Strange Situation Research Articles

The influence of facial trustworthiness on helping behavior: The role of attachment type

<p id="C2">Researches on helping behaviors have always been a hot topic. Especially nowadays, helping others has become a risk-taking decision-making. Helping behavior is defined as an action that benefits others without return. In strange situations, the face, as the only clue to communicate or obtain information from, can affect people’s behaviors to a great extent. However, previous studies on helping behaviors did not take this issue into account, this study intended to combine situational factors and individual factors to comprehensively explore their impact on helping behaviors and to further investigate the moderating role of attachment security in the relationship between facial trustworthiness and helping behaviors. <p id="C70">This study included two experiments. Experiment 1 explored the effect of the characteristics of helpers’ trait attachment and facial trustworthiness by using a mixed experimental design of 2 (facial trustworthiness: high/low) × 3 (attachment type: security/anxiety/avoidance). Experiment 2 used a 2 (facial trustworthiness: high/low) × 2 (state-security attachment priming: yes/no) to investigate whether priming security attachment had safe influence as trait security attachment. During both experiments, subjects were presented randomly with faces of different facial trustworthiness. Participants selected their willingness to help others and donate money. The amount of money they donated represented their helping behaviors. These two indices were selected as dependent variables. A 7-point scale was used to measure help-willingness. The higher the score, the stronger of the willingness to help the seeker of participants. The amount of donation was between 0-100. The larger the number of donation, the more they were willing to contribute. <p id="C71">This study used SPSS 20.0 to analyze the data of the experiment, and the results verified the research hypotheses. The results of experiment 1 showed that there was a significant interaction between facial trustworthiness and the types of helpers’ attachment. The simple effect analysis showed that there were significant differences in the willingness and people’s behaviors with security attachments in both of the two facial trustworthiness, the willingness and money they input in high-facial trustworthiness were significantly higher than those in low-facial trustworthiness situation. There were also significant differences in the willingness and behaviors between low and high facial trustworthiness both anxious individuals and avoidance individuals. The willingness and behaviors to help in high-facial trustworthiness situation were significantly higher than those in low-facial trustworthiness situation. The results of experiment 2 on willingness and behaviors showed that there was a significant different in the interaction between facial trustworthiness and the types of helpers’ attachment. The simple effect analysis showed that there was a significant difference between the two facial trustworthiness situations for individuals of security attachment and a significant difference between the two facial trustworthiness situations for individuals of insecurity attachment, the willingness and helping behaviors in the high facial trustworthiness situation was higher significantly than low-facial trustworthiness situation. The different value in willingness and behavior in both experiment 1and experiment 2 under two facial trustworthiness situations for individuals of security attachment were significantly smaller than those for individuals of insecure attachment, indicating that attachment security to some extent had a regulatory role, it could buffer the risk-aided behavior to bring down. <p id="C72">This study has some significance. First of all, this study incorporated facial trustworthiness into helping behaviors, which provided a new way of researches of helping behaviors. Looking from the perspective of the face helped to distinguish the unfamiliar environment’s helping behaviors from the familiar environments. Second, the study found that individuals’ attachment types and the seeker’s face trustworthiness affects the helping behavior, indicating that the help-taking behaviors were the result of multiple factors, to remind the public to combine the help-seeking environment objectively and justly to see others’ behaviors. The media should also adopt a pragmatic attitude towards reports of people’s help behaviors so as to avoid reporting off the factual basis.

DYNAMIC‐MATURATIONAL MODEL OF ATTACHMENT AND ADAPTATION VERSUS ABC+D ASSESSMENTS OF ATTACHMENT IN CHILD PROTECTION AND TREATMENT: REPLY TO VAN IJZENDOORN, BAKERMANS, STEELE, &amp; GRANQVIST (2018)

In this brief response, we commend the commentary authors for joining a dialogue about the future of individual differences in attachment both around person-specific forensic and clinical issues also around working together to develop theory and coding practices. We point to several areas of explicit and implicit agreement and discuss several misunderstandings. We close with a proposal for future work together, possibly using the only set of video-recorded Strange Situations classified by Mary Ainsworth as a starting point from which we can explore alternative means of extending and expanding her work.

