Showing papers in "Attachment & Human Development in 2002"
TL;DR: It is shown that considerable progress has been made in testing central hypotheses derived from attachment theory and in exploring unconscious, psychodynamic processes related to affect-regulation and attachment-system activation.
Abstract: Because there has been relatively little communication and cross-fertilization between the two major lines of research on adult attachment, one based on coded narrative assessments of defensive processes, the other on simple self-reports of 'attachment style' in close relationships, we here explain and review recent work based on a combination of self-report and other kinds of method, including behavioral observations and unconscious priming techniques. The review indicates that considerable progress has been made in testing central hypotheses derived from attachment theory and in exploring unconscious, psychodynamic processes related to affect-regulation and attachment-system activation. The combination of self-report assessment of attachment style and experimental manipulation of other theoretically pertinent variables allows researchers to test causal hypotheses. We present a model of normative and individual-difference processes related to attachment and identify areas in which further research is needed and likely to be successful. One long-range goal is to create a more complete theory of personality built on attachment theory and other object relations theories.
1,122 citations
TL;DR: The Circle of Security intervention protocol is a 20-week, group-based, parent education and psychotherapy intervention designed to shift patterns of attachment-caregiving interactions in high-risk caregiver-child dyads to a more appropriate developmental pathway.
Abstract: The Circle of Security intervention protocol is a 20-week, group-based, parent education and psychotherapy intervention designed to shift patterns of attachment-caregiving interactions in high-risk caregiver-child dyads to a more appropriate developmental pathway. All phases of the protocol, including the pre- and post-intervention assessments, and the intervention itself, are based on attachment theory and procedures, current research on early relationships, and object relations theory. Using edited videotapes of their interactions with their children, caregivers are encouraged: 1. to increase their sensitivity and appropriate responsiveness to the child's signals relevant to its moving away from to explore, and its moving back for comfort and soothing; 2. to increase their ability to reflect on their own and the child's behavior, thoughts and feelings regarding their attachment-caregiving interactions; and 3. to reflect on experiences in their own histories that affect their current caregiving patterns. In this paper we describe the conceptual background of the protocol, and the protocol itself. We then present a case study from our current data set of 75 dyads who have completed the protocol.
614 citations
TL;DR: Comparisons of children with mixed attachment-sensitivity histories revealed that, in the case of all outcomes, insecurely attached children who subsequently experienced high-sensitive mothering significantly outperformed secure children whosequently experienced low- sensitive mothering.
Abstract: In order to test the hypothesis (1) that the most competent 3-year-olds would be those with histories of secure attachment (at 15 months) who subsequently experienced (relatively) high-sensitive mothering (at 24 months), (2) that the least competent children would be those with histories of insecure attachment who subsequently experienced (relatively) low-sensitive mothering, and (3) that those with mixed or inconsistent attachment-sensitivity histories would fall in between, data gathered as part of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care were examined. A-priori tests supported the hypothesis in the case of all five developmental outcomes examined (problem behavior, social competence, expressive language, receptive language, school readiness), though group means did not always rank in the predicted direction. Further planned comparisons of children with mixed attachment-sensitivity histories revealed that, in the case of all outcomes, insecurely attached children who subsequently experienced high-sensitive mothering significantly outperformed secure children who subsequently experienced low-sensitive mothering. Follow-up analyses highlighted the role of maternal and family stress in accounting for why some infants who were classified as secure at 15 months experienced low-sensitive mothering at 24 months and why some infants classified as insecure subsequently experienced high-sensitive mothering. Results are discussed with regard to the role of early experience in shaping development.
359 citations
TL;DR: Children ranging from 3–6 years were given a novel test of emotion understanding that incorporated provocative attachment themes and also an affectively neutral test of emotions understanding, and attachment security, measured concurrently by means of the Separation Anxiety Test, contributed to a correct performance on both tests.
Abstract: There is accumulating evidence of a relationship between secure attachment and children's understanding of emotion (Fonagy & Target, 1997; Harris, 1999) The current experiment asked if this relationship is particularly evident when the test of emotion understanding includes attachment-related material or is equally marked on tests with and without attachment-related material Children ranging from 3-6 years were given a novel test of emotion understanding (the Mother-Infant Separation Test Video) that incorporated provocative attachment themes and also an affectively neutral test of emotion understanding They performed quite consistently on both types of test-either passing both or failing both In addition, attachment security, measured concurrently by means of the Separation Anxiety Test, contributed to a correct performance on both tests This contribution remained when other individual differences were controlled for (age, verbal mental age and gender) Possible explanations of the relationship between attachment and emotion understanding are discussed
146 citations
TL;DR: Some of the potentially critical differences in how the two assessment methodologies assess individuals’ attachment status are clarified followed by a comparison of ndings from studies in the two research traditions.
