Attachment, attractiveness, and social interaction: A diary study.

To what extent are attachment styles manifested in natural social activity? A total of 125 participants categorized as possessing secure, avoidant, or anxious–ambivalent attachment styles kept structured social interaction diaries for 1 week. Several theoretically important findings emerged. First, compared with secure and anxious–ambivalent persons, avoidant persons reported lower levels of intimacy, enjoyment, promotive interaction, and positive emotions, and higher levels of negative emotions, primarily in opposite-sex interactions. Analyses indicated that avoidant persons may structure social activities in ways that minimize closeness. Second, secure people differentiated more clearly than either insecure group between romantic and other opposite-sex partners. Third, the subjective experiences of anxious-ambivalent persons were more variable than those of the other groups. Finally, the authors examined and rejected the possibility that attachment effects might be confounded with physical attractiveness. These findings suggest that feelings and behaviors that arise during spontaneous, everyday social activity may contribute to the maintenance of attachment styles in adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment style, gender, and relationship stability: A longitudinal analysis.

Examined adult attachment styles in 354 heterosexual couples in serious dating relationships. Principal findings included the following: (1) male and female attachment styles were nonrandomly paired, for example, no anxious–anxious or avoidant–avoidant pairs were found; (2) male and female styles related to concurrent relationship ratings of both partners in different but theoretically meaningful ways; (3) male and female styles contributed significantly to longitudinal prediction of relationship stability and status, even when prior duration and commitment to the relationship were statistically controlled; (4) specifically, relationships of avoidant men and of anxious women were surprisingly stable over 3 years, particularly in light of the relatively poor ratings of these relationships by both partners at Time 1. Discussion focuses on the need to integrate gender role considerations and relationship dynamics and processes into theorizing on adult attachment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Insecure attachment moderates women's adjustment to inflammatory bowel disease severity.

Objective: Insecure attachment was explored as a moderator of the relationship between disease severity and psychosocial variables in a study of adjustment in women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Method: Participants were 218 women recruited through notices placed in the community, in gastroenterologists' offices, and through online postings to support groups and message boards specifically for people with Crohn's disease, colitis, or IBD in general. Participants completed a mail-in or online survey assessing severity and frequency of symptoms, attachment style (separated into anxious and avoidant subscales), perceived social support, negative affect, and efficacy of coping with IBD. Results: Anxious and avoidant attachment styles were correlated positively with disease severity and negative affect and negatively with perceived social support and coping efficacy. Hierarchical regressions indicated that disease severity was most strongly associated with negative affect for high avoidant attachment, as compared with moderate and low avoidant attachment. Disease activity was inversely related to perceived social support and coping efficacy for high and moderate, but not low, anxious attachment. Conclusion: Our study indicates that attachment moderates associations between disease severity in women with different kinds of IBD and psychological indicators of adjustment. Limitations and relationship to previous research on attachment and health are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult attachment style and information processing: Individual differences in curiosity and cognitive closure.

Five studies examined the association between adult attachment style and information processing. Studies 1–2 focused on information search (curiosity-related beliefs and behaviors). Studies 3–5 focused on the integration of new information within cognitive structures; namely, the level of cognitive closure and its expressions in social judgments. Secure and anxious–ambivalent persons described themselves as more curious and held more positive attitudes toward curiosity than did avoidant persons. The competition between information search and social interaction increased information search among avoidant persons, but decreased it among anxious–ambivalent persons. Finally, secure persons reported less preference for cognitive closure and were more likely to rely on new information in making social judgments than avoidant and anxious–ambivalent persons. The theoretical implications of the link between attachment and information processing are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process.

This article explores the possibility that romantic love is an attachment process—a biosocial process by which affectional bonds are formed between adult lovers, just as affectional bonds are formed earlier in life between human infants and their parents. Key components of attachment theory, developed by Bowlby, Ainsworth, and others to explain the develoment of affectional bonds in infancy, were translated into terms appropriate to adult romantic love. The translation centered on the three major styles of attachment in infancy—secure, avoidant, and anxious/ambivalent—and on the notion that continuity of relationship style is due in part to mental models (Bowlby's "inner working models") of self and social life. These models, and hence a person's attachment style, are seen as determined in part by childhood relationships with parents. Two questionnaire studies indicated that (a) relative prevalence of the three attachment styles is roughly the same in adulthood as in infancy, (b) the three kinds of adults differ predictably in the way they experience romantic love, and (c) attachment style is related in theoretically meaningful ways to mental models of self and social relationships and to relationship experiences with parents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment style and emotion regulation in dementia patients and their relation to caregiver burden

