Transfer of attachment functions and adjustment among young adults in China

This study was designed to examine the process of attachment transfer from parents to peers, as well as factors related to this transfer process among Mainland Chinese. A total of 147 Chinese college students (with a mean age of 21.44) completed questionnaires that measured attachment style, attachment transfer, attachment support from various figures, loneliness, positive/negative affects, and self-esteem. Major findings of the current study include the following: (a) Hazan and Shaver's sequential model of attachment transfer was generalized to the Chinese sample; (b) the extent of attachment transfer was found to be associated with participants' emotional states (loneliness and positive affect) and was a significant predictor of these emotional states beyond the effects of attachment style and attachment support. As one of the first studies exploring the phenomenon of attachment transfer among young Chinese adults, conceptual and applied implications of these findings are discussed.     

老年人依恋对生活满意度的影响：孤独感的中介作用

选取湖北省和湖南省的六个县市的310名老年人,采用感情和社交孤独问卷(ESLS)、生活满意度量表(SWLS)和亲密关系经历量表（ECR）进行测量,运用偏差矫正百分位的非参数Bootstrap 方法探讨老年人的孤独感在依恋与生活满意度之间的中介作用。结果表明：（1）依恋的回避和焦虑两个维度均与孤独感呈显著正相关,与生活满意度呈显著负相关,孤独感与生活满意度呈显著负相关;（2）孤独感在在依恋回避与生活满意度之间起部分中介作用,在依恋焦虑与生活满意度之间起完全中介作用。     

工读学校学生孤独感的特点及其与依恋风格的关系

采用《中学生孤独感问卷》和《关系问卷》,对上海市194名工读学校学生和112名普通学校学生进行调查,结果发现：工读学校学生与普通学校学生在孤独感各维度都存在显著或极其显著的差异;工读学校学生孤独感不存在显著的性别差异;在对不同依恋对象（母亲、父亲和同伴）的依恋风格中,工读学校学生的孤独感更容易受同伴依恋风格的影响。     

大学生的社会支持、孤独及自尊对主观幸福感的作用机制研究

对389名大学生施测社会支持量表、自尊量表、社会与感情孤独量表及主观幸福感量表,以探讨孤独和自尊在社会支持与主观幸福感的关系中的作用。结果表明：（1）主观幸福感与社会支持、自尊、孤独呈显著相关。（2）路径分析表明,自尊、孤独分别在社会支持与主观幸福感之间起显著的中介作用。社会支持→自尊→孤独→主观幸福感的显著路径表明,这些变量间存在更为复杂的关系。这些结果对于大学生心理健康教育具有重要的意义。     

The Relationship of Parental Attachment and Psychological Separation to the Psychological Functioning of Young Adults

Abstract

The authors explored the interrelations between attachment patterns and psychological separation from parents as well as the contribution of these variables to adaptive psychological functioning. Among 153 university students in Greece, there was a positive association between security of attachment and freedom from guilt, anxiety, and resentment toward one's parents (conflictual independence); in contrast, there was an inverse relation between security of attachment and independence from parents in relation to emotional, functional, and attitudinal independence. Compared with the insecurely attached students, the securely attached students also scored higher on measures of self-esteem and lower on measures of anxiety and loneliness.     

The relationship between romantic and prenatal maternal attachment: The moderating role of social support

The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between three types of maternal attachment bonds: anxious romantic, avoidant romantic and prenatal. The moderating role of perceived social support is also analysed. Ninety-one pregnant women in or near their thirtieth week of gestation (M = 29.59; SD = 4.57) were recruited, all of whom completed a series of questionnaires to assess the quality of their romantic and prenatal attachment bonds and their levels of perceived social support. The results reveal that both anxious and avoidant romantic attachments were significantly associated with low levels of maternal prenatal attachment. Moreover, the level of social support perceived during pregnancy moderated the relationship between anxious and prenatal attachments but had no effect on avoidant romantic and prenatal attachments. Our discussion of these findings considers the emotional and behavioural characteristics of various forms of insecure romantic attachments. Overall, the data highlight the relevance of the quality of intimate close relationships on maternity experiences and women's caregiving abilities.     

