Attachment and exploration in adulthood: The mediating effect of social support

Research examining the relationship between adult attachment styles and exploratory behavior has shown that anxious and avoidant attachment styles are negatively related to exploration. However, little research has been conducted on the mediation process between adult attachment styles and exploration. Given that perceived social support has been shown to be the basis for secure attachment and may be related to exploration behavior, the current study examines whether perceived social support mediates the relationship between adult attachment and exploration. University students in Taiwan (N = 168) completed questionnaires that assessed attachment styles; perceived social support from their father, mother, and best friend; and their intellectual, social, and environmental exploration. Our results revealed that perceived social support mediates the relationship between avoidant attachment and exploration behavior.     

Career exploration in adulthood

The study described was designed to examine career exploration in the adult years, as seen from the perspective of decision-making behavior. Using conceptual models provided by H. B. Gelatt (Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1962, 9, 240–245) and D. V. Tiedeman (Personnel and Guidance Journal, 1961, 40, 15–21), two research questions were posed: (1) To what extent does exploration occur prior to more terminal career behaviors? and (2) To what extent are exploratory and terminal career decision modes interdependent? These questions were addressed by examining the series of decisions made by 95 subjects over a period of 18 years. The results supported the expectation that decisions made at earlier stages of development are more likely to be of an exploratory nature and that decisions made at later stages are more likely to be of a terminal nature. In addition, support was found for the hypothesis that decision-making strategies at various stages of development are interdependent.     

Attachment,temperament, and ego development in young adulthood

Attachment and temperament have each been thought to contribute to personality development; however, few empirical studies have examined the relations between the two. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate, in young adulthood, the relations among attachment, temperament, and two aspects of ego development, namely,overall ego development and ego development with respect tointimacy. One hundred and seven college students served as participants. Sixty one percent classified themselves as securely attached and 39% as insecurely attached. A factor analysis of the Emotionality-Activity-Sociability (EAS) Temperament Survey for Adults yielded a primary factor (labeled negative emotionality) that accounted for 41% of the variance. A regression analysis then revealed that both attachment status and temperament predicted overall ego development; however, only attachment status predicted ego development with respect to intimacy. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

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.     

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。     

成年期的依恋与探索

依恋和探索是依恋理论中密切相关且最重要的两种行为系统,但后者受到的关注程度相对较少。在成人依恋研究的推动下,已有相当的研究者关注到成人期的探索活动,他们的研究视野扩展到各种领域,包括工作、闲暇、学业、成就动机等,既考察了探索过程的情感与体验、信息加工,也考察了探索的结果层面。该文就已有研究的理论背景、方法和成果进行了概述,并对成年期探索的界定、评估手段以及自我报告类的成人依恋测量工具进行了探讨。     

Marriage and Attachment

SUMMARY

Attachment behavior (Bowlby, 1969) is considered an integral part of intimate human relating throughout the life span. This research examined the recollections of ten happy couples in long-term marriages as to their attachment experiences in childhood, and their current attachment experiences in marriage. The findings indicated that none of these happily married subjects were raised in homes where both parents were physically and emotionally available. Yet, in adult life they had clearly succeeded in establishing fulfilling long-term relationships. These findings suggested that attachment behavior is subject to modification throughout the life cycle and is not rigidly fixed in childhood. The data suggested that insight, changes in the parent/subject relationship, and the marital relationship were some of the primary factors which could account for the changes in attachment behavior.     

Attachment in Psychotherapy

Abstract

Basic psychotherapy techniques are necessary for trauma intervention, including the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001. The importance of these techniques is reviewed within various settings in the New York City area immediately following the World Trade Center disaster. The purpose included debriefing of practitioners, as well as the education of trauma symptoms and assessment for client intervention. Perhaps most importantly was the therapeutic technique modeled by the social work leader in these vignettes, since she and other practitioners simultaneously experienced symptoms of trauma. The practice of creating and maintaining a therapeutic atmosphere at this time was an essential challenge for all.     

