Quality Of Attachment Research Articles

Behavioural effects of training on water rescue dogs in the Strange Situation Test

Water rescue training produces dog-human dyads specialized in rescuing people in the water by promoting a strong cooperative relationship between dogs and their handlers. The present study aims to assess whether this training also affects the human-dog attachment bond using an adapted version of the “Strange Situation Test” (SST), consisting of 7 episodes of 3min each. Thirteen mutually exclusive and two non-mutually exclusive behaviours were considered. Sixty-five dogs (Labrador and Golden retrievers) were tested: 29 dogs had a Water Rescue Certificate® (Trained group), 22 dogs had yet to begin the training program (Naïve group), and 14 dogs were untrained (Old group) as an age control that was equivalent to the Trained group.All dogs showed a pattern of attachment behaviours with their owners, as they played with and greeted the owner more than the stranger and remained oriented towards the door more in the presence of the stranger during the separation episodes. Furthermore, all groups engaged in play with the stranger more when their owner was present rather than absent (episode 2 vs. 3). The Trained group was less explorative than the Naïve and Old groups. Trained dogs engaged in different behaviours not for playing purposes holding a ball in their mouth more than the other groups. Social play behaviours were expressed equally by the Trained and the Naïve groups and less in the Old group. Overall, the water rescue training affected the dogs’ behaviour in the SST; however these behavioural differences were (probably) not related to differences in attachment quality.

Attachment and maternal sensitivity are related to infants' monitoring of animated social interactions.

Infants have been shown to possess remarkable competencies in social understanding. Little is known, however, about the interplay between the quality of infants' social-emotional experiences with their caregivers and social-cognitive processes in infancy. Using eye-tracking we investigated the relation of infant attachment quality and maternal sensitivity with 12-month-old infants' monitoring patterns during the observation of abstractly depicted interactions of a "parent" and a "baby" figure. We found that secure infants focused their attention on the "parent" figure relative to the "baby" figure more than insecure infants when the two figures got separated. Infants with more sensitive mothers focused their attention more on the ongoing behavior of the "parent" figure after the separation than infants with less sensitive mothers when distress of the "baby" figure was implied by accompanying baby crying sounds. Our findings support the notion that early social-emotional experiences with the caregiver are related to social information processing and that these social information processing patterns might be markers of infants' developing internal working models of attachment.

The Impact of Tic Severity, Comorbidity and Peer Attachment on Quality of Life Outcomes and Functioning in Tourette's Syndrome: Parental Perspectives.

The aim of this controlled, community-based study based on data from parents of youth (aged 7-16years) with Tourette's syndrome (TS; n=86) and parents of age and gender matched peers (n=108) was to test several hypotheses involving a range of variables salient to the TS population, including peer attachment, quality of life, severity of tics, comorbidity, and psychological, behavioural and social dysfunction. Multivariate between-group analyses confirmed that TS group youth experienced lower quality of life, increased emotional, behavioural and social difficulties, and elevated rates of insecure peer attachment relative to controls, as reported by their primary caregiver. Results also confirmed the main hypothesis that security of peer attachment would be associated with individual variability in outcomes for youth with TS. As predicted, multivariate within-TS group analyses determined strong relationships among adverse quality of life outcomes and insecure attachment to peers, increased tic severity, and the presence of comorbid disorder. Findings suggest that youth with TS are at increased risk for insecure peer attachment and that this might be an important variable impacting the quality of life outcomes for those diagnosed.

Disclosure and Psychological Well-Being of Sexually Abused Adolescents in Hong Kong

The role of disclosure on psychological well-being of adolescents with child sexual abuse experience was investigated in a subsample of 74 disclosers among 800 adolescents recruited in the community in Hong Kong. The results supported that CSA experiences have differential impact on adolescents’ psychological well-being. Family characteristics of the disclosers accounted for only a small amount of the variance in an array of psychological well-being measures. CSA characteristics were robust predictors of disclosers’ sexual eroticism and externalizing behavioral symptoms. Disclosers’ cognitive appraisal of CSA experience and quality of parental attachment were strong predictors of their self-esteem and internalizing behavioral problems. After controlling for the aforementioned factors, negative disclosure experience still significantly predicted lower self-esteem, higher sexual anxiety, more internalizing behavior, and more severe post-traumatic stress disorder responses. Research to understand the factors that generate negative disclosure experiences is needed for developing effective intervention strategies to mitigate the negative consequences of disclosure.