Attachment,emotional loneliness,and bullying behaviour: A study of adult and young offenders

This research addresses the question of whether or not offenders who bully others and/or are victimised themselves can be distinguished by their attachment styles and the level of emotional loneliness that they report. Adult and young male offenders (n = 220) were required to complete a self‐report behavioural checklist (DIPC: Direct and Indirect Prisoner behaviour Checklist: Ireland, 1999a) that addressed the level of bullying behaviour at their present institution. Offenders were also required to complete a measure of attachment, namely the Three Attachment Style Measure [Hazan and Shaver, 1987] exploring secure, avoidant and anxious/ambivalent styles, and a measure of emotional loneliness, namely the revised UCLA Loneliness scale [Russell, Peplaw and Cutrona, 1980]. Young offenders were more likely than adult offenders to report behaviours indicative of ‘bullying others’ and of ‘being bullied.’ With regards to attachment style and bullying behaviour, significant differences were restricted to avoidant attachment; bully/victims reported higher avoidant scores than the other bully‐categories, with pure bullies and those not‐involved reporting lower avoidant scores. Finally, when considering emotional loneliness and bullying behaviour, bully/victims reported higher scores on emotional loneliness than the other bully‐categories, with the not‐involved group reporting significantly lower scores. Aggr. Behav. 30:298–312, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

成人依恋对病理性网络使用的影响:社交自我效能感和孤独感的中介作用

为探讨成人依恋影响病理性网络使用(PIU)的内在机制,采用自陈式问卷调查了483名大学生,通过结构方程模型和bootstrap法考察了社交自我效能感和孤独感在成人依恋与PIU关系中的中介作用。结果表明:(1)孤独感在依恋焦虑和依恋回避对PIU的影响中起中介作用;(2)社交自我效能感和孤独感在依恋回避对PIU的影响中起链式中介作用。研究结论:成人依恋通过社交自我效能感和孤独感的中介作用影响PIU,且依恋焦虑和依恋回避两个维度的中介机制有差异。     

Psychometric analysis of the short-form UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-8) in Taiwanese undergraduate students

The main purpose of this study was to validate the short-form of the UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-8; Hays & DiMatteo, 1987) in Taiwanese undergraduate students. A total of 130 undergraduate students participated in this study. Participants completed the ULS-8 in addition to measures of life satisfaction, social support, and adult attachment style. Result of confirmatory factor analysis supported the one-factor model of the ULS-8 with adequate values of various fit indices, revealing that the 8 items of the scale were homogeneous for measuring loneliness. In addition, the ULS-8 had a negative relationship with life satisfaction, and social support; and a positive one with anxiety and avoidant attachment tendency. All the findings showed that the ULS-8 was an adequate short-form measure of loneliness.     

Attachment Security,Personality, and Adjustment of Elementary School Children

Children's development is assumed to be closely related to their attachment security and their personality. The authors’ aim was to examine the joint contribution of attachment security and personality traits to children's adjustment by examining diverse children's outcomes (emotional symptoms, social functioning, and behavioral problems) and using various perspectives (children, parents, and teachers). The sample comprised 247 8–12-year-old children from low socioeconomic status neighborhoods. Personality and attachment contribute to the different domains of adjustment. In cases of moderation, attachment security moderates the implications of personality traits on children's adjustment. The findings highlight the contribution of positive personality tendencies in playing down the difficulties of insecurely attached children.     

Infertility and Adjustment in Women: The Effects of Attachment Style and Social Support

The moderating effects of two psychological resources—attachment style and perceived social support—on adjustment were studied in 109 infertile women, examining the effects of duration of infertility and of primary (the woman has no child of her own) versus secondary (the woman already has a child of her own) infertility. Subjects were administered questionnaires measuring marital adjustment, psychological distress, and well-being. A model viewing attachment style and social support as moderators between stress psychological well-being was explored. The results showed that among the objective characteristics, only duration of infertility had any impact on the psychological measures. Furthermore, the psychological resources were highly associated with the adjustment scores in general. A hierarchical regression analysis showed that attachment style and social support both were related to marital quality and to psychological well-being and that these two resources function as stress moderators. It was concluded that attachment style and social support are important resources for individuals in times of stress, as exemplified in the infertility situation.     

Adult attachment,emotional control,and marital satisfaction

This study extends previous research into the relations among attachment style, emotional experience, and emotional control. Questionnaire measures of these variables were completed by a broad sample of 238 married couples. Continuous measures of attachment showed that insecure attachment (low Comfort with closeness; high Anxiety over relationships) was related to greater control of emotion, regardless of whether the emotion was partner-related or not. Insecure attachment was also associated with less frequent and intense positive emotion and with more frequent and intense negative emotion, although these links depended on context (partner-related or not), attachment dimension, and gender. Emotional control added to the prediction of marital satisfaction, after controlling for attachment dimensions; the most robust links with satisfaction were inverse relations with own control of positive emotion and with partner's control of negative emotion. The results are discussed in terms of attachment theory, affect regulation, and communication in marriage.     

