Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Predictors Of Youth Empathy: Early Adolescents’ Perceptions Of Maternal And Paternal Support, Emily Elizabeth Stone

Doctoral Dissertations

The world in which children develop is becoming increasingly complex and includes exposure to individuals with variations in background and identity. The development of a peaceful global community will demand empathy (compassionate perspective taking and empathic concern for the position of another person). Data examined in this study came from the Ogden Youth and Family Project. A random sample of fifth- and eighth-grade classrooms in the Ogden City School District in 1994 and 1996 provided the data examined on empathy and perceived parental support. The final sample for this study was comprised of 286 cases. Perceived Mother Support and Father …

The Role Of Androgens In Life History Theories Of Attachment, Janani S. Sankar

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Life history theories (LHTs) of attachment address how attachments to caregivers in infancy/childhood and to romantic partners in adulthood are used to negotiate mating and reproductive choices. Greater insecure-avoidant attachment has been suggested to be associated with the adoption of a low-investment, short-term reproductive strategy. The role of sex hormones, including the androgen testosterone (T), in the development of attachment-related reproductive strategies has been speculated in some LHTs. This research tested an integrated-LHT model of early environment, attachment, and reproductive strategies in men, using structural equation modeling. Androgen-related effects were hypothesized to occur prenatally and/or in adulthood, consistent with various …

Psychological Determinants Of Emotional Eating: The Role Of Attachment, Psychopathological Symptom Distress, Love Attitudes And Perceived Hunger, Peta Stapleton, Eleanor Mackay

Peta B. Stapleton

The present study aimed to investigate the psychological determinants of emotional eating in a national and international sample of healthy weight, overweight and obese adults (N = 226). Specifically, attachment styles, psychopathological symptom distress and love attitudes were explored for their ability to predict emotional eating. Findings supported the suggestion symptom distress may particularly predispose individuals to engaging in emotionally motivated overeating, with a large effect size observed. Preoccupied attachment was also a significant predictor of emotion eating, even after controlling for state-based inferences. However, there were no significant contributions of secure, fearful-avoidant, or dismissiveavoidant attachment style in the prediction …

Should'a Put A Ring On It: Investigating Adult Attachment, Relationship Status, Anxiety, Mindfulness, And Resilience In Romantic Relationships, Aileen M. Pidgeon, Alexandra Giufre

Aileen M. Pidgeon

This study aimed to investigate the predictive ability of relationship status, anxiety, mindfulness, and resilience in relation to the two orthogonal dimensions of adult attachment: attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance. 156 participants completed measures assessing relationship status, adult attachment, anxiety, mindfulness and resilience. The results showed that resilience and the relationship status of single significantly predicted attachment anxiety, whereas anxiety and being either single or divorced significantly predicted attachment avoidance. A significant mediating role of resilience in the prediction of attachment anxiety from being single was also observed. The main implications of this study provided preliminary support for the significant …

Adult Attachment Styles And Psychopathic Traits: A Relationship Mediated By Empathy And Emotional Regulation?, Chelsea Heim

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Psychopathic personality traits encompass an array of characteristics that emerge early in life and are influenced by insecure attachments between children and their parents. Disruptions in parent-child interactions also affect the development of empathy (Panfile & Laible, 2010) and emotion regulation (Waters, S. F., Virmani, E. A., Thompson, R. A., Meyer, S., Raikes, H. A. & Jochem, R., 2010), which contributes to lasting impairments in interpersonal working models about the self and others (Mack, Hackney & Pile, 2010). The interactions between psychopathy and insecure attachment, low levels of empathy, and the ability to regulate one’s emotions have been separately investigated …

Perceiving Behaviors That "Push A Partner's Buttons": Biased And Accurate Trigger Knowledge, Attachment, And Relationship Dynamics, Sarah C. E. Stanton

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Two preregistered studies examined the interplay between directional bias and tracking accuracy in perceptions of relationship triggers, partner-enacted irksome or hurtful behaviors that elicit immediate negative emotions (e.g., clinginess). Study 1 identified 24 relationship triggers that the general public considered to be important for predicting relationship outcomes. Study 2 used recently developed statistical techniques to simultaneously test (a) whether partners were able to track the unique pattern of each other’s triggers and (b) if they overestimated or underestimated the extent to which a given behavior irked one another. Study 2 additionally explored attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance as potential moderating …