Anger in infancy and its implications: History of attachment in mother-child and father-child relationships as a moderator of risk.

Growing research has documented distinct developmental sequelae in insecure and secure parent-child relationships, supporting a model of early attachment as moderating future developmental processes rather than, or in addition to, a source of direct effects. We explored maladaptive developmental implications of infants' anger proneness in 102 community families. Anger was assessed in infancy through observations in the Car Seat episode and parents' ratings. Children's security with parents was assessed in the Strange Situation paradigm at 15 months. At preschool age, child negativity (defiance and negative affect) was observed in interactions with the parent, and at early school age, oppositionality was rated by parents and teachers. Security was unrelated to infant anger; however, it moderated associations between infant anger and future maladaptive outcomes, such that highly angry infants embarked on a negative trajectory in insecure, but not in secure, parent-child dyads. For insecure, but not secure, mother-child dyads, infants' mother-rated anger predicted negativity at preschool age. For insecure, but not secure, father-child dyads, infants' anger in the Car Seat predicted father- and teacher-rated oppositional behavior at early school age. Results highlight the developmentally complex nature of the impact of attachment, depending on the relationship with mother versus father, type of measure, and timing of effects.

The development of the cortisol response to dyadic stressors in Black and White infants.

Acute reactivity of the stress hormone cortisol is reflective of early adversity and stress exposure, with some studies finding that the impact of adversity on the stress response differs by race. The objectives of the current study were to characterize cortisol reactivity to two dyadically based stress paradigms across the first year of life, to examine cortisol reactivity within Black and White infants, and to assess the impact of correlates of racial inequity including socioeconomic status, experiences of discrimination, and urban life stressors, as well as the buffering by racial socialization on cortisol patterns. Salivary cortisol reactivity was assessed at 4 months of age during the Still Face paradigm (N = 207) and at 12 months of age across the Strange Situation procedure (N = 129). Infants demonstrated the steepest recovery after the Still Face paradigm and steepest reactivity to the Strange Situation procedure. Race differences in cortisol were not present at 4 months but emerged at 12 months of age, with Black infants having higher cortisol. Experiences of discrimination contributed to cortisol differences within Black infants, suggesting that racial discrimination is already "under the skin" by 1 year of age. These findings suggest that race-related differences in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal reactivity are present in infancy, and that the first year of life is a crucial time period during which interventions and prevention efforts for maternal-infant dyads are most likely able to shape hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal reactivity thereby mitigating health disparities early across the life course.

Relação entre vínculo de apego e desenvolvimento cognitivo, linguístico e motor

O estabelecimento de uma relação de apego segura é importante, pois fornece à criança segurança para que ela possa explorar o ambiente, atividade essencial para o desenvolvimento infantil. Este estudo tem como objetivo investigar se crianças com padrão de apego seguro e inseguro diferem quanto ao desempenho cognitivo, linguístico e motor. Participaram do estudo 50 crianças, com idades entre 12 e 25 meses. Foram utilizados um questionário de anamnese, a Situação Estranha de Ainsworth, as Escalas Bayley de Desenvolvimento Infantil – 3ª ed. e o questionário Estilo Materno como instrumentos de avaliação. Os resultados apontam diferença entre os grupos no desempenho cognitivo e de linguagem. Crianças com padrões inseguros de apego obtiveram menores escores nos testes que avaliam o desenvolvimento dos dois domínios. Estes resultados demonstram a importância da relação entre mãe e filho como um fator de proteção do desenvolvimento.

Costs of Not Getting to Know You: Lower Levels of Parental Reflective Functioning Confer Risk for Maternal Insensitivity and Insecure Infant Attachment.

