A taxometric study of the Adult Attachment Interview

This study is the first to examine the latent structure of individual differences reflected in the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; C. George, N. Kaplan, & M. Main, 1985), a commonly used and well-validated measure designed to assess an adult's current state of mind regarding childhood experiences with caregivers. P. E. Meehl's (1995) taxometric methods (i.e., MAXCOV-HITMAX) were applied to data from 504 AAIs. Analyses revealed that the variation underlying secure versus dismissing states of mind was more consistent with a dimensional than a taxonic model. (Taxometric analyses of preoccupation were indeterminate.) In addition, variation in secure adults' (n=278) reports about their early experiences revealed little evidence for qualitative groups of earned- and continuous-secures. Rather, the inferred life experiences of secure adults appeared to be distributed continuously. Findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical implications regarding the phenomenon of earned-security specifically and variation underlying secure and insecure states of mind more generally. The consequences of these analyses for AAI reliability training and coding are also explored.     

The Adult Attachment Interview and psychoanalytic outcome studies

During the last two decades, the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) has attracted growing interest from psychoanalysts concerned with empirical research. The paper discusses the application of Crittenden's Dynamic-Maturational AAI method for assessing the outcome of psychoanalysis. The aim is to demonstrate, through a case presentation, how therapeutic change can be expressed in the AAI. The pre- and post-treatment interviews of one patient, having completed a four-times-a-week psychoanalysis, are presented. It is demonstrated that the detailed discourse analysis of the AAI, based on transcribed tape-recorded interviews, focuses subtle formal elements of language and speech reflecting dominant patterns of affect regulation and object relating. The AAI text analysis provides possibility for coding procedural memory as conveyed by the handling of the relationship to the interviewer, incorporating the dynamic relationship between researcher and subject and thus complying with a methodological prerequisite regarded by many psychoanalysts as necessary for capturing data that are relevant to psychoanalysis. On this background, the method emerges as promising for psychoanalytic outcome studies.     

An Attachment Perspective on Reunions in Couple Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy

Psychoanalysis has been slow to acknowledge attachment theory as one of its own. Yet traditions of observational and representational research associated with it have much to offer in shedding light on intrapsychic as well as interpersonal phenomena. This paper explores these traditions and their potential clinical utility for couple psychoanalytic psychotherapy. In particular, attention is drawn to behaviour and representations associated with the experience of reunion in therapy sessions.     

The Adult Attachment Interview and self-reports of attachment style: an empirical rapprochement

Although 10 studies have been published on the empirical overlap of the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and measures of self-reported attachment style, results in this literature have been inconsistently interpreted in narrative reviews. This report was designed as a rapprochement of the AAI and attachment style literatures and includes 3 studies. Study 1 (combined N = 961) is a meta-analytic review showing that by J. Cohen's (1992) criteria (mean r = .09), the association between AAI security and attachment style dimensions is trivial to small. Study 2 (N = 160) confirms meta-analytic results with state-of-the-art assessments of attachment security and also examines attachment dimensions in relation to the Big 5 personality traits. Finally, Study 3 is an investigation of 50 engaged couples that shows that developmental and social psychological measures of attachment security predict somewhat distinct--though theoretically anticipated--aspects of functioning in adult relationships.     

Thinking Developmentally: A Contemporary Psychoanalytic Perspective

This article considers how using a multifaceted developmental framework can help inform the analyst’s clinical choices throughout the course of treatment. The developmental pathway toward achieving a balance between a stable sense of autonomy and individuality and a capacity for relatedness and mutuality is discussed. The building blocks of development—basic trust, the self-other boundary, object constancy, and self-esteem—are outlined, along with ways to clinically assess developmental levels. Clinical material is presented to help illustrate how a sensitivity to the array of developmental data can help the analyst flexibly adapt to the patient’s changing needs and capacities.     

Bullying at Work: A Psychoanalytic Perspective

The paper traces aspects of the history and development of work in this area. It places workplace bullying on a continuum which straddles workplace homicide, violence at work, sexual harassment and the harnessing of the aggressive instincts into effective work. Thought is given to the question of which behaviours should be considered to constitute workplace bullying. A recent example of bullying in restaurant kitchens is examined in more detail. The paper concludes by looking at issues around the responsibility of individuals and organizations to understand and manage bullying at work. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Observations on the Centrality of Security in Psychoanalytic Supervision: A View from the Interpersonal Tradition and Attachment Perspective

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis - Using theoretical concepts from the Interpersonal tradition in psychoanalysis and supported by findings from the attachment literature, the utility of...     

Intersubjective-Systems Theory: A Phenomenological-Contextualist Psychoanalytic Perspective

In this article I outline the essentials of my phenomenological-contextualist psychoanalytic perspective as it has been applied to a wide range of clinical phenomena, including development and pathogenesis, transference and resistance, forms of unconsciousness, emotional trauma, and therapeutic change. I characterize the therapeutic comportment entailed by these formulations as a kind of emotional dwelling.     

Narcissism and Adult Attachment: A Multivariate Approach

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between maladaptive narcissism, attachment anxiety, and attachment avoidance. The secondary objective of the present research was to explore further the differences between overt and covert forms of narcissistic vulnerability. Female participants (N = 171) completed measures of adult attachment, overt narcissism, and covert narcissism. Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) explored the multivariate relationship between overt and covert narcissism, on one hand, and adult attachment dimensions of anxiety and avoidance, on the other hand. CCA indicated the two linear combinations of variables overlapped significantly and shared about a quarter of their variance in common. The most important variable within the narcissism set was covert narcissism; and within the adult attachment set, both anxiety and avoidance were important, but the former more than the latter. The implications of the present findings are discussed in the context of past and future research on personality, attachment, and the experience of emotions.     