Comparison of Attachments in Real-World and Virtual-World Relationships

Objective: The burgeoning of online social networks raises questions about the quality and value of these interpersonal relationships. The present study employed an established measure of attachment security to compare the nature of individuals’ attachments in virtual-world relationships with those in real-world relationships and also examined the relative strength of attachments in the two types of relationships. Method: Participants were 125 volunteers recruited online who had established relationships in Second Life, a popular virtual world. Participants consented and completed all measures anonymously online. Results: The findings indicate that equally strong attachments are formed in virtual- and real-world relationships; there is modest correspondence in the quality of attachment in the two types of relationship; the strength of attachments in the virtual world is influenced by capacity to immerse oneself in fantasy; duration of the relationship is correlated with strength of attachment in both worlds; and emotional well-being relates to strength of attachment in real-world relationships and lower attachment anxiety in virtual-world relationships. Conclusions: The value of attachment relationships in virtual worlds calls for further investigation. Moreover, consistent with the growing employment of telemedicine, the potential for clinical interventions in virtual worlds merits consideration.

Direct and indirect relations between parent–child attachments, peer acceptance, and self-esteem for preschool children

ABSTRACTThe present study aims to test Bowlby’s suggestions concerning relations between the child’s attachment quality with parents and subsequently constructed models of self-worth during early childhood. In most research on this question, attachment with mothers is considered in relation to self-worth but the child’s attachment with fathers is not. Neither has the peer group been studied as an influence on child self-esteem, in the context of attachment research. This study addresses these relatively unstudied influences on child self-esteem. Attachment security to mother and father was measured by the Attachment Behavior Q-Set at two and half years of age. At five years of age social acceptance was measured using two sociometric techniques, and the self-esteem with the California Child Q-Sort. Our analyses indicated that security of the attachment to father and peer acceptance are both unique, significant predictors of the childrens’ self-esteem. The security of the attachment to mother was also related to child self-esteem but did not emerge as a uniquely significant predictor. Peer acceptance appeared to moderate of the effect of the security of the attachment to father on the self-esteem of children. Our results extend the relatively sparse literature relating early attachments to self-esteem during early childhood.

Autologous platelet concentrate in surgery for macular detachment associated with congenital optic disc pit.

PurposeTo evaluate the anatomical and functional results obtained with pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) plus autologous platelet concentrate (APC) as a treatment for macular detachment associated with optic disc pit (ODP).MethodsWe performed a prospective interventional study of 19 eyes of 19 consecutive patients with posterior macular detachment due to ODP. All patients underwent PPV, posterior hyaloid peeling, fluid–air exchange, injection of 0.05 mL of APC over the ODP and 15% perfluoropropane (C3F8) endotamponade. Postoperative measures included face-up positioning for 2 hours and then avoidance of the face-up position during the ensuing 10 days. All patients underwent complete ophthalmologic examination and optical coherence tomography preoperatively at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 12 months postoperatively and then annually. Outcome measures were best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) by logMAR, improvement of quality of vision, macular attachment, and resolution of intraretinal schisis-like separation.ResultsPreoperatively, the median BCVA was 0.70 (range: 0.30–1.70) and all patients showed improved visual acuity after surgery; BCVA was 0.22 (range: 0.07–0.52) at 12 months follow-up. All patients showed complete reabsorption of intraretinal fluid (median time: 3.5 months [range: 2–8 months]) and macular attachment at the end of follow-up (median: 60 months [range: 12–144 months]), with stable or improved visual acuity. No reoperations were needed and no major adverse events were recorded.ConclusionFor macular detachment associated with ODP, the combination of PPV, posterior hyaloid peeling, APC, and C3F8 tamponade is a highly effective alternative technique with stable anatomical and functional results.

Can attachment and peer relation constructs predict anxiety in ethnic minority youths? A longitudinal exploratory study

ABSTRACTAnxiety is the most prevalent psychiatric disturbance in childhood effecting typically 15–20% of all youth. It has been associated with attachment insecurity and reduced competence in peer relations. Prior work has been limited by including mainly White samples, relying on questionnaires, and applying a cross-sectional design. The present study addressed these limitations by considering how at-risk non-White youth (n = 34) responded to the Friends and Family Interview (FFI) in middle childhood and how this linked up with anxiety symptoms and an anxiety diagnosis three years later in early adolescence. Five dimensions of secure attachment, namely, (i) to mother, (ii) to father, (iii) coherence, (iv) developmental understanding, and (v) social competence and quality of contact with best friend in middle childhood, were found to correlate significantly (and negatively) with self-reported anxiety symptoms. Linear regression results showed independent influences of female gender, and (low) quality of best friend contact as the most efficient model predicting anxiety symptoms. Logistic regression results suggested a model that included female gender, low social competence, and immature developmental understanding as efficient predictors of an anxiety diagnosis, evident in only 18% of the sample. These results point to the usefulness of after-school programs for at-risk minority youth in promoting peer competence, developmental awareness, and minimizing anxiety difficulties.

