Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Attachment (Avoidance And Anxiety) In Relation To Marital Satisfaction In Couples Born Between 1980 And 2000, Shevanthi Kanaganayagam

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative correlational study examined the relationship between attachment styles (Anxiety, Avoidance) correlated to marital satisfaction in heterosexual couples living in the U.S., born between 1980-2000, and the moderating role of social media use. Attachment styles develop during the infant stage through interactions with adult caregivers. It is apparent from research results that early attachment styles affect how a person interacts, impacting satisfaction in adult romantic relationships (Sandberg et al., 2015). The emergence of social media platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, has given people new ways to communicate with each other, build networks, and share information. According to research, …

Moderated Mediated Model Of Religiosity, God Image, And Self Compassion, Amanda Strivings

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Religious engagement can be a protective factor as well as contribute to negative mental health outcomes in religious populations. Early experiences in the parent-child relationship influence how individuals view God, which influences how they emotionally experience and engage with religion. Previous research has explored the relationships between religiosity, view of God, and self-compassion. This study explored the influence of three separate views of God on the cross-generational maintenance of religiosity and as sociocultural factors that influence self-compassion within the context of religiosity. Results supported several direct and indirect relationships. The analysis included one simple mediation model to explore the mediating …

Providing Incarcerated Youth With A Community Of Their Peers, Providing Resources, And Modeling Healthy Attachment May Lead To Prosocial Behaviors, Emilee Brnusak

University Honors Theses

This thesis examines the connection between gang activity and attachment style. A summary of literature suggests that childhood attachment injuries lead to antisocial, maladaptive relationships and neurological changes that impact executive functioning and emotional regulation. These factors leave youth at higher risk of gang membership. This thesis then explores how an outreach experience at the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility inspired a large-scale intervention called Resources for Attachment-injured Youth (RAY) that could be implemented in youth prisons across the country.

Moral Disengagement And Psychopathy: A Quantitative Correlational Study On Attachment To God And Empathy, Kimberly Essler

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Moral disengagement and lack of empathy are rising concerns in the United States. Those who are morally disengaged or display limited empathy are often associated with anti-social personality disorder or psychopathy. Studies consistently show trauma and early childhood attachment are predictors for the development of behaviors associated with psychopathy. Current literature has demonstrated semi-effective therapeutic treatment and pharmacotherapy for comorbid disorders and symptoms such as anxiety. However, research fails to adequately address the prevention and treatment of lack of empathy – a major factor in the perilous behaviors of psychopathy. Psychopathy includes structural and functional brain abnormalities in the cortical …

The Effects Of Attachment Insecurity And Cognitive Flexibility On Mentalization In Psychotherapists, Michael Scharf

Selected Full-Text Dissertations 2020-

The wounded healer concept suggests that one's therapeutic ability is rooted in one's own experiences of pain and suffering. The present study used this concept as a theoretical framework from which to explore issues related to therapist insecure attachment and therapist skill. It examined the role of therapist cognitive flexibility in the relationship between therapist attachment insecurity and therapist mentalization capacity. Participants were 158 therapists from different clinical fields of study and varying levels of clinical experience who completed an online protocol. Results indicated that avoidant attachment negatively predicted mentalization capacity, validating in a therapist sample what previous studies have …

Bird’S Nest Drawing: Exploring The Attachment Of Left-Behind Children In China, Ziyi Su

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

To explore the attachment of left-behind children (LBC), this mixed-methods study analyzed the Bird’s Nest Drawings (BND) and narratives from 117 fourth graders from Shaanxi and Gansu, China. Overall, the BND of LBC showed less secure-attachment features. These distinctions can be seen in several pictorial elements, and manifest differently across gender groups and rural versus urban groups. Drawings and narratives revealed eight underlying themes of absence, longing, and support from parent and peer attachment. Children creatively communicated complex emotions and attachment experiences through the metaphor of the bird’s nest, ranging from abandonment, loneliness, and vulnerability, to coping, hope, and resilience. …

The Impact Of Human Attachment To A Pet Bird On Psychological Well-Being, Kathryn Marie Trautann

