Reassuring sex: Can sexual desire and intimacy reduce relationship‐specific attachment insecurities?

Past research has shown that attachment orientations shape sexual processes within relationships. Yet, little has been done to explore the opposite direction. In the present research, we examined whether sexual desire and emotional intimacy reduce attachment insecurities over time in emerging relationships. In an 8‐month longitudinal study, we followed 62 newly dating couples across three measurement waves. At Time 1, romantic partners discussed sexual aspects of their relationship and judges coded their displays of sexual desire and intimacy. Participants also completed measures of relationship‐specific attachment anxiety and avoidance in each wave. The results indicated that men's displays of desire predicted a decline in their own and their partner's relationship‐specific insecurities. Conversely, women's displays of desire inhibited the decline in their partner's relationship‐specific insecurities, whereas women's displays of intimacy predicted a decline in their partner's relationship‐specific insecurities. These findings suggest that different sex‐related processes underlie attachment formation in men and women.     

Fathers Do Matter: Evidence From an Asian School-Based Aggressive Sample

The impact of children's perception of a father's and mother's support on children's quality of relationship with their classroom teacher was examined in a sample of 51 third and fourth grade Asian children rated by their teachers as aggressive. Children's perception of a father's support predicted teacher-ratings in all three areas of the teacher-student relationship (instrumental help, satisfaction, and conflict) but children's perception of a mother's support did not. This adds to a gradually expanding research base documenting the benefits of fatherly support across selected and unselected samples in various cross-cultural settings. Implications of the findings for child and family therapy are discussed.     

Attachment and preschool children's understanding of maternal versus non‐maternal psychological states

There is growing evidence that insecurely attached children are less advanced in their social understanding than their secure counterparts. However, attachment may also predict how individual children use their social understanding across different relationships. For instance, the insecure child's social‐cognitive difficulties may be more pronounced when the psychological states of an attachment figure are being considered. In the current study, forty‐eight 4‐ to 5‐year‐old children were asked about their mothers' emotions and false beliefs, as well as those of non‐attachment figures. The Separation Anxiety Test (SAT) was administered to assess children's attachment representations. Children's SAT scores predicted their overall performance on the false belief and causes of emotion tasks, even after controlling for age and verbal ability. More interestingly, however, children with high scores on the Avoidance dimension of the SAT experienced greater difficulty understanding maternal false beliefs relative to those of an unfamiliar adult female. Thus, although attachment insecurity may hinder social‐cognitive development in general, the findings suggest that there are more specific effects as well. Attachment representations that are characterized by high levels of avoidance appear to interfere with children's ability to fully engage their social‐cognitive skills when reasoning about maternal mental states.     

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.     

Parental Conflict and Infidelity as Predictors of Adult Children's Attachment Style and Infidelity

The purpose of this study was to conduct a quantitative analysis examining the impact of parental infidelity and conflict on the adult child's internal working models and romantic attachment style. Using a convenience sample of 150 undergraduates, we found no significant difference in the internal working models of adult children with and without knowledge of parental infidelity. Individuals who reported their parents as conflictual had a more negative view of self and of others. Additionally, adult children who had knowledge of their father's infidelity were more likely to engage in infidelity than adult children without such knowledge.     

Long‐term partners' relationship satisfaction and their perceptions of each other's attachment insecurities

In this research, we examined actors' and partners' perceptions of each other's attachment insecurities and the associations of these perceptions with relationship satisfaction. A sample of 148 heterosexual couples completed measures of self and partner attachment insecurities and relationship satisfaction. Results indicate that partners agree in their perceptions of their own and each other's attachment insecurities (anxiety and avoidance). Based on the actor–partner interdependence model (APIM), we also found that both actors' scores on avoidance and their perceptions of their partner's degree of avoidanc are associated with lower relationship satisfaction. Finally, we found that the way an actor perceives his or her partner's avoidance plays a mediational role in the association between partner's self‐reported avoidance and actor's relationship satisfaction.     

Japanese Children's Reactions to Family Photographs: Associations with Mothers' Attachment Status

This study examined differences in children's responses to their family photographs within a sample of Japanese 6‐year‐olds (N = 44), exploring associations with their mothers' attachment status. The differences in children's photo reactions were captured by a 5‐point continuous scale to rate how engaged children were and how positively they responded to the photographs taken earlier with their mothers. Mothers' attachment security was assessed by the Adult Attachment Interview. The findings revealed that children of mothers with secure attachment status were significantly more engaged/positive in their photo reactions than were children of mothers with insecure attachment status. Implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Attachment styles and relationship quality: Actual,perceived, and ideal partner matching

Attachment dimension matching in dating relationships and how matching relates to relationship quality were investigated. Across 2 studies, individuals preferred similar but more secure partners (lower anxiety and lower avoidance) as reflected by their ideals. In Study 1, greater similarity between the self and perceptions of the partner's anxiety predicted more positive relationship outcomes (e.g., relationship satisfaction, trust). Similar results were found for ideal–perceived partner avoidance similarity, whereas ideal–perceived partner anxiety similarity was less important. Study 2 involved both partners in the relationship and indicated that relationship outcomes were predicted by the actor's and partner's attachment dimensions as well as by ideal–perceived partner similarity and self–perceived partner similarity.     