Brand Attachments And Social Feedback: The Moderating Effect Of Self-Concept Clarity, Lillianna Griggs

Honors Theses

Just as individuals can develop emotional attachments to other people, places and possessions, they can develop attachments to brands. In the current research, we investigated whether the trait, self-concept clarity (SCC), the extent to which the contents of one’s self concept are stable, consistent and recognizable to the individual, moderates the effect of social feedback on brand attachments. Participants were asked to indicate the brand they feel most attached to and then to indicate the extent of their brand attachment. They were then randomly assigned to receive positive or negative feedback about this brand and then re-report attachment to this …

The Relationship Of Prayer And Forgiveness To God Attachment, Romantic Attachment, And Relationship Satisfaction In Christian Married Adults: A Mediation Study, Joshua Michael Myers

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Research demonstrates that one's attachment to God accounts for unique variance in Relationship Satisfaction after accounting for the effects of Romantic Attachment. To date, only one study has sought to find a similar finding within a predominately married population. However, no study has attempted to partially explain this effect. This study seeks to answer the following research question: does Prayer and Forgiveness partially mediate the relationship between God Attachment and Relationship Satisfaction in a married population? It is hypothesized that Prayer and Forgiveness will partially mediate the relationship between God Attachment and Relationship Satisfaction in a married population. The study …

Effects Of Attachment Styles Of Foster And Adoptive Parents On The Relational Interactions Of Their Foster And Adoptive Children, Taylor Paige Mountjoy, Elyssa Noel Vanlandingham

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Children enter the Child Welfare System for a variety of complex reasons.

These reasons often point towards parents’ inability to provide appropriate

protection and safety for their children. After removal, many children are placed in

foster homes of relatives, non-related extended family members, group homes,

and county or private foster homes. A child who is removed from their original

home is likely to experience difficulties in the areas of attachment with caregivers

and other adults throughout their development.

This study examined the attachment styles of 37 foster and adoptive parents in

three separate private Foster Family Agencies in both San …

Alzheimer’S Disease, Spousal Caregiving Relationships, And Attachment, Mary Sherman

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia in older adults. Due to increased life expectancy and the lack of a current effective treatment or prevention for this disease, a growing number of older couples will face the transition to a caregiving relationship in which one partner has dementia. Studies have shown that spousal caregivers experience a greater strain than adult children in the caregiving role, and that spousal caregivers who are providing care for Alzheimer’s related dementia experience the greatest strain of any other caregiving group due to the nature of the Alzheimer’s disease process. Studies also suggest …

A Systematic Review Of The Effects Of Family Conflict: Focusing On Divorce, Infidelity, And Attachment Style, Jacob B. Borst

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

In this systematic review, I explored the topic of family conflict, focusing on the conflicts of infidelity and divorce, and how these conflicts affect attachment style. The literature review provided information showing that family conflicts may increase the likelihood of children committing at-risk behaviors, have negative impacts on attachment style, and may even influence the success of future relationships. Positive outcomes can also occur from family conflict such as leaving an abusive environment or gaining secure attachment figures such as a stable stepparent. A focused literature search found 25 articles and two books that provided information regarding the effects of …

Somatic Psychotherapy: Illuminating An Embodied Experience Of Self-Transformation Through Autoethnography, Ellie E. Jones

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

Somatic Psychotherapy is a contemporary embodied, experiential therapeutic modality that is difficult to understand by reading theory alone and without the benefit of direct personal experience. In this autoethnography, I aimed to illuminate the therapeutic change process in somatic psychotherapy from my perspective as a client. In reflecting on my experience as a client, I also strove to more deeply understand my own healing process to become a more effective and ethical somatic psychotherapist. The data consisted of my direct participation in four professional workshops related to somatic psychotherapy, as well as my personal experience as a continuous client of …

Understanding Westerners' Relationship With Public Lands And Federal Land Managers Through Attachment To Public Lands, Chris Sisneros

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The western United States contain large amounts of federal public lands, and those lands play an important role in both those states’ economies and the daily
lives of their residents. This study set out to understand how individuals interact with those public lands, how they become attached on a deeper level to those lands,
and whether or not that attachment has an effect on how they feel about the federal agencies that manage those lands. The term attachment to public lands is used to
describe how individuals can develop a bond towards public lands through both the recreational and economic …

Romantic Relationship Quality And Technological Communication: Examining The Roles Of Attachment Representations And Rejection Sensitivity, Ron C. Bean

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

It is important to understand normal developmental patterns in romantic relationships, which develop within historical and cultural contexts and are influenced by social and technological advancement. One of the core features of developing attachment in romantic relationships is proximity to the attachment figure, for which technology may be a substitute. This study described patterns of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in young adult relationships. We hypothesized that core relational and personality features were linked to participants’ interpretations of CMC.