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Few studies have addressed human attachment to a pet bird and psychological well-being, and the research that has been conducted is largely anecdotal and anthropomorphic perspectives on human relationships with birds. In this quantitative study, the relationships between humans and their birds were explored using Bowlby's attachment theory and Fredrickson and Losada's broaden and build theory. The study consisted of a randomized experiment, in which individuals were randomly assigned to either an attachment (n = 81) or detachment (n = 88) group. The security priming manipulation was used to prime the groups. The attachment group was asked to list things …

The Relationships Among Number Of Service Member Deployments And Spousal Depression And Parental Attachment, Julia A. Priftis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research examined the relationship between the number of deployments and depression in military spouses, focusing on the correlations among service members' deployments, spousal mental health, and parenting attachment. A quantitative correlational study was conducted using 78 participants, of whom only 19 were veterans and 59 were spouses with no military background. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Protective Factors Survey (PFS) were used. It was found that military deployments do not negatively associate with parental attachment and spousal depression. It was found that military spouses who experience multiple deployments have less chance of experiencing depression and that deployment …

The Long-Term Effects Of Child Abuse And Neglect On Communication And Conflict Management Within The Military Marriage, Gennifer L. Van Pelt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study utilized a qualitative, phenomenological approach to examine the lived experiences of five active-duty military-affiliated couples within which at least one partner reported a history of moderate to severe childhood maltreatment. The goal was to identify thematic constructs that revealed themselves over the course of five interviews conducted with both individuals as well as with the couple in tandem that identify long-term effects of childhood maltreatment on relational functioning with a specific focus on communication and conflict management within the relationship. Interview data combined with the completion of an attachment questionnaire identified three primary themes and one subtheme including …

Behavioral Indicators Of Reflective Functioning In Mother-Child Dyadic Interactions, Rachel Clingensmith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Positive parenting practices and secure attachments are consistently linked to healthy child outcomes (Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991; Waters et al., 2000). Research on cognitive processes that scaffold parental behaviors which contribute to secure attachment is an essential contribution to the literature, particularly given the potential for early intervention with at-risk families. Parental Reflective Functioning (PRF) is a construct of increasing interest which has been linked to secure attachments and positive child outcomes, with one commonly used self-report measure of PRF being the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ; Camoirano, 2017; Clingensmith, 2021; Luyten et al., 2017). As such, the purpose of …

Helping Your Child Manage Anxiety: A Parent Education Workshop, Clarissa Aglaén Gallardo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Anxiety has become one of the most common mental health disorders in young children, and it has been shown to have a significant impact on their development. Anxiety can make a child more susceptible to a number of negative effects, including a weakened immune system, developing “negative” habits such as nail biting, increased proneness to anger or crying, as well as difficulties in learning and retaining information. Conversely, when parents/caregivers can prevent or decrease anxiety in their children, children can better regulate their emotions, have more successful relationships, take more risks, and cope better with challenges. The purpose of this …

Development And Validation Of The Employee-Supervisor Attachment Scale, Johnny Doherty

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Attachment theory and its connection to the workplace, as well as leader-member exchange (LMX) research, is reviewed before discussing strategies used for developing and validating the Employee-Supervisor Attachment (E-SA) scale. Analyses focused on an internal and external validation strategy. Study 1 consisted of item revisions from the Experiences in Close Relationships-Short scale (ECR-S) and SME ratings to develop the E-SA scale as well as a preliminary Exploratory Factorial Analysis to verify factor structure. Likewise, Study 2 tested the retained items to confirm factor structure, within a new sample, before assessing regressions between E-SA and relevant outcome variables. Furthermore, this project …

Sports, Family, And Leadership In Youth: Impacts Of Family Environments And Sport Participation On Youth Leadership Development, Michael Stout

Theses and Graduate Projects

This study investigated the effects of family relationships/environment and sport participation on youth leadership development using the 2016 Minnesota Student Survey (MSS) questionnaire. Responses from 9^th and 11^th graders were used, resulting in 81,885 total participants between the ages of 13 and 19 for this archival, cross-sectional study. This study had two aims: One, to investigate the relationship between family relationships/environment and sport participation, and their impact on youth leadership skills and development; and two, to investigate whether participation in youth sports provides enough scaffolding to foster the development of youth leadership skills despite poor family relationships/environments. Scales …

