were 5 yrs old to assess socioemotional development. Ss who had B-type attachments to their metaplot were later less ego controlled and more empathic, dominant, purposive, achievement-oriented, and independent than C-group Ss. Group differences were in the direction predicted on the basis of prior research on the correlates of infant–mother attachment. Measures of socioemotional development reflected Ss' behavior at the kibbutz but not at home or with parents. This may explain the relatively strong predictive power of attachment status with metapelet as opposed to attachment status with parents. Results may underscore the central importance of the careprovider as a key figure in the early social life of kibbutzim. Findings raise questions regarding developmental significance of attachment relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Post-partum employment patterns, family-based care arrangements, and the mother–infant relationship at age two.

This longitudinal study examined the relations of postpartum maternal employment profiles with infant–mother attachment security, maternal sensitivity, and concurrent child and maternal characteristics in Canada. Ss were 57 mothers (aged 21–37) and their 23–27 mo-old children. Contrary to expectations, dyads where mothers returned to outside work after 6 mo postpartum showed higher Q-sort scores on attachment security than other dyads, and higher sensitivity scores than dyads in which women were not employed outside the home in the 1st 2 yrs. Post 6-mo returners also reported less child domain parental stress, less avoidant coping, and less child externalizing behavior problems than other mothers. Results emphasize the importance of a process-oriented approach to understanding early relationships in a family context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peers as primary attachment sources in yearling rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).

Peer bonds were examined in 2 experiments using juvenile rhesus monkeys to determine (1) whether specific attachment bonds are formed between age-mates, (2) whether preferred age-mates can provide a secure base, and (3) whether a previous attachment bond affects the quality of subsequent attachment bonds. In Exp 1, 8 peer-only reared (POR) monkeys demonstrated a specific preference for a predicted favorite peer when given a choice between a familiar and 2 unfamiliar peers. In Exp 2, POR Ss were placed in a novel setting with either their most preferred peer, a familiar but not preferred peer, or an unfamiliar peer, and their responses were compared with those of a 2nd group of monkeys, reared for their 1st 6 mo of life by their mother. Both mother-reared (MP) and POR monkeys displayed significantly more intimate contact and significantly less distress when with their most preferred peer; nevertheless, even when they were with their most preferred peer, POR Ss exhibited more distress than MP Ss. Findings are discussed with reference to current attachment theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The long term efficacy of glycyrrhizin in chronic hepatitis C patients

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) occurs in patients with hepatitis C virus-RNA positive chronic liver disease. It is important to prevent HCC with drug administration. METHODS: A retrospective study was undertaken to evaluate the long term preventive effect of Stronger Neo-Minophagen C (SNMC) on HCC development. SNMC is a Japanese medicine that is commonly administered to patients with chronic hepatitis C to improve the serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level. Of 453 patients diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C retrospectively in the study hospital between January 1979 and April 1984, 84 patients (Group A) had been treated with SNMC; SNMC was given at a dose of 100 mL daily for 8 weeks, then 2-7 times a week for 2-16 years (median, 10.1 years). Another group of 109 patients (Group B) could not be treated with SNMC or interferon for a long period of time (median, 9.2 years) and were given other herbal medicine (such as vitamin K). The patients were retrospectively monitored, and the cumulative incidence of HCC and risk factors for HCC were examined. RESULTS: The 10th-year rates of cumulative HCC incidence for Groups A and B were 7% and 12%, respectively, and the 15th-year rates were 12% and 25%. By Cox regression analysis, the relative risk of HCC incidence in patients not treated with SNMC (Group B) was 2.49 compared with that of patients treated with SNMC (Group A). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, long term administration of SNMC in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C was effective in preventing liver carcinogenesis.     

Mothers' attachment status as determined by the Adult Attachment Interview predicts their 6-year-olds' reunion responses: A study conducted in Japan.

