An index of relationship quality based on attachment theory.

Two measures are reported of the nature or quality of a mother-offspring (MO) relationship during development using brown capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) as models. One is a qualitative classification of MO relationships as secure, resistant, or avoidant attachments. The other is an empirical ratio of relative affiliation to agonism called the MO relationship quality, or MORQ, Index. The two methods tapped similar relationship features so relationships high or low of a median split of MORQ values were heuristically labeled secure (n = 22) or insecure (n = 16), respectively. A comparison revealed extensive behavioral differences between secure and insecure MO relationships and suggested MORQ provided an objective, continuous measure of attachment security. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of an attachment-focused group preventive intervention on insecure women.

Research indicates that insecure individuals are at risk for relationship distress. A recently developed 17-hr manualized attachment-focused (AF) group intervention targets the attachment concerns of insecure individuals. AF group intervention involves four sequential segments: (a) dysfunctional relationship beliefs, (b) childhood factors influencing partner choices and relationship styles, (c) relationship skills training, and (d) relationship strategies. This study tested the effectiveness of AF group intervention conducted over a 3-day weekend on 13 young adult women with insecure adult attachment patterns. At the 6-month follow-up, AF intervention participants reported improved interpersonal styles, enhanced satisfaction with family relationships, decreased agreement with dysfunctional relationship beliefs, and less fearful and more secure attachment patterns compared with controls. Participants with a fearful-avoidant attachment pattern reported the greatest gains. These findings support using attachment theory principles in group preventive interventions with insecure individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment and feeding problems: a reexamination of nonorganic failure to thrive and attachment insecurity

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between attachment patterns, degree of security, and feeding problems. METHOD: Three groups of toddlers (age range = 12-37 months) were included: toddlers with infantile anorexia (n = 33), picky eaters (n = 34), and healthy eaters (n = 34). Participants in each group were matched for age, socioeconomic status, gender, and ethnicity. Attachment patterns and degree of attachment security were assessed through the Ainsworth Strange Situation. RESULTS: The infantile anorexia group exhibited a higher rate of insecure attachment relationships than the picky eater and healthy eater groups. When measured on a continuous scale, the infantile anorexia group also displayed a higher degree of insecurity than the other groups. Contrary to previous research, elevated rates of type D attachments were not present within the infantile anorexia group. CONCLUSIONS: Feeding problems and growth deficiencies can occur within the context of organized and secure attachment child-parent relationships. However, insecure attachment relationships may intensify feeding problems and may lead to more severe malnutrition. Implications for the treatment of specific feeding problems are discussed.     

Dynamic processes underlying adult attachment organization: Toward an attachment theoretical perspective on the healthy and effective self.

Contemporary attachment theory is inspiring a burgeoning literature on adult attachment. This literature offers counseling psychology a compelling framework for understanding the healthy and effective self. In this article, the authors review studies probing the cognitive processes, affect self-regulatory dynamics, and relationship behaviors associated with secure (primary) and insecure (secondary) adult attachment strategies. They then offer a portrait of the healthy, effective personality that is consistent with theory and research on adult attachment. Finally, in an effort to understand key characteristics of successful movement toward the healthy and effective self, the authors review empirical extensions of attachment theory to the therapeutic context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correlates of Attachment at Age 3: Construct Validity of the Preschool Attachment Classification System.

This study examined correlates of attachment at age 3 to further validate preschool separation-reunion measures. Three-year-olds (N = 150) and their mothers participated in a separation-reunion protocol, the Preschool Attachment Classification System (PACS: J. Cassidy & R. S. Marvin with the MacArthur Working Group on Attachment, 1992), and a mother-child interaction session during a laboratory visit. Mothers also completed psychosocial measures and, along with teachers, evaluated child behavior problems. The secure and disorganized groups received, respectively, the highest and lowest interaction scores. Disorganized children showed a higher level of teacher-reported externalizing and internalizing problems than did secure children. Mothers of insecure children reported higher child externalizing (all insecure groups) and internalizing (avoidant group) scores, more personal distress related to emotional bonding (disorganized group), childrearing control (ambivalent group), and child hyperactivity (avoidant group). Results strongly support the validity of the PACS as a measure of attachment in 3-year-olds. (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)     

Prospective effects of interparental conflict on child attachment security and the moderating role of parents' romantic attachment.

