Integrating Attachment Theory Research Articles

The Relationship Between Parental Attachment and Career Aspirations in Indian Female Undergraduate Students

The purpose of the present study was to examine the career aspirations of Indian female undergraduate students, by utilizing a theoretical framework integrating Attachment Theory and Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT). Data were collected from 157 female Indian undergraduate students at a Liberal Studies college in India to study the contribution of self-reported maternal and paternal attachment security in predicting career aspirations. In particular, the mediating effects of student-reported self-esteem and career decision self-efficacy were examined in the relationship between their perceptions of maternal and paternal attachment security and career aspirations. Secure attachment to mothers, but not fathers, was found to relate to self-esteem and career decision self-efficacy, which in turn predicted career aspirations. Findings from the study contribute to the literature on career aspirations of women in India and lend support for the integration of attachment theory and SCCT. Future research and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Why do you have sex and does it make you feel better? Integrating attachment theory, sexual motives, and sexual well-being in long-term couples.

Attachment theory postulates that three behavioral systems are central to optimal couple functioning: attachment, caregiving, and sex. However, few studies have examined the concurrent contribution of these systems to understand sexual well-being. This daily diary study examined the intermediary role of attachment- and caregiving-related sexual motives in the associations linking attachment insecurities and positive and negative emotions during sexual activity in 149 long-term mixed-gender/sex couples. Multilevel analyses revealed that individuals higher in attachment avoidance endorsed less caregiving sexual motives, which was associated with their own more negative emotional experience during sexual activity. Individuals higher in attachment anxiety endorsed more attachment sexual motives, which was associated with their own and their partner's more negative emotional experience during sex. However, individuals higher in attachment anxiety also concurrently endorsed more caregiving sexual motives, which predicted their own and their partner's more positive emotional experience during sex. Overall, the findings support the associations between the attachment, caregiving, and sexual behavioral systems and suggest that engaging in sex as a way to care for one's partner might foster sexual well-being in long-term couples.

Relational turbulence processes among avoidant and anxious spouses

ABSTRACT Relational turbulence theory (RTT) articulates processes that explain why spouses evaluate their marriages as chaotic. Specifically, RTT predicts that relational uncertainty biases cognitive appraisals about the marriage and that partner interference with daily routines heightens negative emotions toward the spouse, both of which, culminate in relational turbulence. Our study confirmed these theoretical processes in marriage. However, by integrating attachment theory predictions into RTT to further inform these processes, we demonstrated that RTT’s mechanisms were not the same for all spouses as they were dependent upon individuals’ attachment dimensions. Results of a latent profile analysis with distal outcomes indicated that RTT’s relationship parameters differed among spouses’ attachment styles, and results of conditional process models revealed that spouses who were higher in both attachment avoidance and anxiety experienced the most relational turbulence through theorized processes. Because RTT’s relationship parameters and processes differed by spouses’ attachment, our results speak to the importance of considering the moderation of RTT’s mechanistic pathways with particular emphasis on partners who vary in relationship security and interpersonal vulnerabilities

Perceived Parental Care and Next-Generation Family Members’ Succession Intentions: The Sequential-Mediating Role of General Self-Efficacy and Perceived Person-Job Fit

ABSTRACTWhereas the existing literature on the relationship between parental behavior and family business succession mainly focuses on parental behavior in the business domain, we highlight the importance of parental behavior in the family domain. Integrating attachment theory, the family business succession literature, and person-job fit literature, our study proposes a theoretical framework hypothesizing that general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit mediate the association between perceived parental care (an underrepresented family-domain-specific parental behavior) and next-generation family members’ succession intentions. This framework is tested by data from two surveys and further verified by qualitative interviews of next-generation family members. Multivariate analysis results suggest that next-generation family members’ general self-efficacy and perceived person-job fit played a sequential-mediating role in the relationship between perceived parental care and next-generation family members’ succession intentions. Our interviews not only confirm these results but also reveal new insights, particularly into the specific Chinese context in the study of family business succession.

Working toward anti-racist perspectives in attachment theory, research, and practice

ABSTRACT Recent social movements have illuminated systemic inequities in U.S. society, including within the social sciences. Thus, it is essential that attachment researchers and practitioners engage in reflection and action to work toward anti-racist perspectives in the field. Our aims in this paper are (1) to share the generative conversations and debates that arose in preparing the Special Issue of Attachment & Human Development, “Attachment Perspectives on Race, Prejudice, and Anti-Racism”; and (2) to propose key considerations for working toward anti-racist perspectives in the field of attachment. We provide recommendations for enriching attachment theory (e.g. considering relations between caregivers’ racial-ethnic socialization and secure base provision), research (e.g. increasing the representation of African American researchers and participants), and practice (e.g. advocating for policies that reduce systemic inequities in family supports). Finally, we suggest two relevant models integrating attachment theory with perspectives from Black youth development as guides for future research.

