Internal working models of attachment during late childhood and early adolescence: an exploration of stability and change

Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI®) Impact for Traumatized Children-Meaningful Change on Attachment Security and Mental Health after One Year

Children from vulnerable backgrounds often have insecure attachment or disorganized attachment, which are related to psychological troubles, and such children need interventions to help them heal. The attachment system reorganizes in middle childhood, and other important adults play a considerable role in children's lives. Thus, it is essential to weigh the impact of psychosocial interventions, while the main focus of the intervention is the staff member's direct work with the child through a trusting relationship. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate whether children's attachment security and mental health outcomes change after participating in a trauma-informed, attachment-based, Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) provided in a daycare center. It was a case-series study involving twelve children aged 8-11 years. The child attachment interview (CAI), CBCL/6-18, TRF/6-18, and clinical interviews for parents and children were used, measuring the change between the TBRI implementation in the daycare center and after one year. For ten participants, we noticed an improvement in mental health; for seven participants, security scales improved; for two participants, their disorganized attachment changed into insecure-dismissing. We have preliminary evidence that vulnerable children may benefit in terms of attachment security and mental health from the trusting relationship that staff build using the TBRI.

The intergenerational transmission of attachment during middle childhood in lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parent families through assisted reproduction: The mediating role of reflective functioning

The present study examined the attachment patterns distribution of 60 lesbian mothers, 50 gay fathers, and 42 heterosexual parents through assisted reproduction and their 76 children, using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and the Friends and Family Interview (FFI), respectively. The study also explored the intergenerational transmission of attachment through reflective functioning (AAI-RF). All families lived in Italy and children were aged 6-12 years (Myears = 8.11, SD = 2.17; 48.68% assigned female at birth). The AAI patterns distribution was similar across family types and did not significantly differ from international and national normative data. Similarly, children's FFI attachment patterns were evenly distributed between family types, and no significant differences emerged in comparison to international and national normative data referring to middle childhood samples. Mediational models revealed that, in all three family types, parents with greater AAI coherence of mind exhibited higher AAI-RF, which, in turn, was associated with increased FFI attachment security in children. Furthermore, parents' AAI coherence of mind directly influenced children's FFI attachment security. The results support and expand hypotheses regarding the intergenerational transmission of attachment in lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parent families through assisted reproduction, while offering unique indications to support these families during middle childhood.

Quality of the Parent-Child Relationship as a Moderator of Witnessing Violence and Youth Trauma Symptoms

Traumatic event exposure affects two in every three adolescents in the United States and there is the potential for numerous deleterious effects including higher levels of youth depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and emotional and behavioral problems. Witnessing violence is one of the more common experiences associated with trauma exposure. Despite the ample research on mental health outcomes associated with witnessing violence, less is known about the extent to which parent-child relationships play a role in youth mental health outcomes when youth are exposed to violence. With a clinically relevant, diverse sample of 806 youth ages 12 years old who experienced maltreatment or were at risk of being maltreated, we tested hypotheses that the parent-child relationship quality would moderate the associations between witnessing violence and youth mental health outcomes. Results supported hypotheses for youths' symptoms of anxiety, depression, dissociation, and posttraumatic stress. The study contributes to the trauma literature by determining that the quality of the parent-child relationship moderated the effects of witnessing violence on trauma outcomes.

The Placement of Children in Need of Out-of-Home Care: Forms of Care and Differences in Attachment Security and Behavioral Problems in the Italian Context

The current paper investigated differences in secure attachment levels and behavioral problems among four groups of children in out-of-home care in Italy: closed adoption (child and birth parents not in contact following adoption), open adoption (child and birth parents still in contact after placement), foster care (child living temporarily with relatives or unrelated foster parents) and institutional care (child in residential care for large groups of children). One hundred and thirty children aged 10-19 were included in this study. The Attachment Interview for Childhood and Adolescence and the Achenbach Youth Self-Report were employed to measure participants' secure attachment levels and behavioral problems. Both a multivariate analysis of covariance and measured variable path analysis were performed. Age, gender and time elapsed between the request for child protection and placement on out-of-home care were used as covariates. The results showed that adolescents in closed adoption had higher secure attachment scores than those in foster care and institutional care, while adolescents in open adoption scored significantly higher on problem behaviors than those in the other out-of-home care groups. Findings were discussed in terms of limitations and implications for future research.

Parenting Styles and Moral Disengagement in Young Adults: The Mediating Role of Attachment Experiences

Research on parenting styles and attachment experiences has paid little attention to the dimensions of moral development. It is, therefore, interesting to explore the relationship between parenting styles, internal working models of attachment, and the development of moral skills, in terms of moral disengagement. The study involved 307 young people (aged 19-25 years), and the dimensions examined were: parental styles (measured by the PSDQ: Tagliabue et al., 2014); attachment styles (ECR: Picardi et al., 2002); moral disengagement (MDS: Caprara et al., 2006). Results showed that the authoritative parenting style is negatively correlated with the two measures of attachment styles (anxiety and avoidance) and moral disengagement. The authoritarian and permissive styles are positively correlated with the two measures of attachment styles (anxiety and avoidance) and moral disengagement. Results also revealed a significant indirect effect of the authoritative style (b = -0.433, 95% BCa, CI [-0.882, -0.090]) and authoritarian style (b = -0.661, 95% BCa, CI [.230, 1.21]) on moral disengagement through anxiety. A serial mediation of anxiety and avoidance on the relationship between permissive style and moral disengagement (b = .077, 95% BCa, CI [.0006, .206]) is significant.