Following a 1986 study reporting a predominance of ambivalent attachment among insecure Sapporo infants, the generalizability of attachment theory and methodologies to Japanese samples has been questioned. In this 2nd study of Sapporo mother-child dyads (N=43), the authors examined attachment distributions for both (a) child, based on M. Main and J. Cassidy's (1988) 6th-year reunion, and (b) adult, via the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). In contrast to the previous Sapporo study, children's 3-way or "organized" distribution did not differ from the global distribution. However, when the disorganized-controlling (D) and cannot classify (CC) categories were applied to the analyses, a high proportion of D/CC children was found. Comparable analyses for Japanese mothers, including the unresolved/disorganized (U) and CC categories, were found to deviate slightly from the global norm. However, turning from global distributions to mothers' AAI classification as related to their child's reunion classification, all matches were surprisingly close to those established worldwide. When, as is customary, mothers' U and CC classifications were combined (U/CC) and compared with the child's D and CC classifications (also customarily combined as D/CC), mothers' U/CC status strongly predicted child D/CC status (r=.60, d=1.50). Additionally, mothers' AAI subclassifications predicted child subclassifications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Passive-avoidance conditioning in inbred mice: Effects of shock intensity, age, and genotype.

Observed the performance of 8 groups (n = 336) of DBA/2J, 8 groups (n = 320) of C57BL/6J, and 4 groups (n = 160) of B6D2F1 mice in passive-avoidance conditioning under conditions of distributed practice. Ss' age and the footshock intensity were varied systematically. DBA/2J Ss performed best when they were 5-mo-old and the footshock level was at least 1 ma. C57BL/6J Ss performed very poorly under these conditions. The best performance by C57BL/6J Ss was observed at .1-ma footshock. The performance of B6D2F1 Ss was almost identical to that of the C57BL/6J parental type. Footshock intensity was the major determinant of the performance of DBA/2J Ss, while footshock intensity and age were major determinants of the performance of C57BL/6J and B6D2F1 mice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preschoolers' attention to and memory for attachment-relevant information

This study examined the relation between attachment quality in infancy and attention and memory at 3 1/2 years. Sixty-eight children participated in 2 attention tasks and 1 memory task. In the first attention task, children were shown several sets of drawings; each set depicted a different mother-child dyad engaged in positive, negative, and neutral interaction. Insecure/avoidant children looked away from the drawings more than the other children. In the second attention task, children were shown different sets of drawings; each set depicted a mother-child dyad engaged in positive interaction and an adult dyad expressing neutral affect. Insecure/avoidant and insecure/ambivalent children looked away from the mother-child drawings more than the secure children; when children did look at a drawing, insecure children were less likely than secure children to look at the mother-child drawing. In the memory task, children were read 6 stories in which a mother responds to her child's bid for help. In 2 stories the mother responds sensitively to her child, in 2 stories the mother rejects her child, and in 2 stories the mother provides an exaggerated response to her child. Secure children recalled the responsive stories better than insecure/avoidant children and the rejecting stories better than the insecure/ambivalent children. Findings are discussed in terms of the proposition from attachment theory that attachment experiences influence attention and memory processes.     

Child-care and family predictors of preschool attachment and stability from infancy.

This study used multinomial logistic regression to examine relationships between child-care experience (in the context of overall family functioning) and preschool attachment. Attachment behavior was assessed at 36 months with the Strange Situation, and A, B, C, and D attachment classifications were assigned using the MacArthur coding system. Maternal sensitivity was the strongest predictor of preschool attachment classification. With respect to child-care effects, as at 15 months, no child-care factors (quantity, quality, or type) predicted, in and of themselves, attachment security at 36 months. However, 1 of 3 interactions involving child care that were detected at 15 months reemerged at 36 months: When maternal sensitivity was low, more hours per week in care somewhat increased the risk of the insecure-ambivalent (C) classification. There was significant but modest stability of attachment classifications from 15 to 36 months, especially for children with A and C classifications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of hepatic cytochrome P450 protein expression between infancy and postinfancy

