Prediction of infant-father and infant-mother attachment.

The 1st-yr correlations of infant–father and infant–mother attachment were investigated in a longitudinal study of early family development. Mothers and fathers were observed interacting with their 1st-born, 3-mo-old infants. Parents also were interviewed individually at 3 mo child age concerning their time with the infant and their attitudes and reports about the infant and their parental role. Mothers and fathers were seen in the strange situation with their infant at 12 mo. For infants and fathers, security of attachment was predicted from the qualities of interaction at 3 mo, the father's attitudes and reports about the infant and the paternal role, and the father's time with the infant. For infants and mothers, security of attachment was predicted from the qualities of interaction at 3 mo and the mother's time with the infant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early intervention in adoptive families: supporting maternal sensitive responsiveness, infant-mother attachment, and infant competence

Results from adoption studies suggest that adoptive families may experience special impediments with respect to the developmental progress and outcome of their children. Based on attachment theory, two early intervention programs were designed to support families in the Netherlands with an internationally adopted child. The intervention aimed at promoting maternal sensitive responsiveness, secure infant-mother attachment relationships, and infant exploratory competence. Ninety families with an interracially adopted infant (71 from Sri Lanka and 19 from Korea) were assigned to either a control group or one of two intervention groups. All of the children, 44 boys and 46 girls, were placed for adoption under the age of 5 months (M = 8 weeks). The first intervention group (N = 30) received a personal book, which focused on sensitive parenting. The second intervention group (N = 30) was provided with the same book as well as with three video-feedback sessions at their home. The control group (N = 30) did not receive intervention. In the control group sensitive responsiveness and security of attachment were comparable to outcomes from normative samples. The least intensive program, the personal book, did not bring about change in mothers or infants. In contrast, intervention effects were established upon maternal sensitive responsiveness, infant competence, and infant-mother attachment in the group that received both the book and video feedback.     

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)     

Origins of infant-mother attachment: An examination of interactional synchrony during the infant's first year.

Observed 1-, 3-, and 9-month infant–mother interaction to examine antecedents of 1-year attachment quality. Frequency data were recoded using theory-guided measure of interactional synchrony; chi-square and prediction analyses tested hypothesis that development of secure attachments is predictable from synchronous, and insecure attachments from asynchronous interactions across first year. Findings from 30 dyads (10 secure, 10 avoidant, 10 resistant) supported hypothesis at 1 and 3 months, with synchronous interaction observed at significantly, disproportionately frequent rate for securely attached dyads. Also identified theoretically consistent aspects of interaction (e.g., responsiveness) that differentiated mothers of secure, avoidant, and resistant babies. Authors discuss findings as they support major tenets of attachment theory and suggest usefulness of a priori methodological approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Client attachment to therapist: Relation to client personality and symptomatology, and their contributions to the therapeutic alliance.

This study examined the relation of client attachment to the therapist to diverse facets of the therapeutic alliance, client personality, and psychopathological symptoms, as well as the relative importance of therapeutic attachments, personality, and symptomatology in predicting the alliance. Eighty clients in ongoing therapy completed measures of client attachment to therapist (CATS), personality (6FPQ), psychopathological symptoms (BSI), and therapeutic alliance (WAI–Short, CALPAS, HAQ). Secure and Avoidant–Fearful attachment to the therapist correlated positively and negatively, respectively, with total and subscale alliance scores. Preoccupied-Merger therapeutic attachment was unrelated to the alliance. Exploratory analyses suggested however that the relationship between Preoccupied–Merger attachment and the alliance was moderated by the extent to which clients were distressed. Clients' therapeutic attachments were unrelated to basic personality dimensions. Preoccupied–Merger attachment to the therapist correlated significantly with several symptom dimensions. Clients' therapeutic attachments emerged as superior and more consistent predictors, relative to client personality and symptomatology, of the therapeutic alliance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The contributions of parental attachment bonds to college student development and adjustment: A meta-analytic review.

We report findings from a meta-analysis of 156 studies conducted between 1987 and 2009 (N = 32,969) that examined the relationship between self-reported parental attachment and multiple adjustment outcomes and developmental advances during the college years. Overall, a small-to-medium relationship was found between indicators of parental attachment quality and favorable adjustment outcomes (r = .23). Effect sizes were of similar magnitude for mother and father attachment relationships, for male and female students, and across ethnicity and nationality of the sample. The attachment–adjustment relationship varied somewhat according to the developmental task being investigated in the study, showing the strongest association for the task of separation–individuation. Additionally, we found stronger attachment–adjustment links for students residing away from their parents when compared with students living at home during college. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Chiropractic: origins, controversies, and contributions

Chiropractic is an important component of the US health care system and the largest alternative medical profession. In this overview of chiropractic, we examine its history, theory, and development; its scientific evidence; and its approach to the art of medicine. Chiropractic's position in society is contradictory, and we reveal a complex dynamic of conflict and diversity. Internally, chiropractic has a dramatic legacy of strife and factionalism. Externally, it has defended itself from vigorous opposition by conventional medicine. Despite such tensions, chiropractors have maintained a unified profession with an uninterrupted commitment to clinical care. While the core chiropractic belief that the correction of spinal abnormality is a critical health care intervention is open to debate, chiropractic's most important contribution may have to do with the patient-physician relationship.     