Abstract: (2002). Measurement of adult attachment: The place of self-report and interview methodologies. Attachment & Human Development: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 207-215.
143 citations
TL;DR: John Bowlby's goal in developing modern attachment theory was to preserve some of Freud's most valuable insights about human development and close relationships, including insights into the importance of early experience and the notion that infant-mother and adult-adult relationships are similar in kind.
Abstract: (2002). Bowlby's secure base theory and the social/personality psychology of attachment styles: Work(s) in progress. Attachment & Human Development: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 230-242.
138 citations
TL;DR: Shaver and Mikulincer have made an outstanding case for their claim that the social psychological approach to measuring attachment in adulthood, via survey type questions about self in romantic relationships, is a valid way of tapping into the IWM and core notions of deactivating, activating, and hyperactivating emotion-regulation strategies.
Abstract: (2002). Developmental origins of attachment styles. Attachment & Human Development: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 166-170.
125 citations
TL;DR: Fearful-avoidance, disorganization, and multiple working models: Some directions for future theory and research.
Abstract: (2002). Fearful-avoidance, disorganization, and multiple working models: Some directions for future theory and research. Attachment & Human Development: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 223-229.
112 citations
TL;DR: A new method to assess attachment representations in children by applying a story completion procedure in doll play (SCPDP) and found continuity in patterns of security and insecurity when looking across the measures of infant and pre-school attachment and maternal adult attachment.
Abstract: A new method to assess attachment representations in children by applying a story completion procedure in doll play (SCPDP) is presented. Transmission and continuity of attachment were tested in 28 German families by using the Strange Situation procedure (SS) with the mother and her infant, the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) with the mother when the child is 5 years old, and the attachment representations (SCPDP) of the 6-year-olds. Relying on the twofold distinction (secure/insecure), results revealed a significant continuity of attachment from 1 to 6 years of age, and a correspondence between maternal AAI and child's attachment quality in SS, as well as a correspondence between maternal AAI and the 6-year-olds' attachment representations. Using configural frequency analysis, we found continuity in patterns of security and insecurity when looking across the measures of infant and pre-school attachment and maternal adult attachment. Processes underlying the high match of mothers' and children's attachme...
111 citations
TL;DR: Markovian t to t+1 transition matrices showed that both for future A and for future B infants, focused visual attention on the mother constrained the movements of the head to within 60 degrees from center vis-à-vis, defining head/gaze co-ordination within an attentional-interpersonal space.
Abstract: The study attempted to distinguish avoidant vs. secure infants at 1 year from 4-month infant behavior only, during a face-to-face play interaction with the mother. Thirty-five 4-month-old infants were coded second by second for infant gaze, head orientation, facial expression and self-touch/mouthing behavior. Mother behavior was not coded. At 1 year, 27 of these infants were classified as secure (B), and 8 as avoidant (A) attachment in the Ainsworth Strange Situation. Compared with the B infant, the future A infant spent less time paying 'focused' visual attention (a look of a minimum 2 seconds duration) to the mother's face. Only if the A infant engaged in self-touch/mouthing behavior did its focused visual attention match that of the B. Markovian t to t+1 transition matrices then showed that both for future A and for future B infants, focused visual attention on the mother constrained the movements of the head to within 60 degrees from center vis-a-vis, defining head/gaze co-ordination within an attentional-interpersonal space. However, infant maintenance of head/gaze co-ordination was associated with self-touch/mouthing behavior for the A infant but not the B. Positive affect was associated with a disruption of head/gaze co-ordination for the A but not the B. Whereas the B had more variable facial behavior, potentially providing more facial signaling for the mother, the A had more variable tactile/mouthing behavior, changing patterns of self-soothing more often. Thus, infants classified as A vs. B at 12 months showed different behavioral patterns in face-to-face play with their mothers as early as 4 months.
89 citations
TL;DR: This special issue will attempt to address some of the common themes raised in the commentaries of this article and address basic theoretical issues, comments on the model of attachment dynamics, and measurement issues.
Abstract: (2002). Dialogue on adult attachment: Diversity and integration. Attachment & Human Development: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 243-257.
TL;DR: Encouraging attachment style and dimensions of attachment insecurity predict whether middle-generation adults prepare for possible future caregiving responsibilities, feel prepared for these responsibilities and are satisfied with their preparation activities, and attachment variables predict feelings of preparedness even after controlling for the influence of actual preparation behaviors.