Parental Attachment and Proactive-Reactive Aggression in Adolescence: The Mediating Role of Self-Control and Perspective Taking

Introduction

Identifying risk and protective factors of aggressive behavior during adolescence is beneficial for the intervention and prevention treatments. Although studies show that attachment quality is closely related to aggression, the underlying psychological mechanisms remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the links of parental attachment with proactive and reactive aggression and to examine the mediating role of perspective taking and self-control among Chinese adolescents.

Methods

A cluster sampling method was used to recruit participants from several high schools located in the central regions of China. A total of 2982 participants (Mage = 17.28, SD = 0.83, range 15~20 years; 1602 girls, 1380 boys) were included in the final analysis.

Results

Correlation analysis showed that participants possessing higher attachment security with parents were more likely to report lower levels of proactive and reactive aggression. And, self-control and perspective taking were positively associated with parental attachment, and negatively associated with both types of aggression. Moreover, structural equation models indicated that parental attachment directly, and indirectly predicted proactive and reactive aggression through self-control and perspective taking.

Discussion

Overall, this study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the explanatory mechanisms that link adolescent-parent attachment and aggression, and suggest that high quality of adolescent-parent interactions may promote adolescents' self-control and perspectives taking, which further reduces their aggression propensity.

Attachment Stability and Longitudinal Prediction of Psychotic-like Symptoms in Community Adolescents over Four Months of COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: The Friends and Family Interview (FFI) is assumed to be a valid method to study attachment stability and attachment-related psychopathological processes in adolescence, but no studies have yet tested the test-retest reliability of this interview or the longitudinal association of attachment patterns in response to the FFI from adolescents with symptoms such as psychotic-like experiences (e.g., hallucinations, bizarre behavior, dissociation, self-harm) that are known to have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This study involved 102 community adolescents (M = 14.64, SD = 1.63, 46% males) assessed twice: during a severe COVID-19-related lockdown (in Italy) (T1) and four months later (T2). Measures were the FFI (assessing attachment patterns: secure-autonomous, insecure-dismissing, insecure-preoccupied, and insecure-disorganized) and the thought problems scale of the Youth Self-Report to assess psychotic-like symptoms. Results: revealed high stability of four-way attachment classifications over four months (93.5%), with a modest yet significant link between higher disorganization at T1 and higher scores of thought problems at T2, p = 0.010. Conclusions: The FFI shows high test-retest reliability and can be a valid, age-adapted option to assess adolescents' attachment. Attachment disorganization should be further investigated as possibly related to psychotic-like experiences in community adolescents.

Assessment of Attachment Representations in Basque Adolescents and their Relationship with Internalizing and Externalizing Problems

Research has shown a relationship between attachment style and psychosocial adjustment in adolescents. Whereas secure attachment is related to fewer internalizing and externalizing symptoms, the opposite is the case for the various insecure attachment styles. The aim of the two studies reported in this paper was to adapt and validate the CaMir-R (a self-report measure of attachment that has shown adequate psychometric properties) for use among Basque adolescents, and to analyse the relationship between attachment and internalizing and externalizing symptoms. In Study 1, the instrument was adapted using the back translation method and applied to a sample of 203 adolescents and young adults. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the theoretical dimensions of the scale, and its psychometric properties were found to be adequate. In Study 2 we obtained additional validity evidence by applying, in a sample of 786 adolescents and young adults, the attachment representations section of the CaMir-R alongside other measures of attachment and clinical symptoms. The results once again supported the dimensional structure of the instrument, and evidence of convergent validity was obtained based on correlations between CaMir-R scores and scores on the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA). In addition, scores on the five dimensions of attachment representations (Security, Family concerns, Parental interference, Self-sufficiency and resentment of parents and Childhood trauma) were correlated with scores on other measures of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Based on these results, we conclude that the Basque version of the CaMir-R is a valid instrument for assessing the quality of attachment representations among adolescents, and also that internalizing and externalizing problems are related to attachment style. We discuss the importance of attachment in relation to behaviour problems and clinical symptoms.

Attachment to Mother and Father, Sleep, and Well-Being in Late Middle Childhood

The security of attachment has been related to several advantageous developmental outcomes, such as good sleep quality and higher well-being indicators. However, few studies concern the associations between attachment dimensions to both parents, sleep, and well-being in late middle childhood. Our study aims to expand knowledge in this area, clarifying the above-mentioned associations by considering the secure base and safe haven dimensions of attachment. We also investigate the role of sleep as a mediator of the relationship between attachment and well-being. The 258 participants (49.2% girls, mean age = 11.19, SD = 0.85) completed self-report questionnaires regarding attachment (KSS), sleep (SSR), and well-being (CHIP-CE). The results show significant associations between attachment to both parents (0.40 ** ≤ r ≤ 0.61 **) and between attachment security, sleep (-0.21 ** ≤ r ≤ -0.35 **) and child well-being (0.42 ** ≤ r ≤ 0.47 **). Besides, sleep quality partially mediated the relations between all attachment dimensions to both parents and well-being. The results are discussed in light of attachment theory, focusing on the comparison between attachment to mother and father as a valid framework to unravel differences in child well-being, with sleep as a process that can help to explain the mechanisms through which attachment security enables subjective perceptions of well-being.

Relationship between Executive Functions, Social Cognition, and Attachment State of Mind in Adolescence: An Explorative Study

BACKGROUND

The passage from pre-adolescence to adolescence is presented as a turning point for the achievement of those abilities in social understanding as they commonly appear in adulthood. Developmental perspectives point to the possible role of neuro-cognitive maturation and social experiences to facilitate this growth. This paper has the goal to goalsto propose a valid and reliable measure of the new quantitative and qualitative advancements in social understanding occurring in the adolescent passage; relying on this, the research has two main objectives (a) to establish the associations between the advancements in social understanding and the executive functions held responsible for the neuro-cognitive rearrangements of adolescence; (c) to evidence the significant associations between attachment models and the development of social understanding in this phase of life.

