The Adolescent Unresolved Attachment Questionnaire: the assessment of perceptions of parental abdication of caregiving behavior

This article reports on the Adolescent Unresolved Attachment Questionnaire (AUAQ), a brief questionnaire that assesses the caregiving experiences of unresolved adolescents (as recipients of caregiving). The AUAQ was developed and validated in a large normative sample (n = 691) and a sample of 133 adolescents in psychiatric treatment. It is a self-report questionnaire consisting of 3 scales with Likert-type responses ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The Aloneness/Failed Protection Scale assesses the adolescent's perception of the care provided by the attachment figure. The Fear Scale taps the fear generated by the adolescent's appraisal of failed attachment figure care. The Anger/Dysregulation Scale assesses negative affective responses to the perceived lack of care from the attachment figure. All scales demonstrated satisfactory internal reliability and agreement between scores for adolescents (n = 91) from the normative sample who completed the AUAQ twice. Adolescents in the clinical sample also completed the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; C. George, N. Kaplan, & M. Main, 1984/1985/1996); the AUAQ demonstrated high convergent validity with the AAI.     

Fathers' and mothers' attachment representations as predictors of preadolescents' attachment security: A ten‐year follow‐up of Finnish families

The question of how mothers' and fathers' representations of attachment correlate ten years later with children's perceptions of attachment relationships was examined in a longitudinal study on Finnish families (N = 42). The parents completed the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) during the child's first year of life. At 11 years, the children filled out three scales on how secure they perceive the relationship with each parent. Parents' AAI classifications and AAI dimensions based on continuous scales were used as predictors of the preadolescents' attachment security. Regression analyses demonstrated that fathers' but not mothers' State‐of‐Mind and Experience dimensions predicted preadolescents' security of attachment to father. The discussion focuses on the predictive validity of the classical categorical versus the recently proposed continuous approach and the different roles of parents in transmitting security from one generation to another.     

The Communities That Care (CTC) Family Attachment Scale: Measurement Invariance Across Family Structures

Familial protective factors are an integral part of prevention approaches aimed at problematic behaviour in adolescents. However, there is scarce evidence on the role of familial protective factors in families deviating from the two-parent family configuration. For evaluating targeted (preventive) interventions, a reliable and valid measurement of familial protective factors is crucial. We investigated the factor structure of the Communities That Care (CTC) Family Attachment Scale and tested its measurement invariance in different family structures. Adolescents (n?=?2.459, grades 6–11) from Lower Saxony, Germany filled in the German version of the CTC Youth Survey. Our analyses focused on the CTC Family Attachment Scale measuring the adolescent’s attachment to the mother and the father with six items. We evaluated the postulated unidimensional structure of the scale by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and tested the measurement invariance using multigroup factor analyses across different family structures (two-parent family/single-parent family). We used SPSS V.23 and the R packages lavaan and semTools. The two-factor solution for the CTC Family Attachment Scale with one factor representing attachment to the mother and one indicating attachment to the father had an adequate model fit in the total sample (χ²(5)?=?29.938; p?<?.001; CFI?=?.996; TLI?=?.988; RMSEA?=?.050, SRMR?=?.019). This two-factor solution of the CTC Family Attachment Scale showed strong measurement invariance regarding adolescents living in a two-parent family vs. those living with a single parent. The two-factor CTC Family Attachment Scale appears to be a suitable measure to assess family attachment in both two-parent and single-parent families with German adolescents.     

Attachment representations and characteristics of friendship relations during adolescence

Attachment theory proposes that experiences with the primary caregivers are an important basis for the development of close social relationships outside the parent-child relationship. This study examined the association between representations of attachment, as assessed with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), representations of friendship and peer relations, as assessed with an interview in a sample of 43 adolescents. Secure attachment representations were significantly related to interview-based assessments of close friendships, friendship concept, integration in a peer group, and emotion regulation within close friendships. Attachment experiences reported during the AAI, their integration, and their coherency were related to friendship quality and friendship concept. Results show the close associations between attachment representations and friendship relationships during adolescence. The associations between peer relations and attachment representations differed depending on whether an interview approach or a questionnaire approach was used.     