This study investigated the impact of parents' observed conflict behavior on subsequent child attachment security, both as a main effect and as moderated by parents' romantic attachment. Participants were 80 heterosexual couples involving men from the Oregon Youth Study and their first-born children. The authors used hierarchical linear modeling to predict child security with each parent. Interparental psychological aggression predicted lower child security with father, regardless of romantic attachment. If the father was insecure, interparental positive engagement predicted lower child security with him. If either the mother or father was avoidant, interparental withdrawal did not predict lower child security, though it did for more secure parents. Results are discussed in terms of implications of attachment-(in)congruent behavior for parents' emotional availability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment behavior in dogs (Canis familiaris): A new application of Ainsworth's (1969) Strange Situation Test.

Fifty-one owner–dog pairs were observed in a modified version of M. D. S. Ainsworth's (1969) Strange Situation Test. The results demonstrate that adult dogs (Canis familiaris) show patterns of attachment behavior toward the owner. Although there was considerable variability in dogs' attachment behavior to humans, the authors did not find any effect of gender, age, living conditions, or breed on most of the behavioral variables. The human–dog relationship was described by means of a factor analysis in a 3-dimensional factor space: Anxiety, Acceptance, and Attachment. A cluster analysis revealed 5 substantially different classes of dogs, and dogs could be categorized along the secure–insecure attached dimensions of Ainsworth's original test. A dog's relationship to humans is analogous to child–parent and chimpanzee–human attachment behavior because the observed behavioral phenomena and the classification are similar to those described in mother–infant interactions. (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.     

The efficacy of toddler-parent psychotherapy to reorganize attachment in the young offspring of mothers with major depressive disorder: A randomized preventive trial.

The development of insecure attachment relationships in the offspring of mothers with major depressive disorder (MDD) may initiate a negative trajectory leading to future psychopathology. Therefore, the provision of theoretically guided interventions designed to promote secure attachment is of paramount importance. Mothers who had experienced MDD since their child's birth were recruited (n = 130) and randomized to toddler-parent psychotherapy (DI) or to a control group (DC). Nondepressed mothers with no current or history of major mental disorder and their toddlers also were recruited for a nondepressed comparison group (NC; n = 68). Children averaged 20.34 months of age at the initial assessment. Higher rates of insecure attachment were present in both the DI and the DC groups at baseline, relative to the NC group. At postintervention, at age 36 months, insecure attachment continued to predominate in the DC group. In contrast, the rate of secure attachment had increased substantially in the DI group and was higher than that for the DC and the NC groups. These results demonstrate the efficacy of toddler-parent psychotherapy in fostering secure attachment relationships in young children of depressed mothers. (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)     

A three year follow-up of attachment and indiscriminate friendliness in children adopted from Romanian orphanages

Attachment and indiscriminately friendly behavior were assessed in children who had spent at least 8 months in a Romanian orphanage (RO) and two comparison groups of children: a Canadian-born, nonadopted, never institutionalized comparison group (CB) and an early adopted comparison group adopted from Romania before the age of 4 months (EA). Attachment was assessed using 2 measures: an attachment security questionnaire based on parent report, and a Separation Reunion procedure that was coded using the Preschool Assessment of Attachment. Indiscriminately friendly behavior was examined using parents' responses to 5 questions about their children's behavior with new adults. Although RO children did not score differently from either CB or EA children on the attachment security measure based on parent report, they did display significantly more insecure attachment patterns than did children in the other 2 groups. In addition, RO children displayed significantly more indiscriminately friendly behavior than both CB and EA children, who did not differ in terms of indiscriminate friendliness. RO children's insecure attachment patterns were not associated with any aspect of their institutional environment, but were related to particular child and family characteristics. Specifically, insecure RO children had more behavior problems, scored lower on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, and had parents who reported significantly more parenting stress than RO children classified as secure.     

Adult romantic attachments: A developmental perspective on individual differences.

Attachment theory has, since its inception, contained the proposition that long-term adult romantic relationships (i.e., relationships described by ethologists as "pair bond") are generally attachments. In this article, the possibility that individual differences in adult romantic attachments may emerge, in part, from individual differences in childhood attachments is discussed. The article begins with an examination of the developmental precursors of individual differences in two of the behavioral systems prominent in adult romantic relationships: the attachment system and the caregiving system. For each of these behavioral systems, theory is discussed and the empirical literature is reviewed. The remainder of the article addresses the mechanisms of both continuity across development (i.e., factors that may account for the influences of early attachments on later romantic relationships) and discontinuity (i.e., factors that may account for change in the quality of attachments from childhood to adulthood). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early relationships and the development of aggression in children