METHODS

100 subjects (50 boys and 50 girls, aged 11-15) were administered with AICA, SCORS, CNT, Stroop Color-Word Test, and WISC-III.

RESULTS

Advancements in the complexity of self-other representations and mentalization of interpersonal exchanges significantly occurs in the passage from pre-adolescence to adolescence and seem to be promoted by increased performances in executive control and cognitive shifting. Dismissing state of mind with respect to attachment is associated with lower development of social understanding in adolescence. The neurocognitive reorganization that underlies the passage from pre-adolescence to adolescence seems to provide the scaffolding for more sophisticated interpretations of the social world. Past and current affective experience can boost or hinder the full deployment of such human maturational potential. Given the importance of social cognition for adjustment and psychopathology, clinical intervention should target the amelioration of individual and family abilities in social reasoning and mentalization.

Adolescent Development and the Parent-Adolescent Relationship in Diverse Family Forms Created by Assisted Reproduction

Assisted reproduction techniques (ARTs) are employed by single individuals and couples who are not otherwise able to conceive spontaneously. While the use of ARTs is increasing, research is lacking on the attempts made by adolescent offspring conceived via ARTs to integrate their ART conception into their identity and negotiate a connection with, and autonomy from, their parents. The present article reviews studies investigating adolescent development and the parent-adolescent relationship in diverse family forms created by ARTs (mainly heterosexual and lesbian parent families), and discusses the results in light of attachment, identity development, and emotional distance regulation theories. Overall, the results indicate that the psychological adjustment of adolescents conceived via ARTs is not undermined by the manner of their conception, and that they enjoy positive relationships with their parents with no difference from those enjoyed by spontaneously conceived adolescents. However, it remains unknown whether the development of a reproductive identity in adolescence is likely to influence adolescents' interest in searching for or contacting their donors, surrogates, and/or donor siblings. The results suggest the relevance of considering the parent-adolescent relationship, disclosure, and identity formation issues when planning psychological counseling and support interventions with ART parents and their adolescent offspring, and emphasize the need to further investigate these aspects in diverse ART families, including single-, gay-, bisexual-, and trans*-parent families.

Parental attachment and emotional intelligence mediates the effect of childhood maltreatment on callous-unemotional traits among incarcerated male adolescents

This study aimed to examine the impact of childhood maltreatment on callous-unemotional (CU) traits among incarcerated male adolescents, focusing primarily on the roles of parental attachment and emotional intelligence. A total of 454 male incarcerated adolescents from two juvenile correctional facilities, ranging in age from 14 to 18 years, completed a set of questionnaires consisting of a childhood trauma questionnaire, parent-attachment scale, emotional intelligence scale, and the Inventory of CU traits. The results revealed that childhood maltreatment, parental attachment, and emotional intelligence were all correlated with CU traits. Structural equation modeling analysis and the bootstrap test indicated that parental attachment and emotional intelligence mediated, in part, the effect of childhood maltreatment on CU traits. These findings expand the outcomes of previous research and shed light on how childhood maltreatment is related to CU traits.

A two-generation study: The transmission of attachment and young adults' depression, anxiety, and social media addiction

Social media use is on the rise among young adults (YA) and evidence suggests a positive association between social media addiction (SMA) and the psychological symptoms of depression and anxiety globally. However, the contribution of attachment and its transgenerational influence on YAs' SMA and psychological symptoms have not been widely explored. Thus, we examined how parental reports of attachment (anxiety and avoidance) can directly and through YAs' attachment predict YAs' SMA, depression and anxiety symptoms. A sample of 375 YAs (M_Age = 21.22) and their parents completed the Emotions in Close Relationships-Revised Questionnaire (Fraley et al., 2000), and the Brief Symptom Inventory (Deragotis, 1992). The SMA Scale (Sahin, 2018) was responded to by only YAs. We tested the pattern of associations in a path model. Parental attachment anxiety predicted YAs' attachment anxiety and only paternal attachment avoidance predicted YAs' attachment avoidance. YAs' attachment anxiety and avoidance predicted their depression and anxiety. However, YAs' attachment anxiety uniquely predicted their SMA. Both parents' attachment anxiety indirectly predicted the link between YAs' attachment anxiety and depression, but only paternal attachment avoidance indirectly predicted the association between YAs' attachment avoidance and depression. Furthermore, paternal attachment avoidance indirectly predicted the association between YAs' attachment avoidance and anxiety symptoms. Maternal attachment anxiety indirectly predicted SMA via YAs' attachment anxiety. While parental anxiety and paternal avoidance may impact YAs' symptoms, YAs' and maternal attachment anxiety can shape SMA. The findings about the differential role of attachment in YAs' psychological symptoms and SMA can facilitate further research and interventions.

How Our Caregivers Shape Who We Are: The Seven Dimensions of Attachment at the Core of Personality

Psychology defines personality as the stable traits of an individual, and cognitive research suggests that a set of core beliefs is at the root of these traits. From this perspective, two major questions remain unanswered: (1) What are the core beliefs that make up personality? (2) How are they acquired? An interesting answer is provided by attachment theory, according to which attachment is at the basis of personality. The current theoretical formulation, however, does not sufficiently clarify the relationship between the two. Adopting a cognitive-clinical approach, we put forward a novel version of attachment theory, arguing that it can better account for the relationship between attachment and personality, thereby providing more convincing answers to questions (1) and (2). In particular, we propose that: (A) attachment information is acquired over seven dimensions; (B) the acquisition of each dimension is induced by a specific caregiving feature and (C) realized through a specific acquisition mechanism - imprinting. In a nutshell, we propose an Attachment-Personality Model (APM) according to which seven attachment dimensions constitute the knowledge core of personality. We finally discuss the significant implications of the model, especially its clinical application in terms of conception, assessment, and treatment of mental disorders. The model can be empirically tested, and we suggest three ways to do that.