Attachement des patients psychiatriques en situation d’exclusion sociale : une étude pilote en équipe mobile psychiatrie précarité à Paris

ObjectivesThe mission in Mobile Psychiatry Precariousness Team is to access and maintain psychiatric care for patients experiencing social exclusion. Professionals are faced with some difficulties to carry out their work. Homeless people have four times more psychiatric disorders than observed in the general population; they have difficulty accessing care, and most of them have experience serious childhood trauma. For these reasons, integrating attachment theory seems to help improving the care of these patients. The objective of this study is therefore to evaluate the attachment styles of a population of patients met in Mobile Psychiatry Precariousness Team in Paris. Materials and methodsNon migrants adults were recruited in patients met in Mobile Psychiatry Precariousness Team, in a situation of precariousness and social exclusion, between December 2018 and July 2019. A questionnaire was completed with socio-demographic data; psychiatric diagnosis were noted; and attachment style was evaluated with the self-administered questionnaire Relationship Style Questionnaire - Revised Codage. Descriptive analyzes were carried out for socio-demographic data, psychiatric disorder, and attachment styles. Means and standard deviations for the four categories of attachment (secure, preoccupied, avoidant, disorganized) were calculated, as well as the prevalence of each attachment style. Each patient could be classified in secure or insecure. Only patients with a higher score at one of the four categories can be classified in one of them. ResultsEighteen patients (8 women, 10 men), aged 28 to 65, were included. Eleven patients had several psychiatric diseases. Three patients were classified as secure, and 15 as insecure. Eleven patients could be classified in 4 categories: 7 were avoidant and 4 were preoccupied. Therefore, the rate of insecure attachment reached 83% in this sample, with a predominance of the avoidant style for 39% of the subjects. ConclusionsThe high rate of insecure attachment in this population may lead caregivers in Mobile Psychiatry Precariousness Teams to build a working alliance with these patients, in order to stand as a Secure base for them, as a first step to a durable entry into psychic care. The authors underline the relevance of attachment-informed therapy in this population. Finally, the Mobile Psychiatry Precariousness Team, as an outreach structure of care could or should take the lead for this population. Further studies are needed to test these hypotheses.

Romantic relationship experiences and emotion regulation strategies of regular mindfulness meditation practitioners: A qualitative study.

Using attachment theory as the framework, this qualitative study focused on the romantic relationship experiences of regular mindfulness meditators and their meditation-naïve or nonregularly meditating partners (NMPs). The sample consisted of eight heterosexual and two same-sex couples. Thematic analysis (TA) yielded seven themes on three levels. Three intrapersonal themes were (a) meta-awareness of one's emotional strategies; (b) shift in emotion regulation strategies; and (c) shift in relationship with oneself. The relationship-level themes of meditators emerged as (d) experiential shift in stressful situations; (e) transformation of the emotional bond; and (f) transformation of the romantic relationship; the nonmeditating partners confirmed the relational and individual shifts due to their partner's practice. Integrating attachment theory with meditation practice can thus be a valuable approach for couple and family therapy. A regular meditation practice of even just one of the partners may be beneficial for the couple relationship.

Psychological Care of Looked-After Children in Kenya

Many looked-after children have endured traumatic experiences. Provision of psychological based care approaches are implemented to promote their resilience within care setting and to optimize quality of life for those affected by chronic mental health conditions like post stress disorders. However, several prospects remain underutilised on how to best enhance the psychological well-being of children in care contexts in Kenya and globally. This paper situates contemporary approaches to psychological care within the context of attachment theory. The theory will be reviewed highlighting its practical implications for care givers providing psychological care to children and youth in care set up. An approach to integrating attachment theory with practice when working with looked after youth is illustrated using empirical literature on caring the looked after youth, and author’s experience in working with looked after youth. Finally, the article concludes with suggestions for intensification of psychological care research and enhancement of initiatives to improve mental health of looked after children.

A dyadic approach to attachment anxiety and avoidance, marital conflict, and drinking.