The relationship between the adult attachment and the tendency to judge others as liars

The relationship between 2 dimensions (anxiety and avoidance) of adult attachment and tendency to judge others as liars was examined in this study. We measured 308 participants' adult attachment and tendency to judge others as liars in self‐, other‐, or relationship‐oriented situations. Results supported our hypotheses by showing that (a) anxiety positively predicted the tendency to judge others as liars in self‐oriented situations and (b) avoidance moderated the relationship between anxiety and the tendency to judge others as liars in other‐ and relationship‐oriented situations. Attachment anxiety could positively predict the tendency to judge others as liars only when participants' avoidance was high. Theoretical implications and suggestions for future studies were discussed.     

Let's talk about us: Attachment,relationship‐focused disclosure,and relationship quality

This research tested whether attachment avoidance and anxiety were associated with couples' (N = 59) disclosure during recorded discussions of recent events. The links between attachment and disclosure with relationship quality across 1 year were also assessed. Attachment was not associated with amount or intimacy of disclosure, but greater attachment anxiety was associated with more relationship‐focused disclosure, whereas attachment avoidance was associated with less relationship‐focused disclosure. Relationship‐focused disclosure was also positively associated with relationship quality across time, whereas attachment avoidance predicted lower relationship quality. These findings indicate that spontaneous relationship‐focused disclosure during routine conversations helps maintain relationships, but because people high in avoidance are less focused on sustaining closeness, their relationships tend to deteriorate over time.     

What predicts fathers' involvement with their children? A prospective study of intact families

This study used longitudinal data from the National Child Development Study to explore factors associated with aspects of fathers' involvement with their children at age 7, 11 and 16 years in intact families. Father involvement was predicted by different factors at different ages but generally it was continuous and multidimensional, and strongly associated with mother involvement. Low parental socio‐economic status and child behaviour problems were negatively related to father involvement at age 7. With older children, father involvement was inversely related to family size and poor school performance. Financial difficulties in the family were not related to father involvement at either age. Domestic tension was negatively related to certain aspects of fathers' involvement with younger children. Father's education was generally related to father's involvement but maternal employment was only related to low father‐interest in child's education at age 7 and 11 years.     

Predicting Identity Status: The Role of Attachment,Differentiation, and Meaning Making

Although identity is an important aspect of overall wellness, it is not yet understood how identity develops or how to accurately predict identity status. In this study of 192 emerging adult college students, the authors found that attachment, differentiation, and meaning‐making subprocesses significantly predicted 3 of 4 identity statuses. Implications for counselors and counselor educators are discussed.     

Individual and gender differences in mindful parenting: The role of attachment and caregiving representations

The current study aimed to investigate the mediating role of caregiving representations in the association between attachment representations and mindful parenting. Additionally, this study explored differences between mothers and fathers in attachment and caregiving representations and in mindful parenting and tested whether the proposed model was invariant across genders. A sample of 439 parents (67% mothers) of school-aged children completed measures of attachment-related anxiety and avoidance, caregiving representations, and mindful parenting. Path analyses showed that attachment anxiety was associated with lower levels of mindful parenting through a lower perceived ability to recognize others' needs and more egoistic motivations to provide help. In turn, attachment avoidance was associated with lower levels of mindful parenting through a lower perceived ability to provide help and to evaluate others as worthy of help. The path model was invariant across genders, although fathers presented higher levels of avoidance, more egoistic motivations to provide help, lower perceived ability to recognize others' needs, and lower levels of mindful parenting than mothers. This study demonstrates that attachment representations play a critical role in parents' ability to be mindful in their relationship with their children, although through different caregiving pathways.     

Social learning in the digital age: Associations between technoference,mother-child attachment,and child social skills

Technoference refers to incidents in which technology use interferes with interpersonal exchanges (e.g., conversations, playing). Although research on technoference is in its infancy, there is preliminary evidence that mothers believe technoference has a detrimental impact on the social-emotional functioning of their child. The current study investigated the degree to which technoference was associated with attachment between mothers and their elementary-aged children. A second aim was to determine if the relationship between technoference and children's social-emotional functioning may be moderated by mother-child attachment. Surveys were completed by a sample of 80 mothers and their elementary-aged children. This study is unique in asking elementary-aged children to report their perceptions of parental technoference and the impact it has on their relationship with their mother and their own social-emotional functioning. More frequent technoference was associated with less secure mother-child attachment as rated by children, but not as rated by mothers. That is, frequent technoference may not significantly influence a mother's attachment to their child, but it is associated with a child's attachment to their mother. More frequent technoference was associated with decreased ratings by mothers regarding their child's social-emotional functioning. Furthermore, maternal attachment moderated the relationship between technoference and child externalizing behaviors, such that a more secure attachment served as a protective factor against the negative impact of technoference on child externalizing behaviors. However, attachment did not moderate the relationship between technoference and most social skills assessed in our study. Implications from this study are discussed, including ways to increase awareness of technoference among school personnel, parents, and youth.     