Why do you treat me in such ways? An attachment examination on supervisors’ early family environment and subordinates’ responses

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to fill important gaps by using the attachment theory and examining the effects of supervisors’ early family environment on their behaviors toward subordinates and subordinates’ responses.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used samples of 334 supervisor–subordinate pairs from a manufacturing company.

Findings

The study finds that supervisors’ harmonious family environment has a positive influence on subordinates’ responses (job satisfaction, work-to-family enrichment and task performance) through the effect of supervisors’ positive working model and caregiving behavior. On the contrast, supervisors’ conflicting family environment has a negative influence on subordinates’ responses through the effect of supervisors’ negative working model and aggressive behavior.

Originality/value

Existing studies mainly explore the influence of organizational environment on supervisors’ treatment of their subordinates. However, few have examined the relationship between supervisors’ early family environment and their treatment of their subordinates.

Confía en mí, Confío en ti: Applying developmental theory to mitigate sociocultural risk in Latinx families

Ed Zigler was a champion for underprivileged youth, one who worked alongside communities to fight for long-lasting systemic changes that were informed by his lifespan and ecological perspective on the development of the whole child. This paper reports on the development, implementation, and preliminary outcomes of an intervention that embodied the Zigler approach by adopting a community participatory research lens to integrate complementary insights across community-based providers (promotoras), Latinx immigrant families, and developmental psychologists in the service of promoting parent-child relationship quality and preventing youth aggression and violence. Analyses from the first 112 Latinx mother-youth dyad participants (46% female children, ages 8-17) in the resultant, Confía en mí, Confío en ti, eight-week intervention revealed significant pre-post increases in purported mechanisms of change (i.e., attachment security, reflective functioning) and early intervention outcomes (i.e., depressive, anxiety, and externalizing problems). Treatment responses varied by youth age. A case analysis illustrated the lived experiences of the women and children served by this intervention. We discuss future directions for the program, as well as challenges to its sustainability. Finally, we consider Ed's legacy as we discuss the contributions of this work to developmental science and our understanding of attachment relationships among low-income immigrant Latinx families.

Shared Language Erosion: Rethinking Immigrant Family Communication and Impacts on Youth Development

In this paper we make the case for Shared Language Erosion as a potential explanation for the negative outcomes described in the immigrant paradox for second- and third- generation immigrants (e.g., declines in physical, mental, and behavioral health). While not negating the important role of cultural adaptation, we posit that parent-child communication difficulties due to a process we are calling Shared Language Erosion is driving the observed affects previously attributed to changes in cultural values and beliefs. Shared Language Erosion is the process during which adolescents improve their English skills while simultaneously losing or failing to develop their heritage language; at the same time their parents acquire English at a much slower rate. This lack of a common shared language makes it difficult for parents and their adolescent children to effectively communicate with each other, and leads to increased parent-child conflict, reduced parental competence, aggravated preexisting flaws in parent-child attachment, and increased adolescent vulnerability to deviant peer influences.

Multiple facets of attachment in residential-care, late adopted, and community adolescents: an interview-based comparative study

In this study, 117 adolescents (12-19 years) from three groups (39 each), two groups from adverse caregiving environments as placed in residential-care (RC; i.e. istitutions) or late-adopted (LA; i.e. adopted after 12 months), and one of low-risk community adolescents (COM), were compared for the attachment distribution of categories in the Friends and Family Interview (FFI), and in several attachment-related domains where RC and LA showed difficulties during childhood. Only institutionalized adolescents showed more insecure and disorganized categories than both late-adopted and community peers, who did not differ. In the attachment-related domains, only RCs showed lower coherence, reflective functioning, secure-base/safe-haven parents, social and school competence, adaptive response, and more parental anger and derogation than the other two groups. Late-adoptees only showed higher hostility towards sibling(s) than COM.Therefore, only residential-care adolescents were at "high-risk" in attachment, but the analysis of attachment-related domains helped to detect vulnerabilities in both groups.

Attachment Patterns in Children and Adolescents With Gender Dysphoria

The current study examines patterns of attachment/self-protective strategies and rates of unresolved loss/trauma in children and adolescents presenting to a multidisciplinary gender service. Fifty-seven children and adolescents (8.42–15.92 years; 24 birth-assigned males and 33 birth-assigned females) presenting with gender dysphoria participated in structured attachment interviews coded using dynamic-maturational model (DMM) discourse analysis. The children with gender dysphoria were compared to age- and sex-matched children from the community (non-clinical group) and a group of school-age children with mixed psychiatric disorders (mixed psychiatric group). Information about adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), mental health diagnoses, and global level of functioning was also collected. In contrast to children in the non-clinical group, who were classified primarily into the normative attachment patterns (A1-2, B1-5, and C1-2) and who had low rates of unresolved loss/trauma, children with gender dysphoria were mostly classified into the high-risk attachment patterns (A3-4, A5-6, C3-4, C5-6, and A/C) (χ² = 52.66; p < 0.001) and had a high rate of unresolved loss/trauma (χ² = 18.64; p < 0.001). Comorbid psychiatric diagnoses (n = 50; 87.7%) and a history of self-harm, suicidal ideation, or symptoms of distress were also common. Global level of functioning was impaired (range 25–95/100; mean = 54.88; SD = 15.40; median = 55.00). There were no differences between children with gender dysphoria and children with mixed psychiatric disorders on attachment patterns (χ² = 2.43; p = 0.30) and rates of unresolved loss and trauma (χ² = 0.70; p = 0.40). Post hoc analyses showed that lower SES, family constellation (a non-traditional family unit), ACEs—including maltreatment (physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and exposure to domestic violence)—increased the likelihood of the child being classified into a high risk attachment pattern. Akin to children with other forms of psychological distress, children with gender dysphoria present in the context of multiple interacting risk factors that include at-risk attachment, unresolved loss/trauma, family conflict and loss of family cohesion, and exposure to multiple ACEs.