Problem Behaviors, Childhood Victimization, and Attachment Quality in Croatian Sample of Community and Referred Psychopathic-Like Adolescents

This study compares differences between community-based psychopathic-like adolescents ( n = 78, 72% males) and referred psychopathic-like adolescents ( n = 67, 70% males) in means, variances, and covariation between problem behaviors, adverse childhood experiences, parental conflict, physical and sexual victimization, and perceived parent–adolescent attachment quality. The psychopathic-like adolescents were identified among a larger pool of 1,346 community-based adolescents and 381 adolescents referred to institutional correctional treatment. Relative to the community group, referred adolescents presented with a distinct profile exhibiting higher levels of impulsive and irresponsible behavioral style, higher rates of problem behaviors and childhood victimization, and lower perceived parent–adolescent attachment quality. However, striking similarities in variances, and, in particular, of the covariation between problem behaviors, victimization, and attachment suggest that comparable processes link familial factors to problem behavior in psychopathic-like adolescents who have avoided contact with juvenile justice system and referred psychopathic-like adolescents.

Family or Caregiver Instability, Parental Attachment, and the Relationship to Juvenile Sex Offending

A violent or unstable home life—characterized by caregivers physically or sexually abusing children, physical violence in the home, homelessness, and other factors—and disrupted parental attachment are examined in this secondary data analysis for their possible relationship to juvenile sex offending. Parent or caregiver instability is measured by a demographic questionnaire administered to participants. Parental attachment is measured by the Inventory of Peer and Personal Attachment. The population included 502 adjudicated juvenile male sexual and nonsexual offenders in a Midwest state who responded to questionnaires in order to examine juvenile offending antecedents. The highest correlated parent or caregiver instability variables to juvenile sex offending status were multiple relocations or homelessness, children placed out of the home, slapping or punching in the home, and sexual abuse victimization. The quality of parental attachment had little impact on the respondents’ offense status.

Promotion Quality of Life by Increasing Place Attachment in Public Places

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the quality of urban life and place attachment and determine factors to create place attachment. The method of this research is qualitative-descriptive and analytic. Principles, criteria and some standards are prepared by the library resources. After analyzing the data that is collected through a survey (such deep interviews with residents of the neighborhood of Tehran and inventory) are adapted to the site. Finally, design strategies and policies are offered for creating place attachments, promoting social relationships, attracting residents and increasing citizen participation in urban and neighborhood issues.

Thermal Analysis of Eutectic Flip-Chip Light-Emitting Diodes Fabricated Using Copper-Coated Ceramic Substrate

Die attachment quality plays a remarkable role in producing highly reliable solid-state lighting fixtures by providing a dominant impact on thermal resistance. Color rendering, efficacy, and lifetime are strongly related to junction temperature. This paper investigated the effects of varying the thickness of sputter-coated copper on an Al2O3 ceramic substrate on the thermal resistance and luminous intensity of flip-chip light-emitting diode (LED) devices. Eutectic bonding was applied to provide excellent bonding strength and low void content between the chip and ceramic substrate. The thermal resistance dramatically decreased as the copper thickness was reduced because of a substantial reduction in the conduction impedance for heat dissipation from the junction to the ambient. The luminous intensity was improved by reducing the copper thickness as the driving current was increased from 50 to 700 mA. The results demonstrated that reducing the copper thickness effectively reduced the junction temperature and improved the performance of the eutectic flip-chip bonding LED devices.

First empirical evaluation of the link between attachment, social cognition and borderline features in adolescents

ObjectiveSeveral developmental models of borderline personality disorder (BPD) emphasize the role of disrupted interpersonal relationships or insecure attachment. As yet, attachment quality and the mechanisms by which insecure attachment relates to borderline features in adolescents have not been investigated. In this study, we used a multiple mediational approach to examine the cross-sectional interplay between attachment, social cognition (in particular hypermentalizing), emotion dysregulation, and borderline features in adolescence, controlling for internalizing and externalizing symptoms. MethodsThe sample included 259 consecutive admissions to an adolescent inpatient unit (Mage=15.42, SD=1.43; 63.1% female). The Child Attachment Interview (CAI) was used to obtain a dimensional index of overall coherence of the attachment narrative. An experimental task was used to assess hypermentalizing, alongside self-report measures of emotion dyregulation and BPD. ResultsOur findings suggested that, in a multiple mediation model, hypermentalizing and emotion dysregulation together mediated the relation between attachment coherence and borderline features, but that this effect was driven by hypermentalizing; that is, emotion dysregulation failed to mediate the link between attachment coherence and borderline features while hypermentalizing demonstrated mediational effects. ConclusionsThe study provides the first empirical evidence of well-established theoretical approaches to the development of BPD.