Pathways from infant exposure to marital conflict to parent–toddler role reversal

We know that exposure to marital conflict places infants at risk, but we know less about processes. One process may be role reversal, when a distressed parent looks to the child to meet unmet needs for comfort, intimacy, or companionship. A parent in marital conflict may be particularly prone to role reversal, which in turn adversely affects child development. The current study examined pathways from infants' exposure to marital conflict at 12 months to role reversal at 24 months. We sampled low–middle socioeconomic status (SES) families with their first child (N = 128). Independent observers assessed marital conflict (in a problem‐solving task) and role reversal (in a story‐telling task). We found that each parent's conflict behavior predicted the other parent's role reversal. In a direct pathway, mother's conflict behavior towards father led directly to father's role reversal with the child. In an indirect pathway, father's conflict behavior towards mother led to his withdrawal from her, which in turn led to mother's role reversal with the child. Clinical implications are discussed within a developmental psychopathology framework in terms of preventive interventions to offset the deleterious effect of marital conflict and role reversal on child development.     

Patterns of Attachment in Frequently and Infrequently Reading Mother—Child Dyads

This study explored the relationship between the quality of the mother–child attachment and how often mothers read to their children. Eighteen children who were read to infrequently were matched to a group of children who were read to daily, for sex, age, and socioeconomic status. The children's mothers read them a booklet, mother and child were observed in a reunion episode, the children completed the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (Dunn, 1965) and Frostig's (1966) test for spatial orientation, and the mothers were given the Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1984). The mothers in the frequently reading dyads did not need to discipline their child to focus on the reading task as often as the mothers in the infrequently reading dyads did. Mothers whose attachment to their child was less secure spent less time reading to their child and had more troublesome episodes during the reading session than mothers whose attachment to their child was more secure. The security of the mother-child attachment was related to the mothers' representation of their relationship with their parents, and mothers who had a secure relationship with their child read more frequently to their child than did mothers who had an insecure relationship with their child.     

Parents' Education Levels,Parents' Beliefs,and Child Outcomes

Relationships between parents' education levels, parents' beliefs concerning children, children's cognitions related to themselves and their relationships, and academic achievement were investigated in a sample of Turkish fourth-grade children and their parents. Structural equations were used in data analysis. Level of parents' education was a significant predictor of parents' beliefs for both parents. Relationships between parents' beliefs and child outcomes were somewhat different for mothers and fathers. In addition, level of mother's education was directly related to child perceptions of external control, child endorsement of insecure attachment prototype, and child academic achievement; level of father's education was directly related only to child perceptions of efficacy.     

依恋回避与学前儿童孤独感的关系：同伴拒绝的中介作用和师幼关系的调节作用

为了探讨学前儿童依恋回避对其孤独感的影响,以及同伴拒绝和师幼关系在其中的作用,研究采用问卷法和同伴提名法对193名学前儿童进行为期一年的追踪调查。结果表明：（1）依恋回避、同伴拒绝和孤独感之间两两显著正相关;（2）同伴拒绝在依恋回避和孤独感之间起中介作用;（3）师幼冲突调节了依恋回避通过同伴拒绝影响孤独感中介作用的前半路径。相对于师幼冲突程度较低的幼儿,高师幼冲突幼儿的依恋回避更容易导致高同伴拒绝进而体验较高的孤独感。     

The (Neglected) role of the father in Children's mental health

BackgroundAlthough the bulk of the literature on child development, historically, has focused on the significant role of the mother, less attention has been given to that of the father. Therefore, more attention has been given to fathers’ roles in the last 20–30 years.AimThe aim of the current review was to explore the role of the father on a child's development.MethodsAn extensive literature search using 'Psycharticles', ‘PsychInfo’, and ‘Google Scholar’ databases using terms like 'father's role', 'child/children's', 'child development', and 'mental health' was conducted to achieve the objective of the study.ResultsFathers were found to play a significant role in nurturing their children. Fathers are considered to be important for the development of the child's autonomy, the shaping of gender identity, and the development of the moral system of the child. Usually, he is the one who establishes the feeling of security in the child's mind. He is considered to be the protector and defender of the family Freud's position is that the father is the symbol of security, power, and authority for the child.ConclusionAlthough the original aim of the research was to draw a line between parents' roles in the family and shed light on the father's role, the findings suggest that the fundamental concept in nurturing children depends on the complementary roles of parents as children need their parents equally.     

The relations between maternal behaviors and urban preschool children's internal working models of attachment security

Interviewed 93 African-American, low-income women who had become pregnant as teenagers and their preschool-aged children in their homes. Mothers answered questions regarding their everyday stresses and feelings of depression. Children were assessed for receptive vocabulary ability, then video-taped completing five stories thematically related to attachment experiences with mother and rated on their security of attachment. Mothers and children were also videotaped playing together, and mothers were assessed on their sensitivity to their children's cues. After controlling for children's age and receptive vocabulary ability, mothers' sensitivity significantly predicted children's level of attachment security. The positive association between maternal sensitivity and children's security of attachment, and the strengths and weaknesses of administering the Attachment Story-Completion Task in the home with this population, are discussed. Implications for assessing attachment in the home are considered.