The composition of attachment networks throughout the adult years

This study assessed the structure of adults' attachment networks, using a questionnaire measure of preferred attachment figures with a large sample of adults (N = 812) representing various ages and life situations. Two broad research questions were addressed. The first question concerned the variety of attachment figures reported by adults and the relative strength of attachment to each, including preferred (primary) attachment figures. The second question concerned the effects of normative life events on attachment networks and the nature of primary attachment figures in different life situations. Overall, the results supported the preeminent role of attachment relationships with romantic partners. However, relationships with mothers, fathers, siblings, children, and friends also met the strict criteria used to define full‐blown attachments; further, each of these targets constituted the primary attachment figure for some participants. The structure of the attachment network was related to variables such as age, relationship status, and parental status, attesting to the important role of normative life events. The results have theoretical and applied significance and are related to principles of attachment, caregiving, and socioemotional selectivity.     

Attachment in substance‐exposed toddlers: The role of caregiving and exposure

Prenatal substance exposure is linked to adverse outcomes in children. Some adverse outcomes may result from insecure attachment and low‐quality caregiving rather than from substance exposure. Little is known about the caregiving of polysubstance‐using mothers. To address this, low‐income mothers (n = 41) with their substance‐exposed 12‐month‐olds were compared with a nonexposed group case‐matched for other risk factors. Maternal sensitivity and involvement were analyzed from 2 hr of videotaped interaction. Attachment was assessed using the Attachment Q‐Set. Attachment security and quality of caregiving were quite low for both groups, with no significant differences. In addition, regression analyses revealed that quality of caregiving predicted attachment, but amount of alcohol and cocaine exposure did not. These results suggest that among toddlers with social risk, substance exposure may not predict insecure attachment. Previous research linking attachment to exposure may be better explained by low‐quality caregiving. Implications are that substance‐exposed children, and nonexposed children with comparable social risk, are likely to need intervention to enhance maternal sensitivity and involvement to improve psychiatric outcomes.     

Individual differences in adult attachment: Disentangling two assessment traditions

The goal of this paper was to disentangle the contributions of type of measurement and relational domain to the lack of concordance between adult attachment measures. Eighty-six college students completed the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and self-reported measures of attachment security adapted to their relationships with four different relational partners. Results showed that whereas the AAI main dimensions were unrelated to self-reports relative to any partner, reports of attachment security with different partners were interrelated. Further, very few of the AAI State of Mind scales related to self-reported attachment security, but the AAI Experience scales did relate to self-reports in a theoretically consistent manner. Finally, the AAI scales of Idealization and Lack of Recall correlated positively with self-reported attachment when controlling for experiences reported on the AAI. The results suggest that a fundamental distinction between adult attachment measures could be the degree of automaticity of the constructs tapped, and that attachment self-reports may be biased by defensive information-processing strategies among dismissing individuals.     

Influence of adolescent maternal characteristics on infant development

The present study proposed that several adolescent maternal variables would be associated with infant development. Using a sample of 71 adolescent mother‐infant dyads, the study examined the relative influences of the adolescent's level of separation‐individuation (Separation‐Individuation Process Inventory), feelings of attachment towards the infant (Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale), and feelings of anxiety regarding separation (Maternal Separation Anxiety Scale) on infant mental and motor development (Bayley Scales of Infant Development, 2nd ed.). As it was assumed that the adolescent's perceptions of being parented would provide the foundation for each of these independent variables, this factor was also included (Parental Bonding Instrument). In the current sample, adolescent separation‐individuation was the only maternal psychological variable to uniquely predict infant development, but only on the mental scale. Present findings highlight the importance of considering critical developmental processes of adolescence when exploring cognitive functioning and other outcomes in infants of adolescents. A number of possible mechanisms for the influence of separation‐individuation are considered in the discussion.     

