Browsing by Subject "Attachment"
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Item Complexities Related to Aging Out of Foster Care: Life Skills, Self-Sufficiency and Trust(2011-08) Rensburg, Elizabeth A.; Burley, Hansel E.; Lesley, Mellinee; McMillan, SallyEvery year approximately 30,000 young adults age out of the foster care system. For over 25 years, there has been an abundance of research that has focused on the challenges of preparing foster youth for independent living. Former foster youths are not prepared adequately for self-sufficiency upon aging out of foster care. This study uses phenomenological interviews from four former foster youth to illicit their perceptions about aging out of foster care. The interviews were designed to investigate the following research questions: what are former foster youths’ experiences leaving foster care; what are their perceptions of how the system has or has not prepared them for independent living; and what are their perceptions of how the foster care system has or has not shaped their ability to form healthy attachments? Participants were young adults between the ages of 18-29 who had lived in foster care for a minimum of five years and who aged out of the foster care system. Interviews were digitally recorded and then transcribed using Microsoft Word 2007 and RCA digital voice manager. Analysis of the data revealed four findings that are supported by prior research. The participants in this study felt they did not learn the majority of independent living skills in a formal setting and the process of transitioning out of foster care was abrupt and difficult. They were able to form trusting relationships and they felt that despite all the difficulties they faced in foster care they had a better advantage growing up in foster care than they would have had with their biological families, which placed them on a different path in life. Implications for future research, counseling and the foster care system are discussed.Item Conditions leading to unresolved attachment status for loss and the role of complicated grief(2012-05) Beverung, Lauren Mock; Jacobvitz, Deborah; Hazen-Swann, Nancy; Gershoff, Elizabeth; Jones, Barbara; Creasey, Gary L.A central goal of this study is to better understand why some mothers become unresolved with respect to experiences of loss whereas others do not. Adults are considered to be unresolved with respect to loss if they display signs of mental disorganization while discussing an attachment-related loss due to death – for example, talking in the present tense about a deceased person as if the person is still alive (Main, Goldwyn, & Hesse, 2002). Studies have accumulated documenting the negative consequences of being unresolved. Researchers have linked unresolved attachment to frightened/frightening maternal behavior (Jacobvitz, Leon, & Hazen, 2006), drug/alcohol abuse (Riggs & Jacobvitz, 2002), and other Axis I and II disorders (Ward, Lee, & Polan, 2006; Fonagy et al., 1996); as well as anxiety, anger, (Busch, Cowan, & Cowan, 2008) and controlling behavior (Creasey, 2002) in romantic relationships. Less is known about the conditions under which a person becomes unresolved. This study will be one of the first to examine the comprehensive effects of several risk factors known to influence a person’s ability to resolve a loss including kinship, cause of death, and suddenness as well as primary attachment pattern. Other factors included in this study are social support and lifestyle changes. Although attachment theory provides a thorough explanation for an individual’s inability to resolve a loss, it is only one of many theoretical explanations of this phenomenon (Rando, 1993). One theory that is conceptually similar to unresolved loss is the theory of complicated grief, the process of painful searching and yearning for a deceased person (Prigerson et al., 1995b). Like those who study unresolved loss, complicated grief researchers are still seeking to understand what factors can predict whether an individual will experience prolonged symptoms of grief (van der Houwen et al., 2010). Also similar to unresolved loss, complicated grief involves irregular patterns of mental processes following a loss; however, complicated grief seems to be a conscious process, whereas unresolved loss has non-conscious components. Hence, this dissertation also examined whether complicated grief was related to unresolved loss and, if so, whether the origins for complicated grief were similar to unresolved loss.Item Differences in dating relationships : an examination of attachment, disclosure, and relational uncertainty(2013-05) Pett, Rudolph Clarence; Dailey, René M.This study assessed the associations between adult attachment, disclosure, and relational uncertainty in both cyclical and non-cyclical dating relationships using a sample of 114 participants. The analysis revealed significant relationships between relational disclosure and relational uncertainty, attachment avoidance and relational disclosure, attachment anxiety and relational uncertainty, as well as attachment avoidance and relational uncertainty. Relational status (i.e., cyclical/non-cyclical) was neither related to relational disclosure or self-disclosure, nor served as a significant moderator between