Attachment and Autism: Parental Attachment Representations and Relational Behaviors in the Parent-Child Dyad

While attachment research has demonstrated that parents’ internal working models of attachment relationships tend to be transmitted to their children, affecting children’s developmental trajectories, this study specifically examines associations between adult attachment status and observable parent, child, and dyadic behaviors among children with autism and associated neurodevelopmental disorders of relating and communicating. The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) was employed to derive parental working models of attachment relationships. The Functional Emotional Assessment Scale (FEAS) was used to determine the quality of relational and functional behaviors in parents and their children. The sample included parents and their 4- to 16-year-old children with autism and associated neurodevelopmental disorders. Hypothesized relationships between AAI classifications and FEAS scores were supported. Significant correlations were found between AAI classification and FEAS scores, indicating that children with autism spectrum disorders whose parents demonstrated secure attachment representations were better able to initiate and respond in two-way pre-symbolic gestural communication; organize two-way social problem-solving communication; and engage in imaginative thinking, symbolic play, and verbal communication. These findings lend support to the relevance of the parent’s state of mind pertaining to attachment status to child and parent relational behavior in cases wherein the child has been diagnosed with autism or an associated neurodevelopmental disorder of relating and communicating. A model emerges from these findings of conceptualizing relationships between parental internal models of attachment relationships and parent-child relational and functional levels that may aid in differentiating interventions.     

Metrical categories in infancy and adulthood

Intrinsic perceptual biases for simple duration ratios are thought to constrain the organization of rhythmic patterns in music. We tested that hypothesis by exposing listeners to folk melodies differing in metrical structure (simple or complex duration ratios), then testing them on alterations that preserved or violated the original metrical structure. Simple meters predominate in North American music, but complex meters are common in many other musical cultures. In Experiment 1, North American adults rated structure-violating alterations as less similar to the original version than structure-preserving alterations for simple-meter patterns but not for complex-meter patterns. In Experiment 2, adults of Bulgarian or Macedonian origin provided differential ratings to structure-violating and structure-preserving alterations in complex- as well as simple-meter contexts. In Experiment 3, 6-month-old infants responded differentially to structure-violating and structure-preserving alterations in both metrical contexts. These findings imply that the metrical biases of North American adults reflect enculturation processes rather than processing predispositions for simple meters.     

Sleep and Attachment in Preterm Infants

Infants born preterm are at elevated risk for socioemotional difficulties; however, factors contributing to this risk are largely understudied. Within the present study, we explored infant sleep as a biosocial factor that may play a role in infant socioemotional development. Within a prospective longitudinal design, we examined parent‐reported sleep patterns and observed parenting quality as predictors of infant–mother attachment in 171 infants born preterm. Using structural equation modeling, we examined main effect and moderator models linking infant sleep patterns and parenting with attachment security. Sleep patterns characterized by more daytime sleep and positive/responsive parenting predicted infant attachment security. Parent‐reported nighttime sleep patterns were unrelated to attachment in this sample of infants born preterm. These results indicate that daytime sleep and parenting quality may be important for emerging attachment relationships in infants born preterm.     

The acceptance model of intuitive eating: a comparison of women in emerging adulthood, early adulthood, and middle adulthood

The acceptance model of intuitive eating (Avalos & Tylka, 2006) posits that body acceptance by others helps women appreciate their body and resist adopting an observer's perspective of their body, which contribute to their eating intuitively/adaptively. We extended this model by integrating body mass index (BMI) into its structure and investigating it with emerging (ages 18-25 years old, n = 318), early (ages 26-39 years old, n = 238), and middle (ages 40-65 years old, n = 245) adult women. Multiple-group analysis revealed that this model fit the data for all age groups. Body appreciation and resistance to adopt an observer's perspective mediated the body acceptance by others-intuitive eating link. Body acceptance by others mediated the social support-body appreciation and BMI-body appreciation links. Early and middle adult women had stronger negative BMI-body acceptance by others and BMI-intuitive eating relationships and a stronger positive body acceptance by others-body appreciation relationship than emerging adult women. Early adult women had a stronger positive resistance to adopt observer's perspective-body appreciation relationship than emerging and middle adult women.     

