Browsing by Subject "Attachment"
Now showing 1 - 14 of 14
- Results Per Page
- Sort Options
Item A phenomenological study of OCD : formative experiences and the dialectic of shame and obsession(2020-05-08) Kouttab, Amal Christine; Ainslie, Ricardo C.; Damer, Diana; Suizzo, Marie-Anne P; Sanchez, DelidaThis qualitative study used a modified Giorgian (Giorgi, 1985, 2009) approach to descriptive phenomenology to explore four primary areas of inquiry: 1) how individuals conceptualize or make meaning of their experience living with OCD, 2) common core fears that may underlie obsessions, 3) formative experiences shared by people with OCD, and 4) internal self-representations, which included how self-concept effects and is affected by OCD. Various dynamic processes potentially implicated in the development and maintenance of OCD were examined through a series of 9 in-depth interviews, including whether individuals with OCD share qualitatively similar formative experiences, self-perceptions, and core fears. It also interrogated the role of shame in OCD; specifically, whether certain obsessions are accompanied by feelings of shame and if these feelings ultimately reinforce the condition. Analysis of interview data revealed seven primary themes: 1) lack of understanding, 2) meanings, manifestations & metaphors, 3) duality of mind, 4) formative and traumatic experiences, 5) impact of OCD on self, 6) impact of OCD on relationships, and 7) coping strategies. One primary theme, formative and traumatic experiences, included five subordinate themes: impaired familial communication, experiences of being an outsider, traumatic experiences, family instability, and parental expectations and overcontrol. All participants described phenomena consistent with of OCD symptomology and universally reported experiencing obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions were consistent with widely recognized subtypes (i.e., aggressive/harm obsessions, contamination, sexual obsessions, hypermorality and scrupulosity), and the most commonly reported were contamination obsessions, followed by hypermorality/scrupulosity and aggressive obsessions. Similarly, compulsions were easily identified within existing categories (i.e., overt and covert checking behavior, symmetry/counting and repetitive movement, washing/cleaning, and anxious avoidance). The most commonly described compulsion was checking/reassurance-seeking, followed by anxious avoidance and symmetry/counting & repetitive movement. The majority recalled experiencing anxiety and obsessive tendencies beginning at an early age, while several identified precipitating factors leading up to symptom onset, most notably stressful events and increasing levels of anxiety. More than half described a sudden onset of symptoms. Symptom course was described as lifelong, pervasive, and waxing-and-waning. Narratives generally revealed that obsessions tended to change over time and that symptoms, and the ability to manage them, gradually improved.Item Adult attachment and mental health : the mediation role of emotion regulation(2018-12) Haner, Morgynn Lynn; Awad, Germine H.; Rude, Stephanie; Ainslie, Ricardo; Benner, Aprile; Hazen-Swann, NancyIt is well established in the literature that attachment style is related to mental health. However, theory and research suggest that attachment style does not exert its influence on adults’ mental health directly, but rather that it influences mental health due to its influence on a number of mediating variables. The current study tested the hypothesis that emotion regulation mediates the link between adult attachment and mental health. Five hundred and eighty-five college undergraduates completed an online survey consisting of measures of attachment style, rumination, experiential avoidance, perspective taking, distress, and wellbeing. Structural equation models tested hypotheses and perspective taking partially mediated the relationship between attachment anxiety and distress. With replications, these findings suggest promoting adaptive emotion regulation strategies in anxiously attached adults.Item Attachment, articulation and agency : a glimpse into the world of women digest writers in Pakistan(2024-02-05) Ahmed, Kiran Nazir; Ali, Kamran Asdar, 1961-; Harlow, Barbara; Stewart, Kathleen; Strong, PaulineThis dissertation presents an ethnographic account of women fiction writers’ engagement with digest genre and the community (of readers and writers) formed around it. Digest genre is published in Urdu monthly magazines, usually known as women’s digests. These fictional stories are extremely popular and have the highest circulation of all fictional genres in Pakistan. However, they are socially perceived as “low brow” and disavowed as having no literary merit. In this context, this ethnography traces the specific forms attachment, articulation and agency take in the lives of women whose stories resonate with many, but who also face the critique of not being authentic writers. It does so by exploring questions such as: How do digest writers develop attachments and bonds of friendship in the absence of physical proximity (since writers rarely meet each other or their readers)? How do digest writers articulate lived realities—both of attachments in the digest community and the larger dynamics of living as a woman in Pakistan’s changing social milieu? How do they see fiction writing and what role do they see it playing in their individual lives? What challenges or opportunities do