Abstract: A normative developmental task of middle-aged adults is to consider older family members' care needs. Preparing for future caregiving responsibilities may be an important way to prevent excessive stress responses when the caregiver role is taken on. The present study investigates the extent to which attachment style and dimensions of attachment insecurity predict whether middle-generation adults prepare for possible future caregiving responsibilities, feel prepared for these responsibilities and are satisfied with their preparation activities. Middle-generation parents of undergraduate students (N = 141) were sent questionnaires assessing adult attachment style, attachment insecurity, preparation for future care activities, feelings of preparedness, and satisfaction with preparation. Results suggest that secure attachment style and lower attachment insecurity had limited associations with preparation activities, whereas the associations with feelings of preparedness were more robust. Moreover, attachment variables predict feelings of preparedness even after controlling for the influence of actual preparation behaviors. Separate analyses for individuals already providing care vs. those not yet providing care suggest that secure attachment may be more important in predicting preparation activities for individuals not yet providing care.
TL;DR: Shaver and Mikulincer’s review makes a strong case that self-reports of adult attachment are associated with attachment-related processes that are unconscious or at least that occur automatically and outside of awareness, and the common criticism thatSelf-reports cannot meaningfully assess attachment orientations in a manner that is ree ective of dynamic processes is clearly false.
Abstract: Shaver and Mikulincer’s review makes a strong case that self-reports of adult attachment are associated with attachment-related processes that are unconscious or at least that occur automatically and outside of awareness. Therefore, the common criticism that self-reports cannot meaningfully assess attachment orientations in a manner that is ree ective of dynamic processes is clearly false. The belief that interview measures are the only valid way to assess adult attachment is based in fundamental assumptions about what can and cannot be assessed in self-reports, and what needs to be assessed in determining adult attachment orientation. The AAI approach to assessing adult attachment is based on the assumption that assessment of defensive strategies, which operate at least partially outside of conscious awareness, is a necessary component in the evaluation of ‘states of mind’ with respect to attachment. Moreover, it is assumed that these strategies can be accurately scored (given appropriate training of coders) from the transcripts of interviews in which participants discuss the relationships they had with their parents in childhood. The attachment strategies identie ed in the AAI are assumed to ree ect processes that operate outside the interview setting, especially in attachment-relevant contexts such as parenting. By dee nition, individuals with particular attachment strategies deny some types of psychological experiences and/or distort their responses to questions tapping these experiences. AAI advocates would therefore tend to conclude that it makes little sense to ask individuals with insecure attachment patterns direct questions about processes that are assumed to be defensively distorted and not open to conscious access. In contrast, they would argue that interview procedures are the most appropriate way to assess adult attachment because defensive strategies can be assessed and provide important clues to underlying attachment issues. Thus, it is common in the attachment literature to see comments such as: ‘Because we are interested in differences in processing attachment-related thoughts and feelings, we deal only with e ndings linking attachment states of mind [as assessed by the AAI] with psychopathology’ (Dozier, Stovall, & Albus, 1999, p. 498). How can self-reports be useful if this is true? One possibility is that self-reports about attachment are valid assessments of dynamic processes. This seems unlikely since these reports are not designed to assess such processes. Another possibility, suggested by Hesse (1999), is that states of mind with respect to early attachment experiences are not necessarily available to conscious awareness (therefore requiring interview measures to assess), but attachment orientations in the romantic domain are (therefore allowing for self-report assessments). However, we cannot think of any good reasons why the process of recalling and reporting on childhood experiences would be qualitatively different from the process of recalling and reporting on
TL;DR: In this commentary, issues as the distinction between experimental sophistication and conceptual meaning, the experimental demonstration of causality, and the related yet clearly distinct concepts tapped by self-reports and interview methodologies are discussed.
Abstract: (2002). Assessing adult attachment: Empirical sophistication and conceptual bases. Attachment & Human Development: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 171-179.
TL;DR: The results indicate that preoccupied attachment was associated with dysthymia, and the processes that may underlie the association between pre occupied attachment and depression were investigated.
Abstract: The present research evaluated a conceptual model that links preoccupied attachment to dysthymic disorder in women. From an original community sample of 420 women, 129 women were identified with depressive symptomatology as assessed by the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (CES-D). Twenty-four of these 129 women were diagnosed as dysthymic disordered according to the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R-non-patient edition (SCID-NP). Attachment patterns were assessed using the Adult Attachment Projective (AAP). The results indicate that preoccupied attachment was associated with dysthymia. Discussion concerns the processes that may underlie the association between preoccupied attachment and depression, with attention to the possibly complicating factor of unresolved mourning.