Development and Validation of the Interview of Personality Organization Processes in Adolescence (IPOP-A)

The assessment of personality and personality pathology in adolescence represents a critical topic to understand adolescent's difficulties, predict long-term outcome in adulthood, and indicate adequate treatment. Personality Organization, and its underlying dimensions, plays an essential role in shaping how adolescents face their developmental tasks as they are connected with psychosocial functioning and psychopathological severity. However, few measures are available to assess personality organization during adolescence. The aim of the present research is to investigate the psychometric properties of the Interview of Personality Organization Processes in Adolescence (IPOP-A), a semi-structured interview designed for the assessment of the main personality organization dimensions in adolescence. Three studies were performed to explore the psychometric properties of the IPOP-A, in terms of factor structure, reliability, convergent, and discriminant validity. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis supported the IPOP-A construct validity. Furthermore, IPOP-A showed good reliability and evidenced a convergent and discriminant validity with DSM-oriented personality patterns, emotion dysregulation, identity disturbance, and psychopathology. Our results provide evidence of IPOP-A validity to assess emerging personality organization in adolescence. Furthermore, the IPOP-A is a promising tool to use in the clinical consultation and treatment planning for the adolescent.

Attachment and coparenting representations in men during the transition to parenthood

Coparenting is based on parents' representations of themselves as coparents. Attachment theory can be a useful framework to understand the way that different coparenting representations are developed during the transition to parenthood. This study aimed to analyze the association between men's attachment and coparenting representations at the first trimester of pregnancy and from the first trimester of pregnancy to 6 months' postpartum. A sample of 86 men was recruited and completed self-report measures of attachment and coparenting representations at the first and third trimester of pregnancy and at 1 and 6 months' postpartum. At the first trimester of pregnancy, higher attachment avoidance was associated with higher lack of coparenting support. From the first trimester of pregnancy to 6 months' postpartum, higher attachment avoidance was associated with (a) a steeper increase on lack of coparenting support, (b) an increase on coparenting conflict (while low attachment avoidance was associated with a decrease), and (c) a lower decrease on coparenting disagreement. This study may contribute to coparenting research by showing new evidence on attachment theory as a useful framework to understand how different coparenting representations are developed in men during the transition to parenthood.

The Mediating Role of Romantic Attachment in the Relationship Between Attachment to Parents and Aggression

BACKGROUND

A secure attachment style could promote more intimacy in romantic relationships, while an insecure attachment style could be correlated with less positive romantic relationships in adulthood. Numerous studies have noted that a secure attachment to parents was correlated with lower levels of aggression, whereas insecure attachments were associated with higher levels of aggression. We aimed to investigate the role of the attachment system as a mediator of the expression of aggressiveness during adolescence. Specifically, we considered that the attachment to parents and peers could influence one's attachment to a romantic partner.

METHODS

We empirically tested whether there were relationships of parent and peer attachment on aggressiveness mediated by romantic attachment style. Participants of the study included 411 students.

RESULTS

Results indicated that for males an insecure father-child attachment style seems to be associated with higher levels of anxiety and avoidance in romantic attachments and then with aggressiveness. For females, an insecure mother-child attachment style seems to be associated with higher levels of aggressiveness.

CONCLUSION

The attachment to parents and to peers plays a key role in defining romantic attachment according to gender, and these dimensions in turn tend to affect the levels of aggressiveness.

Exploring the reciprocal relationships between adolescents' perceptions of parental and peer attachment and disordered eating: A multiwave cross-lagged panel analysis

OBJECTIVE

This prospective study explored bidirectional associations between attachment quality towards mother, father, and peers and disordered eating among a large population-based sample of boys and girls in the transition from preadolescence to adolescence. Specifically, we examined whether insecure attachment relationships emerged as a risk factor for or as an outcome of disordered eating.

METHOD

A population-based sample of 904 adolescent girls and boys was assessed four times, at baseline (T1; M_age  = 10.8 years) and at 2-, 4-, and 6-year follow-up (T2, T3, and T4). Prospective data were analyzed using cross-lagged panel models for each attachment figure (i.e., mother, father, peers) in a multigroup design to compare genders.

RESULTS

Better attachment to the mother led to less pronounced disturbed eating in girls across the entire age range and in boys across two time periods. In girls, more pronounced disordered eating at T3 predicted worse attachment to the mother at T4 and better attachment to the father at T1 predicted less disturbed eating at T2. In boys, disordered eating at T1 predicted better attachment to the father at T2. Concerning peer attachment, better attachment at T1 predicted disordered eating at T2, in boys only. No other significant cross-lagged effects emerged.

DISCUSSION

These findings highlight the differential and gender-specific contribution of attachment figures to the development of disordered eating in adolescence. Programs aimed at improving communication and trust in the relationship with parents might be promising in the prevention of disordered eating and the subsequent deterioration of parent-child attachment relationships.

