Attachment style as a piedictor of sexual attitudes and behavior in late Adolescence

Abstract

This research applied attachment theory to the study of sexual attitudes and behaviors in a sample of late adolescents. Four hundred and seventy heterosexual undergraduate students completed questionnaires assessing attachment (discomfort with closeness; anxiety over relationships). relationship history, communication about sex. sexual self-efficacy and locus of control, and attitudes to condoms. Eight weeks later, participants reported on sexual behaviors occurring during the eight-week interval. and perceived risk of these activities. Both discomfort with closeness and anxiety over relationships were associated with external locus of control for sexual outcomes, and with use of drugs before sexual contact. Anxiety over relationships was linked to unsafe sex and to negative attitudes to condoms, but discomfort with closeness was associated with a more cautious approach to sexual risk-taking. Some results were qualified by gender differences. and by differences between the full sample and those who were sexually active. The findings arc discussed in terms of attachment style and its links with communication and affect regulation.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

This study indicates that attachment dimensions are reliably related to many aspects of sexual attitudes and behaviors among late adolescents. Insecure attachment was linked to increased drug use before sexual contact. Anxiety over relationships was also linked to less safe sexual practice, but discomfort with closeness was associated with a tendency for males to be cautious about sexual risk-taking. The results support the utility of the attachment perspective on adolescent sexuality, but also highlight the complex relations between attachment dimensions and sexual outcomes. Future research would benefit from more detailed investigations of the attitudes, emotions, and cognitions which may mediate the link between attachment style and sexual behavior. For example, those who are highly anxious about their relationships may engage in more risky sexual practices because they fear that non-compliance with partners' wishes will jeopardize their relationship; the tendency to engage in drug use before sexual cpntact may reflect their attempts to boost self-confidence or to manage negative mood states. Research into these issues has the potential to explain how attachment insecurity is played out in patterns of sexual activity.     

Attachment style, ethnicity and help-seeking attitudes among adolescent pupils

The present study set out to explore influences on help-seeking attitudes among adolescents. The roles of attachment style, ethnicity and symptomatology were examined, as previous research (predominantly from outside the UK) has shown they have an influence on help-seeking. A self-report questionnaire survey of help-seeking attitudes was carried out among 112 Asian, black and white UK pupils (age 15 years). Teachers were identified as the most frequently used source of previous professional help. Greater intentions to seek help were associated with being female, having a secure attachment style and having had previous experience of obtaining professional psychological help, but ethnicity and level of emotional and behavioural difficulties did not predict. Results are discussed in terms of implications for enhancing adolescent help-seeking.     

Attachment style and sexual permissiveness: The moderating role of gender

An individual difference variable that has been found to predict variation in young adults’ sexual attitudes and behaviors is attachment orientation. Although it has been argued that the association between attachment orientation and sexuality may differ for males and females, only a few studies have explored this possibility, and the results have been inconsistent. With data collected from a large sample (N = 4246) of college students at a U.S. Midwestern University, it was examined how men and women with different attachment styles may vary in sociosexuality and attitudes toward casual sex. This study found evidence that among men, and as hypothesized, a dismissive-avoidant attachment orientation was associated with higher scores on Simpson and Gangestad’s (1991) Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (sociosexuality) and on a measure of approval of sex in casual dating relationships. Among women, however, there was no support found for the hypothesis that an anxious-preoccupied attachment style was associated with greater sexual permissiveness or with approval of casual sex. As hypothesized, however, securely attached women had a lower score on sociosexuality than did women with other attachment styles.     

Dating age and stage as correlates of adolescent sexual attitudes and behavior

Dating experiences, especially the type or stage of dating, have consistently been found to be related to premarital sexual behavior. Findings regarding the age at 1st date and sexual behavior have been less consistent. This paper examined the age at which dating began and the type of dating relationship as correlates of premarital sexual attitudes and behavior among mid-teen adolescents. The analyses were based on a sample of high school students (n=836), most of whom were between the ages of 15 and 18 when the surveys were conducted. Early dating, especially early steady dating, was related to permissive attitudes and to premarital sexual experience among both males and females. The relationship between early dating and intercourse experience was particulary strong among Mormons, a religious group which has institutionalized age 16 as the legitimate age to begin dating.     