We immunochemically measured the contents of 9 different cytochrome P450 (CYP) isoenzymes expressed in the liver and compared them between two groups: one group of 6 infant and 4 perinatal patients and one group of 10 patients after infancy (over 1 year old). CYP protein expressed in human liver can be divided into three groups on the basis of expression pattern: (a) CYP2A6, 2C9, 2D6, 2E1, and 3A were present in all samples and no difference was observed between the two groups; (b) CYP1A2, 2B6, and 2C8 were expressed more after infancy than during infancy; and (c) CYP3A7, which has been considered a major CYP enzyme in fetal liver microsomes, was expressed in all infants as well as the four perinatal patients, whereas it was detected in only 2 patients after infancy. These results implied that CYP2A6, 2C9, 2D6, 2E1, and 3A are already expressed during perinatal and infant period, while CYP1A2, 2B6, and 2C8 are expressed highly in subjects over 1 year old, and CYP3A7 disappeared after infancy.     

Extinction of response to urine odor as a consequence of vomeronasal organ removal in male guinea pigs.

The present authors (see record 1983-12216-001) previously showed that, over time, removal of the vomeronasal chemoreceptor organ (VNO) in male guinea pigs disrupted investigatory responses to conspecific odors. The present study, with 24 Ss, investigated whether this result reflected sequelae to surgical trauma or an extinction of the response due to lack of reinforcement. The VNO was surgically removed in 2 groups of Ss (A and B), and a 3rd group (C) experienced sham surgery. Beginning 3 wks following surgery, Ss in Groups A and C were given 2 standard urine-response tests/week for 24 wks. Initiation of testing of Group B Ss was delayed until Week 15 following surgery. Results indicate that (a) responses of Group A declined relative to those of Group C; (b) at the 1st postsurgical test, Group B was as responsive to urine as Group C and much more responsive than Group A; and (c) a decline in responses for Group B occurred during tests after Week 15. Data strongly support the extinction hypothesis. It is concluded that although the main olfactory system is capable of eliciting a high level of investigatory behavior in response to female urine odors, this response wanes in the absence of the VNO, perhaps due to a loss of reinforcing properties associated with VNO stimulation. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment of an information integration account of contingency judgment with examination of subjective cell importance and method of information presentation.

Two experiments used a rich and systematic set of noncontingent problems to examine humans' ability to detect the absence of an inter-event relation. Each found that Ss who used nonnormative strategies were quite inaccurate in judging some types of noncontingent problems. Group data indicate that Ss used the 2?×?2 information in the order Cell A?>?Cell B?>?Cell C?>?Cell D; individual data indicate that Ss considered the information in Cell A to be most important, that in Cell D to be least important, and that in Cells B and C to be of intermediate importance. Trial-by-trial presentation led to less accurate contingency judgments and to more uneven use of 2?×?2 cell information than did summary-table presentation. Finally, the judgment processes of about 70% and 80%, respectively, of nonnormative strategy users under trial-by-trial and summary-table procedures could be accounted for by an averaging model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Patterns in the infant's search for mother during brief separation.

Examined 36 9-mo-old infants' responses to the problem of searching for mother in a laboratory study. On a 1st trial, each S observed mother move out of sight through 1 of 2 open doorways; on a 2nd trial, experimental (E) group Ss observed their mother depart through the doorway not used before, whereas control (C) group Ss observed their mother depart through the same doorway used on Trial 1; and on a 3rd trial, C group Ss observed mothers leave through the doorway not used on the 1st 2 trials. On Trial 1, most infants successfully found mother by crawling to the doorway through which she had disappeared. However, on the trials in which the locus of disappearance was displaced to the other doorway, the majority of Ss failed to find her; that is, they perseverated in their locomotor search by returning to the doorway where she had previously been found. The door toward which the S looked the longest generally predicted the locus of subsequent locomotor search, though there was some evidence that this relation did not hold in the E group on Trial 2. The role of cognition in attachment responses and interpretations of perseverative search in standard object-concept tasks are discussed. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Father, mother, and stranger as elicitors of attachment behaviors in infancy.