The overlapping contributions of attachment orientation and social support in predicting life-events distress.

Attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, and perceived social support are examined as predictors of life-events distress. Clients at initial intake to an addiction treatment centre and university students in their graduating year were administered measures of attachment orientation, social support, and the experience of distressing life events. Hypotheses were tested across different categories of distressing life events (overall distress, bereavement, relationship dissolution, crime victimization, and severe accidents). We found that attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance have varying predictive utility for distress, depending on the type of event. Social support did not account for variance beyond attachment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal depressive disorder and contextual risk: contributions to the development of attachment insecurity and behavior problems in toddlerhood

Research has shown that offspring of depressed caregivers are at increased risk for maladaptive development and emotional difficulties. Specifically, infants and toddlers of depressed mothers have been shown to evidence higher percentages of insecure attachments and more behavioral difficulties than offspring of nondisordered mothers. However, even in studies that reveal significant differences between children of depressed and nondepressed caregivers, a substantial number of children with depressed caregivers do not evidence dysfunction. Such findings have resulted in increased attention to the broader social context in which children of depressed mothers develop. This investigation examined the direct influences of maternal depression on child development, as well as the role of contextual risks that may be particularly heightened in families with depressed parents. Toddlers with depressed mothers evidenced significantly more insecure attachments than did toddlers with nondisordered mothers, and this difference was not accounted for by contextual risk. In predicting child behavior problems, contextual risk was found to mediate the relation between maternal depression and child behavior problems. Father-report data on child behavior corroborated the mother report data. Results are discussed in terms of the diversity of functioning in offspring of depressed caregivers that can be attributed to varied levels of contextual risk accompanying depression.     

Intestinal ion transport: effect of norepinephrine, pilocarpine, and atropine

The effects of parenteral pilocarpine, atropine, and norepinephrine on salt and water transport were studied in jejunum and ileum of anesthetized rats. Pilocarpine increased jejunal transmural PD, reduced absorption of Na, K, HCO3, and H2O, and increased secretion of Cl; in ileum, it caused secretion of Na and H2O, elicited secretion of K, and reduced the absorption of Cl. In both segments, perfusate became more akaline, and there was less of a rise in PCO2. Atropine prevented all changes caused by pilocarpine. Atropine alone increased jejunal absorption of Na and HCO3 and acidity of perfusate, implying that cholinergic nerves influence transport. Norepinephrine augmented jejunal absorption of Na, Cl, and H2O but caused no change in PD. In ileum, norepinephrine increased absorption of Na and Cl, reduced the rise in pH, increased the rise in PCO2 of perfusate, but did not affect net HCO3 movement. With all agents, when Na absorption increased, perfusate became more acidic in jejunum and less alkaline in ileum, evidence of an association between Na and H transport.     

The secure-base hypothesis: Global attachment, attachment to counselor, and session exploration in psychotherapy.

This study explored J. Bowlby's (1988) secure-base hypothesis, which predicts that a client's secure attachment to the therapist, as well as the client's and the therapist's global attachment security, will facilitate in-session exploration. Volunteer clients (N = 59) and trainee counselors (N = 59) in short-term therapy completed the Experiences in Close Relationship Scale (K. A. Brennan, C. L. Clark, & P. R. Shaver, 1998) as a measure of adult global romantic and peer attachment orientations; the Client Attachment to Therapist Scale (B. Mallinckrodt, D. L. Gantt, & H. M. Coble, 1995) as a measure of attachment to counselor; the Working Alliance Inventory (A. O. Horvath & L. Greenberg, 1989) as a measure of working alliance; and the Session Evaluation Questionnaire-Depth Subscale (W. B. Stiles & J. S. Snow, 1984) as a measure of session depth. In line with Bowlby's hypothesis, the findings suggest that session depth is related to the client's experience of attachment security with the counselor and that counselor global attachment moderates the relationship between client global attachment and session exploration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mu-opioid receptor (OPRM1) variation, oxytocin levels and maternal attachment in free-ranging rhesus macaques Macaca mulatta.