Parental reflective functioning (PRF) is a robust predictor of parenting sensitivity and secure infant attachment, but its assessment requires extensive resources, limiting its integration into research and clinical practice. The Mini-Parent Reflective Functioning Interview (Mini-PRFI) assesses the parent's capacity to mentalize for his/her 6-month-old infant (rated using the PRF coding system; Slade etal., 2004, PRF coding system and Slade REF, Unpublished protocol, New York, NY: The City University of New York). In the current study, we examined whether Mini-PRFI scores were associated with theoretically related constructs; to establish a point of comparison, we evaluated links between Mini-PRFI scores alongside RF assessed from the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Mother-infant dyads (N=88) completed the AAI before the birth of the infant, the Mini-PRFI and an interaction task (rated for insensitive parental behavior) when infants were 6months old, as well as the Strange Situation Procedure when infants were 16months old. Mini-PRFI scores were strongly positively associated with AAI RF and negatively associated with maternal insensitivity. Mini-PRFI scores predicted infant attachment organization (secure/insecure, organized/disorganized) at 16months, and this effect was mediated by parenting insensitivity. These findings suggest that the Mini-PRFI predicts theoretically related attachment constructs, demonstrating the promise of the Mini-PRFI to increase the accessibility of interview-based PRF measurements to clinicians and researchers.

Attachment security and cortical responses to fearful faces in infants

ABSTRACTThe present study measured event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate whether cortical responses to facial expressions of fear are associated with the development of secure and insecure patterns of infant–mother attachment during the first year. Based on previous findings showing reduced attentional biases to fearful faces in infants with insecure and disorganized attachment, we hypothesized that insecure and disorganized attachment would be associated with reduced ERP differentiation of fearful from non-fearful faces. ERPs to facial expressions were measured at 7 months of age and attachment was assessed at 14 months of age with the Strange Situation Procedure (n = 61). Occipitotemporal face-sensitive ERP responses particularly in the time range of the N290 component were related to attachment security at 14 months. Only securely attached infants showed age-typical cortical discrimination of fearful from non-fearful faces at 7 months, whereas a similar pattern of ERP responses was not observed in infants with insecure and disorganized attachment. These results add to previous findings by suggesting that patterns of secure and insecure infant attachment are related to early-emerging differences in the perceptual processing of facial emotions, which could have implications for the development of social competence.

Behavioral synchronization between parents and children during reunion situations of the Strange Situation Procedure

Behavioral synchronization between parents and children during reunion situations of the Strange Situation Procedure

Attachment security in companion dogs: adaptation of Ainsworth’s strange situation and classification procedures to dogs and their human caregivers

ABSTRACTThis exploratory study describes the development of a classification system for dogs’ attachment security to caregivers that adheres closely to Ainsworth’s seminal methodology. Fifty-nine adult dogs and caregivers participated in a mildly threatening laboratory encounter with a stranger (TS) and the Strange Situation (SSP). Dog and attachment experts adapted Ainsworth’s classification system for the behavioral repertoire of the dog. Four potentially comparable patterns of attachment were identified. The proportions of secure and insecure classifications (61% and 39%) were similar to those found in human toddlers. Caregivers’ sensitivity to their dogs during the TS procedure significantly differentiated dogs with secure vs. insecure classifications Lower scores on the Active/excited personality scale on the Monash Canine Personality Questionnaire-Revised (MCPQ-R) also were related to secure classification. This system now makes it possible to compare directly the effects of human and dog attachment patterns on the health and emotional well-being of humans and dogs.

Composer’s Word

Composer’s Word

Maternal sensitivity to distress and attachment outcomes: Interactions with sensitivity to nondistress and infant temperament.