One hundred and sixty-eight patients with mid- to late-stage dementia and their caregivers participated in a study of the relation between patient emotional characteristics, dementia symptomatology, and caregiver burden. Measures included premorbid attachment style, premorbid emotion regulation style, and behavioral symptoms of dementia. The attachment patterns (secure, avoidant, ambivalent) of these elderly patients resembled those obtained in samples of younger individuals in terms of emotion regulation characteristics; however, the distribution of attachment styles was significantly different, with a lower proportion of ambivalently attached individuals in the present sample. In terms of the behavioral symptoms of dementia, ambivalent patients had more depression and anxiety than secure and avoidant patients; the latter patients experienced more activity disturbance than ambivalently attached individuals and were higher on paranoid symptomatology than securely attached persons. Caregivers of securely attached individuals experienced less total burden than did caregivers of both insecure groups. In regression analysis, attachment style accounted for the largest proportion of unique variance in the prediction of caregiver burden (8%); only 1 of 7 patient symptoms contributed a significant independent effect, namely depressed affect, which accounted for 4% of the variance.     

Exploring individual differences in reactions to mortality salience: Does attachment style regulate terror management mechanisms?

Five studies examined the contribution of attachment style to mortality salience effects. In Study 1, mortality salience led to more severe judgments of transgressions only among anxious–ambivalent and avoidant persons but not among secure persons. In addition, whereas anxious–ambivalent persons showed immediate and delayed increases in severity judgments, avoidant persons showed this response only after a delay period. In Study 2, anxious–ambivalent persons showed immediate and delayed increases in death-thought accessibility after death reminders. Avoidant and secure persons showed this effect only after a delay period. Study 3 revealed that worldview defense in response to mortality salience reduced death-thought accessibility only among avoidant persons. Studies 4–5 revealed that mortality salience led to an increase in the sense of symbolic immortality as well as in the desire of intimacy only among secure persons, but not among avoidant and anxious–ambivalent persons. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment styles and fear of personal death: A case study of affect regulation.

The relation between attachment styles and fear of personal death was assessed. We classified a sample of Israeli undergraduate students into secure, ambivalent, and avoidant attachment groups and assessed the extent of, and the meaning attached to, overt fear of personal death as well as the extent of fear at a low level of awareness. Ambivalent subjects exhibited stronger overt fear of death than did secure and avoidant subjects, and both ambivalent and avoidant subjects showed stronger fear of death at a low level of awareness than secure subjects. Ambivalent subjects were also more likely to fear the loss of their social identity in death, and avoidant subjects were more likely to fear the unknown nature of their death. Results are discussed in terms of the effects of attachment styles on affect regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment styles, coping strategies, and posttraumatic psychological distress: The impact of the Gulf War in Israel.

Examines the association between adult attachment style and the way people reacted to the Iraqi missile attack on Israel during the Gulf War. 140 Israeli students were interviewed 2 wks after the war and classified according to their attachment style (secure, avoidant, or ambivalent) and residence area (dangerous vs less dangerous). Ambivalent people reported more distress than secure people. Avoidant persons reported higher levels of somatization, hostility, and trauma-related avoidance than secure persons. These results characterized Ss living in dangerous areas. In addition, secure people used relatively more support-seeking strategies in coping with the trauma, ambivalent people used more emotion-focused strategies, and avoidant people used more distancing strategies. Findings are discussed in terms of attachment working models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways: Parenting during adolescence, attachment styles, and romantic narratives in emerging adulthood.

In this longitudinal study, a quantitative and qualitative examination of the associations among parent–child relations, adult attachment styles, and relationship quality and theme in romantic narratives was conducted. Parenting and adult attachment style were assessed through questionnaires, whereas overall quality of romantic relationships (regard and importance), intimacy, and romantic story theme were examined with a life story approach (McAdams, 1993). At ages 17 and 26 years, 100 participants completed a series of questionnaires and also, at age 26, told a story about a “relationship-defining moment” with a romantic partner. Parent–child relations when participants were 17 years old were related predictably to all three attachment styles. About 70% of the sample told romantic stories with a “true love” type of theme. Associations between parent–child relations when the child was 17 and this type of theme in the story told when the participant was 26 were mediated by a more secure (and a less avoidant) attachment style when the participant was 26, as predicted. The implications of these findings for links between attachment models and the life story are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Navigating the interdependence dilemma: Attachment goals and the use of communal norms with potential close others.