Safe haven in adolescence: Improving parental reflective functioning and youth attachment and mental health with the Connecting and Reflecting Experience

Attachment security provides a well-documented protective developmental function for children exposed to individual- and community-level trauma, yet the effectiveness of prevention and intervention efforts targeting attachment during adolescence has been relatively underexplored. The Connecting and Reflecting Experience (CARE) program is a transdiagnostic, bi-generational, group-based, mentalizing-focused parenting intervention developed to dismantle the intergenerational transmission of trauma and support secure attachment relationships across the developmental spectrum within an under-resourced community. This exploratory study evaluated outcomes among caregiver-adolescent dyads (N = 32) in the CARE condition of a nonrandomized clinical trial at an outpatient mental health clinic within a diverse, urban U.S. community with disproportionate trauma exposure exacerbated by COVID-19. Caregivers predominantly identified as Black/African/African American (47%), Hispanic/Latina (38%), and/or White (19%). At pre- and post-intervention, caregivers completed questionnaires regarding parental mentalizing and their adolescents’ psychosocial functioning. Adolescents completed scales regarding attachment and psychosocial functioning. Results showed a significant decrease in caregivers’ prementalizing on the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire, improvement in adolescent psychosocial functioning on the Youth Outcomes Questionnaire, and an increase in adolescents’ reports of attachment security on the Security Scale. These preliminary findings suggest that mentalizing-focused parenting interventions may be effective in fostering improved attachment security and psychosocial functioning during adolescence.     

A model for brief assessment of attachment and its application to women in inpatient treatment for trauma-related psychiatric disorders

We adapted self-report measures of attachment style to the psychological assessment of women in specialized inpatient treatment for trauma-related disorders. The study employed 2 measures of adult attachment style, the Relationship Questionnaire (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991) and the Adult Attachment Scale (Collins & Read, 1990) as well as our Current Attachment Relationships questionnaire, which assesses the extent of social support in secure attachments. We administered these measures to 99 patients and to a convenience sample of 154 women in the community. We found modest correspondence between the 2 attachment style measures and substantial relations between attachment styles and range of secure attachment relationships. Women in the trauma sample reported insecure attachment styles and relatively few secure attachment figures. We discuss the implications of these findings for clinical assessment.     

Assessing Attachment to Parents and Peers in Middle Childhood: Psychometric Studies of the Portuguese Version of the People in My Life Questionnaire

The People in My Life questionnaire (PIML) is one of the few available self-report measures for assessing children’s representations of the relationship with attachment figures (parents and peers) in middle childhood. The current study presents validation studies of the PIML in a sample of Portuguese children aged between 8 and 12 years (N?=?314) and adolescents aged between 13 and 18 years (N?=?281). The original factor structure, composed of a second-order factor of attachment and three first-order factors (Trust, Communication, and Alienation), was confirmed for both scales (Parents Attachment and Peers Attachment) in the sample of children and replicated in the sample of adolescents using confirmatory factor analyses. The Portuguese version of the PIML showed adequate internal consistency and correlated as expected with measures of intrapersonal and interpersonal functioning (internalizing and externalizing problems, prosocial behavior, quality of life, self-compassion, and emotion regulation strategies). The PIML proved to be a psychometrically robust measure of children’s representations of their relationships with parents and peers, representing an important advance in the measurement of attachment in middle childhood.     