The extent to which maternal sensitivity to infant distress predicts specific attachment outcomes independent of and in conjunction with maternal sensitivity to infant nondistress and in conjunction with infant-negative emotionality was examined in a sample of 259 mother-infant dyads. Maternal sensitivity to infant distress and nondistress was observed in a series of distress-eliciting tasks when infants were 6 months and 1-year-old. Mothers rated infant-negative emotionality at 6 months. Infant-mother attachment was observed during the "strange situation" (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978) at 1 year. Four attachment outcomes were considered: the dichotomous security/insecurity classification, avoidant and resistant behaviors across both reunion episodes, and a single rating for disorganized behavior. Maternal sensitivity to distress and nondistress at 1 year were treated as covariates. Sensitivity to distress and nondistress at 6 months and 1 year did not predict more adaptive attachment outcomes as main effects. However, sensitivity to distress and nondistress at 6 months interacted significantly in relation to avoidance, such that sensitivity to nondistress was significantly associated with higher avoidance when sensitivity to distress was low, but not when sensitivity to distress was high. Furthermore, sensitivity to distress at 6 months interacted with infant-negative emotionality in relation to security and both resistant and disorganized behaviors, such that sensitivity to distress was positively associated with security and negatively associated with resistant and disorganized behaviors only among infants who were high on mother-reported negative emotionality. Implications for future research and intervention are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Attachment Disorganization in Infancy: A Developmental Precursor to Maladaptive Social Information Processing at Age 8.

This study examined infant attachment as a predictor of social information processing (SIP) in middle childhood (n=82) while controlling for parental sensitivity in middle childhood. Attachment quality was assessed using the Strange Situation. Although attachment insecurity did not predict SIP, attachment disorganization positively predicted the early SIP steps of hostile attributional bias and aggressive goals. Children with disorganized attachments interpreted ambiguous provocations more negatively (as indicating more hostility, rejection, and disrespect and as resulting in more anger) and endorsed significantly more revenge and dominance goals than children with organized attachments. In contrast, parental sensitivity negatively predicted the later SIP step of positive expectations for aggressive responses. Results further our understanding of the adverse outcomes associated with attachment disorganization.

Prenatal intimate partner violence exposure predicts infant biobehavioral regulation: Moderation by the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene.

The ability to regulate stress is a critical developmental milestone of early childhood that involves a set of interconnected behavioral and physiological processes and is influenced by genetic and environmental stimuli. Prenatal exposure to traumatic stress and trauma, including intimate partner violence (IPV), increases risk for offspring biobehavioral regulation problems during childhood and adolescence. Although individual differences in susceptibility to prenatal stress have been largely unexplored, a handful of studies suggest children with specific genetic characteristics are most vulnerable to prenatal stress. We evaluated the brain-derived neurotrophic factor Val66Met gene (BDNF) as a moderator of the effect of prenatal IPV exposure on infant temperamental and cortisol regulation in response to a psychosocial challenge. Ninety-nine mother-infant dyads recruited from the community were assessed when infants (51% female) were 11 to 14 months. Maternal reports of IPV during pregnancy and infant temperament were obtained, and infant saliva was collected for genotyping and to assess cortisol reactivity (before and after the Strange Situation Task). Significant genetic moderation effects were found. Among infants with the BDNF Met allele, prenatal IPV predicted worse temperamental regulation and mobilization of the cortisol response, while controlling for infant postnatal exposure to IPV, other maternal traumatic experiences, and infant sex. However, prenatal IPV exposure was not associated with temperamental or cortisol outcomes among infant carriers of the Val/Val genotype. Findings are discussed in relation to prenatal programming and biological susceptibility to stress.

The Brief Attachment Scale (BAS-16): A short measure of infant attachment.

