Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Associations Between Maternal Technology Use, Perceptions Of Infant Temperament, And Indicators Of Mother-To-Infant Attachment Quality, Shawnee Alvarez Guitierrez, Alison K. Ventura

Kinesiology and Public Health

Background: Previous research suggests parents' use of technological devices, such as TV and mobile devices, within family contexts may decrease the quality of parent-child interactions. During early infancy, mothers report engaging with technological devices during infant feeding and care interactions, however, few studies have explored potential associations between maternal technology use and the quality of mother-to-infant attachment.

Aim: To examine associations between maternal technology use during mother-infant interactions and indicators of mother-to-infant attachment during early infancy.

Study design: Cross-sectional survey.

Methods: Mothers (n = 332) of infants aged 2 to 6 months were recruited via MTurk, a crowdsourcing platform, …

Attachment Security And Psychological Health In Adult Child Caregivers And Their Parents With Alzheimer’S Disease And Related Dementias, Wei Aiko Chang

Public Health Theses

Objective: Attachment theory is a helpful framework for examining one of the most fundamental needs in parent-child dyads across the lifespan and how attachment security might protect both dyad members’ psychological health, especially in times of crisis. In this study of adult child caregivers and their parents with early stage Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD), we examined the associations between both dyad members’ attachment security, the adult child’s depressive symptoms, and quality of life of the parent with ADRD.

Method: Thirty-four individuals (parents) with ADRD and their 34 adult-child caregivers each completed the 12-item Experiences in Close Relationship Scale …

Older Adult Men’S Emotional Bonds With Their Dogs, Ranell L. Mueller

Theses and Dissertations--Gerontology

Knowledge of the deeper meanings of attachment to companion animals is limited, particularly in terms of older adults. This study employed a modified grounded theory method, a phenomenological lens and a life course perspective to gather and analyze data garnered from individual interviews and panel discussions in order to investigate the multiple dimensions of older adult men’s relationships with their companion animal dogs. Individual audio-recorded in-depth interviews and repeated panel discussions with a sub-group of the participants, convened as a panel over a three-month period, explored behavioral and emotional manifestations of attachment and the emotional bond to their companion animal …

Associations Of Hiv Risk Behaviors Among Older Latinas And Their Adult Daughters, Gira J. Ravelo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the associations between adult Latina daughters’ HIV risk behaviors and that of their older Latina mothers’ HIV risk behaviors. The central hypothesis of the study is that adult Latina daughters’ influence their older mothers’ behaviors and that such behaviors interact with the level of their attachment.

Older Latinas are a vulnerable population that face cultural risk factors, health care provider bias, and engage in low rates of HIV testing. The primary mode of HIV infection for Latinas is through heterosexual contact. Yet, traditional gender norms such as marianismo belief place pressure on Latina women to be submissive …

Women’S Sexual Fantasies In Context: The Emotional Content Of Sexual Fantasies, Psychological And Interpersonal Distress, And Satisfaction In Romantic Relationships, Sarah Constantine

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background: Psychoanalytic thinkers propose that aspects of an individual’s sexual fantasies are related to her psychological and interpersonal functioning. The present study aims to elucidate the significance of sexual fantasies with respect to women’s emotional and interpersonal lives. The study evaluated a model, which hypothesized that internal representations of self and others (e.g. attachment security, maturity of object relations) along with psychological and interpersonal factors would predict both the emotional content (guilt, fear, affection) of written sexual fantasy narratives, and overall romantic satisfaction in heterosexual women. Methods: Five hundred and thirty four women completed self-report questionnaires online. Subsequently, the sexual …

Attachment As Affirmation To Inhibit Health Risk Information Avoidance, Elizabeth C. Mccrary

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Previous research on information avoidance has revealed that people choose to avoid negative health information, but that this effect is interrupted by self-affirmation (Howell & Shepperd, 2013). The current study aimed to contribute to the field’s understanding of the conditions under which self-affirmation reduces information avoidance by using a unique affirmation: secure attachment figures. I hypothesized that activating a secure attachment would serve as the affirmation necessary for participants to choose to view their risk information for a fictitious enzyme deficiency. However, when given a choice, participants in both the experimental and control conditions chose to view this information. At …

The Secret Ingredient For Improving Infant/Child Mental Health: Teaching Parents To Play, Geraldine Healy Marini

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Projects

Disorders in mental health are the highest of all disorders and results in the most common form of disability. Since 2011, mental health disorders have increased at alarming rates. It is estimated that 9.5 to 14.2% of children between the ages of 0 to 5 years have and emotional or behavioral problem. The mental health of parents or caregivers can affect and impact the development of young children (Nelson & Mann, 2011, Zero to Three, 2004).

The over arching goal of this research is to explore issues of mental health within parent-child interactions. Coaching parents during the co-occupation of play …