Compared fathers with mothers and strangers as elicitors of attachment behaviors in 10 male and 10 female infants from each of 3 age groups (10, 13, and 16 mo). Differential proximity-seeking behavior, distress vocalization, and stranger eye contact from a "secure base" were used to index attachment. Fathers were superior to strangers as elicitors of attachment behaviors but 2nd to mothers at all age levels. When both parents were present, Ss approached mothers twice as often as fathers. Tested with each parent separately, they traveled to the mother in a shorter time than they traveled the same distance to the father and spent more time near the mother. The amount of eye contact with strangers was greater when Ss were near mothers as compared to fathers. Distress vocalization during separation from the parents was one of the few measures which did not discriminate between mothers and fathers. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associations among attachment classifications of mothers, fathers, and their infants

Associations are reported among classifications of Adult Attachment Interviews (AAIs) obtained from expectant parents and subsequent classifications of their infants in the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP). Mothers' AAIs predicted infant-mother SSPs (chi 2 = 41.87, N = 96, df = 9, p < or = .0001), and fathers' AAIs predicted infant-father SSPs (chi 2 = 18.94, N = 90, df = 6, p < or = .005). Associations between parents' AAIs and infant-parent SSPs were lessened by the failure to predict the insecure-resistant pattern with mother and the absence of this pattern with father. Counter to expectation, infant-father SSPs were associated with infant-mother SSPs (chi 2 = 3.78, N = 90, df = 1, p < or = .05), which could not be accounted for in terms of an overlap between parental AAIs. A secondary analysis of the data suggested that this dependency effect of SSPs may be explained by the influence of maternal AAIs upon child-father SSPs. Results are discussed in terms of intergenerational and relationship-specific influences upon attachment during infancy, the possible influence of infant temperament, and the relative influence of mother and father upon the child's evolving representations of attachments within the family.     

Love and work: An attachment-theoretical perspective.

The possibility that love and work in adulthood are functionally similar to attachment and exploration in infancy and early childhood was investigated. Key components of attachment theory were translated into terms appropriate to adult love and work. The translation centered on the 3 major types of infant attachment and exploration identified by M. D. S. Ainsworth et al (1978): secure, anxious/ambivalent, and avoidant. Two questionnaire studies indicated that relations between adult attachment type and work orientation are similar to attachment/exploration dynamics in infancy and early childhood, suggesting that the dynamics may be similar across the life span. Implications for research on the link between love and work are discussed, as are measurement problems and other issues related to future tests of an attachment-theoretical approach to the study of adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal and content variations as determinants of infants' visual control of verbal stimulations.

20 93–119 day old infants were presented with utterances varying in content or temporal structure that were contingent on fixation on a visual target. Treatment A consisted of utterances of equal duration and continually varying content. Treatment B consisted of utterances of slightly variable duration (temporal runs) and continually varying content. Treatment C included utterances organized in temporal runs and was composed of partial content variations (content runs). For Group AB, each A trial alternated with a B trial 4 times. For Group AC, each A trial alternated with a C trial 4 times. Half of the Ss in each group received Treatment A as their 1st trial; half of the Ss in Group AB received Treatment B; and half of the Ss in Group AC received Treatment C as their 1st trial. Group AB Ss showed a longer total fixation time than those of Group AC, with a more homogeneous distribution of number of fixations across treatments. Mean length of fixations was longer for Treatment A than B in Group AB, whereas Group AC showed a longer mean length of fixation for Treatment C relative to Treatment A. Those with Treatment B or C as their 1st trial looked more frequently at the target, and their decrease in looking time over trials showed a linear trend, whereas Ss with Treatment A at first displayed irregular decreases. These differences between groups and presentation orders suggest that 3-mo-old infants are sensitive to differences in linguistic material. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)