The impact of adult attachment style on organizational commitment and adult attachment in the workplace

Adult attachment style has only recently been considered as having a role in explaining work behavior. The present research aimed to explore the impact of adult attachment style, assessed by the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), on organizational commitment (OC) and on adult attachment in the workplace (AAW). We hypothesized that a secure attachment style would be positively related to affective and normative commitment, while preoccupied and avoidant styles would be negatively related to affective commitment; we also hypothesized that there would be a correspondence between the AAI categories and the AAW dimensions. Using the AAI categories as group variable, analysis of average OC and AAW scores confirmed the hypotheses. Secure workers had a higher mean score for affective commitment than avoidant and preoccupied workers; normative commitment was higher in avoidant than in secure and preoccupied workers; continuance commitment was higher in preoccupied than in secure and avoidant workers. Moreover, AAI categories converged with AAW dimensions: secure workers had higher secure AAW scores than avoidant and preoccupied workers; avoidant workers had higher avoidant AAW scores than secure and preoccupied workers; preoccupied workers had higher preoccupied AAW scores than secure and avoidant workers.     

Transmission of attachment across three generations

A low-risk Finnish sample (N _total = 135) of parents expecting their first child and maternal grandmothers was followed from pregnancy until the child was 3 years old. The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) was used to assess attachment in mothers during the last trimester of pregnancy, and maternal grandmothers. The Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) was used to assess attachment in infants at 12 months, and the Preschool Assessment of Attachment (PAA) at 3 years. Mothers' AAI classifications (3-category) during pregnancy predicted infants' SSP classifications (3-category) in 76% of cases, and the 3-year-old children's PAA classifications (3-category) in 58% of cases. Grandmothers' AAI classifications predicted infants' SSP classifications in 48% of cases, but the 3-year-old children's PAA classifications in 72% of cases. Using log-linear analysis, it was shown that a simple model accounted for transmission of attachment across three generations when the children were 3 years. Even though the results indicated continuity across generations, the correspondences were slightly weaker than those obtained by Benoit and Parker in their 3-generational study. The results are discussed in terms of the prototype view, the rapid contextual changes seen across 3 generations in Finland, the size of the sample, and the comparability of the DMM to other assessment methods of attachment.     

Working models of attachment and reactions to different forms of caregiving from romantic partners

Inspired by attachment theory, the authors tested a series of theoretically derived predictions about connections between attachment working models (attachment to one's parents assessed by the Adult Attachment Interview; M. Main & R. Goldwyn, 1994) and the effectiveness of specific types of caregiving spontaneously displayed by dating partners during a stressful conflict-resolution discussion. Each partner first completed the Adult Attachment Interview. One week later, each couple was videotaped while they tried to resolve a current problem in their relationship. Trained observers then rated each interaction for the degree to which (a) emotional, instrumental, and physical caregiving behaviors were displayed; (b) care recipients appeared calmed by their partners' caregiving attempts; and (c) each partner appeared distressed during the discussion. Individuals who had more secure representations of their parents were rated as being more calmed if/when their partners provided greater emotional care, especially if they were rated as more distressed. Conversely, individuals who had more insecure (dismissive) representations of their parents reacted more favorably to instrumental caregiving behaviors from their partners, especially if they were more distressed. The broader theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.     

The contribution of social rank and attachment theory to depression in a non clinical sample of adolescents

This study explores the relative contribution of the overall quality of attachment to the mother, to the father and to peers (Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment scales), the style of attachment towards peers (Attachment Questionnaire for Children scale), the social rank variables (submissive behavior and social comparison), and sex and age variables in predicting the depression score (Center of Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale) on a non-psychiatric sample of 13-18 year old adolescents (n = 225). Results of our integrated model (adjusted R-Square of .50) show that attachment variables (overall quality of attachment to the father and to the mother), social rank variables (social comparison and submissive behavior), age and sex are important in predicting depressive symptoms during adolescence. Moreover, the attachment to peers variables (quality of attachment to peers, secure and ambivalent style of attachment) and sex are mediated by the social rank variables (social comparison and submissive behavior).     

