Affect Attunement and Maternal Attachment: A Pilot Study

The notion that individual differences in mothers' representations of their own early childhood attachment relationships impede or facilitate the recognition of an infant's experiences and needs was investigated. Women were classified as secure, dismissing, of preoccupied in relation to attachment on the basis of the Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1985) and then videotaped in a laboratory setting with their 10- to 13-month-old babies. Maternal attunement behaviors and fantasies about the babies during the attunement moment were recorded and examined in light of individual differences in maternal attachment. The findings reveal that securely attached mothers are more attuned to their babies than are those mothers who are insecurely attached. Secure mothers attune to a range of infant affect, whereas insecure mothers attune to particular affects and not to others. Specifically, dismissing mothers tended not to attune to negative affect, whereas preoccupied mothers randomly attuned to both positive and negative affect states. Qualitative analyses suggest that insecure mothers misattune to infant affects that threaten their internalized attitudes toward attachment. The findings support the hypothesis that the nature of a mother's internal affective experience powerfully influences the affects she acknowledges and attunes to in her child.     

Adult Attachment and Developmental Personality Styles: An Empirical Study

The current study was designed to test specific hypotheses associated with W. J. Lyddon and A. Sherry's (2001) attachment theory model of developmental personality styles. More specifically, 4 adult attachment dimensions were correlated with 10 personality scales on the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory‐III (T. Millon, R. Davis, & C. Millon, 1997) with a sample of 273 men and women. Findings indicated that the adult attachment dimensions were able to predict 7 of the 10 personality styles.     

Reducing Academic Procrastination Through a Group Treatment Program: A Pilot Study

The present study assessed a short-term group treatment program using cognitive interventions focused on students’ procrastination. A structured 90-min session program was used with 10 students (5 female, 5 male; M _age = 21.8, SD = 3.2) across 5 weeks. In the first and last session of the program participants completed a two reliable and valid procrastination scales, and then 8 weeks later in the follow up sessions filled out the same questionnaires. During the group sessions, participants identified their irrational thoughts as well as cognitive distortions associated with their procrastination tendencies. Results of a non-parametric Friedman Test revealed a significant decrease in participants’ academic procrastination score and general procrastination scores from the pre-test to follow-up test suggesting that the program was deemed to be successful.     

Cognitive Behavioral Principles Within Group Mentoring: A Randomized Pilot Study

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a group mentoring program that included components of empirically supported mentoring and cognitive behavioral techniques for children served at a community mental health center. Eighty-six 8- to 12-year-old children were randomly assigned to either group mentoring or a wait-list control group. Group mentoring significantly increased children's reported social problem-solving skills and decreased parent-reported child externalizing and internalizing behavior problems after controlling for other concurrent mental health services. Attrition from the group mentoring program was notably low (7%) for children. The integration of a cognitive behavioral group mentoring program into children's existing community mental health services may result in additional reductions in externalizing and internalizing behavior problems.     

A Pilot Study of Emotion Regulation Strategies in a Psychodrama Group of Psychiatric Patients

The researcher analyzed two emotion regulation strategies in a group of adults attending psychodrama psychotherapeutic group at an outpatient psychiatric clinic. The subjects, nine men and 15 women between the ages of 19 and 63 (with 14 subjects in young and 10 in middle adulthood) self-assessed their use of reappraisal and suppression using the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire at the beginning of their treatment and at its end. They use reappraisal rarely to sometimes, regardless of their age, gender, and diagnosis. In the first assessment, the participants in middle adulthood and men reported using suppression more than young adults and women. During treatment, middle-aged adults and men succeeded to decrease their use of suppression significantly more than the young adults and women.     

Dialectical Behavior Therapy Group Skills Training in a Community Mental Health Setting: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Effective and affordable therapies are needed for treating people with severe and persistent mental illness in a community mental health setting. In this pilot study, we evaluated the effectiveness of a modified dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) protocol for improving symptoms and functioning in a cohort of persons with severe and persistent mental illness. We provided six months of weekly DBT skills training in a group setting. Depression symptoms decreased significantly after treatment. There was a wide range of number of sessions attended, with a minority of the participants completing the full course of treatment. Increased attendance was correlated with improvements in depression symptoms, overall symptoms, quality of life, and community functioning. The study findings suggest that the group skills training component of DBT can be successfully implemented in a community mental health center and that further research to determine its efficacy in comparison to other treatments is warranted.     

Effectiveness of Group Music Therapy in a Psychiatric Hospital: A Randomized Pilot Study of Treatment Outcome

Individuals receiving inpatient psychiatric care (n = 32) were randomized to receive either brief music therapy or group therapy that constitutes the current standard of care (SOC), and completed measures of depression, mood, quality of life (QOL), and hope pre- and post-intervention. Group dynamics were evaluated by the therapists. Results indicate that significantly more patients in the music therapy group showed an increase in QOL than those in the SOC group. Regarding group dynamics, the music groups scored significantly higher on conflict and significantly lower on avoidance. Results of this study suggest that group music therapy in inpatient psychiatric settings may be as effective as SOC groups, more effective at impacting QOL, and more effective for particular diagnostic populations. Further research is needed to fully understand the impact of music therapy in this setting.     