relational disclosure and relational uncertainty or self-disclosure and relational uncertainty. The results are considered in terms of how individual characteristics shaped by interpersonal interaction (i.e., attachment, relational uncertainty) are associated with specific communication patterns (i.e., disclosure) in dating relationships.Item Effects of parental divorce on children in relation to development and attachment style(2010-05) Cox, Sarah Elizabeth, 1982-; Rochlen, Aaron B.; Moore, Leslie A.Extensive research on the impact of divorce on children has been conducted. Much of this research emphasizes negative findings. Debate over the factors that exacerbate or alleviate these negative findings exists, and prompted investigation in this literature review. Two factors that may determine how children will react to parental divorce are the child's developmental acuity and attachment style at the time of the divorce event. This review explains developmental tasks from a psychosocial and cognitive perspective for developing children from birth to age 18. An understanding of these models can be used to examine how children may be vulnerable to the stresses in a divorcing family, as well as identifying how to help children of all ages become resilient. Research included in this review suggests that a secure attachment and consistent parenting are the best buffers from negative effects. This literature review is intended to be a guide to aid parents, counselors, and other professionals who seek the best outcome for children of divorce.Item An examination of the relationship between attachment and loss : the role of meaning-making(2014-08) Douglas, Ryan Patrick; McCarthy, Christopher J.This dissertation examined the relationship between attachment insecurity and complicated grief by testing a path model of variables that were hypothesized to mediate this relationship. Three meaning-making variables were tested as potential mediators: benefit-finding, sense-making, and positive reappraisal. First, a series of principal components analyses were performed to determine the factor structure of these meaning-making variables. After these constructs were identified, a series of hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to determine the unique contribution of each of the primary variables in predicting either complicated grief or one of the meaning-making variables. As hypothesized, some of the attachment and meaning-making variables were highly associated with complicated grief. Attachment insecurity variables were also associated with some of the meaning-making variables suggesting that attachment may have some influence on how individuals use meaning-making strategies in the midst of a loss. These variables were then entered into a path analysis that accounted for other relevant risk factors. It was found that, contrary to the main hypothesis, the meaning-making variables did not appear to mediate the relationship between attachment insecurity and complicated grief. Multiple regression was used to determine the relative impact of meaning-making and attachment variables on complicated grief because these variables have not been previously included in one statistical model. The results suggested that both meaning-making and attachment insecurity variables can play an important role as risk factors for complicated grief and that these relationships are still present after accounting for the closeness that an individual reported towards the deceased. It was concluded that both sets of variables, attachment and meaning-making, should be included in models of the development of complicated grief and that both may have clinical implications in terms of how to approach counseling for individuals struggling with complicated grief. More research on this topic is needed to look at similar research questions within specific populations. It was also suggested that in the future, researchers need to find better ways to measure meaning-making constructs because the current findings suggest that meaning-making may be even more multifaceted than has been suggested in previous literature.Item Hours of nonmaternal care and infants’ proximity-seeking behavior in the strange situation(2012-12) Umemura, Tomotaka; Jacobvitz, Deborah; Hazen, Nancy; Anderson, Edward R; Gershoff, Elizabeth; Sharabany, RuthRobertson and Bowlby (1952) found that prolonged separations from the mother lower the extent to which infants seek proximity to their mother. Although prolonged separations are no longer common today, some infants experience extremely long hours of nonmaternal care, which may lead them to seek less proximity to their mother. I examined this hypothesis using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Development: Early Child Care and Youth Development Study (N = 1,281). A series of regression analyses revealed that infants’ hours of nonmaternal care at 4 to 6, 7 to 9, and 10 to 12 months, but not at 1 to 3 or 13 to 15 months, were associated with their proximity-seeking behavior in the Strange Situation at 15 months. Using a polynomial regression analysis, I further found a cubic relation between the number of nonmaternal care hours at 7 to 9 months and infants’ proximity-seeking behavior. Specifically, proximity-seeking behavior rapidly