For this study, 97 college students provided overall scores for rejection sensitivity, insecure attachment styles, relationship satisfaction, and data about CMC with their …

A Comparison Of Infant And Toddler Reactions To Strangers Who Have Similar Attributes To An Established Attachment Figure Vs. Strangers Who Have Different Attributes, Jessica Hamilton

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A child's early attachment experiences can have a lasting impact on later development. Early attachment relationships often result in greater Social and cognitive skills, as well as better school performance (Peisner et al., 1999). For these reasons, it is important to address those components that may contribute to secure attachments with care givers in the child care setting. The current study looked at the reactions of infants and toddlers when presented with two previously unknown individuals: one who physically resembled an established caregiver with whom they had already established attachment and one who looked different from this caregiver. The study …

The Relationships Between Television Viewing Behaviors, Attachment, Loneliness, Depression, And Psychological Well-Being, Katherine S. Wheeler

Honors College Theses

With the rise in streaming products such as Netflix and Hulu, there is a need to investigate the new trend of “binge-watching” television programs. Though this phenomenon has been pondered widely in the popular media sphere, little, if any, psychological research has investigated this phenomenon. The present study investigated college students’ television-viewing behaviors, including binge-watching television, television affinity, and television-viewing motivations, and assessed the relationships between these television-viewing behaviors and relationship attachment, loneliness, depression, and psychological well-being. Participants completed several measures, including the Experiences in Close Relationships: Revised (ECR-R), the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies …

Childhood Sexual Abuse And Identity Development: The Role Of Attachment And Self-Esteeem, Joel David Dukett

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to examine how childhood sexual abuse (CSA) influences identity development along with attachment and self-esteem. The participants included 208 first-year female undergraduate students from Illinois State University. Students were afforded the opportunity to receive extra credit for their participation and could enter into a random prize drawing. Participants completed a demographics questionnaire, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, The Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire, Dimensions of Identity Development Scale, and the Hot Topics Questionnaire which assesses history of CSA. Of the participants, 145 (69.7%) were in the non-abuse group and 63 (30.3%) were in the abuse group. …

"I Shall Not Fear:" Secure Attachment To G-D As A Buffer Against Anxiety, Peryl Agishtein

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Religion has a long and mixed history in the field of psychology. Historically, some leading figures in the field viewed religion as a source of neuroses and poor mental health; others saw a more positive spiritual resource. Recently, empirical data on religion and mental health has proliferated. There is now consensus that religion is associated with lower depression. However, the link between religion and anxiety is less clear-cut. This paper proposes that a) religion can have exacerbating or alleviating effects on anxiety depending on which aspect of religion is being studied and b) the primary religious variable that affects anxiety …

Exploring The Lived-Experience Of Limerence: A Journey Toward Authenticity, Lynn Willmott, Evie Bentley

The Qualitative Report

Limerence is an acute onset, unexpected, obsessive attachment to one person, the Limerent Object, which is rarely reported in scientific literature. Presented here is an interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore the livedexperience of six international Limerent respondents. The condition's unique and common journey is conceptualised in a Limerence Trajectory, which is characterized by generally sequential yet overlapping super-ordinate themes. The themes primarily regard experiences of ruminative thinking, free floating anxiety and depression temporarily fixated and the disintegration of the self. These themes are further linked to an inclination to reintegrate unresolved past life(s) experiences and to progress to a state …

Differential Parenting And Parents' Perceptions Of Their Children: Can Attachment Help Explain This Relationship?, Meagan Mcswiggan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research has suggested that the differential experiences of children in the same family were often greater than those of children across different families. Although studies identified potential moderators (e.g., age, gender) associated with differential parenting, there has been less investigation of mediators. The current study examined attachment as a mediator in the relationship between differential parenting and parents' perceptions of their children. As part of this study, 132 culturally diverse mothers with children who ranged in age from 2- to 10-years rated how differently they treat their own children, their children's attachment, their parenting characteristics, and their children's functioning (i.e., …

Mother-Infant Relationships In The Nicu: A Multiple Case Study Approach, Ilona Helin

