Maternal sensitivity to infant distress and nondistress as predictors of infant-mother attachment security.

In considering Bowlby's (1969/1982) conceptualization of attachment as a "biobehavioral safety-regulating system," Goldberg, Grusec, & Jenkins (1999) proposed that maternal sensitivity to infant distress may be particularly relevant to the formation of a secure attachment relationship. Data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care provided a unique opportunity to address this question as maternal sensitivity to nondistress and distress were each coded for 357 mother-infant dyads at 6 months and 230 dyads at 15 months from videotaped observations of mother-infant play sessions. Attachment security was assessed in the Strange Situation at 15 months. Logistic regression analyses indicated that greater sensitivity to distress (but not greater sensitivity to nondistress) at 6 months was associated with increased odds of being classified as secure. The 15-month sensitivity measures were nonsignificant predictors of security. The results support the notion that the protective function of the child-mother attachment relationship may be especially salient during early infancy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal attachment representations, maternal sensitivity, and the infant–mother attachment relationship.

The role of maternal sensitivity as a mediator accounting for the robust association between maternal attachment representations and the quality of the infant-mother attachment relationship was examined. Sixty mother-infant dyads were observed at home and in the Strange Situation at 13 months, and mothers participated in the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) within the next 6 months. A strong association was found between AAI and Strange Situation classifications. and autonomous mothers were more sensitive at home than were nonautonomous mothers. Mothers in secure relationships were more sensitive at home than mothers in nonsecure relationships. Likewise, infants in secure relationships were more secure as assessed by the Waters' Attachment Q sort than infants in nonsecure relationships. A test of the mediational model revealed that maternal sensitivity accounted for 17% of the relation between AAI and Strange Situation classifications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emerging sensitivity to the timing and structure of protoconversation in early infancy.

Thirty-six 2-, 4-, and 6-month-old infants were videotaped while interacting with a female adult stranger engaging in either organized or disorganized 1-min peekaboo games. Two-month-old infants gazed and smiled equally at the stranger, regardless of the relative organization of the peekaboo game. In contrast, 4- and 6-month-old infants smiled significantly more and gazed significantly less in the organized peekaboo condition than in the disorganized peekaboo condition. These results suggest that from a diffuse sensitivity to the presence of a social partner, infants by 4 months develop a new sensitivity to the narrative envelope of protoconversation, in particular the timing and the structure of social exchanges scaffolded by adults. These observations are interpreted as evidence of developing social expectations in the first 6 months of life. This early development is viewed as announcing and preparing the communicative competence that blossoms by the end of the 1st year. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal employment and infant-mother attachment security at 12 months postpartum.

This study assessed the association between aspects of mother's employment and security of infant-mother attachment, in combination with proximal (maternal sensitivity) and distal (demographic, maternal, child, child-care) factors. Participants were 145 Australian mothers and their firstborn children. Attachment security was assessed with the Strange Situation at 12 months. Results showed that mothers' prenatal attitudes to work and timing of the return to work made significant, independent contributions to attachment outcomes over and above the effects of proximal and distal predictors. Mothers who expressed more commitment to work and less anxiety about using nonfamily child care, and who returned to work earlier, were more likely to have secure infants. These findings are considered in relation to contemporary expectations about mothers' participation in paid work and other predictors of secure attachment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

To read or not to read: A meta-analysis of print exposure from infancy to early adulthood.

This research synthesis examines whether the association between print exposure and components of reading grows stronger across development. We meta-analyzed 99 studies (N = 7,669) that focused on leisure time reading of (a) preschoolers and kindergartners, (b) children attending Grades 1–12, and (c) college and university students. For all measures in the outcome domains of reading comprehension and technical reading and spelling, moderate to strong correlations with print exposure were found. The outcomes support an upward spiral of causality: Children who are more proficient in comprehension and technical reading and spelling skills read more; because of more print exposure, their comprehension and technical reading and spelling skills improved more with each year of education. For example, in preschool and kindergarten print exposure explained 12% of the variance in oral language skills, in primary school 13%, in middle school 19%, in high school 30%, and in college and university 34%. Moderate associations of print exposure with academic achievement indicate that frequent readers are more successful students. Interestingly, poor readers also appear to benefit from independent leisure time reading. We conclude that shared book reading to preconventional readers may be part of a continuum of out-of-school reading experiences that facilitate children's language, reading, and spelling achievement throughout their development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal response to childhood aggression and subsequent anti-Semitism.

2 measures of anti-Semitism were obtained from 39 college women. Information concerning maternal handling of their childhood aggression was obtained from their mothers. The results showed that relatively stern maternal discipline toward childhood aggressive behavior was associated with a relatively high level of anti-Semitism in the women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent family experiences and educational attainment during early adulthood.