TL;DR: The case-study identifies the links between an insecure-avoidant pattern of attachment organization, unresolved childhood trauma, emotional detachment, substance misuse and violent offending behaviour in adulthood and demonstrates the way in which attachment theory may be used to explicate offending behaviour and to assess risk in a forensic setting.
Abstract: This case-study identifies the links between an insecure-avoidant pattern of attachment organization, unresolved childhood trauma, emotional detachment, substance misuse and violent offending behaviour in adulthood. It demonstrates the way in which attachment theory may be used to explicate offending behaviour and to assess risk in a forensic setting. Further, the model illustrates that the clinical application of attachment theory in brief, time-limited work may enhance the offender's capacity for narrative intelligibility leading to an integration of dissociated thoughts and emotional affect, and to a concomitant cessation of violent behaviour. The process is intersubjective and involves the modification and updating of maladaptive, perceptually distorted cognitive-affective internal working models. This is accomplished by strengthening the offender's capacity for reflective thought, which, in turn, facilitates the organization and integration of error-correcting information.
TL;DR: Insecure husbands and the wives of insecure husbands in high negative escalation marriages reported greater declines inpositive marital perceptions or less positive marital perceptions overall across the two-year postnatal period than secure husbands and wives of secure husbands in similarly high conflict marriages.
Abstract: The relationship between adult attachment and marital perceptions was examined in couples making the transition to parenthood. The Adult Attachment Interview was administered to spouses prenatally, and marital perceptions were assessed prenatally and 3, 12, and 24 months postnatally. The couples were also observed during a marital interaction task. Spouses were assigned to groups based on their attachment security (secure/insecure) and mean level (low/high) of negative emotional escalation in their marital interactions. A series of two-way (attachment security by negative emotional escalation) repeated multivariate analyses of variance, followed by univariate analyses, revealed that insecure husbands and the wives of insecure husbands exhibited different patterns in their marital perceptions than secure husbands and the wives of secure husbands when in high negative escalation marriages. Insecure husbands and the wives of insecure husbands in high negative escalation marriages reported greater declines in positive marital perceptions or less positive marital perceptions overall across the two-year postnatal period than secure husbands and wives of secure husbands in similarly high conflict marriages. Such differences between secure and insecure husbands (and their wives) were not apparent in low negative escalation marriages. Findings are discussed in terms of the protective effect a secure attachment may convey upon spouses during stressful periods in their marriage.
TL;DR: The psychodynamics of adult attachment and human attachment are discussed in this article, bridging the gap between disparate research traditions, and a special issue is devoted to the psychodynamics and adult attachment.
Abstract: (2002). Introduction to the special issue: The psychodynamics of adult attachments - Bridging the gap between disparate research traditions. Attachment & Human Development: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 131-132.
TL;DR: The aim of Shaver and Mikulincer's review is first to highlight the wide potential usage of self-report scales in testing causal attachment hypotheses and second to advocate a multi-measure approach to attachment research in order to encapsulate the several different levels at which attachment works.
Abstract: Shaver and Mikulincer's article is to be applauded for its integrative approach to investigating attachment-related phenomena. The authors attempt to break the polarisation and the 'in-out group' mentality associated with the two strands of research into attachment style, broadly grouped into narrative style interviews aimed at tapping states of mind (particularly unconscious processes), and the social psychological approaches using self-reports to assess individual differences in adult perceptions of relationships (particularly romantic ones). Effectively these follow the different disciplinary missions of developmentalists and personality theorists, although each has also been directed towards clinical ends. Shaver & Mikulincer comment that researchers from either tradition have tended to ignore each other's work and rarely combine the approaches in the same studies. Typically the problem is greater for investigators based in the self-report tradition to utilise interview measures than vice-versa, provoking the statement reported elsewhere that 'researchers in the personality/social subculture have not taken the time to master the interview techniques' (Bartholomew & Shaver, 1998). The aim of Shaver and Mikulincer's review is first to highlight the wide potential usage of self-report scales in testing causal attachment hypotheses and second to advocate a multi-measure approach to attachment research in order to encapsulate the several different levels at which attachment works. Ultimately they strive to encompass a personality theory which incorporates attachment concepts as central.
TL;DR: As predicted, preoccupied women displayed less confidence in NMR and reported more psychological problems than 7secure and dismissing women and NMR expectancies mediated relations between state of mind regarding attachment and psychological health.