Facilitating Attachment Through Therapeutic Rapport And Expressive Arts Therapy With Children Experiencing Complex Trauma: A Literature Review, Johanna Voeller

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The aim of this capstone is to review the connection between therapeutic alliance and attachment with traumatized children supported by expressive arts in therapy and to the impact on therapeutic outcome. Within the therapeutic encounter is a potent opportunity to develop healthy attachment patterns that bridge into the client’s other relationships in their life. Complex trauma affects children physically and psychologically leaving lifelong consequences of interpersonal challenges. The impetus for study of this topic was curiosity centered on the impact of the therapeutic alliance as it relates to attachment, and therapeutic outcomes. Throughout the course of this literature review, the …

The Bonds Of Play: A Case Study Of Attachments In A Parent-Toddler Play Group For Latin American Immigrant Families In New York City, Adriana Bass

Child Development Theses

A child’s relationship to their caregivers is one of the most influential factors in their lifelong development. Early caregiving patterns form scripts that shape how a child understands and interacts with the world around them. These early attachment patterns inform parenting behaviors across generations, as individuals often parent their offspring in ways shaped by their own early experiences. Central to forming parent-child relationships is the concept of play. Play has value in supporting parent-child attachments as well as revealing existing relational patterns and caregiving behaviors. The current study examines the attachment relationships of families in a parent-toddler play group in …

Differences In Resilience And Mental Health Symptoms Among Us First Responders With Secure And Insecure Attachment, Donna Schuman, James Whitworth, Jeanine Galusha, Jose Carbajal, Warren Ponder, Kathryn Shahan, Katelyn Jetelina

Faculty Publications

Objective: This observational study aimed to determine whether attachment style predicted first responders' mental health and resilience. Method: Data were from a treatment-seeking sample of first responders (N = 237). Each participant completed six assessments measuring attachment, resilience, generalized anxiety, depression, suicidality, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Results: On the attachment assessment, 25.3%were categorized as secure, 19.0%as dismissive, 25.3% as preoccupied, and 30.4% as fearfully attached. As predicted, securely attached participants had the lowest scores for generalized anxiety, depression, suicidality, and posttraumatic stress disorder and the highest scores on the resiliency measure, followed by dismissive, preoccupied, and fearfully …

Employee Perceptions Of Stressors At Work: An Attachment Perspective, Emma Josephine Naudet

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The current study applied an attachment perspective to elucidate how individuals appraise stressors at work. Attachment theory proposes that individuals’ interactions with a caregiver shape their expectations and beliefs about the world, themselves, and others and predict how individuals behave. Attachment at work is a budding research topic because it informs the social aspect of work relationships, such as the leader-subordinate dyad. However, few studies have explored the potential of attachment security as a job resource. Our findings demonstrated strong support for our predictions about the relationship between transformational leadership, employee perceptions of demands and resources, and the potential explanatory …

The Effects Of Intimacy And Parental Bonding On The Psychological Well-Being Of University Aged Women, Samantha G. Delmage

Brescia Psychology Undergraduate Honours Theses

This study investigated whether students who had high perceived parental bonding and low fear of intimacy would have a more positive level of psychological well-being. Additionally, the study sought to determine any differences between a single parent household and a two parent household. The sample consisted of 93 female undergraduate students in University in London, Ontario. An independent t-test revealed there was no significant differences in bonding between a single parent household and a two parent household. A multiple regression analysis revealed that perceived parental bonding and fear of intimacy were significant predictors of psychological well-being. A significant positive correlation …

Predictors Of Suicide And Differences In Attachment Styles And Resilience Among Treatment-Seeking First Responder Subtypes, Warren Ponder, Jose Carbajal, James Whitworth, Donna Schuman, Jeanine Galusha, R Andrew Yockey