In this study, the authors investigated the degree to which a family investment model would help account for the association between family of origin socioeconomic characteristics and the later educational attainment of 451 young adults (age 26) from 2-parent families. Parents' educational level, occupational prestige, and family income in 1989 each had a statistically significant direct relationship with youths' educational attainment in 2002. Consistent with the theoretical model guiding the study, parents' educational level and family income also demonstrated statistically significant indirect effects on later educational attainment through their associations with growth trajectories for supportive parenting, sibling relations, and adolescent academic engagement. Supportive parenting and sibling relations were linked to later educational attainment through their association with adolescent academic engagement. Academic engagement during adolescence was associated with educational attainment in young adulthood. These basic processes operated similarly regardless of youths' gender, target youths' age relative to a near-age sibling, gender composition of the sibling dyad, or gender of parent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Change and consistency in social participation during early adulthood.

Reports a longitudinal study of the social interaction patterns of college students and adults. 113 adults (aged 26–31 yrs old) who had participated in similar studies in college kept detailed records of social activity for 2 wks. Three hypotheses were supported. First, from college to adulthood, opposite-sex socializing grew, whereas same-sex, mixed-sex, and group interactions decreased. Second, intimacy increased in adulthood, whereas satisfaction did not. Contrary to theories that focus on the formation of primary intimate relationships in early adulthood, intimacy increased in all interaction categories. Sex differences in the development of intimacy were also noted. Third, correlations revealed marked consistency over time in several variables. Implications of these findings for social development during early adulthood were examined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Family patterns of moral judgment during adolescence and early adulthood.

Family patterns of moral reasoning were compared in a cross-sectional sample from the Oakland Growth Study (H. E. Jones, 1939a, 1939b) and a longitudinal sample from L. Kohlberg's (1958) study of moral judgment development. The 221 offspring in the 2 samples (121 male and 100 female) ranged from 10 to 33 yrs old. Age, sex, cognitive stage, IQ, SES, and education were controlled in the data analyses. There were consistent family patterns of moral reasoning in the 2 samples when both sex and background variables were controlled. Developmental patterns indicated that, during adolescence, parent moral judgment was related to offspring moral reasoning but was a stronger predictor of moral judgment among girls than boys. During young adulthood, fathers' moral judgment and education were the strongest predictors of both sons' and daughters' moral reasoning. However, education, not parent moral reasoning, limited the moral stage attained by adult offspring. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Principles of attachment theory in subjective life satisfaction and individual orientation to the future in advanced adulthood

Attachment representation was assessed in 48 elderly people with an average age of 69 years. The adult attachment interview was used plus an additional question about wishes for the future. Coherent correlations with subjective life satisfaction and individual future perspective were demonstrated. Elderly participants with secure attachment representation were more satisfied, they were also less anxious, and more often positive about their future. If their adult children had secure attachment representation, they were reported by their elderly parents to be socially, emotionally, and materially more supportive. Attachment representation as a biographical variable is the result of developmental processes. Our findings show qualitative differences in attachment representation with clear consequences for lifestyles in advanced age. Perception and interpretation of environment, and the ability to integrate negative emotions into positive life perspectives is mainly a matter of social-emotional experiences with significant attachment figures.     

How self-evaluations relate to being liked by others: Integrating sociometer and attachment perspectives.

What is the relation between self-evaluation and being liked by others? Does being liked by others lead to more positive self-evaluations (as in sociometer theory), or do positive self-evaluations lead to being liked more (self-broadcasting)? Furthermore, what might affect the extent to which self-evaluations are influenced by likability (and vice versa)? The purpose of the present study was twofold. First, it used a naturalistic design to test the direction of the effect between social self-evaluations and others' judgments of likability in real relationships. Second, it examined how individual differences in attachment avoidance and anxiety relate to self-evaluations and likability and whether attachment differences moderate the relation between the two. Social self-evaluations, actual interpersonal liking, and attachment were assessed in participants taking part in a longitudinal group study. The findings supported the sociometer theory: Being liked by others led to more positive self-evaluations. Both anxious and avoidant attachment predicted lower self-evaluations, and anxious attachment predicted stronger reactions to others' liking (i.e., potentiated the sociometer). These findings have several implications for research on selfevaluation, adult attachment theory, and the importance of integrating interpersonal processes and individual differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How trajectories of reasons for alcohol use relate to trajectories of binge drinking: National panel data spanning late adolescence to early adulthood.

Developmental changes in both alcohol use behaviors and self-reported reasons for alcohol use were investigated. Participants were surveyed every 2 years from ages 18 to 30 as part of the Monitoring the Future national study (analytic weighted sample size N = 9,308; 53% women, 40% college attenders). Latent growth models were used to examine correlations between trajectories of binge drinking and trajectories of self-reported reasons for alcohol use across young adulthood. Results revealed developmental changes in reasons for use and correlations between the patterns of within-person change in frequency of binge drinking and within-person change in reasons for use. In particular, an increase in binge drinking between ages 18 and 22 was most positively correlated with slopes of using alcohol to get high and because of boredom. Continued binge drinking between ages 22 and 30 was most strongly correlated with using alcohol to get away from problems. Almost no moderation by gender, race, college attendance, employment, or marital status was found. Binge drinking and reasons for alcohol use traveled together, illustrating the ongoing and dynamic connections between changes in binge drinking and changes in reasons for use across late adolescence and early adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in emotional expressivity and self-regulation during early infancy.