Four studies investigated attachment in the context of new relationship development. Anxiously attached individuals overwhelmingly used communal norms and avoided using exchange norms when interacting with a potential close other; however, when a potential close other used communal norms, anxious individuals experienced increased interpersonal anxiety. Anxious individuals also used discrete communal behaviors to diagnose relationship potential. By contrast, secure individuals were more comfortable in potential communal situations. Moreover, implicit thoughts about closeness were associated with improved performance on a mental concentration task for secure individuals, whereas implicit closeness thoughts were associated with poorer performance for anxious individuals. Finally, avoidant individuals disliked the potential close other when the other used communal norms and downplayed relational motives for the other's communal behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult attachment in a nationally representative sample.

The explosion of adult attachment research in the last decade has been limited by its reliance on college student and distressed samples. Using a large nationally representative sample of American adults, the authors examined the relation of sociodemographics, childhood adversity, parental representations, adult psychopathology, and personality traits to adult attachment in an effort to replicate previous findings and extend the theory. Distribution of adult attachment styles was similar to that in prior studies: 59% secure, 25% avoidant, and 11% anxious. Adult attachment was associated with several sociodemographic variables (e.g., income, age, race) not previously studied. Childhood adversities of an interpersonal nature were strongly related to insecure adult attachment. Various types of adult psychopathologies and personality traits were also strongly related to adult attachment. Implications for adult attachment theory and future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Les conversations mère-enfant et l'attachement des enfants à la période préscolaire.

This study examines whether mother-child conversation patterns are associated with child attachment classifications at preschool age (N=80). Results revealed that a child's discourse style is similar to that of her or his mother. In comparison with mothers of insecure ambivalent or disorganized children, mothers of secure children made more frequent verbal statements that elaborated emotional content. Mothers of avoidant children were more inclined to minimize emotional content than mothers of secure children. In comparison with other mothers, those with a disorganized child were sharing more frightening and hostile content, or made more verbal statements accompanied by aggressive behaviors. Secure children made more frequent verbal statements that elaborated emotional content than avoidant and disorganized children. Disorganized children made more controlling verbal statements as well as statements accompanied by aggressive or flight behaviors. Finally, our results showed that child capacity to elaborate emotional experiences partially mediated the link between maternal capacity to elaborate emotional content and child security of attachment. Our results emphasize the importance of mother-child conversational exchanges for the development of attachment in preschool children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment in individuals with social anxiety disorder: The relationship among adult attachment styles, social anxiety, and depression.

Despite their apparent implications for social functioning, adult attachment styles have never been specifically explored among persons with social anxiety disorder. In the current study, a cluster analysis of the Revised Adult Attachment Scale (N. L. Collins, 1996) revealed that 118 patients with social anxiety (58.6% males and 41.4% females, mean age 32.43 yrs) were best represented by anxious and secure attachment style clusters. Members of the anxious attachment cluster exhibited more severe social anxiety and avoidance, greater depression, greater impairment, and lower life satisfaction than members of the secure attachment cluster. This pattern was replicated in a separate sample of 56 patients and compared with the pattern found in 36 control participants. Social anxiety mediated the association between attachment insecurity and depression. Findings are discussed in the context of their relevance to the etiology, maintenance, and cognitive-behavioral treatment of social anxiety disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment style and family dynamics in young adults.

This study examined the relationship between attachment style and family dynamics in a sample of 238 undergraduates. Participants who were securely attached reported significantly higher levels of adaptability, cohesion, and satisfaction in their family of origin than did avoidant and anxious–ambivalent participants. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental attachment styles of late adolescents: Qualities of attachment relationships and consequences for adjustment.