declined during two time periods: when infants spent from 0 to 10 hours per week in nonmaternal care and when they spent over 60 hours per week in nonmaternal care. I also found that mothers’ and nonmaternal caregivers’ sensitivity was associated with infants’ proximity-seeking behavior, and proximity-seeking behavior predicted young children's ability to control their behavior and also the amount of time that they were able to focus their attention on their mother or their experimenter during a developmentally challenging task at 36 months. Findings reported in this dissertation highlight the important role of proximity-seeking behavior in the attachment relationship formed with the caregiver during infancy and the development of self-control and attention during the preschool years.Item Not just about food : an attachment perspective on feeding(2016-08) Messina, Serena, Ph.D.; Carlson, Cindy I.,1949-; Jacobvitz, Deborah; Ainslie, Ricardo; Hazen, Nancy; Keith, TimothyIn infancy feeding is a central part of the mother-infant relationship and contributes greatly to the creation of an emotional bond between them. The purpose of this study was to investigate the quality of mother-infant interactions during feeding through an attachment perspective and to explore the long-term effects of these interactions on children’s mental health. Three main hypotheses were proposed. The first hypothesis investigated if maternal attachment representations influence mothers’ behaviors during feeding and thus the quality of feeding interactions. The second hypothesis concerned the long-term effects of feeding interactions on children’s later development of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. The third hypothesis implied testing mediation models predicting how maternal attachment influences maternal feeding behaviors and how these behaviors impact children’s risk of internalizing and externalizing problems. To test the first hypothesis, maternal attachment representations were assessed prenatally and mother-infants feeding interactions were evaluated when the infant was 8 months old. Data were collected for 116 mother-infant dyads. The second hypothesis was tested by gathering information on children’s mental health symptoms at age 7. Data for 71 children were available. The third hypothesis was tested using the data previously collected to analyze hypothesis one and two. Mothers’ representations of the relationship with their own parents during childhood, assessed prior to the baby’s birth, predicted the extent to which they would develop controlling and conflicted interaction patterns with their infants. Children who experienced controlling maternal behaviors during feeding at 8 months were at risk for developing symptoms of anxious depression at age 7. On the other hand, children who engaged in feeding interactions marked by conflicts with their mothers were more likely to display symptoms of ADHD and aggression at age 7.Item The relation of adult attachment security to changes in maternal parenting behaviors : a parenting intervention study(2011-08) Burton, Rosalinda Strano; Jacobvitz, Deborah; Hazen, Nancy; Anderson, Edward; Gershoff, ElizabethThe goal of the current study was to examine the impact of mothers’ attachment classification on their ability to change their parenting beliefs and behaviors over the course of a parenting intervention program. Results indicated that in large part, this study did not support the idea that secure mothers would benefit more from a parenting intervention program than insecure mothers. However, treatment group placement was found to moderate the extent to which attachment security and time interact on level of permissiveness. Specifically, insecure mothers in the seminar plus hands-on condition significantly decreased in their permissiveness over time. Thus, insecure individuals benefit from parenting intervention programs when they have the opportunity to practice as well as learn the material presented to them.Item Secure attachment, self-esteem, and optimism as predictors of positive body mage in women(2009-05-15) Sandoval, Erin LeverenzThis correlational cross-sectional study investigated body image from a positive psychology viewpoint by examining variables that were predicted to contribute to positive body image in women and testing a model describing the relationships among the variables. Negative body image has been correlated with many psychological problems in the literature, but less research has examined positive body image. Some questions addressed include: Is there a relationship between secure attachment and positive body image? Do self-esteem and optimism act as intervening variables in the predicted relationship between secure attachment and positive body image? To address these questions, data from 97 women were used in a structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis. Some of the hypotheses were supported, although the overall model was not. Secure attachment was found to be positively correlated with and predictive of self-esteem and optimism as hypothesized and in line with previous findings. Also as hypothesized, self-esteem and optimism were found to be moderately correlated. Self-esteem and optimism were not significantly related to body image