Insecure attachment in infancy is associated with a range of later socioemotional problems; therefore, it is important to identify at-risk children so that support can be provided. However, there are currently no well-validated brief measures of infant attachment. The aim of this study is to create a brief version of the Attachment Q-Sort (AQS), one of the gold-standard measures of attachment. Data was used from the National Institute of Child Health and Development Study of Child Care and Youth Development (N=1,364). The factor structure of the AQS was explored, and Item Response Theory was used to select a reduced number of items. Convergent validity of the shortened measure was assessed through associations with the Strange Situation Procedure. Correlations with sensitivity, externalising, and social competence were also examined. The Brief Attachment Scale (BAS-16) was created consisting of two scales of eight items, relating to (a) harmonious interaction with the caregiver and (b) proximity-seeking behaviours. The BAS-16 showed comparable convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity to the full AQS. This brief version of the AQS shows potential as a screening measure for insecure attachment in infancy. Further development and validation is required in separate samples.

The effects of green odour on domestic dogs: A pilot study

Green odour (a mixture of cis-3-hexenol and trans-2-hexenal), similar to cut grass, has been demonstrated to appease subjects of various species (rats, cattle, humans etc.) subjected to different stressful stimuli. The aim of this study was to investigate whether green odour has a calming effect also on the domestic dog. Sixteen companion dogs participated in the study with their owners. Each dog was tested through a simplified version of the Ainsworth Strange Situation Test. Dogs acted as their own control, being tested three weeks apart in an experimental room once with the green odour and once without it. Saliva samples were collected, for both conditions, before the test and 20 min after separation in order to measure cortisol levels.The presence of green odour in the experimental room did not affect dog behaviour during separation from the owner. In addition, deltas of salivary cortisol levels in the two tests did not differ. However, differences in dog behaviour were observed when the owner was present, both before and after separation, indicating that, when tested in the presence of green odour, dogs sat more and spent less time in proximity to the owner. When tested without the green odour, dogs instead sought more contact with the owner. These findings suggest that green odour has a light stress-alleviating effect, which appears in more relaxed behaviour in the presence of the owner.

Patterns of RSA and observed distress during the still-face paradigm predict later attachment, compliance and behavior problems: A person-centered approach.

This study examined profiles of infant observed distress and physiological regulation indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) levels during the still-face paradigm at 6months using a person-centered approach. Mothers and infants (N=206) participated in the study when infants were 6months, 1year, and 2years old. Attachment was assessed at 1year via the Strange Situation. Children's compliance behaviors were assessed at 2years during a toy clean-up task. Mothers reported children's behavior problems at 4.5years. Latent profile analysis yielded four profiles: highly distressed, but regulating; over-regulated; resilient to distress; and under-regulated. Infants in the "resilient to distress" profile characterized by high RSA levels and low negative affect exhibited the most adaptive outcomes such as lower attachment avoidance, higher compliance, and lower behavior problems. Therefore, this study highlights the importance of considering patterns of behavioral and physiological indicators of infant emotionality together for understanding adaptive functioning.

Maternal mind-mindedness and its association with attachment: the case of Arab infants and mothers in Israel

ABSTRACTWe examined the association between maternal Mind-Mindedness (MM) and secure attachment in an Arab sample in Israel. Seventy-six infant–mother dyads were observed during free play to assess maternal MM and in the Strange Situation Procedure to assess attachment. Mothers of secure infants were hypothesized to use more appropriate and fewer non-attuned mind-related comments than mothers of insecure infants. The results showed that mothers of secure infants used more appropriate mind-related comments than mothers of disorganized infants, with no significant differences compared to mothers of ambivalent infants. Also, mothers of secure infants used less non-attuned mind-related comments than both mothers of disorganized infants and mothers of ambivalent infants. In addition, the findings showed that: (1) mothers of secure infants were most likely to show the combination of high appropriate and low non-attuned mind-related comments; (2) mothers of disorganized infants were most likely to show the combination of high non-attuned and low appropriate mind-related comments; and (3) a nonsignificant trend indicated that mothers of ambivalent infants were most likely to show a combination of high appropriate and high non-attuned mind-related comments.The findings support the relevance of MM in an Arab sample.