大学生成人依恋、应对方式与负性情绪的关系研究

本文使用结构方程模型方法,研究大学生成人依恋、应对方式与负性情绪的关系。结果发现:(1)应对方式是依恋焦虑与负性情绪之间的完全中介;(2)应对方式是依恋回避与负性情绪之间的部分中介;(3)依恋焦虑和依恋回避对应对方式的解释率为40%,而依恋回避和依恋焦虑以及应对方式对负性情绪的解释率则为56%。     

Parenting Styles and Suicidal Ideation in Adolescents: Mediating Effect of Attachment

The present study aims to analyze the role of parenting styles in the development of suicidal ideation in adolescents, as well as test the mediating role of attachment to parents in the association between authoritative, authoritarian and permissive parenting style and suicidal ideation. The sample was made up of 604 individuals, aged between 15 and 18. In order to gather data, the Styles & Dimensions Questionnaire: Short Version, the Father/Mother Attachment Questionnaire and the Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire were used. The results suggest that the relations with parents, which are characterized by inhibition of exploration and of individuality, contribute to an emotional maladjustment being positively associated with suicidal ideation (r?=?.26 to r?=?.28). This confirmed the mediating role of parental attachment in the association between authoritative and permissive parenting styles from father and mother to suicidal ideation. It was also verified also a partial mediation, through the attachment to parents, in the association between the parent’s authoritarian style and the mother’s permissive styles and suicidal ideation. Furthermore, it was found the presence of total mediation, by throughout to attachment to the father, in the association between the father’s permissive style and suicidal ideation. The results suggest the importance of adopting authoritative parenting styles, since they seem to facilitate the development of the quality of attachment with parents. The results were analyzed in light of the attachment theory, taking into consideration the importance of parenting styles in understanding the processes inherent to suicidal ideation in adolescence.     

A Religiously Oriented Group Counseling Intervention for Self-Defeating Perfectionism: A Pilot Study

This article briefly describes a group counseling intervention we used with devout Mormon college students who were struggling with issues of perfectionism. The treatment package contained several religious and spiritual interventions including religious imagery, religious bibliotherapy assignments, and discussions about religious concepts of perfection. Group participants scored lower on depression and perfectionism, and higher on self-esteem, existential well-being, and religious well-being at the conclusion of the group. The favorable results of this pilot study will hopefully provide incentive for researchers to further evaluate religiously oriented treatment approaches for perfectionism.     

Attachment Styles and Employee Performance: The Mediating Role of Burnout

Researchers are becoming increasingly interested in how early experiences within the family are relevant to an individual’s behavior at work. Drawing on Bowlby’s attachment theory, the present study addresses this topic by examining the relationship between attachment in adulthood and job performance, and the mediating role of burnout in that relationship. We used data from two samples (201 Dutch employees and 178 Romanian working students) and structural equation modeling to test this mediation model and its possible invariance across both samples. The results showed that in both samples, attachment-related anxiety was positively related to burnout, which was in turn negatively related to job performance. Attachment-related avoidance was not significantly associated with burnout or performance. These results were similar in both samples, thus increasing their validity. The results suggest that childhood and early socialization experiences play a role in shaping the employee’s behavior and well-being at work. The study is one of the few examining attachment styles in relation to burnout and performance.     

The Relationships Among Sensory Processing Styles,Personality Traits,and Body Mass Index: A Pilot Study

The purpose of the authors in this study is to explore the possible relationships among sensory processing styles, possible sensory processing disorders, personality traits, and body mass index. There is research on the relationship between obesity as defined by body mass index and temperament, and sensory processing and temperament; however, no information could be found on the relationship between body mass index and sensory processing styles, or the role that temperament and personality styles may play in these relationships. The 50 female participants were recruited from the University of New England community. The sample included women between the ages of 19 and 59 years, and of various weights. None of the participants had a history of thyroid problems, diabetes, or any physical disabilities that would limit daily physical activity. None had been diagnosed with sensory processing disorder. All participants filled out two self-reports and a demographic questionnaire. The Adult/Adolescent Sensory Profile (Brown &; Dunn, 2002 Brown , C. E. , &; Dunn , W. ( 2002 ). Adult/Adolescent Sensory Profile . San Antonio , TX : The Psychological Corporation . [Google Scholar]) determines a person's sensory processing style and possible sensory processing disorder, and the Basic Personality Inventory (Jackson, 1996 Jackson , D. N. ( 1996 ). Basic Personality Inventory Manual , (2nd ed.) . Port Huron , MI : Sigma Assessment  [Google Scholar]) focuses on everyday behaviors to describe temperament and “adult behavioral syndromes” (p. 5). Through this study the authors show only tentative relationships between body mass index and sensory processing styles and personality traits. The data could be interpreted to support both discriminant and convergent validity between the Adult/Adolescent Sensory Profile and the Basic Personality Inventory. There were, however, significant correlations between aspects of sensory processing and aspects of personality that appeared to strengthen the idea that differences in sensory processing result in predictable types of behavior, indicating that sensory processing disorders are a separate diagnostic category.     