writers experience as they enter the arena of script writing for television, and how do they speak back to notions of their writing as inauthentic and frivolous? Methodologically, this research draws on twenty months of fieldwork, carried out in four urban cities (Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi) and villages in two provinces (Sindh and Punjab). Fieldwork took the form of archival work, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and participant observation. I closely followed the daily lives and work of digest writers of varying ages, ethnicities, and educational backgrounds. In addition, I conducted work with editors (who select and tailor digest narratives), admins (volunteers who manage readers’ groups through social media), readers and voluntary non-readers (individuals who are familiar with this genre but choose not to read it), television channel heads (who employ digest writers as script writers) and content managers at production houses (who select and tailor digest narratives for television audiences).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 Parents’ joint attachment representations and caregiving : the moderating role of marital quality(2017-06-23) Poulsen, Helen Bech; Jacobvitz, DeborahThis study examined how mothers’ and fathers’ joint attachment representations, assessed prenatally, predict parent’s caregiving behavior with their 8-month olds. Adults’ representations of their relationships with their parents during childhood have been shown to influence the quality of care they provide their infants. Also, the attachment statuses of both partners in a couple, considered jointly, have been associated with the couple’s marital quality. Less is known about the effect of couples’ joint attachment representations on their individual caregiving quality. The influence of the spouse’s attachment security on a parent’s caregiving might be direct via modeling. It is also possible that sensitive care provided by the spouse will motivate an insecure parent to reflect on negative experiences during his or her own childhood, thus enabling that parent to provide more sensitive care with his or her own child. The spouses’ joint attachment status might also affect marital quality, which in turn could influence caregiving. Direct associations between couples’ joint attachment status and each parent’s caregiving quality as well as the extent to which marital quality moderates relations between parents’ joint attachment security and their caregiving behaviors were examined. Participants were followed over the transition to first-time parenthood and included 116 families. Prenatally, each parent was administered the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). To assess their marital quality, couples were videotaped for 30 minutes discussing sources of disagreement. When infants were 8 months old, mothers and fathers were videotaped separately for 30 minutes each playing, feeding and changing their infant’s clothes, to assess caregiving quality. Based in their AAI scores, couples were placed into an attachment pairing group: Secure-Secure, mother Secure-father Insecure, mother Insecure-father Secure, and Insecure-Insecure. Results indicated mothers’ caregiving was not affected by pairing, but father’s was. Marital quality also differed by pairing. No moderation was found through the interaction of marital quality and attachment pairings predicting parents’ caregiving. Findings underscore the value of looking at joint rather than individual attachment representations when examining the relation of parents’ attachment representations to fathers’ caregiving during infancy and marital quality.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 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.Item When East meets West to address shame and treat insecure attachment(2017-05) Blum, Amy Meredith; Rude, Stephanie SandraAttachment theory provides evidence that infants and children who perceive insufficient care and attunement tend to develop emotional, social, and behavioral deficits (Bowlby, 1969, 1973, 1988; Ainsworth, 1989). The hidden root that sustains attachment-based symptoms and syndromes is shame. Shame is defined as an injury to the self as a result of contemptuous or humiliating treatment from a valued person (Erskine, 1994; Evans, 1994). Similarly, Bowlby (1988) posits that shame is an adaptive, biological response when a child see’s their caretaker as unavailable or hurtful. Children attempt to rationalize their painful emotional experiences, but because they are driven to seek and maintain attachment bonds with caregiving figures, they often disavow anger toward such figures and surmise they are bad, unworthy, or incapable of love. This system of thinking and the associated psychopathology can maintain through adulthood (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991; Shaver & Mikulincer, 2007; Wei et al., 2011). While attachment-based symptoms like depression, anxiety, and anger are typically treated in the West from a medical model perspective, shame often endures and keeps clients stuck in insecure attachment styles. On the other hand, Eastern-based therapeutic treatments that incorporate mindfulness and self-compassion uniquely and effectively quell shame (Gilbert & Procter, 2006; Leary, Adams, & Tate, 2006; Luoma et al., 2012). As such, this report advances that these ancient methodologies may be better suited for adult clients with insecure attachment concerns.