Faculty Publications

Objective: To identify the predictors of suicide for firefighters (FFs), emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and law enforcement officers (LEOs). Methods: We used baseline data from FFs/EMTs (n = 69) and LEOs (n = 81) to investigate the unique predictors for both first-responder subtypes. We conducted confirmatory factor analysis on validated assessments of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.Measures of attachment, resilience, PTSD, depression, generalized anxiety, trauma history, and substance use were the independent variables in two backward stepwise regressions predicting suicide. Results: Substance use and somatic depression were significant predictors for LEOs, whereas affective depression, anhedonia, externalizing …

The Effects Of Secure, Ambivalent, And Avoidant Attachment Styles On Number Of Codependent Behaviors And Relationship Satisfaction, Brittany Nicole Collins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Attachment is an important area of study within psychology as individuals learn how to attach and connect with others from childhood into adulthood. An individual’s attachment to parents and caregivers can impact how the individual is able to attach, connect, and trust others in relationships with friends and romantic partners. These attachment styles can impact an individual’s ability to connect and trust in romantic relationships. Examining secure, ambivalent, and avoidant styles; codependent behaviors; and relationship satisfaction is important as codependency continues to be a growing concern, causing unhealthy relationship patterns to develop. Fifty adult participants were recruited from Facebook groups …

Integrating Dynamic And Cognitive Perspectives On Postpartum Depression In Mothers During The First Year After Birth, Sarah Altee Kalmenson Pinson

Selected Full-Text Dissertations 2020-

Postpartum Depression (PPD) is the most common complication of childbirth, impacting the development of children as well as the wellbeing of mothers and families. Several psychological factors have been found to be associated with PPD, including insecure attachment, self-criticism, dependency, and distorted beliefs about motherhood. However, attachment research has yielded conflicting findings regarding which attachment style is most associated with PPD. Additionally, dependency has been found to be either a protective or a risk factor for PPD in the perinatal population. Further, the cognitive research has not examined factors impacting distorted beliefs about motherhood. Finally, self-criticism, dependency, and distorted beliefs …

Attachment And Its Prediction Of Emotional-Social Intelligence (Esi) Of African American Females During Mid-To-Late Adolescence, Lauren N. Callahan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Attachment and emotional-social intelligence (ESI) have been an area of study among scholars since attachment has been shown to impact important areas of psychosocial development. This study involved exploring attachment or the adolescent bonding experience, and its prediction of ESI of African American females during mid-to-late adolescence. Researchers have demonstrated there are ethnic differences in terms of attachment and ESI but have not established predictive relationships among African Americans. The purpose of this study was to examine attachment and its prediction of ESI of African American females between 15 and 18. Using a quantitative design, the Adolescent Attachment Questionnaire and …

The Makings Of Creativity And Empathy: Maps Of Maternal Representations, Anielle M. Fredman

Dissertations and Theses

ABSTRACT

The Makings of Creativity and Empathy: Maps of Maternal Representations

by

Anielle M. Fredman

Advisor: Sasha Rudenstine, Ph.D.

The present study investigates the relationship between maternal fantasy of the child and their relationship, and children’s unconscious processes. In addition, the study aims to ascertain the link between maternal representations and aspects of the child’s intrapsychic world, including ego functioning, object relations, and processes of separation-individuation.

Maternal fantasy was measured in an original way with a tripartite typology of Positive, Mixed-Complex, and Contradictory Representations, applied to the Parent Development Interview-Revised Short (Slade et al., 2004), adapted from the Working Model …

Origins Of Fear Of Intimacy: The Effects Of Parental Involvement And Attachment Style, Victoria M. Perez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The present study explores the origins of fear of intimacy, specifically assessing parental involvement and attachment style. Correlations between each variable were analyzed and a mediation model was explored as well. Participants in this study (N = 372; mean age = 25.78; 86% female) completed scales to measure parental care, parental overprotection, attachment avoidance, attachment anxiety, and fear of intimacy. Data was analyzed to reveal correlational results that support the hypotheses. Negative correlations were found between parental care and attachment avoidance, attachment anxiety, and fear of intimacy. Parental overprotection was positively correlated with attachment avoidance, attachment anxiety, and fear of …