Abstract: In the present study, associations between state of mind regarding attachment, expectancies for negative mood regulation (NMR), and the frequency of psychological problems were specified in a sample of young women (N = 104) involved in a collegiate setting. State of mind regarding attachment was assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1996), while NMR expectancies and psychological health were measured via self-report instruments. The results supported the study hypotheses. As predicted, preoccupied women displayed less confidence in NMR and reported more psychological problems than secure and dismissing women. Similar findings were documented when contrasting unresolved/insecure and unresolved/secure women. NMR expectancies mediated relations between state of mind regarding attachment and psychological health. The study results have implications for attachment research and interventions with young adult women involved in collegiate settings.
TL;DR: It is argued that self-report measures of adult attachment provide a useful tool for studying attachment-related dynamics, particularly when combined with experimental research techniques, and compelling evidence is presented in support of this position, based on recent social psychological studies ofAdult attachment.
Abstract: (2002). Attachment-related dynamics: What can we learn from self-reports of avoidance and anxiety? Attachment & Human Development: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 193-200.
TL;DR: Results indicated that SAT coherence was positivelyrelated to SAT attachment and negatively related to SAT avoidance, and parental scaffolding and child reciprocity were positively related to each other and, in general, were negative related to parental and child negativity.
Abstract: Forty-four pre-schoolers (ages 4.3 to 5.8 years) and their primary caregivers participated in a study on the connections between parent-child emotion communication and a narrative assessment of pre-schoolers' attachment. Children completed the Separation Anxiety Test (SAT), a narrative assessment of children's responses to attachment-related separations (including self-reliance, avoidance, attachment and coherence scores). Several aspects of parent-child discussions of emotion-eliciting events were also assessed in the Emotion Communication Task. Results indicated that SAT coherence was positively related to SAT attachment and negatively related to SAT avoidance. Furthermore, SAT coherence was positively related to parental scaffolding and negatively related to parental and child negativity during the Emotion Communication Task. Parental scaffolding and child reciprocity were positively related to each other and, in general, were negatively related to parental and child negativity. Discussion focused on the potential contributions of children's interactions with caregivers to the development of children's attachment narratives and emotion-related understanding.
TL;DR: Children classified as ambivalently attached to their mothers and/or professional caregivers in infancy displayed significantly larger permeability of personal space as compared with children classified as securely attached, and perceived interpersonal competence was positively correlated with personal space permeability.
Abstract: This study longitudinally assessed associations between secure and ambivalent attachment with mothers, fathers and professional caregivers in infancy, and personal space regulation and perceived interpersonal competence in 64 early adolescents (31 boys, 33 girls). Children classified as ambivalently attached to their mothers and/or professional caregivers in infancy displayed significantly larger permeability of personal space as compared with children classified as securely attached. Attachment classifications with fathers were not associated with personal space behavior at 12 years of age. Children who had an insecure attachment relationship with both the mother and the professional caregiver in infancy displayed smaller personal space boundaries, and tolerated larger intrusions into their personal space as compared with children who had two secure attachments in infancy. Finally, perceived interpersonal competence was positively correlated with personal space permeability.
TL;DR: The therapist is a clinical observer of the relationship between parent and infant and an emotional participant in it, and from the behavioural and affective interactions, she deduces their emerging mental models and procedures of being with each other.
Abstract: Psychodynamic psychotherapy with parents and infants addresses the relationship between them where there has been a disruption or distortion in the process of bonding. Often this is characterized by a repudiation of the state of infancy by the parent, and a negation of infantile needs in the baby and in herself. The infant joins the mother in co-constructing defensive measures against their infantile attachment needs, thereby actualizing intergenerational repetitions. The therapist is a clinical observer of the relationship between parent and infant and an emotional participant in it. From the behavioural and affective interactions, she deduces their emerging mental models and procedures of being with each other. Her role is to represent symbolically, for both parent and infant, their experience of being with the other. Through this the affective dialogue is elaborated, to include feeling and thought constellations that were previously enacted procedurally. The paper illustrates these ideas about the therapeutic process through transcripts of case material.
TL;DR: In this paper, Attachment-related psychodynamics: Another shake to the kaleidoscope is discussed, with a focus on attachment-related human development, and a discussion of attachment related psychodynamics.
Abstract: (2002). Attachment-related psychodynamics: Another shake to the kaleidoscope. Attachment & Human Development: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 201-206.
TL;DR: The paper demonstrates that attachmentrelated aspects of personality are best studied under threat conditions that activate the attachment system, and suggests two improvements in the proposed model of the attachment behavioral system, stressing both conceptual and methodological implications for future research.
Abstract: (2002). Building bridges between social, developmental and clinical psychology. Attachment & Human Development: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 216-222.
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