in the SEM analysis and therefore the overall proposed model was not supported. In this sample, secure attachment was found to be the greatest predictor of positive body image. Attachment accounted for 40% of the variance in body image, 44% of the variance in optimism, and 25% of the variance in self-esteem.Item Survival, attachment and internalization of Salmonella agona and Salmonella gaminara on orange surfaces(Texas A&M University, 2005-11-01) Singh, ReemaSalmonella outbreaks associated with orange juices have been reported in the past. Though there have been studies on the internalization of Salmonella into oranges there is inadequate information on the ability of this pathogen to survive on orange surfaces, become internalized, and survive the low pH internal conditions. The objective of this work was to study the survival of Salmonella gaminara and Salmonella agona on oranges obtained from the field and retail outlets and investigate their attachment and internalization potential. These studies showed that oranges obtained from both the field and retail outlets harbored relatively high concentrations of aerobic heterotrophic bacterial populations. There were significant differences in the survival of Salmonella agona and Salmonella gaminara at 4??C, room temperature (25??C) and 37??C. Survival was highest at 37??C and lowest at 4??C for both Salmonella gaminara and Salmonella agona. Salmonella agona and Salmonella gaminara showed significant differences in recovery when the cells were treated with pH 4.0, 7.0 and 9.5 buffers. The internalization studies suggest that a negative temperature differential favors the internalization of Salmonella cells into the fruit. Significant differences in the internalization of Salmonella into field and market oranges were observed with more internalization in the field oranges as compared to the market oranges. These results suggest that to prevent Salmonella contamination of orange juices adequate pre-harvest protection against pathogen contamination and post-harvest cleaning and disinfection strategies need to be employed.Item The Moderating Role of Maternal Attachment on Borderline Personality Disorder Features and Dependent Life Stress(2016-10-20) Ball, Ericka Michelle; Venta, Amanda; Crosby, James; Henderson, CraigBorderline Personality Disorder (BPD) affects 1.6% of adolescents and 20% of inpatient adolescents. Life stress has been linked to BPD during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Moreover, previous research, in adults, has linked BPD features to dependent stress (i.e., stress that is induced or elicited by the individual rather than the situation). Prior research has not examined dependent stress alongside BPD features in adolescents. Given prior research showing that secure attachment moderates the association between psychopathology and dependent stressful life events in adults, the current study examined attachment security as a buffer against stressful life events, a proposition that has not been evaluated with regard to adolescents with BPD. We hypothesized a moderation model in which (1) BPD features and diagnosis would be positively associated with dependent life stress, (2) secure attachment would be negatively associated with BPD features and diagnosis, and (3) attachment would moderate the relation between BPD and dependent life stress. Results supported the first two hypotheses; BPD diagnosis was significantly, positively associated with dependent life stress, and negatively associated with two attachment variables, maternal availability and dependability. However, no such association was present for two other attachment variables, maternal care and overprotection, nor was there a significant moderating effect of attachment. Contrary to the third hypothesis, no significant evidence that attachment acts as a buffer in the relation between BPD and dependent life stress was found when all three variables were assessed concurrently. Nonetheless, results confirm previously documented relations between BPD, dependent life stress, and attachment.Item The relationship of adult attachment style and interactive conflict styles to marital satisfaction(2009-06-02) Crowley, Anne KatherineThis study examined the association between individual attachment and interactive conflict styles and the overall influence on marital satisfaction in 207 married individuals. The application of attachment theory to this study of adult romantic relationships was established via factor analysis and yielded two dimensions: self (anxiety) and other (avoidance). Accommodation and demand-withdraw were the two forms of conflict interaction studied, which, respectively, are constructive and destructive styles of engagement that impact marital satisfaction. Individuals completed self-report measures of attachment, accommodation, demand-withdraw and global marital satisfaction. The current study yielded statistically significant results and supported all of the research hypotheses. There were negative relationships found between the attachment dimensions of anxiety and avoidance and total accommodation, while positive relationships were determined between both attachment dimensions and demand-withdraw behaviors. In relationship to marital satisfaction, an individual's total