Learning climate,academic competence,and anxiety during the transition to middle school: Parental attachment as a protective factor

IntroductionThe contribution of the learning climate and attachment security to students’ academic competence and anxiety symptoms during the middle school transition has not been examined.ObjectivesThe main purpose of this prospective study was to examine the complementary contributions of these two contextual determinants. A second goal was to test the moderating effect of attachment security perceived by students in the relationship between the learning climate and both outcomes (academic competence, anxiety symptoms).Method and resultsParticipants were 627 students in Grade 6 (54% girls). Latent structural modeling analysis revealed that a mastery climate predicted higher levels of perceived academic competence perceived in the first year of middle school, although attachment security to the mother in Grade 6 predicted perceived academic competence and anxiety symptoms in the first year of middle school. A moderating effect was found, in which greater attachment security to the mother appeared to lessen the relationship between a performance climate and anxiety symptoms during the middle school transition.ConclusionThe results suggest that attachment security to the mother predicts perceived academic competence and anxiety symptoms during the middle school transition. Additionally, attachment security to the mother can moderate the potentially harmful effects of a learning climate emphasizing social comparison and performance on anxiety.     

A comparison of attachment outcomes in enactment-based versus therapist-centered therapy process modalities in couple therapy

Attachment issues are viewed by many therapists as lying at the heart of couple distress. It is critical to empirically validate therapy processes that facilitate couples in responding to each other's attachment needs. This study examined enactments as a therapy process and change mechanism to promote secure attachment in couple therapy. Sixteen couples were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 experimental groups--1 group received 3 therapist-centered sessions followed by 3 enactment-based sessions, and a second group received 3 enactment-based sessions followed by 3 therapist-centered sessions. To measure between-session and within-session change, each spouse completed presession and postsession measures of attachment security each week. Results showed that couples who received enactment-based sessions first reported greater increases in attachment security than those receiving therapist-centered sessions first. These same couples continued to show improvement after switching to the therapist-centered sessions. Conversely, couples who received therapist-centered sessions first did not increase attachment after switching to enactment-based sessions. For wives, enactment-based sessions produced the greatest improvement in attachment, yet both therapy process modalities led to some improvement. Conversely, for husbands, attachment improved only when they received enactment-based sessions first. Enactment-based sessions may therefore be more important for husbands than wives. Overall, with some qualification it appears that enactment-based therapy process may improve attachment more than a therapist-centered process. These observed trends and findings are generally consistent with previous research supporting use of enactments in couple therapy.     

Gender, jealousy, and attachment: A (more) thorough examination across measures and samples

We examined the role of attachment and gender on responses to hypothetical sexual and emotional infidelity. Unlike previous studies, both categorical and continuous attachment style and infidelity distress measures were administered to separate samples of college students and adults. Consistent with previous jealousy research, we found moderate gender differences on forced-choice measures of infidelity distress but smaller differences on continuous measures. However, across all analyses, attachment style was not a significant predictor. We discuss this failure to replicate Levy and Kelly (2010) and provide suggestions for future research.     

Adaptation of a Muslim Spiritual Attachment Scale (God attachment) for Turkish Muslims: a validity and reliability study

ABSTRACT

Despite the importance of a believer’s attachment relationship with God for mental health, there are few measures relevant to Muslims, and little work on cross-cultural validation of such measures. The objective of the present study was to examine the validity and reliability of the Muslim Spiritual Attachment Scale (M-SAS) in Turkish Muslim samples. In analyzing the data, three different samples of college students (N?=?525, N?=?341, and N?=?47 respectively) were used. The validity and reliability of M-SAS were examined through exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, the internal consistency coefficient and the split-half reliability coefficient. Results supported a three-factor model of M-SAS with good reliability for the factors, and convergence with an alternative God Attachment measure. As a result, it may be concluded that M-SAS can be used as a valid and reliable measurement instrument in Turkish Muslim samples. The results are discussed in the light of the relevant literature.     

Attachment Styles and Employee Performance: The Mediating Role of Burnout

Researchers are becoming increasingly interested in how early experiences within the family are relevant to an individual’s behavior at work. Drawing on Bowlby’s attachment theory, the present study addresses this topic by examining the relationship between attachment in adulthood and job performance, and the mediating role of burnout in that relationship. We used data from two samples (201 Dutch employees and 178 Romanian working students) and structural equation modeling to test this mediation model and its possible invariance across both samples. The results showed that in both samples, attachment-related anxiety was positively related to burnout, which was in turn negatively related to job performance. Attachment-related avoidance was not significantly associated with burnout or performance. These results were similar in both samples, thus increasing their validity. The results suggest that childhood and early socialization experiences play a role in shaping the employee’s behavior and well-being at work. The study is one of the few examining attachment styles in relation to burnout and performance.     