God Attachment,Mother Attachment,and Father Attachment in Early and Middle Adolescence

The present study examined the interplay of attachment to God, attachment to mother, and attachment to father with respect to adjustment (hope, self-esteem, depression) for 130 early and 106 middle adolescents in Singapore. Results showed that the parental attachments were generally linked (in expected directions) to adjustment. God attachment, however, had unique results. At the bivariate level, God attachment was only linked to early adolescents’ self-esteem. When considered together with parental attachments (including interactions), God attachment did not emerge as the key moderator in attachment interactions and yielded some unexpected results (e.g., being positively linked to depression). These results are discussed viz-a-viz the secure base and safe haven functions that God and parental attachments may play during adolescence.     

Attachment Relationships as Predictors of Cognitive Interpretation and Response Bias in Late Adolescence

We investigated behavioural and cognitive representations of attachment style. Specifically, we sought to test continuity in attachment style and whether participants' perceptions of their attachments to parents, peers, and romantic partners would predict cognitive interpretation and responses to 12 ambiguous situation scenarios. Participants were 161 undergraduate students (17–20 years) who completed the Parental Bonding Instrument, the Attachment Style Questionnaire and the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (peer subscale). Participants then indicated whether they interpreted ambiguous situations as threatening versus non-threatening and how they would respond (proactively, aggressively, or avoidantly). Regression analyses revealed that insecure parental attachments were the main predictor of participants' interpretations and their planned responses, followed by romantic attachments. Peer attachments played little role in the predictions. These results suggest that interpretation of situations and subsequent plans of action may be influenced by attachment related experiences. We discuss our findings in terms of their relevance to attachment theory and their application to our understanding of the concepts of attachment in development of interpersonal relationships.     

Attachment style and self-reported aggression

The present study examined the relationship between attachment style and self-reported aggression in a sample of young women (N = 139). Analysis showed that 27.3% of the subjects classified themselves as insecurely, i.e., avoidantly or ambivalently, attached by means of the Adult Attachment Questionnaire of Hazan and Shaver. In addition, the insecurely attached subjects had elevated anger and hostility compared to securely attached subjects.     

Parent-child sexual discussion: perceived communicator style and subsequent behavior

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between perceived parental sexual communicator style and adolescent sexual behavior and information accuracy. Two hundred thirty-four college students provided data on their perceptions of parental sexual communicator style as well as self-reports of sexual behavior and knowledge across three time frames (junior high school, high school, and college). Significant relationships were found between perceived parental sexual communicator styles and sexual activity, contraceptive use, and sexual knowledge accuracy. In addition, significant differences were found between males and females on their sexual knowledge accuracy (females reported a higher level of sexual knowledge than did males). The findings are discussed, and recommendations for future research in the area of parent-adolescent sexual communication are offered.     

Gender comparisons of college students' attitudes toward sexual behavior

Questionnaires were distributed to 641 undergraduates at a large southeastern university to elicit opinions concerning various forms of premarital sexual behavior. Hypotheses were developed to determine whether there were differences between the attitudes of males and females. Significant differences were found between males' and females' attitudes toward premarital sex when the couple is casually acquainted, and attitudes toward extramarital sex, oral-genital sex, and anal sex. However, significant differences were not found between males' and females' attitudes toward premarital sex when the couple is in love, attitudes toward premarital sex when the couple is engaged, and attitudes toward masturbation, homosexuality, and sexual fantasizing. Males' attitudes toward various forms of sexual behavior were more liberal than those of females.     

Cooperative behavior as a function of interpersonal style in preschoolers

A study of the effectiveness of preschoolers interpersonal interactions was conducted based upon a circumplex model of interpersonal behavior and the corollary complementarity hypothesis developed by Leary (1957) and Carson (1969) The interpersonal styles of 92 preschoolers' interpersonal interactions was rated in a naturalistic free-play environment These ratings were used to obtain status and affiliation scores for each child which, in turn, were the basis for assigning subjects a complementary or an anticom-plementary partner It was predicted and found that complementary pairs performed a difficult puzzle task more efficiently than did anticomplementary pairs The usefulness of the complementarity hypothesis and implications for its use in future research were discussed     

青少年冒险行为及其与人格、依恋的关系

该文采用问卷法对671名初、高中生及大学生进行青少年冒险行为、人格、同伴依恋调查。结果发现,性别、年龄、独生子女与否对青少年冒险行为均有不同程度的影响作用;人格五因素既对青少年冒险行为有直接预测作用,又以同伴依恋的疏远维度为中介间接影响青少年冒险行为。     