Association between maternal childhood maltreatment and mother-infant attachment disorganization: Moderation by maternal oxytocin receptor gene and cortisol secretion

This study examined maternal oxytocin receptor (OXTR, rs53576) genotype and cortisol secretion as moderators of the relation between maternal childhood maltreatment history and disorganized mother-infant attachment in the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP). A community sample of 314 mother-infant dyads completed the SSP at infant age 17 months. Self-reported maltreatment history more strongly predicted mother-infant attachment disorganization score and disorganized classification for mothers with more plasticity alleles of OXTR (G), relative to mothers with fewer plasticity alleles. Maltreatment history also more strongly predicted mother-infant attachment disorganization score and classification for mothers with higher SSP cortisol secretion, relative to mothers with lower SSP cortisol secretion. Findings indicate that maltreatment history is related to disorganization in the next generation, but that this relation depends on maternal genetic characteristics and cortisol.

Dog-Owner Attachment Is Associated With Oxytocin Receptor Gene Polymorphisms in Both Parties. A Comparative Study on Austrian and Hungarian Border Collies.

Variations in human infants' attachment behavior are associated with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene, suggesting a genetic component to infant-mother attachment. However, due to the genetic relatedness of infants and their mothers, it is difficult to separate the genetic effects of infants' OXTR genotype from the environmental effects of mothers' genotype possibly affecting their parental behavior. The apparent functional analogy between child-parent and dog-owner relationship, however, offers a way to disentangle the effects of these factors because pet dogs are not genetically related to their caregivers. In the present study we investigated whether single nucleotide polymorphisms of pet dogs' OXTR gene (−213AG,−94TC,−74CG) and their owners' OXTR gene (rs53576, rs1042778, rs2254298) are associated with components of dog-owner attachment. In order to investigate whether social-environmental effects modulate the potential genetic influence on attachment, dogs and their owners from two different countries (Austria and Hungary, N = 135 in total) were tested in a modified version of the Ainsworth Strange Situation Test (SST) and questionnaires were also used to collect information about owner personality and attachment style. We coded variables related to three components of attachment behavior in dogs: their sensitivity to the separation from and interaction with the owner (Attachment), stress caused by the unfamiliar environment (Anxiety), and their responsiveness to the stranger (Acceptance). We found that (1) dogs' behavior was significantly associated with polymorphisms in both dogs' and owners' OXTR gene, (2) SNPs in dogs' and owners' OXTR gene interactively influenced dog-human relationship, (3) dogs' attachment behavior was affected by the country of origin, and (4) it was related to their owners' personality as well as attachment style. Thus, the present study provides evidence, for the first time, that both genetic variation in the OXTR gene and various aspects of pet dogs' environmental background are associated with their attachment to their human caregivers.

Representing Sudden Shifts in Intensive Dyadic Interaction Data Using Differential Equation Models with Regime Switching.

A growing number of social scientists have turned to differential equations as a tool for capturing the dynamic interdependence among a system of variables. Current tools for fitting differential equation models do not provide a straightforward mechanism for diagnosing evidence for qualitative shifts in dynamics, nor do they provide ways of identifying the timing and possible determinants of such shifts. In this paper, we discuss regime-switching differential equation models, a novel modeling framework for representing abrupt changes in a system of differential equation models. Estimation was performed by combining the Kim filter (Kim and Nelson State-space models with regime switching: classical and Gibbs-sampling approaches with applications, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1999) and a numerical differential equation solver that can handle both ordinary and stochastic differential equations. The proposed approach was motivated by the need to represent discrete shifts in the movement dynamics of [Formula: see text] mother-infant dyads during the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP), a behavioral assessment where the infant is separated from and reunited with the mother twice. We illustrate the utility of a novel regime-switching differential equation model in representing children's tendency to exhibit shifts between the goal of staying close to their mothers and intermittent interest in moving away from their mothers to explore the room during the SSP. Results from empirical model fitting were supplemented with a Monte Carlo simulation study to evaluate the use of information criterion measures to diagnose sudden shifts in dynamics.