In this research, we integrate attachment theory and dyadic methodology to examine how attachment anxiety and avoidance might interact with marital conflict to influence alcohol consumption, drinking motives, and alcohol-related problems in a sample of 280 married and cohabiting couples over 3 years. Both husband and wife attachment anxiety were related to higher levels of own drinking to cope and alcohol-related problems. Additionally, both husband and wife reports of marital conflict were associated with own alcohol-related problems. For wives, significant interactions between anxiety and marital conflict suggested that anxiety was more strongly associated with alcohol consumption, coping, and problems at higher levels of conflict. For husbands, significant interactions between avoidance and conflict indicated that avoidance was more strongly associated with coping and problems at lower levels of conflict. This research suggests two main patterns of attachment and alcohol use, both exacerbated by marital conflict and different for husbands and wives.

‘Safe Haven and Secure Base’? Attachment Dynamics in the Multilevel Effects of Authoritarian Leaders

By integrating attachment theory and functional models of social hierarchy into management research, we ambition to provide an overarching theoretical framework that explain ‘the bright side’ of a ...

Erikson and the Relational Context of Identity: Strengthening Connections With Attachment Theory

ABSTRACT In our contribution to this special issue devoted to reflections on Erik Erikson’s theorizing in Identity Youth and Crisis, 50 years later, we present the value of integrating attachment theory with Erikson’s conceptualization of identity development within a dynamic relational context. We attend closely to how internal working models of self and other link with identity development across time and relationships. We describe how attachment security, initially developed in early childhood, sets the stage for how adolescents’ approach identity formation processes and how both identity and attachment security operate together throughout adulthood. Three streams of research are offered for empirical examination of the identity-relational interface to elucidate processes and products of the intricate dance of identity and attachment.

Adult Attachment and Workplace Romance Motives: A Path to Performance

Employees’ motives for engaging in intimate relationships with their coworkers can have a substantial impact on their performance (e.g., Dillard, 1987) and how they are perceived by others (e.g., Cole, 2009). We integrate attachment theory with theories applied in the workplace romance literature to highlight how employees’ dispositional approaches to close relationships can lead to different types of workplace romance which, in turn, have differential effects on employee performance. Responses from 756 employees involved in romantic relationships at their organization illustrate that employees’ motives for engaging in workplace romance serve as mechanisms through which their attachment patterns impact their intrinsic work motivation, job performance, and individual-directed organizational citizenship behavior (OCB–I). Specifically, results show that love- motivated workplace romance enables attachment avoidance to increase employee motivation, performance, and OCB–I, whereas job-motivated workplace romance enables attachment anxiety to decrease employee motivation, performance, and OCB–I. Results hold implications regarding the need for managers and employees to maintain an awareness of their relationship-oriented goals and behaviors, the utility of fraternization policies, and the potential consequences of different types of workplace romance.

Integrating Attachment Theory into Probation Practice: A Qualitative Study

This research examined how a sample of English Probation Officers (POs) applied attachment theory as they supervised service users. Using an action research methodology over six months the research identified aspects that were readily utilised (the idea that POs can sometimes represent a secure base figure, and that attachment histories were significant). However, others offered little utility (the concept of mentalization as a facility rooted in early attachment, and the classification of attachment style). The reasons for this are explored, and the process by which specialist research knowledge is applied by non-specialist practitioners is considered.

A Net of Friends: Investigating Friendship by Integrating Attachment Theory and Social Network Analysis.

The current article focuses on attachment style-an individual difference widely studied in the field of close relationships-and its application to the study of social networks. Specifically, we investigated whether attachment style predicts perception and management of social networks. In Study 1, we examined the associations of attachment style with perceptions of network tie strength and multiplexity. In Studies 2a and 2b, we investigated the association between attachment style and network management skills (initiating, maintaining, and dissolving ties) and whether network management skills mediated the associations of attachment style with network tie strength and multiplexity. In Study 3, experimentally enhancing attachment security made people more likely to initiate and less likely to dissolve social ties (for the latter, especially among those high on avoidance or anxiety). As for maintenance, security priming also increased maintenance; however, mainly among people high on attachment anxiety or low on attachment avoidance.

The mosaic of life: Integrating attachment and trauma theory in the treatment of challenging behavior in elderly with dementia

Elderly with dementia are aware people who think and feel. Suffering from dementia made them feel unsafe. This lack of safety can result in attachment behavior (e.g. proximity seeking) or challenging behavior resulting from posttraumatic symptoms, triggered by the experience of insecurity. We can use the symbol of a mosaic to illustrate that the elderly is the sum of all his different life experiences which make him a unique person. I want to emphasize the importance of a holistic assessment in which the attachment history and traumatic experiences of the person are integrated. In this workshop, I want to present a treatment model, wherein different important features such as mentalization, self-regulation, internal working model… are highlighted. The model integrates neuroscience to facilitate growth and change. By bringing together the environmental aspects with the interpersonal aspects, a safe haven is created. The staff was trained in person-centered care, attachment and trauma theory and tailor made treatment. The blend of attachment and trauma theory with neuroscience brings us new therapeutic possibilities in working with this specific part of the population.