A dimensional approach to maternal attachment state of mind: relations to maternal sensitivity and maternal autonomy support

The aim of this study was to examine the developmental significance of the newly developed dimensional approach to attachment state of mind by investigating its capacity to predict individual differences in the quality of two caregiving behaviors-maternal sensitivity and maternal autonomy support-that are linked to numerous important child outcomes. Seventy-one upper-middle-class, predominantly French-speaking and Caucasian dyads participated in 3 home visits (34 girls). The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) was administered when the infants were 8 months old, maternal sensitivity was assessed when they were 12 months old, and maternal autonomy support was assessed at 15 months. The results revealed that, above and beyond SES, maternal sensitivity was negatively related to the dismissing dimension of the AAI, whereas maternal autonomy support was negatively linked to the preoccupied/unresolved dimension. In contrast, the traditional AAI categories were not significantly linked to parenting. These results speak to the relevance of using a continuous approach to attachment state of mind when predicting individual differences in specific caregiving behaviors.     

Attachment-related differences in perceptions of an initial peer interaction emerge over time: Evidence of reconstructive memory processes in adolescents

This study examined whether attachment, assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; George, Kaplan, & Main, 1996) was linked to how adolescents reconstructed their memory for an initial interaction with an unfamiliar peer. Adolescents (N = 189, 62% female) completed a 10-min laboratory task with a student whom they did not know. Immediately following this task, adolescents rated their perceptions of the interaction. Adolescents completed the same perception measure 2 weeks later. Although adolescents classified as secure and insecure on the AAI did not differ in how they perceived unfamiliar peers initially, attachment-related differences emerged over time. Insecure adolescents remembered the interactions as less positive and more negative and also reported being treated with greater hostility than they had initially reported 2 weeks earlier. In contrast, secure adolescents' memories for the negative aspects of the interaction and for hostile treatment remained stable, although, like insecure adolescents, they remembered the conflicts as being less positive than initially reported. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

The relationships between problematic internet use,alexithymia levels and attachment characteristics in a sample of adolescents in a high school,Turkey

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationships between attachment characteristics, alexithymia and problematic internet use (PIU) in adolescents. The study was performed on 444 high school students (66% female and 34% male). Internet Addiction Test (IAT), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and Short Form of the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (s-IPPA) scales were used. The adolescents who scored ≥50 on IAT were considered as the PIU group and <50 were considered as control group. There was a moderate positive relationship between TAS-20 and IAT scores (r = .441), and a moderate negative relationship between TAS-20 and s-IPPA scores (r = ?.392), and a negative weak relationship between IAT and s-IPPA scores (r = ?.208). S-IPPA scores were significantly lower in the PIU group compared to the controls (p < .001). TAS-20 scores of the PIU group were significantly higher compared to the controls (p < .05). Logistic regression analysis indicated that s-IPPA scores and TAS-20 significantly predict the PIU development (p < .05). The results indicate that alexithymia increases the risk of PIU and higher attachment quality is a protective factor for both alexithymia and PIU. These results suggest that it is important to focus on the insecure attachment patterns and alexithymic characteristics when studying adolescents with PIU.     

The Role of Attachment Insecurity and Big Five Traits on Sensory Processing Sensitivity

Abstract

This study examined the interplay between behavioral inhibition/activation systems (BIS/BAS) sensitivity, attachment insecurity (i.e., anxiety and avoidance), and Big Five personality traits in predicting sensory processing sensitivity (SPS). We have specifically tested three alternative theoretical models to explain the process through which BIS/BAS sensitivity link to SPS; unique effects of attachment dimensions and personality traits, as well as moderating and mediating role of these variables. Participants (N?=?494) completed the highly sensitive Person scale, BIS/BAS scales, experiences in close relationships-revised scale, and big five inventory. The findings revealed the complex role of attachment dimensions and personality traits on SPS. Attachment avoidance, but not attachment anxiety, moderated the effect of BIS activity on SPS indicating that, compared to those with high BIS sensitivity, those with low levels of both BIS and attachment avoidance reported lower level of SPS. Attachment anxiety, neuroticism, extraversion, and openness partially mediated the effects of BIS on SPS. Conceptual implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.