Understanding the genetic and neuroendocrine basis of the mother-infant bond is critical to understanding mammalian affiliation and attachment. Functionally similar nonsynonymous mu-opioid receptor (OPRM1) SNPs have arisen and been maintained in humans (A118G) and rhesus macaques Macaca mulatta (C77G). In rhesus macaques, variation in OPRM1 predicts individual differences in infant affiliation for mothers. Specifically, infants carrying the G allele show increased distress on separation from their mothers, and spend more time with them upon reunion, than individuals homozygous for the C allele. In humans, individuals possessing the G allele report higher perceptions of emotional pain on receiving rejection by social partners. We studied maternal behavior over the course of a year among free-ranging female rhesus macaques on Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico. We then trapped females and collected blood samples from which we assessed OPRM1 genotype; we also collected cerebrospinal fluid samples from which we measured oxytocin (OT) levels. We show that females possessing the G allele restrain their infants more (i.e., prevent infants from separating from them by pulling them back) than females homozygous for the C allele. Females possessing the G allele also show higher OT levels when lactating, and lower OT levels when neither lactating nor pregnant, than females homozygous for the C allele. This is the first study to demonstrate an association between OPRM1 genotype and maternal attachment for infants, and is one of the first studies of any free-ranging primate population to link functional genetic variation to behavior via potentially related neuroendocrine mechanisms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Processes involved in client-nominated relationship building incidents: Client attachment, attachment to therapist, and session impact.

Thirty volunteer clients of trainee therapists nominated an incident that was critical in the development of their therapeutic relationship. Clients completed the Client Attachment to Therapist Scale (CATS), the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECRS), and the Session Impacts Scale (SIS). Clients reported an increase in attachment security with their therapists, along with perceptions of support and relief and increasing exploration following the relationship building incident. While clients' avoidant attachment was unrelated to attachment to the therapist prior to the incidents, in subsequent sessions avoidance was related to a change in secure attachment to therapist. Finally, client attachment to therapist but not general attachment was significantly related to in-session exploration. Findings are discussed in light of attachment theory and convergence with findings from the field of social psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affective dimensions of attachment styles: Exploring self-reported attachment style, gender, and emotional experience among college students.

This study explored the relationships among self-reported attachment styles, gender, and several aspects of subjective emotional experience pertinent to the counseling situation: (a) attention to emotion, (b) intensity of emotion, and (c) emotional expressivity. Four self-report measures, including an adult attachment style questionnaire and 3 measures of emotion, were given to 140 undergraduates. Results show that attachment groups could be distinguished on the basis of their emotional experience along 2 dimensions: (a) expressivity and (b) "intentness," a combination of attention and intensity. Men and women could be distinguished on a combination of all 3 dependent measures. Gender differences were less prominent, however, when men and women within the same attachment style were compared. Implications for counseling are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Within-person variation in security of attachment: A self-determination theory perspective on attachment, need fulfillment, and well-being.

Attachment research has traditionally focused on individual differences in global patterns of attachment to important others. The current research instead focuses primarily on within-person variability in attachments across relational partners. It was predicted that within-person variability would be substantial, even among primary attachment figures of mother, father, romantic partner, and best friend. The prediction was supported in three studies. Furthermore, in line with self-determination theory, multilevel modeling and regression analyses showed that, at the relationship level, individuals' experience of fulfillment of the basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness positively predicted overall attachment security, model of self, and model of other. Relations of both attachment and need satisfaction to well-being were also explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment disorganization and the controlling strategies: An illustration of the contributions of attachment theory to developmental psychopathology and to psychotherapy integration.

Attachment theory may be instrumental in providing a framework for psychotherapy integration, but to cope with the complexities of clinical realities it should be considered within an overall evolutionary approach to the basis of human interpersonal behavior and also in the perspective of developmental psychopathology. To illustrate these premises with materials that can be of immediate interest to practicing psychotherapists, this article focuses on the example of the clinical applications of research findings on attachment disorganization and its developmental sequels. The controlling strategies that usually follow in the preschool years infant disorganized attachment illustrate the relevance of considering the dialectics and the dynamic tensions between attachment motives and other evolved motives such as caregiving and dominance–submission. The role played by the disorganized-controlling strategies in psychopathological developments and in the relational dilemmas that often characterize the psychotherapy of difficult patients is discussed and exemplified through two clinical vignettes. It is argued that the model based on attachment disorganization and controlling strategies relies on concepts that are understandable and potentially acceptable to psychotherapists of different orientations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment of the kappa agonist and antagonist properties of mixed action opioids, mu opioids, and a delta opioid in pigeons.

The present study examined the kappa agonist and antagonist effects of various opioids in pigeons (Columba liva) trained to discriminate the kappa opioid bremazocine from saline. The mixed action opioids oxilorphan and (–)-cylorphan and the opioid antagonist naltrexone produced a dose-related antagonism of the bremazocine stimulus. With oxilorphan, the doses required to decrease responding were approximately 300 tomes larger than those required to antagonize the bremazocine stimulus, whereas with (–)-cylorphan and naltrexone the separation between these doses was relatively small. The mixed action opioid proxorphan substituted partially for and antagonized partially the bremazocine stimulus. Selected mu and delta opioids failed to substitute for or antagonize the bremazocine stimulus. The present findings suggest that mixed action opioids are active at the kappa receptor and that their effects can be distinguished from those of kappa, mu, and delta opioids. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)