Insatiable insecurity: maternal obesity as a risk factor for mother–child attachment and child weight

Childhood obesity has become a rising health problem, and because parental obesity is a basic risk factor for childhood obesity, biological factors have been especially considered in the complex etiology. Aspects of the family interaction, e.g., mother–child attachment, have not been the main focus. Our study tried to fill this gap by investigating whether there is a difference between children of obese and normal weight mothers in terms of mother–child attachment, and whether mother–child attachment predicts child’s weight, in a sample of 31 obese and 31 normal weight mothers with children aged 19 to 58 months. Mother–child attachment was measured with the Attachment Q-Set. We found that (1) children of obese mothers showed a lower quality of mother–child attachment than children of normal weight mothers, which indicates that they are less likely to use their mothers as a secure base; (2) the attachment quality predicted child`s BMI percentile; and (3) the mother–child attachment adds incremental validity to the prediction of child’s BMI beyond biological parameters (child’s BMI birth percentile, BMI of the parents) and mother’s relationship status. Implications of our findings are discussed.

Neuroprotective Core Measure 7: Optimizing Nutrition—Breastfeeding, Human Milk and Attachment

Optimal nutrition through the provision of human milk and breastfeeding promotes the physical health of the infant in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and enhances the quality of caregiver–infant attachment, ultimately improving outcomes of the NICU infant. By improving the quality of attachments, the provision of human milk and breastfeeding provides a neuroprotective factor for NICU infants. Although breastfeeding is the optimal nutrition for infants, there are multiple challenges associated with the initiation and sustainment of breastfeeding within the NICU environment that frequently contribute to low breastfeeding initiation and duration rates. Institutional policies, practices, and breastfeeding support models are needed to achieve successful breastfeeding outcomes within the context of the NICU. More research is needed to explore the long-term psychosocial benefits of breastfeeding and providing human milk, particularly in terms of its role in attachment as a protective factor for the NICU infant.

Effects of an integrated care intervention on frail elderly’s health and quality of life: a quasi- experimental study

Introduction: Current care delivery to frail elderly is fragmented; professionals cooperate insufficiently and separately address the complex and diverse needs of frail elderly in the areas of prevention, care, cure, residence and welfare. Integrated care has been promoted as a mean to solve these problems and aims at increasing the effectiveness of care for frail elderly. This study explores the value of an integrated care model for the community-dwelling frail elderly compared to usual care by evaluating the effects on health-related outcomes and quality of life. Intervention: Frailty was preventively detected in elderly living at home with the Groningen Frailty Indicator and geriatric assessment was executed with the EASYcare instrument. Geriatric nurse practitioners and secondary care geriatric nursing specialists were assigned as case managers and coordinated the care agreed upon in a multidisciplinary meeting. The GP practice functions as a single entry point and the GP supervises the coordination of care. The intervention encompasses task reassignment between nurses and doctors and consultations between primary, secondary and tertiary care providers. The entire process was supported by multidisciplinary protocols and web-based patient files. Methods: The design of this study was quasi-experimental. In this study, 184 frail elderly patients of three GP practices that implemented the Walcheren Integrated Care Model were compared with 193 frail elderly patients of five GP practices that provided care as usual. The outcomes were assessed using questionnaires. Baseline measures were compared with a twelve-month follow-up by chi-square tests, t-tests and regression analysis. Results: The Walcheren Integrated Care Model had a positive effect on general quality of life and attachment. Attachment is a dimension of quality of life and refers the capability to obtain love and friendship. No significant differences were found on health-related outcomes such as experienced health, mental health, physical and social functioning. 15th International Conference on Integrated Care, Edinburgh, UK, March 25-27, 2015 1 International Journal of Integrated Care – Volume 15, 27 May– URN:NBN:NL:UI:10-1-116992 – http://www.ijic.org/ Discussion: The Walcheren Integrated Care Model is effective for frail elderly in terms of quality of life and attachment. This is deemed positive since quality of life is the personal evaluation of both physical and psychosocial aspects of life made by the frail elderly themselves. However, the Walcheren Integrated Care Model did not affect the physical and psychosocial domain itself. The deterioration in these domains was limited within the time period of twelve months and was not decelerated. This could be explained by the preventive element of the intervention. All elderly from the GP practices were screened for frailty and the degree of frailty in our study was rather low. After our evaluation study, the GPs decided to adjust the cut-off score from 4 to 5. An implication for further research is to extend the current follow-up period of twelve months in order to explore the full potential of the Walcheren Integrated Care Model, and of preventive, integrated care interventions in general. Lessons learned: Integrated care interventions such as the Walcheren Integrated Care Model are able to preserve quality of life of frail elderly within twelve months. When frailty is identified in an early stage, experienced health, mental health, physical and social functioning of frail elderly might not change considerably within twelve months. A follow-up period of twelve months is rather short to explore the full potential of integrated care interventions.