Interdependent patterns of coping and support among close friends

We introduced a 3 × 3 Coping—Support Interdependent Matrix for conceptualizing and investigating dyadic coping and support-giving among friends. By integrating attachment theory with the literatures on coping and support, we identified three prototypic patterns of coping (distance, utilize support, overwhelmed) and three prototypic patterns of support-giving (disengage, responsive, overinvolved). A sample of 113 pairs of college friends completed questionnaires assessing their own and their friend’s coping and support-giving patterns. An Actor—Partner Interdependence Model analysis revealed that utilize support coping was associated with friends’ responsive support-giving, overwhelmed coping was associated with overinvolved support-giving, and distance coping was associated with disengage support-giving. Coping and support patterns were found related in theoretically expected ways to ratings of friendship closeness and conflict.

Early Attachment Relationships and the Early Childhood Curriculum

This article explores the relationship between attachment theory and the early childhood curriculum. During the first years of life children develop early attachment relationships with their primary caregivers. These attachment relationships, either secure or insecure, will shape children's socio-emotional development. In the USA, the predominant curricular approach is the one that situates the child at the center of the curriculum. This child-centered curriculum assumes a child that is able to act independently without experiencing great amounts of anxiety, easily establish relationships with peers and adults, and is an active constructor of his/her own knowledge. These are images of a child that has developed a secure attachment with his/her caregiver(s). This article argues that the dominant child-centered early childhood curriculum, based on the principles of Developmentally Appropriate Practice, appears to be designed primarily for children with histories of secure attachments, and by not adapting to children's individual needs it might perpetuate attachment insecurities. This article not only questions pre-conceived images of children in early childhood curriculum but also rethinks the implications of integrating attachment theory into educational practices.

Investigating the role of attachment in social comparison theories of eating disorders within a non‐clinical female population

The present study aimed to integrate attachment theory and sociocultural theory as predictors of disordered eating, thereby combining two previously distinct literatures in order to provide a more comprehensive model of eating disorder development. It was specifically proposed that women's attachment style may influence their tendency to socially compare themselves to idealized others. Participants (N = 213) were non-clinical female undergraduates. Sociocultural attitudes to appearance, social comparison, attachment and eating disorder symptomatology were assessed using self-report questionnaires. Consistent with the hypothesis, social comparison was found to mediate the relationship between attachment anxiety and disordered eating. In addition, attachment avoidance, was not significantly associated with either internalisation of cultural ideals or social comparison but was significantly related to eating psychopathology. The findings suggest that attachment anxiety and avoidance influence disordered eating via different pathways, with attachment anxiety specifically being implicated in sociocultural models of disordered eating.

Modeling, simulating, and simplifying links between stress, attachment, and reproduction

AbstractJohn Bowlby's use of evolutionary theory as a cornerstone of his attachment theory was innovative in its day and remains useful. Del Giudice's target article extends Belsky et al.'s and Chisholm's efforts to integrate attachment theory with more current thinking about evolution, ecology, and neuroscience. His analysis would be strengthened by (1) using computer simulation to clarify and simulate the effects of early environmental stress, (2) incorporating information about non-stress related sources of individual differences, (3) considering the possibility of adaptive behavior without specific evolutionary adaptations, and (4) considering whether the attachment construct is critical to his analysis.

Attachment and Externalizing Disorders: A Developmental Psychopathology Perspective

Attachment theory offers an intriguing formulation of protection and risk that ties together key aspects of behavior, emotion, and cognition. The authors present links among attachment status, other developmental domains, and the development and maintenance of externalizing disorders to illustrate an approach to integrating attachment theory and relationship research with the study of externalizing symptoms. The authors review the literature on the attachment system's theoretical and empirical associations with domains of emotion regulation, social attributions, socialization and moral development, and intergenerational transmission of behavior, as well as with externalizing behaviors. There are a number of risk and protective connections between attachment security and other developmental processes that are associated with externalizing disorders. Knowledge of relational processes, in this case, attachment relationships, can contribute to an understanding of etiology, maintenance, and treatment of externalizing disorders.