Représentations des pratiques éducatives parentales et estime de soi chez des enfants placés en fratrie versus séparément

Despite abuse, children placed in childcare homes have parental representations which are marked by ambivalence. This ambivalence is characterized by the coexistence of negative and positive representation towards their biological parents. However, the fact that positive representations towards neglecting parents persist can possibly harm self-esteem. Placement aims not only to protect the child, but also to offer him the possibility of reconstructing his self-image with more secure attachment figures. When a placement is decided, the children are entrusted to Child Welfare and are placed either with their siblings or separately. This study aims to examine the parental representations and the self-esteem of 33 children that are placed with siblings and 25 children that are placed alone; all children were between the ages of 10 and 18. Then, the relation between parental representations and self-esteem was examined in each group. Those two dimensions have been respectively measured with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale and the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI). The results show that participants placed with their siblings were less depressed and had a better self-esteem than participants placed separately. Moreover, although the two groups had neglecting parents, the participants placed with their siblings had significantly better parental care representations. This study also put into light that the links between parental representations and self-esteem are significantly different whether the participant is placed with his siblings or not. Among children placed with siblings, the more positive the images of the father and the mother, the lower the self-esteem level. These results confirm the hypothesis according to which a positive parental care representation could reinforce the negative image those children have of themselves. The results also question the effects (positive or negative) of the defensive exclusion process on the evolution of self-representations among placed children. Finally, from a therapeutic point of view, they stress the importance of working on self-esteem with placed children.     

The role of attachment and cognitive inhibition in children's memory and suggestibility for a stressful event

There has been increasing interest in children's abilities to report memories of and resist misleading suggestions about distressing events. Individual differences among children and their parents may provide important insight into principles that govern children's eyewitness memory and suggestibility for such experiences. In the present study, 51 children between the ages of 3 and 7 years were interviewed about an inoculation after a delay of approximately 2 weeks. Results indicated that parents' attachment Avoidance was associated with children's distress during the inoculation. Parental attachment Anxiety and the interaction between parental Avoidance and children's stress predicted children's memory for the inoculation. Cognitive inhibition was also a significant predictor of children's memory errors and suggestibility. Theoretical implications concerning effects of stress and individual differences on children's eyewitness memory and suggestibility are discussed.     

Adolescents' interactions with a best friend: associations with attachment style

This study tested whether adolescents' attachment style is related to friendship interactions and perceptions of friendship quality. Attachment pairings were contrasted to examine whether dyad members' security of attachment or their models of others was more related to friendship. A total of 44 pairs of same-sex adolescent friends were videotaped as they engaged in an intimate conversation. Participants also completed self-report measures of attachment style and friendship quality. Compared with dyads with at least one insecure partner, dyads with two secure members interacted in ways that promoted a sense of connection with each other. In addition, they did not use as many clarification statements, suggesting a smooth conversational style between the friends. When friend pairs were examined based on positive or negative models of others (i.e., dismissing and fearful vs secure and preoccupied), there were no differences. The findings suggest that security of attachment, rather than type of insecurity, is most related to intimacy in friendship.     

Externalizing behaviors and attachment disorganization in children of different‐sex separated parents: The protective role of joint physical custody

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between externalizing behaviors and the quality of attachment representations in preschool children, and to determine if family type and custody arrangement had a moderating effect on this relationship. The participants were 33 girls and 31 boys (n = 64) aged between three and six years (M = 4.75; SD = 0.87 years) and their mothers. Among them, 36 came from “intact” families, 13 were living mainly with their mothers and 15 were in joint physical custody. Children’s attachment representations were assessed with the Attachment Story Completion Task (Bretherton, Ridgeway & Cassidy, 1990). Mothers reported on their child’s behavior problems using the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001) and on their alliance with the father using the Parenting Alliance Inventory (Abidin & Brunner, 1995). Although children’s externalizing behaviors were found to be associated with the disorganization of their attachment representations, this relationship was significantly weaker and was non‐significant for children in joint physical custody. Thus, the results of this pilot study suggest that joint custody may protect children of separated parents from the effects of attachment disorganization on externalizing behaviors.