The development of abnormally aggressive human behavior is complex and multifactorial. Aggressive patterns of behavior often begin early in life and, once established, are notorious for their resistance to change, which has led some to believe that environmental interventions offer little hope for significant reductions in the prevalence of violent behavior in our society. Recent findings from research in the field of developmental psychopathology, however, have shed some new light on this very old problem. This paper specifically reviews the attachment literature and interprets it in the context of what has already been learned from research in epidemiology and behavioral genetics on environmental contributions to aggression over the life span. Environmental factors may influence the development of aggression by affecting children's early relationships with primary caregivers or by limiting opportunities for children to engage in positive relationships with caring adult figures. Longitudinal studies directly correlating early attachment relationships with levels of aggression in later childhood have been limited in number but suggest that insecure early attachment relationships may predispose children to the development of abnormally aggressive behavior, particularly when such relationships represent the entirety of their early social experience. Interventions aimed at either enhancing parent-child relationships or providing opportunities for alternative relationships with caring adult figures, particularly in high-risk settings, may help to prevent abnormally aggressive behavioral outcome.     

Frightening maternal behavior linking unresolved loss and disorganized infant attachment.

Main and Hesse's (1990) model in which frightening (threatening, frightened, or dissociated) parental behavior explains why infants of parents with unresolved loss develop disorganized attachment relationships was tested. Unresolved loss using the Adult Attachment Interview in a nonclinical middle-class sample of 85 mothers who had experienced the loss of someone important was assessed. Disorganized attachment was examined in the Strange Situation. Parental behavior was recorded during 2 2-hr home visits. The model applied to mothers with currently insecure attachment representations. Secure mothers with unresolved loss displayed less frightening behavior than other mothers, and unresolved loss in secure mothers did not predict disorganized attachment of their infants. Frightening behavior predicted infant disorganized attachment irrespective of maternal security. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Caregiving Representations of Mothers of Behaviorally Inhibited and Uninhibited Preschool Children.

This study examined differences in the caregiving representations of mothers of 3- to 4-year-old behaviorally inhibited and uninhibited children with secure or insecure attachments. Mothers of inhibited children perceived their children as more vulnerable than did mothers of uninhibited children, and they acknowledged difficulties associated with their children's inhibited temperament. However, mothers of insecure inhibited children were less likely than mothers of secure inhibited children to validate their children's emotional experiences and to be aware of their children's internal states and perspectives, and they showed higher levels of boundary violation and defense against negative affect. Implications of the more problematic caregiving representations of mothers of insecure inhibited children for parent-child relationships are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment and the processing of social information across the life span: Theory and evidence.

Researchers have used J. Bowlby's (1969/1982, 1973, 1980, 1988) attachment theory frequently as a basis for examining whether experiences in close personal relationships relate to the processing of social information across childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. We present an integrative life-span–encompassing theoretical model to explain the patterns of results that have emerged from these studies. The central proposition is that individuals who possess secure experience-based internal working models of attachment will process—in a relatively open manner—a broad range of positive and negative attachment-relevant social information. Moreover, secure individuals will draw on their positive attachment-related knowledge to process this information in a positively biased schematic way. In contrast, individuals who possess insecure internal working models of attachment will process attachment-relevant social information in one of two ways, depending on whether the information could cause the individual psychological pain. If processing the information is likely to lead to psychological pain, insecure individuals will defensively exclude this information from further processing. If, however, the information is unlikely to lead to psychological pain, then insecure individuals will process this information in a negatively biased schematic fashion that is congruent with their negative attachment-related experiences. In a comprehensive literature review, we describe studies that illustrate these patterns of attachment-related information processing from childhood to adulthood. This review focuses on studies that have examined specific components (e.g., attention and memory) and broader aspects (e.g., attributions) of social information processing. We also provide general conclusions and suggestions for future research. (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.     

Attachment patterns of infants separated at birth.

The effect of minimal maternal–infant contact and prolonged separation following birth was examined in 29 premature and seriously ill full-term neonates to assess their attachment relationships to their caregivers at approximately 12 mo postgestational age. Ss were classified into the M. D. Ainsworth et al (1978) categories of secure, anxious avoidant, and anxious resistant. Secure vs insecure Ss could not be differentiated on Bayley developmental scores, birth weight, gestational age, days of neonatal intensive care unit hospitalization, or parental visiting patterns. Data suggest that attachment patterns are influenced by maternal–Ss interaction over time and provide evidence for the resiliency of Ss in their formation of attachment patterns. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)