Lack of a self-report measure of late adolescent parental attachment style has threatened to hinder expansion of the empirical basis of attachment theory. Two studies were undertaken that provided evidence of validity for a new classification of parental attachment style from patterns of scores on the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (G. C. Armsden & M. T. Greenberg, 1987). Discriminant function analyses differentiated among secure, ambivalent, and avoidant attachment with 2 empirically derived dimensions, which paralleled the essential attachment functions theorized by M. D. S. Ainsworth (1989). Overall, insecurely attached late adolescents reported greater depression, anxiety, and worry than their securely attached counterparts. For women but not for men, insecure attachment was associated with diminished college adjustment and lower intimacy development. These results portend the promise of investigations of parental attachment style to elucidate contributions of parental attachment to late adolescent development and adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identity Development in Men and its Relation to Psychosocial Distress and Self-Worth.

Differences in men's ratings of psychosocial distress and self-worth were examined as a function of identity style and age period. Two hundred and seventy-five men of three age groups completed self-report measures of identity style, psychosocial distress, and self-worth. Participants were assigned to one of three identity processing styles based on scores on the identity style measure: information, normative, or diffuse/avoidant. Results indicated that the youngest men reported the highest level of distress, but the oldest age group reported lower self-worth than men in the other two age groups. Men with the normative-oriented identity style (irrespective of age group) reported lower levels of distress than men with either the information or diffuse/avoidant styles, and they reported higher levels of self-worth than those with the diffuse/avoidant identity style. These results are discussed in terms of a life span perspective on identity and psychosocial development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recollections of parental behaviour, adult attachment and mental health: mediating and moderating effects

BACKGROUND: Attachment theory posits links between early experiences with parents, adult relationships and adult mental health, but does not specify whether these are independent, mediating, or moderating effects. METHODS: Associations of parent's behaviour on the Parental Bonding Instrument, adult attachment styles and three dimensions of mental health were investigated in a large sample of women and men. RESULTS: Men and women with secure styles recalled higher levels of care from both parents than those with fearful styles. Maternal and paternal control were more consistent predictors of increased distress for men than for women. Fearful and preoccupied adult styles were associated with higher levels of distress in both men and women. While adult styles had few mediating effects on the association of parental behaviour and mental health, interactions between the fearful style and parental variables suggested that this form of insecurity sometimes accentuated the impact of high parental care or low paternal control on mental health in both men and women; among women, however, the secure style seemed to buffer somewhat the negative effect of high parental control. CONCLUSION: Although the amount of variance explained by either parental behaviour or adult styles was modest, patterns of moderating effects of adult styles on associations between parental behaviour and mental health suggested that both continuity and discontinuity principles can be applied to understanding these links.     

Attachment style and relationship satisfaction: Test of a self-disclosure explanation.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 30(2) of Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement (see record 2009-19933-001). Some figures were inadvertently omitted in two tables. The correct tables are provided in the erratum.] Explored a self-disclosure explanation for why those with a secure attachment style report greater relationship satisfaction than those with insecure attachment styles. Ss were 99 17–36 yr old students who were in ongoing relationships and who had different attachment styles. Ss were compared in terms of the self-disclosures they directed toward their partner vs a stranger, using questionnaire and behavioural measures. Behavioural self-disclosure was assessed by having Ss give talks on different topics, while anticipating that either their current partner or an opposite-sex stranger would later hear it. Results show that Ss with a secure attachment style disclosed more intimately to their partners than to strangers; whereas those with insecure attachment styles did not. Moreover, secures disclosed more personal facts to their partners than to strangers and were also perceived as more comfortable while self-disclosing to partners than to strangers. Finally, support for the hypothesis that self-disclosure mediates the relation between attachment style and relationship satisfaction was found on one component of self-disclosure, facilitative disclosure, a component which included both reported self-disclosure to one's partner and self-rated ability to elicit disclosure from others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Working Models of Attachment Shape Perceptions of Social Support: Evidence From Experimental and Observational Studies.

Two studies examined the association between attachment style and perceptions of social support. Study 1 (N = 95 couples) used an experimental paradigm to manipulate social support in the context of a stressful task. Insecure participants (anxious and avoidant) who received low-support messages appraised these messages more negatively, rated a prior behavioral interaction with their partner as having been less supportive, and performed significantly worse at their task compared with secure participants. Study 2 (N = 153 couples) used a similar paradigm except that partners were allowed to send genuine support messages. Insecure participants (especially fearful) perceived their partners' messages as less supportive, even after controlling for independent ratings of the messages and relationship-specific expectations. These studies provide evidence that individuals are predisposed to appraise their support experiences in ways that are consistent with their chronic working models of attachment, especially when the support message is ambiguous. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)