accommodation was positively related, while demand-withdraw behaviors were inversely associated. There were also inverse relationships found between both the attachment dimensions and marital satisfaction. These findings suggest that the data are consistent with previous research on attachment, accommodation, demand-withdraw behavior and marital satisfaction. In addition to supporting prior findings, this study also had several unique contributions. A statistically significant relationship was found between the constructive and destructive conflict styles, which suggested total accommodation was associated with lower levels of demand-withdraw. In addition, a path model for the variables of attachment, accommodation, demand-withdraw and marital satisfaction was developed. This display of variables is especially useful in showing the bidirectionality of constructive and destructive behaviors in marriage. Research implications for these findings are presented and suggestions for future research are discussed.Item Toward a developmental origin of the predictors of health : how representations of childhood are associated with well-being in adulthood(2012-12) Bichteler, Anne; Jacobvitz, DeborahIn this study I explored whether the way adults think about their early childhood is related to their perception of control, coping strategies, and health outcomes. The participants (N=78) in this study were administered the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) between 1 and 18 years ago, when they were new parents. The current online survey assessed perceived control (a composite of the Perceived Health Competency Scale and a general life control item), coping strategies (generated from a factor analysis of the Brief C.O.P.E. measure), anxiety (GAD-7), overweight (a composite of waist-to-hip ratio by body mass index), lifetime number of mental health diagnoses, and lifetime number of physical health diagnoses. As expected, non-problem-focused coping strategies and low perceived control were significantly associated with overweight and poor mental and physical health outcomes. This study added a developmental component to explain the roots of these maladaptive strategies: Dismissing speech on the AAI, characterized by idealizing childhood, minimizing childhood needs and/or distress, and emphasizing the normalcy and independence of one's upbringing strongly negatively predicted current perceived control and approach coping, relative to Secure speech. In fact, Dismissing speakers endorsed using fewer coping strategies over all. Given the pervasive influence of perceived control and active coping on myriad aging and health outcomes, the origins of these strengths is of particular interest. Dismissing speakers, although they endorse experiencing less anxiety, are clearly faring the worst. Attachment theory as a framework for explaining lifespan agency, anxiety, health behaviors, and outcomes is discussed.Item Trajectories, predictors, and adolescent health outcomes of childhood weight gain : a growth mixture model(2014-12) Bichteler, Anne; Gershoff, Elizabeth T.Obesity, as defined as BMI at or above the 95th percentile on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s growth charts, has increased almost 3-fold among children in the United States since 1980. Overweight in adolescence has been associated with increased fat retention and high blood pressure in adulthood, among other symptoms of metabolic syndrome. However, normative patterns of weight change in childhood have not been developed. Groups of children may follow different trajectory patterns of BMI change over time. If common trajectory patterns could be identified, and their risk factors and outcomes understood, more nuanced intervention with families and children at risk for obesity could be developed. This study used a national dataset of 1,364 children whose weight and length was measured 12 times from birth through 15 ½ years. Testing both latent class growth analysis and growth mixture modeling identified four distinct subgroups, or classes, of BMI growth trajectory from 24 months – 8th grade. These classes were compared on numerous demographic, biological, and psychosocial risk factors identified in previous research as related to obesity. Classes were differentiated primarily on the child’s BMI at 15 months, the mother’s BMI at 15 months, birth weight for age, and percent increase in birth weight. Being male, Black, and lower SES were also related to membership in the higher-BMI trajectory classes. Of the psychosocial factors, maternal sensitivity, maternal depression, and attachment classification were also related to BMI class. Membership in these trajectories strongly predicted weight-related and blood-pressure outcomes at 15 ½ years over and above individual risk factors, demonstrating that patterns of change themselves are highly influential. The best-fitting models of weight-related outcomes at 15 ½ years included change trajectory in combination with biological, psychosocial, and SES risk factors from 0-24 months, with R² ranging from .31 = .50. Characteristics predicting adolescent overweight can be identified in the first years of life and should trigger the development and implementation of early intervention protocols in obstetrics and pediatrics.