Attachment Styles and Posttraumatic Growth Among Suicide-Loss Survivors

Abstract. Background and aims: The world loses approximately one million people to suicide every year, leaving behind many suicide-loss survivors, family members and friends, who are significantly affected by the traumatic loss. Yet some suicide-loss survivors not only manage to cope with the loss, but actually experience posttraumatic growth (PTG). To date, no studies have fully examined the psychological processes that underlie this personal positive change. We hypothesized that attachment style would predict PTG and this association would be mediated by self-disclosure and social support. Method: A community sample of 131 suicide-loss survivors (108 women), aged 18–70, self-reported on attachment style, self-disclosure, social support, and PTG. Results: Securely attached individuals scored highest on PTG compared with other attachment styles. A structural equation model confirmed that self-disclosure and social support mediated the association between attachment and PTG. Suicide-loss survivors with secure attachment tended to self-disclose more and to perceive greater support from others than did suicide-loss survivors with insecure attachment, thus enhancing their chances of PTG. Limitations: The sample comprised mostly female participants, and the findings may not be directly generalizable to male suicide-loss survivors. Conclusion: Our results suggest that different psychological interventions should be utilized for suicide-loss survivors with particular attachment styles. Psychotherapies aiming to modify internal working models may be useful for enhancing PTG among survivors characterized by insecure attachment styles.

The brief Experiences in Close Relationships Scale - Revised Child version (ECR-RC): Factor structure and invariance across middle childhood and early adolescence

The recently developed short form of the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Revised Child version (ECR-RC) is a promising tool to assess anxious and avoidant attachment in children and adolescents. Yet, evidence concerning its validity in middle childhood is limited. This study aimed to test the psychometric properties of the 12-item ECR-RC for both mother and father forms in a sample of 448 Italian children (50.2% girls) aged between 8 and 13 years. The scale was adapted by changing the response format to make it more understandable for young children. Psychometric proprieties of the brief ECR-RC were investigated by testing its factor structure and internal consistency, invariance across middle childhood and early adolescence, and concurrent and convergent validity. A series of confirmatory factor analyses provided support for the two-factor structure (i.e., anxiety and avoidance) of the ECR-RC, and multi-group confirmatory factor analyses supported its invariance across middle childhood and early adolescence. Older children reported significantly higher latent mean values in avoidant attachment to both parents compared to their younger counterparts. Furthermore, the questionnaire showed evidence of concurrent and convergent validity. Our results indicate that the 12-item version of the ECR-RC is a psychometrically robust instrument to assess avoidance and anxiety toward mother and father among Italian children and early adolescents.

Post-traumatic stress symptom development as a function of changing witnessing in-home violence and changing peer relationship quality: Evaluating protective effects of peer relationship quality

In the present study, witnessing in-home violence and peer relationship quality are evaluated as to their relative impact on Post Traumatic Stress (PTS) symptoms among children aged 8 to 17 investigated by child protective services (CPS) for maltreatment exposure. The sample included 2151 children from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being II (NSCAW II). Linear growth models were estimated to assess associations between changes in PTS symptoms, witnessing in-home violence, and peer relationship quality over time. Greater frequency of witnessing in-home violence at baseline (i.e. wave 1) was associated with higher baseline PTS symptoms (β = 0.44). Increases in witnessing in-home violence frequency over time (average annual change across three years) had a strong association with increases in PTS symptoms over time (β = 0.88). Baseline peer relationship quality was associated with fewer PTS symptoms at baseline (β = -0.45). Increases in peer relationship quality over time were strongly associated with declines in PTS symptoms over time (β = -0.68). Peer relationship quality at baseline did not moderate baseline or over time associations between witnessing in-home violence and PTS symptoms. The average decline in PTS symptoms due to decreases in witnessing in-home violence and increases in peer relationship quality was 0.51 and 0.65 standard deviations respectively, over the three-year study period. Reducing chronic witnessing in-home violence and promoting the development of healthy social relationships with peers are critical for PTS symptom recovery.

Attachment comes of age: adolescents' narrative coherence and reflective functioning predict well-being in emerging adulthood

This study investigated the effects of adolescents' attachment security and reflective functioning (RF) (assessed by the adult attachment interview [AAI]) in the prediction of well-being in adulthood. Adolescents (N = 79; M = 14.6 years old; SD = 3.5 years) completed the AAI at Time 1 (T1), which was subsequently coded for inferred attachment experiences, narrative coherence, and RF by three nonoverlapping teams of raters. Participants completed the Psychological General Well-being Index at T1 and 8 years later (Time 2, T2). Analyses showed that (a) both adolescent narrative coherence and RF were significant predictors of almost all indices of well-being at T2 in adulthood; (b) both narrative coherence and RF indirectly linked inferred loving parental care and T2 well-being; (c) when included in the same model, RF was a significant indirect effect linking inferred loving parental care and T2 well-being. These findings contribute to theory in suggesting that both RF and narrative coherence are predictive of subsequent psychological well-being and operate as links between inferred parental care and subsequent adjustment. Possible mechanisms underlying these findings are discussed.

Attachment security moderates the link between adverse childhood experiences and cellular aging

Exposure to childhood adversity has been linked to accelerated telomere shortening, a marker of cellular aging and an indicator of physical health risk. In the current study, we examined whether adult attachment representation moderated the association between childhood adversity and telomere length. Participants included 78 young adults (M age = 20.46, SD = 1.57), who reported on their exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and were administered the Adult Attachment Interview, which was coded for attachment state of mind. Relative telomere length was assayed from buccal cells. Multiple regression analyses revealed a significant interaction between attachment state of mind and ACE in predicting telomere length. Whereas the association between number of ACE and telomere length was nonsignificant for secure–autonomous, r (50) = –.15, p = .31, and insecure–preoccupied young adults, r (9) = –.15, p = .71, there was a strong negative association between number of ACE and telomere length for insecure–dismissing young adults, r (19) = –.59, p = .007. This study is novel in demonstrating that attachment may affect biological resilience following childhood adversity, contributing to the growing literature about the role of the quality of early caregiving experiences and their representations in shaping biological processes and physical health.