Self-regulated reading in adulthood

Young and older adults read a series of passages of 3 different genres for an immediate assessment of text memory (measured by recall and true/false questions). Word-by-word reading times were measured and decomposed into components reflecting resource allocation to particular linguistic processes using regression. Allocation to word and textbase processes showed some consistency across the 3 text types and was predictive of memory performance. Older adults allocated more time to word and textbase processes than the young adults did but showed enhanced contextual facilitation. Structural equation modeling showed that greater resource allocation to word processes was required among readers with relatively low working memory spans and poorer verbal ability and that greater resource allocation to textbase processes was engendered by higher verbal ability. Results are discussed in terms of a model of self-regulated language processing suggesting that older readers may compensate for processing deficiencies through greater reliance on discourse context and on increases in resource allocation that are enabled through growth in crystallized ability.     

Contextualized self-representations in adulthood

Theorizing has focused on individuals' self-representations as a psychological resource for coping with life stress and developmental challenges in adulthood. Many of the prominent theories have conceptualized self-representations with regard to specific social contexts (e.g., role-specific self-representations) and have examined specific structural organizations of the self-concept with regard to psychological adjustment. This article describes research on the associations between self-concept structures and psychological well-being in adulthood. Specific emphasis is given to the feature of self-concept differentiation (SCD). Most research suggests that a high level of SCD tends to indicate self-fragmentation and tends to be associated with poorer adjustment and psychological well-being. Findings from a daily diary study with adults of all ages are reported showing that different levels of SCD were in a consistent and meaningful way related to the daily endorsement of positive and negative self-attributes. Daily self-representations, in turn, were significantly related to individuals' level of daily negative affect and to intra-individual variation in negative affect. These findings suggest that SCD may exert its effect on adjustment and psychological well-being through specific ways of processing self-related information.     

Attachment style and intimacy in friendship

Two studies with college students tested the hypothesis that a secure attachment style enhances intimacy in friendship. Three intimacy characteristics were studied: self‐disclosure; responsiveness to a partner's disclosure; and feeling understood, validated, and cared for by a partner during conversations. In Study 1, individuals with a secure attachment style were higher on all three intimacy characteristics In Study 2, a lab‐based assessment of intimacy revealed some relations between attachment and intimacy, providing mixed support for the hypothesis. Both studies found gender differences in intimacy characteristics The findings provide a starting point for a model accounting for individual differences in friendship.     

依恋的研究进展

目前对依恋的研究主要集中在三个方面;1依恋的精神病理学的研究;2青少年依恋的发展性研究;3依恋与个体认知、情感和职业成熟度关系的研究。该文对依恋的最新研究成果进行了总结。     

Attachment and spousal caregiving

A community sample of 362 married couples participated in a study of attachment and spousal caregiving, which combined qualitative and quantitative components. The qualitative component focused on actual experiences of caregiving, assessed by participants' semi‐structured accounts of a situation involving their role as caregiver for their spouse. Attachment styles and their underlying dimensions (comfort with closeness, anxiety over relationships) were related to the type of support provided, the coping strategies used in the situation, caregivers' feelings about the quality of their care, perceived effects on the couple bond, and the emotional tone of the accounts. The quantitative component tested a theoretical model of factors predicting willingness to provide care for the spouse if he or she should become dependent in later life. Measures of attachment and caregiving styles, attachment to spouse, and anticipated burden provided reliable prediction of willingness to care. The results support the conceptualization of attachment and caregiving as interrelated features of marital bonds, and they have important implications for patterns of family caregiving.