Role Stressors and Job Attitudes: A Mediated Model of Leader-Member Exchange

ABSTRACT

Past research has shown the importance of considering close others' interests when pursuing goals, but no research has examined potential moderators of this effect. Two studies examined how attachment style moderates the association between reasons for studying and academic outcomes. In Study 1, 119 participants reported their attachment style, the reasons why they study, and their study habits. As predicted, the association between relational reasons and studying was positive for secure individuals and negative for avoidant individuals. In Study 2, 195 participants reported their attachment style and reasons for studying, as well as their GPA and academic well-being. As predicted, the association between relational reasons and GPA was positive for secure individuals, whereas the associations between personal reasons for studying and academic well-being were positive for avoidant individuals. These results indicate the importance of considering individual differences as moderators of the association between goal motives and outcomes.     

Do early parental postnatal depression,attachment style and perceived social support affect neurodevelopmental outcomes of premature infants?

BackgroundThe birth of a premature infant is both a stressful event for both parents and associated with an increased rate of postnatal depression (PND). Additionally some mothers may have delayed feelings of attachment to their babies because of the medical procedures or possible medical complications. Social support is known as an important factor for well-being in the postnatal period. However there is scarce data about these factors for fathers. We aimed to identify the impact of parental PND, attachment style and social support on premature infant development considering the prematurity degree and risk groups.MethodsThis prospective study was conducted by including 96 infants who were born preterm. Mothers and fathers were given Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Adult Attachment Style Scale (AASS), and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) to fill out when their infants’ corrected age was 3 months. The developmental evaluation was conducted with Bayley III at the corrected 6 months and 18 months of age.ResultsPostnatal depression scores were more in mothers than fathers, the rates of secure attachment and social support were similar between mothers and fathers. Factors associated with the neurodevelopmental outcomes including prematurity degree and risk groups, EPDS, AASS and MSPSS scores were analyzed for both parents. In multivariate analysis, fathers’ depression scores were inversely associated with cognitive development (p = 0.030, R² = 0.080, B=-0.283) and mothers’ anxious/ambivalent attachment style was inversely associated with language development (p = 0.011, R² = 0.108, B=-0.329) at the age of corrected 6 months old.ConclusionsOur findings underscore that the efforts to improve developmental outcomes of premature infants should include parental well-being taking into account new fathers’ depressive symptomatology and maternal anxious/ambivalent attachment.     

初中生依恋风格与欺凌保护行为的关系：社会支持和欺凌应对效能的链式中介作用

为考察初中生依恋风格与欺凌保护行为的关系,同时探讨社会支持和欺凌应对效能的链式中介作用,采用问卷法对565名初中生进行调查。结果发现：（1）依恋焦虑与欺凌保护行为呈显著正相关,依恋回避与欺凌保护行为呈显著负相关;（2）社会支持和欺凌应对效能在依恋回避与欺凌保护行为之间起链式中介作用。若要增加依恋回避初中生的欺凌保护行为,应注重为其提供社会支持,提升欺凌应对效能。     

Psychometric Properties of Two Implicit Associations Tests measuring Adult Attachment

Adult attachment style has consequences for mental health, interpersonal functioning and emotion regulation. This occurs partly deliberately, also referred to as explicit, and partly on an automatic level outside of conscious awareness, also referred to as implicit. Whereas explicit adult attachment can be assessed with self-report instruments, measurement of implicit adult attachment requires indirect methods. This paper describes the psychometric properties of two Implicit Association Tests measuring general adult attachment in a population sample. The study evaluated the reliability and the validity of the Avoidant Attachment IAT (ANX-IAT) and the Anxious Attachment IAT (AVOID-IAT). Validity was evaluated against self-report measures of adult attachment style (RQ), psychopathology (SQ-48), and well-being (MHC-SF). The split-half reliabilities of both IATs were good; the test-retest reliability of the ANX-IAT was adequate; however the AVOID-IAT had low test-retest reliability. Both IATs did not explain variance in psychopathology additional to explicit measures. The AVOID-IAT showed added value over explicit measurement of avoidant attachment in explaining variance in well-being, particularly regarding emotional and psychological well-being. The ANX-IAT did not explain variance in any measure of well-being additional to the explicit measure of anxious attachment. Our findings provide a basis from which more valid IATs measuring general adult attachment can be developed. Furthermore, they suggest that implicit avoidant attachment might be related to well-being, particularly emotional and psychological well-being. However, further research is needed to investigate the role of implicit general adult attachment in mental health and to optimize the two IATs in terms of validity before clinical use is recommended.     