The sexual attitudes and behavior of private and public school students: a comparative study

This study reports the results of a questionnaire and interview-based study designed to test the often-stated claims of college preparatory schools, i.e., "prep schools" that, along with a high-quality education, they also instill a superior system of values than is possible in a public school. Comparisons are made between "preppies" and college-bound public school students in terms of sexual attitudes and behavior as well as with the earlier studies of Kinsey, Pomeroy et al., Sorensen, and Haas. The results indicate that, even when measured by the standards of the schools themselves, preppies rank lower in many areas, especially attitudinal, than their public school counterparts. Despite the enormous amount of faculty energy expended to prevent it, the sexual activity of the prep school student, both in amount and degree of sophistication, is significantly greater than is found in public school students. Further, in terms of sex-related drug use, exploitiveness, female self-image, homophobia and sexism, preppies do not compare favorably with public school students. Hypotheses are advanced to account for the differences detected and suggestions made for future research. It is also suggested that the research technique used in this study has great potential for future study of adolescent sexual attitudes and behavior that, in the past, have been extremely difficult to perform.     

Attachment dimensions and sexual motives

Little research has examined the relation between the attachment behavioral system and the sexual behavioral system, although these two systems, along with the caregiving system, are theorized to constitute romantic love ( Fraley & Shaver, 2000 ; Hazan & Shaver, 1987 ). College students (N = 400) completed measures of two dimensions of attachment style, anxiety and avoidance, and motives for having sex. Anxiety was predicted to be associated with having sex to reduce insecurity and foster intense intimacy. Avoidance was predicted to correlate inversely with having sex to foster intimacy and positively with nonromantic goals, such as increasing one's status and prestige among peers. The results supported both sets of predictions. People high on the attachment anxiety dimension reported having sex to reduce insecurity and establish intense closeness; people high on the attachment avoidance dimension reported having sex to impress their peer group, especially if they were having casual, uncommitted sex. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Parental Attachment and Peer Relations in Adolescence: A Meta-Analysis

Using Bowlby's (1988) theory of attachment relations in this meta-analytic study, we examined prior studies that assessed both parental attachment and peer relations during adolescence. The collective sample size reflects 12,482 participants across 53 studies conducted since 1970. The overall effect size between parental attachment and adolescent peer relations variables was approximately ½ SD (d =. 54). Analysis of specific peer relations dimensions indicates that parental attachment was related to both social competence and best friend relationship quality. Despite variations in study characteristics, this overall effect size appears remarkably stable. Studies that have employed higher proportions of Whites and female participants, North American samples, and measures with high reliability have yielded relatively higher effect sizes than comparison studies. The findings provide partial support for Bowlby's (1988) contention that the emotion-based interactions with parent figures have repercussions in other relationships. The modest size, however, indicates that other factors besides attachment to parents play an important role in peer relations.     

Relationship between Attachment Security and Rejection Sensitivity in Early Adolescence

Rejection sensitivity (RS) is the disposition to defensively expect, perceive and over-react to perceived rejection by others. RS has been theorized to originate from early attachment. However, this hypothesized link remains untested. This study aims to examine the relationship between attachment security and rejection sensitivity in early adolescence. Eight-graders (N = 406) completed self-report measures of attachment security and rejection sensitivity. Attachment security to father and mother were found to be associated. Attachment dimensions-trust and alienation from mother were significant predictors of RS in the adolescents. Alienation from mother mediated the link between alienation from father and RS in the adolescents. The two forms of RS- anxious RS and angry RS were predicted by different dimensions of attachment to mother.     

Attachment, Friendship, and Psychosocial Functioning in Early Adolescence

Fifth-graders' (N = 162; 93 girls) relationships with parents and friends were examined with respect to their main and interactive effects on psychosocial functioning. Participants reported on parental support, the quality of their best friendships, self-worth, and perceptions of social competence. Peers reported on aggression, shyness and withdrawal, and rejection and victimization. Mothers reported on psychological adjustment. Perceived parental support and friendship quality predicted higher global self-worth and social competence and less internalizing problems. Perceived parental support predicted fewer externalizing problems, and paternal (not maternal) support predicted lower rejection and victimization. Friendship quality predicted lower rejection and victimization for only girls. Having a supportive mother protected boys from the effects of low-quality friendships on their perceived social competence. High friendship quality buffered the effects of low maternal support on girls' internalizing difficulties.     

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.