Clinical Dynamics During Adolescence: Psychoanalytic and Attachment Perspectives

In this essay, we discuss the contribution of psychoanalytic theory and attachment to the understanding of dynamics in adolescence. While psychoanalysis describes adolescence as a period of upheaval that challenges the balance achieved in childhood between Ego and Id and begins the shedding of family dependencies and the loosening of infantile object ties, attachment, on the contrary, considers this period as one characterized by the persistence of strong bonds to parents, which become more complex and articulated. In order to illustrate psychoanalytic and attachment perspective, a clinical vignette of a 17-year-old boy is presented and discussed to consider his difficulties in the area of identity and loss.     

成人依恋表征与婚恋依恋

近年来依恋研究已拓展到成人的依恋表征和婚恋依恋,依恋表征是成人对其早期依恋经验的回忆和重构,婚恋依恋是成人与情侣间构成的依恋情感联结。该文介绍了依恋表征和婚恋依恋研究的理论背景、测量方法及主要成果——依恋的代际传递性、依恋的临床应用、婚恋依恋对成人婚恋关系质量和工作的影响。最后探讨了成人依恋领域有待深入研究的问题,如依恋表征与婚恋依恋的关系问题、依恋的稳定性与变化问题以及依恋是个体差异还是关系变量等,并分析了今后的研究方向。     

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.     

Treating Insecure Attachment in Group Therapy: Attachment Theory Meets Modern Psychoanalytic Technique

Attachment theory is a comprehensive, empirically supported theory of emotional, relational, and neurophysiological development. Modern psychoanalysis is a theory of technique that addresses early psychological deficits and conflicts considered beyond the reach of traditional psychoanalysis. Both orientations have influenced the theory and practice of group psychotherapy and emphasize personality maturation as a treatment goal. This paper explores their potential synergies when treating preoedipal, insecurely attached emotional states, disrupted emotional self-regulation, and impaired mentalization. Theoretical and technical applications are suggested that may enhance the treatment of disordered attachment in group psychotherapy. By addressing insecure attachment as resistance, modern psychoanalytic techniques may engage the emotional substrates of the attachment process to facilitate the expansion of relational capacities, mentalization, self-regulation, the differentiation of self/other representations, and epistemic trust.     

大学生抑郁情绪与成人依恋的关系研究

目的:考察大学生的抑郁情绪与成人依恋的关系方法采用流调中心用抑郁量表和成人依恋量表,对河南某高校随机抽取的288名大一至大四的学生进行了调查,并进行有关的统计分析。结果:大学生的抑郁情绪在性别与年级的交互作用上差异显著;大学生成人依恋的不同类型对其抑郁情绪有影响,其中,拒绝型和恐惧型的大学生在抑郁情绪上有显著差异。结论:拒绝型与恐惧型成人依恋在大学生的抑郁情绪上有显著差异,不同年级和性别之间的抑郁情绪有显著交互作用。     

青少年同伴依恋：基于发展的视角

同伴依恋是青少年时期的一项重要的发展任务, 目前测量青少年同伴依恋的工具主要包含IPPA、PIML以及近年来才出现的AFAS量表等。在同伴依恋的影响因素中, 青少年与父母之间的依恋关系以及青少年自身的性别都可以在一定程度上预测其同伴依恋的发展状况, 性向和同伴的性别也会影响青少年对同伴依恋对象的选择, 而年龄与同伴依恋之间的关系尚不明确。此外, 安全的依恋风格预示着青少年较高的同伴关系质量, 而良好的同伴依恋关系还可以促进青少年的社会性发展。未来的研究应该着力于研究方法的改进、研究切入点的变化以及研究方向的多样化。     

Growing Up With Hatred: A Psychoanalytic Developmental Perspective

This article looks at how hatred affects development: how children may come to hate, the impact of hatred on a child’s development, the evolving awareness of hatred, and how we may try to insulate a child from being the object of hatred and prejudice. What is suggested is that we aid children in developing a “not REALLY me” me; one akin to the “me” that a psychoanalyst develops in response to being the object of transference.     

Attachment and God representations among lay Catholics, priests, and religious: a matched comparison study based on the Adult Attachment Interview

Based on the idea that believers' perceived relationships with God develop from their attachment-related experiences with primary caregivers, the authors explored the quality of such experiences and their representations among individuals who differed in likelihood of experiencing a principal attachment to God. Using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), they compared attachment-related experiences and representations in a group of 30 Catholic priests and religious with a matched group of lay Catholics and with the worldwide normal distribution of AAI classifications. They found an overrepresentation of secure-autonomous states regarding attachment among those more likely to experience a principal attachment to God (i.e., the priests and religious) compared with the other groups and an underrepresentation of unresolved-disorganized states in the two groups of Catholics compared with the worldwide normal distribution. Key findings also included links between secure-autonomous states regarding attachment and estimated experiences with loving or nonrejecting parents on the one hand and loving God imagery on the other. These results extend the literature on religion from an attachment perspective and support the idea that generalized working models derived from attachment experiences with parents are reflected in believers' perceptions of God.