The Strong Families Program: Utility Of Telehealth Parenting Skills Psychoeducation, Grace C. Prosperi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Externalizing behaviors in children are a common problem experienced by many parents. If untreated, externalizing behaviors are associated with more serious consequences (Hann, 2012). Parents of children with behavior issues also report higher levels of stress (Dumas et al., 2009). Parenting stress is related to lower life satisfaction for parents and increased negative outcomes for children living in the home. Parent training programs, incorporating attachment building and discipline strategies, combat childhood externalizing behaviors in clinical settings. While reducing childhood externalizing behaviors is the main aim of parent training, there are other benefits to gaining parenting skills such as increased familial …

Attachment And Its Prediction Of Emotional-Social Intelligence (Esi) Of African American Females During Mid-To-Late Adolescence, Lauren N. Callahan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Attachment and emotional-social intelligence (ESI) have been an area of study among scholars since attachment has been shown to impact important areas of psychosocial development. This study involved exploring attachment or the adolescent bonding experience, and its prediction of ESI of African American females during mid-to-late adolescence. Researchers have demonstrated there are ethnic differences in terms of attachment and ESI but have not established predictive relationships among African Americans. The purpose of this study was to examine attachment and its prediction of ESI of African American females between 15 and 18. Using a quantitative design, the Adolescent Attachment Questionnaire and …

Clinician Perceptions Of Female Sex Offender Treatment In Modern Society, Taylor J. Bryant

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Clinicians are starting to see a higher population of female sex offenders enrolled in their treatment facilities. Current research indicates that both society and clinical professionals struggle with viewing women as sex offenders due to gender stereotypes and minimization of sex crimes committed by women. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine clinician perceptions of female sex offender treatment and how these perceptions may impact clinician engagement. The theoretical frameworks utilized in this study were the attachment theory and psychoanalytical theory. Data included clinician experiences with treating female sex offenders, exposure to professional trainings on this population, and …

Black Marriage, Attachment And Connecting In Relationships: An Observational Multi-Method Study Investigating The Effects Of The Getting The Love You Want Workshop On Black Couples’ In-Session Attachment, Interactions, Marital Satisfaction And Communication, Paula Smith

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The focus of this dissertation is examining the impact of Imago Relationship Therapy (IRT), more specifically the “Getting the Love You Want” workshop (GTLYW), on five Black/African American couples’ attachment, interactions, marital satisfaction and communication. This study examines Black couples’ lived experiences through a modified version of a quantitative measure, called the Patient Attachment Client System (PACS), the Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire-Revised (MSQ-R), semi-structured questionnaires to measure qualitative data as well as direct observation of participants’ interactions. PACS analyzes how patients’ in-session discourse enables them to share present experiences and link these processes with their attachment structure. In this view, attachment …

An Exploration Of The Relation Between Psychological Functioning And Reactions To Global Climate Change For Late Adolescents In New York City, Emma Routhier

Dissertations and Theses

Climate change poses a potentially unique generational crisis, as it threatens the viability of the very world that the current adolescent generation stands to inherit. While some studies have begun to appreciate the specific experience of adolescents as it pertains to climate change, they attend to young people’s behavior or self-reported feelings. The present study aims to employ psychoanalytic constructs, with attention to the unconscious determinants of psychic life and behavior, in an empirical examination of this topic, and to introduce a level of sensitivity to the vicissitudes of the adolescent period that have not previously been addressed in the …

A Systematic Review On The Relationship Between Attachment Styles And Chronic Pain, Samantha M. Cohen

Theses and Dissertations

Chronic pain (CP), a leading cause of disability, is associated with addiction, physical and psychosocial impairment and tremendous financial burden. Childhood experiences contribute to the genesis of different attachment styles. Attachment theory offers a useful framework for the conceptualization of CP, with different attachment styles impacting the experience and clinical manifestations of CP. This systematic review aims to evaluate the relationship between attachment styles and CP, to investigate which attachment styles pose the greatest risk for CP, to examine how CP is expressed in the context of different attachment styles, and to gain insight regarding the treatment approach to CP. …