Differentiation of Self and Attachment in Adulthood: Relational Correlates of Effortful Control

This study tested relations between differentiation of self, adult attachment, and effortful control in a sample of 225 adults. Results indicated that adult differentiation of self uniquely predicted greater effortful control, after accounting for variance due to attachment security. Greater ability to take I positions in relationships, along with lower emotional reactivity (ER) and attachment anxiety, were unique predictors of effortful control. Significant relationships emerged between dimensions of attachment and differentiation of self, with strongest associations observed between attachment avoidance and emotional cutoff (r = –.78), and attachment anxiety and ER (r = –.60).     

National Attachment and Patriotism in a European Nation: A British Study

This study explores identification with one's national group using two distinct but interrelated concepts: identity content and relational orientation. Theoretical distinctions were drawn between two forms of identity content: traditional-cultural and civic, and between two forms of relational orientation: blind and constructive. The multidimensionality of both identity content and relational orientation and the relationships amongst these components were examined in a British sample: positive relationships were hypothesized between blind orientation and traditional-cultural content and between constructive orientation and civic content. Principal components analyses confirmed the hypothesized factor structures, and the resulting scales were highly reliable. Relationships amongst the resulting factors were explored using regression analyses. The overall results indicate support for the orthogonality of both the two orientation dimensions and the two content dimensions. Moreover, the hypothesized relationships between forms of orientation and content were largely supported. In conclusion, this study highlights the importance of looking at the relationship between identity content and relational orientation. The implications of these observations for theory and research are discussed with reference to using categories to "group" participants in research, citizenship education, and more general attitudes towards social change.     

Multiple Attachment Representations in Clinical Practice: Case Study of a Six-Year-Old Maltreated Child

Research on attachment predominantly traces the effect of a single or primary attachment and/or attachment style on working models and behavior. However, most children form multiple attachments. This article reviews research on multiple attachment representations in children and considers how such information can usefully be applied to clinical settings. Through the case study of a six-year-old adopted boy with a history of maltreatment, it explores how those internal working models can be assessed in treatment and the clinical value of recognizing different attachment representations and styles. Implications for treatment interventions are explored.     

Phases of Group Development: A View from Self Psychology

This paper delineates four phases of group development from the standpoint of self psychological theory. The author contends that a stable sense of groupself develops over time and that the groupself has a distinct number of phases, each of which has a therapeutic impact on members. The individual patient's selfobject experiences include a relationship to the group-as-a-whole, a transference state of which the leader is but one part. Thus, rather than dilute the transference, group analysis offers a unique opportunity to help the individual experience him or herself within a selfobject matrix that extends beyond the dyad. Group analysis leads to a strengthening of the self, especially as it enables the self to experience itself as part of a group identity, which provides alter-ego selfobject experiences, as well as a sense of acceptance within a larger community. This paper attempts to clarify how different selfobject experiences may be highlighted within the groupself at different stages of group development.     

The Effectiveness of Group Metacognitive Therapy for Generalised Anxiety Disorder: A Pilot Study

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) responds well to individually delivered metacognitive therapy (MCT). The current study investigated the effectiveness of MCT administered to groups of patients with GAD in a general outpatient treatment centre. Thirty-three consecutively referred adult patients with GAD were assessed before treatment (pretreatment), after the last treatment session (posttreatment), and six months after treatment had ended (follow-up). Analyses of treatment effects were conducted for all patients entering the study (i.e., intent-to-treat analysis, using the last-observation-carried-forward procedure), and repeated for the patients who completed treatment (completers analysis), using paired samples t-tests. Further, effect sizes (ESs) and indices of clinical significance were calculated, and compared with those reported in studies into the efficacy and effectiveness of individually delivered MCT for GAD. Among both the intent-to-treat and the completers sample, large pre- to posttreatment reductions in symptoms of worry, trait-anxiety, and general psychopathology. The magnitude of change and the degree of clinical significance were smaller than those reported in studies into the effectiveness of individually delivered MCT for GAD, whereas the attrition rate (27 %) was higher. It is tentatively concluded that MCT for GAD can be effectively delivered in a group format in a heterogenous clinical practice setting. Further evaluation is clearly indicated.     

Developmental Personality Styles: An Attachment Theory Conceptualization of Personality Disorders

Attachment theory, as a developmentally based theory of personality formation, provides a viable framework for understanding the development and maintenance of personality disorders, or what A. E. Ivey and M. B. Ivey (1998) have referred to as “developmental personality styles.” Using K. Bartholomew's (1990) 4‐dimensional model of adult attachment as an organizational framework, 10 developmental personality styles are differentiated regarding their unique attachment experiences, working models of self and other, and feedforward beliefs. Implications of an attachment theory framework for counseling clients with problematic developmental personality styles are discussed.     

Relationships between Theory of Mind and Attachment Styles in Emerging Adulthood

Journal of Adult Development - Several studies have highlighted a relationship between attachment and theory of mind (ToM) in childhood and in clinical populations. However, little is known about...