Environmental attitudes in China: The roles of the Dark Triad,future orientation and place attachment

Given the current environmental situation and social change in China, we explored the relationships between the Dark Triad traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy) and environmental attitudes (beliefs regarding environmentally related issues), and the mediating roles of future orientation (the tendency to plan for meeting long‐term objectives) and place attachment (the emotional connection with the place of residence) in these relationships. Using a national sample from all 31 provinces of mainland China (N = 998), we found that the psychometric structure of the Dark Triad was well confirmed under Chinese culture. The Dark Triad as a whole was negatively related to environmental attitudes, but narcissism was not significantly associated with environmental attitudes when the three Dark Triad traits were considered as the predictors simultaneously. Future orientation and place attachment mediated the association between the Dark Triad and environmental attitudes. These findings enrich our understanding of the relevant variables of environmental attitudes and provide references for China's government and other developing countries to improve environmental issues. The uniqueness of narcissism could expand the understanding of the commonality and diversity among the Dark Triad traits, and an efficient tool of the Dark Triad was provided under Chinese culture.     

Self-Improvement as a Response to Interpersonal Regulation in Close Relationships: The Role of Attachment Styles

ABSTRACT

This study was designed to examine how the two dimensions of adult attachment styles, attachment anxiety and avoidance, would affect young adults' intentions of self-improvement in response to various regulatory strategies used by a close other (i.e., a romantic partner or best friend). One hundred and eighteen undergraduate students were involved in this study. Major findings include (a) the more avoidant an individual was, the less likely he/she would improve on those attributes that were desired to change by their close other; (b) a close other's use of the strategy “voice” was positively associated with individuals' intentions to self-improve, while the use of the strategy “exit” was negatively associated with individuals' intentions to self-improve; (c) a close other's use of “loyalty” was associated with a lower level of intentions to self-improve, except for participants scored high on attachment avoidance. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings were discussed.     

Gendered pathways to romantic attachment in emerging adults: The role of body image and parental support

This study analyses the impact of body image and perceived parental behaviour (support and negativity) as factors that contribute to romantic attachment in emerging adulthood. In a 11-year longitudinal study on 144 females and 114 males, we assessed body image, body mass index, and perceived father's and mother's support and negativity during adolescence (at ages 14 and 17) and in emerging adulthood (age 21). At the age of 25, romantic attachment was assessed. Results of path analyses revealed that females' positive body image was consistently linked with greater parental support over time and contributed to low avoidance in romance at the age of 25, whereas perceived negativity with fathers mediated by body image contributed to more avoidance in females' later romantic relationships. In contrast, parental support and negativity during adolescence and young adulthood had no impact; only a positive body image resulted in males' low avoidance in later romantic attachment at the age of 25. The findings point to gendered socialization for males and females and highlight the importance of body image for an adaptive romantic outcome in emerging adulthood.     

Can We Identify Emotion Over‐regulation in Infancy? Associations with Avoidant Attachment,Dyadic Emotional Interaction and Temperament

Emotion over‐regulation in infancy has seldom been the focus of empirical research. This study analysed the specificities of over‐regulation when compared with under‐regulation (maladaptive) and adaptive regulation by testing its association with attachment, dyadic emotional interaction, and temperament. The sample consisted of 52 low‐risk mother–infant dyads. During a home visit, dyadic emotional interaction was assessed in the daily routines and free play of 10‐month‐old infants. The infant's emotion regulation was assessed using the Shape Sorter Task, and a temperament questionnaire was completed by the mother. Attachment was assessed at 12 or 16 months using the Strange Situation. As hypothesized, (i) emotion over‐regulation (versus adaptive regulation) was predicted by a lower quality of dyadic emotional interaction and marginally by avoidant attachment; (ii) over‐regulation (versus under‐regulation) was predicted by avoidant attachment; and (iii) the predictive role of avoidant attachment was substantiated after controlling for another measure of mother–infant interaction. Contrary to expectations, temperament did not distinguish between emotion regulation styles. The link between over‐regulation and lower quality of mother–infant emotional interaction and avoidant attachment was demonstrated. There is empirical support to the claim that it is possible to identify emotion over‐regulation in infancy and that it is a maladaptive style of emotion regulation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.