Eighty-one 6-month-old infants and their mothers were videotaped in E. Z. Tronick's face-to-face still-face paradigm to evaluate gender differences in infant and maternal emotional expressivity and regulation. Male infants had greater difficulty than female infants in maintaining affective regulation during each episode, including the still face. Mother–son dyads had higher synchrony scores than mother–daughter dyads but took longer in repairing interactive errors. In addition, maternal affect, matching, rate of change between matching and mismatching states, and synchrony in the play preceding the still face differentially mediated male and female infants' responses to the still face and reunion play. The developmental implications of these gender differences are discussed. (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)     

Less is more: Meta-analyses of sensitivity and attachment interventions in early childhood.

Is early preventive intervention effective in enhancing parental sensitivity and infant attachment security, and if so, what type of intervention is most successful? Seventy studies were traced, producing 88 intervention effects on sensitivity (n=7,636) and/or attachment (n=1,503). Randomized interventions appeared rather effective in changing insensitive parenting (d=0.33) and infant attachment insecurity (d=0.20). The most effective interventions used a moderate number of sessions and a clear-cut behavioral focus in families with, as well as without, multiple problems. Interventions that were more effective in enhancing parental sensitivity were also more effective in enhancing attachment security, which supports the notion of a causal role of sensitivity in shaping attachment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stressful life events, anxiety sensitivity, and internalizing symptoms in adolescents.

Anxiety sensitivity represents a robust risk factor for the development of anxiety symptoms among both adolescents and adults. However, the development of anxiety sensitivity among adolescents remains inadequately understood. In this study, the authors examined the role of stressful life events as a risk factor for the development of elevated anxiety sensitivity. Anxiety sensitivity was then examined in a longitudinal design as a mechanism linking stressful life events to changes in anxiety symptoms. Stressful life events, anxiety sensitivity, and internalizing symptoms were assessed in a diverse community sample of adolescents (N = 1,065) at 3 time points spanning 7 months. The results indicated that stressful life events were longitudinally associated with increases in anxiety sensitivity and that certain types of stressful life events, specifically events related to health and events related to family discord, were differentially predictive of increases in anxiety sensitivity. Moreover, anxiety sensitivity mediated the longitudinal relation between stressful life events and anxiety symptoms. Evidence was also found for the predictive specificity of anxiety sensitivity to symptoms of anxiety but not depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Blocking of subsequent and antecedent events.

Stimulus competition (e.g., blocking) has been observed between antecedent events (i.e., conditioned stimuli or potential causes), but recent evidence within the human causal learning literature suggests that it could also be obtained between subsequent events (i.e., unconditioned stimuli or potential effects). The present research tested this hypothesis with rat subjects. to avoid confounding the antecedent versus subsequent variable with the affective value of the events involved (i.e., unconditioned stimuli are ordinarily of greater affective value than conditioned stimuli), a preparation was used in which antecedent and subsequent events all lacked affective value during the blocking phases of the study. This was achieved through the use of sensory preconditioning. Blocking of subsequent events as well as antecedent events were observed. The challenge to most associative theories that is provided by blocking of subsequent events is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal cocaine use and the caregiving environment during early childhood.

The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of the caregiving environment for young children of polydrug cocaine-using mothers. Three aspects of the caregiving environment were examined: physical and social settings for development, maternal psychosocial functioning, and child rearing customs and attitudes. It was hypothesized that maternal cocaine use would be associated with more negative caregiving environments. Results indicated that cocaine-using mothers were more likely to have symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, experience or witness community violence, and use negative discipline and that their children were more likely to remain in foster care for longer periods of time, experience more changes in primary caregivers, and be visited by male caregivers less often. The implications of these findings for child adjustment and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Axis II symptomatology, depression, and life stress during the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

This study examined 2 models of the relationship between personality disorder symptomatology and depression, incorporating life stress as an intervening variable. In a community sample of late adolescent women, symptoms of Cluster B disorders predicted interpersonal chronic stress and self-generated episodic stress over 2 years, controlling for initial depression. Cluster A symptoms also predicted subsequent chronic interpersonal stress, over initial depression. Cluster C pathology did not predict subsequent stress. Personality disorder symptomatology was also associated with partner reported relationship dissatisfaction. Support was found for a mediation model whereby women with higher levels of initial personality disturbance in Clusters A and B generated excessive amounts of episodic stress and interpersonal chronic stress in the next 2 years, which, in turn, increased vulnerability for depressive symptoms. A moderation model, whereby the presence of greater personality disorder symptoms would increase the likelihood of depression in response to stress, was not supported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)