Mentalization within close relationships: The role of specific attachment style

AbstractMentalization is a form of social cognition that enables to perceive and interpret human behaviour in terms of intentional mental states (Frith & Frith, 2003) and is influenced by social context (e.g., O’Connor and Hirsch, 1999). Hence, we examined mentalization related to specific attachment relationships (Bowlby, 1969; Fraley, 2007). This study involved 115 participants (85% female) who reported their relationship-specific (ECR-RS; Fraley et al., 2011) and global attachment styles (ECR; Brennan, Clark, Shaver, 1998), and perspective-taking tendency towards their attachment figures (IRI-PT subscale; Davis, 1983). Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task-Revised (Baron-Cohen et al., 2001) was used as a proxy for mentalization disregarding relationships. The results showed that perspective-taking was associated with relationship-specific attachment avoidance (rs > -.29; all ps < .01) whereas global characteristics of mentalization were not related to attachment quality. Our findings indicate that the link between attachment quality and mentalization is relationship-specific.

임신 후반기 부부의 자아분화와 심리적 불편감이 태아애착에 미치는 영향

This study examined the effects of self-differentiation and psychological discomfort on antenatal attachment of pregnant couples in their third trimester of pregnancy. The subjects were 182 couples in J province who had participated in the first wave of the Korea Attachment Longitudinal Study (KALS). Data were analyzed by means of frequency, percentages, Pearson's correlations, and stepwise multiple regression models using SPSS 20.0. The findings were as follows. First, the independent t-test showed that the mean scores of pregnant women's self-differentiation were lower than their spouses in all subscales except emotional cutoff, and higher than in all psychological discomfort subscales. There was no significant difference in antenatal attachment quality between women and men, but the pregnant women significantly spent more time thinking about the fetus than their spouses. Second, the stepwise multiple regression models revealed that pregnant women's emotional cutoff in self-differentiation influenced the most on both quality and quantity of antenatal attachment. Among subscales of their spouses' self-differentiation, only emotional reactivity had an impact on quality of antenatal attachment, and fusion with others had the most impact on quantity of antenatal attachment. Among the pregnant women's and their spouses' psychological discomfort subscales, only depression influenced each quality and quantity of antenatal attachment. This is the very first and only study in which the impact of the pregnant couples' self-differentiation on antenatal attachment has been examined.

Parental attachment insecurity predicts child and adult high-caloric food consumption.

Eating habits are established early and are difficult to change once formed. This study investigated the role of caregiver-child attachment quality and its associations with high-caloric food consumption in a sample of middle socio-economic status children and adults, respectively. Survey data were collected from an online questionnaire administered separately to 213 (143 girls) children and 216 parents (adult sample; 180 women). Two studies showed that an insecure parental attachment, whether actual (Study 1; children) or recalled (Study 2; adults), significantly and positively predicted high-caloric food consumption in both samples. The present findings highlight the importance of parental attachment and its association with unhealthy eating patterns in children and adults.

Attachment relationships of adolescents who spent their infancy in residential group care: The Greek Metera study

A prospective longitudinal study beginning whilst the infants were living in the Metera Babies Centre showed that the great majority showed a disorganized attachment during the period of residential care, even though neither abuse/neglect nor subnutrition were involved. There was an initial follow-up post-adoption age at four years. This paper concerns a further follow-up of the 52 adopted adolescents aged 13 years who had spent their first two years of life in Metera Babies Centre. They were compared to 36 adolescents reared in their biological families who, during their infancy, attended full-time public day care. The key aim was to examine continuities and discontinuities between early and contemporary relationships. The Child Attachment Interview was employed in adolescence. The main findings were a significant decrease in the rate of disorganization and a lack of a significant difference between the previously institutionalized group and the family care comparison group on attachment qualities in adolescence. There was not sufficient statistical power, however, to detect a small difference.