Adult Attachment Styles Associated with Brain Activity in Response to Infant Faces in Nulliparous Women: An Event-Related Potentials Study

Adult attachment style is a key for understanding emotion regulation and feelings of security in human interactions as well as for the construction of the caregiving system. The caregiving system is a group of representations about affiliative behaviors, which is guided by the caregiver's sensitivity and empathy, and is mature in young adulthood. Appropriate perception and interpretation of infant emotions is a crucial component of the formation of a secure attachment relationship between infant and caregiver. As attachment styles influence the ways in which people perceive emotional information, we examined how different attachment styles associated with brain response to the perception of infant facial expressions in nulliparous females with secure, anxious, and avoidant attachment styles. The event-related potentials of 65 nulliparous females were assessed during a facial recognition task with joy, neutral, and crying infant faces. The results showed that anxiously attached females exhibited larger N170 amplitudes than those with avoidant attachment in response to all infant faces. Regarding the P300 component, securely attached females showed larger amplitudes to all infant faces in comparison with avoidantly attached females. Moreover, anxiously attached females exhibited greater amplitudes than avoidantly attached females to only crying infant faces. In conclusion, the current results provide evidence that attachment style differences are associated with brain responses to the perception of infant faces. Furthermore, these findings further separate the psychological mechanisms underlying the caregiving behavior of those with anxious and avoidant attachment from secure attachment.

Assessing Attachment Representations in Adolescents: Discriminant Validation of the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System

The contribution of attachment to human development and clinical risk is well established for children and adults, yet there is relatively limited knowledge about attachment in adolescence due to the poor availability of construct valid measures. The Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP) is a reliable and valid instrument to assess adult attachment status. This study examines for the first time the discriminant validity of the AAP in adolescents. In our sample of 79 teenagers between 15 and 18 years, 42 % were classified as secure, 34 % as insecure-dismissing, 13 % as insecure-preoccupied and 11 % as unresolved. The results demonstrated discriminant validity for using the AAP in that age group, with no associations between attachment classifications and verbal intelligence, social desirability, story length or sociodemographic variables. These results poise the AAP to be used in clinical intervention and large-scale research investigating normative and atypical developmental correlates and sequelae of attachment, including psychopathology in adolescence.

Intergenerational Transmission of Reflective Functioning

The present study investigated whether, and to what extent, reflective functioning (RF) during preadolescence is associated with maternal attachment security and RF, and with the child’s attachment security. Thirty-nine mother–preadolescent child dyads from a non-clinical population participated in the study. Maternal and child RF were assessed by applying the Reflective Functioning Scale to the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and to the Child Attachment Interview transcripts. Children of mothers who showed a secure attachment model regarding the relationship with their parents during childhood reported higher levels of RF than the children of mothers who were classified as insecure on the AAI. Child RF was positively associated with maternal “Coherence of the Mind” on the AAI and negatively associated with maternal derogation of attachment. A strong, significant association was also found between child attachment security and child RF. Children who were rated as being more emotionally open, more able to balance positive and negative descriptions of their parents, more prone to support their assertions through examples, and more able to positively resolve conflicts with their parents showed higher RF. On the contrary, children who resorted to a higher extent to idealization and dismissal toward their parents showed a lesser degree of RF. Notably, a very strong association was found between the score on the “Overall coherence” subscale and the child’s ability to mentalize mixed-ambivalent mental states in the context of their family relationships. As expected, child and maternal RF resulted significantly positively correlated with each other. In particular, only maternal RF (and not maternal attachment security) predicted child RF, and only maternal ability to mentalize mixed-ambivalent mental states predicted the corresponding ability in the children.

Perceived Close Relationships With Parents, Teachers, and Peers: Predictors of Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Features in Adolescents With LD or Comorbid LD and ADHD

This study examined the role of adolescents' perceived close relationships with significant others (attachment relationships with mothers/fathers, appraisal of homeroom teacher as secure base, and quality of peer friendship) in explaining differences in their socioemotional and behavioral functioning (peer-network/peer-dyadic loneliness, positive/negative affect, and externalizing/internalizing problems), among adolescents with learning disabilities (LD), with comorbid LD and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or with typical development (TD). Participants were 280 adolescents in Grades 10 through 11 in three groups: LD (n = 90), comorbid LD and ADHD (n = 91), and TD (n = 98). Preliminary analyses yielded significant group differences on most socioemotional and behavioral measures. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis indicated high fit between the theoretical model and empirical findings and partially different patterns of relationships among the model's components for the three populations. The discussion focuses on the possible unique value of close relationships with each significant attachment figure for adolescents with LD, comorbid LD-ADHD, and TD.

Insecure attachment and suicidal behavior in adolescents

BACKGROUND

Suicide among adolescents is an important public health problem. One risk factor for youth suicidal behavior that has been underexplored is insecure attachment.

AIMS

To investigate the association between attachment avoidance/anxiety and suicidal behavior in an adolescent sample.

METHOD

This study examined attachment insecurity in 40 adolescents who had attempted suicide and 40 never-suicidal demographically matched youths. Adolescents completed self-report measures of attachment style, family alliance, and depressive symptoms.

RESULTS

Suicide attempters reported significantly higher attachment avoidance and anxiety. Attachment avoidance, but not anxiety, predicted suicide attempt status in a conditional logistic regression analysis that controlled for depressive symptoms and family alliance.

CONCLUSION

Future research should determine the relative utility of attachment insecurity in prospectively predicting suicide attempts and investigate potential mediators and moderators of this association. Implications for clinicians working with suicidal youth with insecure attachment styles are discussed.

Neural basis of attachment-caregiving systems interaction: insights from neuroimaging studies

The attachment and the caregiving system are complementary systems which are active simultaneously in infant and mother interactions. This ensures the infant survival and optimal social, emotional, and cognitive development. In this brief review we first define the characteristics of these two behavioral systems and the theory that links them, according to what Bowlby called the “attachment-caregiving social bond” (Bowlby, 1969). We then follow with those neuroimaging studies that have focused on this particular issue, i.e., those which have studied the activation of the careging system in women (using infant stimuli) and have explored how the individual attachment model (through the Adult Attachment Interview) modulates its activity. Studies report altered activation in limbic and prefrontal areas and in basal ganglia and hypothalamus/pituitary regions. These altered activations are thought to be the neural substrate of the attachment-caregiving systems interaction.

Adolescent Attachment Trajectories with Mothers and Fathers: The Importance of Parent-Child Relationship Experiences and Gender

This longitudinal study investigated how attachment with mothers and fathers changes during adolescence, and how gender and parent-child relationship experiences are associated with attachment trajectories. The relative importance of specific positive and negative relationship experiences on attachment trajectories was also examined. An initial sample of 223 adolescents reported on relationship experiences and attachment avoidance and anxiety with mothers and fathers in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 (final N=110; Mage=11.90 years at onset, SD=.43). Mothers and fathers reported on relationship experiences with adolescents. Hierarchical linear modeling showed that security with parents increased during adolescence. Positive relationship experiences (companionship, satisfaction, approval, support) predicted increases in security and negative experiences (pressure, criticism) predicted decreases in security. Females reported less avoidance than males.

Assessing attachment in the school years: the application of the Dynamic Maturational Model of Attachment to the coding of a child attachment interview with community and looked-after children

BACKGROUND

This article reports on the analysis of a Child Attachment Interview using the Dynamic Maturational Model (DMM) of attachment coding system developed by Crittenden for use with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). The aim of the study was to see if the two coders could classify the child interviews using the DMM-AAI approach and produce the range of DMM attachment strategies to be expected from previous research and the literature.

METHODS

Two coders independently classified interviews with 41 children aged between 6 and 13 years with an average age of 9.8 years. In total, 24 of the children were from a local authority middle school (the community children) and 17 were in foster care (looked-after children).

RESULTS

The full array of DMM strategies was identified, with significant differences between the community and looked-after children in terms of attachment security and lack of resolution of loss and trauma. There was 100% agreement between coders on secure versus insecure attachment patterns, a Kappa of .910 for the full range of DMM attachment strategies and Kappas of between .655 and .773 for unresolved loss, trauma and depression. Discussion focuses on the strengths and deficits of the use of the DMM compared with other published work on child attachment interviews, the use of interviews to assess post-traumatic stress disorder in children and the implications of defensive attachment strategies for services offered to looked-after children.

An investigation of the security of caregiver attachment during middle childhood in children with high-functioning autistic disorder

Previous research has investigated caregiver attachment relationships in children with autism during early childhood, with few differences found from matched control groups. However, little is known of this relationship during middle childhood (ages 8-12 years). In this study, the aim was to establish whether there are differences in the security of attachment in children with high-functioning autism compared to typically developing children. A secondary aim was to establish whether caregivers' perceptions of their child's attachment to them accorded with the children's own reports. Twenty-one children with high-functioning autism and 17 typically developing children were administered the Kerns Security Scale and the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment-Revised, and caregivers completed the same questionnaires from the viewpoint of their child. There were no differences between the groups in the children's and parents' reports of attachment security. Parents' and children's reports were moderately correlated on the Kerns Security Scale but were not correlated on the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment-Revised. The results indicate that levels of attachment security in children with high-functioning autism are not different from those in typically developing children.

Predictors and consequences of developmental changes in adolescent girls' self-reported quality of attachment to their primary caregiver

In an at-risk community sample of 2101 girls, we examined trajectories, predictors, and consequences of changes in a central aspect of adolescents' perceived quality of attachment (QOA), i.e., their reported trust in the availability and supportiveness of the primary caregiver. Results demonstrated two distinct epochs of change in this aspect of girls' perceived QOA, with a significant linear decrease in early adolescence (ages 11-14) followed by a plateau from 14 to 16. Baseline parent-reported harsh punishment, low parental involvement, single parent status, and child-reported depression symptoms predicted steeper decreases in attachment during early adolescence, which in turn predicted greater child-reported depression and conduct disorder symptoms in later adolescence. Results suggest that both parent and child factors contribute to trajectories of self-reported QOA in adolescence, and a faster rate of decrease in girls' perceived QOA to caregivers during early adolescence may increase risk for both internalizing and externalizing symptoms.

Perceived parental reactions to adolescent distress: development and validation of a brief measure

Although adolescence is a time of individuation with increased reliance on peers, research indicates that, despite a deliberate distancing from parents, adolescents continue to seek the support and console of parental attachment figures in times of distress. The Perceived Parental Reactions to Adolescent Distress (PRAD) is a brief self-report measure developed to examine adolescents' perception of parental response under conditions of distress as measured by four conceptually and empirically distinct parental reactions to distress: Comfort, Self-Focus, Avoidance and Harshness. Across two studies involving a total of 738 high school students, we developed the PRAD and substantiated its robust psychometric properties, including evidence for reliability as well as internal and criterion validity. Sources of individual differences in the test-scores were also explored. Empirical as well as practical importance of assessing parental reactions to adolescent distress is discussed with regard to both the attachment and adolescent development literature.