Dissertations

Parent-child relationships consist of both external and internal components. The external component is the behavioral interaction between mother and child, while the internal components are expectations each member of the dyad has for the both the relationship and of the other partner. These expectations are called internal working models (IWMs) and are blueprints that have been developed from an individual’s childhood experience of sensitive or insensitive parenting. A mother’s IWMs influence how she perceives her child, her relationship with her child and herself as a mother, the sensitivity of her caregiving, and ultimately her child’s IWM of him or her …

Stress Exposure, Secure Base Scriptedness, Psychosocial Needs Satisfaction And Behavioral Problems Among At-Risk Urban Adolescents, Kelsey Sala-Hamrick

Wayne State University Theses

The adolescent period of development is associated with increases in internalizing, externalizing, and other problem behaviors which are thought to be exacerbated by cumulative risk factors associated with environmental disadvantage. Previous research has demonstrated the associations between both secure attachment and psychosocial needs satisfaction with decreases in behavior problems; however, few studies have examined the relative effects of environmental stress exposure, attachment security and psychosocial needs satisfaction on adolescent behavioral problems. Therefore, this study recruited 106 environmentally at-risk, socioeconomically disadvantaged sample of urban adolescents and their caregivers from Detroit, MI in order to: (1) describe the levels of environmental disadvantage …

Adult Attachment And Relationship Satisfaction Among Men Who Experienced Childhood Abuse, Selisha Nelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Experiences of childhood physical and sexual abuse among men have not been sufficiently studied because many men are not forthcoming about experiences of abuse. This abuse is linked to aggressive behaviors, difficulty developing and maintaining close relationships, and various psychological disorders. Current research has not fully examined relationships between childhood abuse, adult attachment, and levels of relationship satisfaction among men. The purpose of this nonexperimental quantitative study was to evaluate the relationship between adult attachment as measured by the Relationship Scales Questionnaire and relationship satisfaction as measured by the Couples Satisfaction Index among men abused during childhood. Bowlby's theory of …

Lost Or Fond? Effects Of Nostalgia On Sad Mood Recovery Vary By Attachment Insecurity, Sarah R. Cavanagh, Ryan J. Glode, Philipp C. Opitz

Psychology Department Faculty Works

Nostalgia involves a fond recollection of people and events lost to time. Growing evidence indicates that nostalgia may ameliorate negative affective states such as loneliness and boredom. However, the effect of nostalgia on sadness is unknown, and there is little research on how social connectedness might impact nostalgia's effects. Grounded in a theoretical framework whereby people with lower levels of attachment insecurity benefit more from nostalgia, we exposed participants to a mortality-related sad mood and then randomly assigned them to reflect on a nostalgic or an ordinary event memory. We examined changes in mood and electrodermal activity (EDA) and found …

Attachment, Anxiety, And Depression: A Study Of Women In Residential Treatment With Their Children At The Susan B. Anthony Recovery Center (Sbarc) (1995-2010), Gary Miles Forrest

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

The Susan B. Anthony Recovery Center (SBARC) in Pembroke Pines, Florida is a residential center where women live with their children while receiving treatment for a variety of co-occurring substance abuse and mental health issues and while participating in mandatory parenting classes. Unlike most women's residential treatment centers, which address only the woman and her problems, SBARC treats the mother-infant/child dyad. I designed and created a database to examine the data previously available only in the paper client records of over 800 women who received treatment at SBARC from 1995 through 2010 in a previous project. This nonexperimental, retrospective explanatory …

Secure Base Scriptedness, Psychological Health And Wellbeing In Urban Youth, Patricia Richardson

Wayne State University Theses

This study examined the empirical utility of the Attachment Script Assessment (ASA), a novel indicator of adolescent secure base script knowledge, with socioeconomically disadvantaged, African-American youth. It was hypothesized that secure base knowledge would buffer the effect of trauma exposure on youth emotional and behavioral problems. The sample included 83 adolescent (ages 13-18) caregiver dyads that participated in a larger study examining adolescent health behaviors. Results revealed preliminary empirical support for the utility of the ASA with this sample, as evidenced by expected inverse correlations with another well-established measure of attachment. Results indicated that there was not sufficient evidence to …

An Attachment Style Based Experimental Design To Maximize Dog Adoption Success, Claire Weinman

Senior Projects Fall 2015

Evolution and domestication have brought dogs very close to humans. Research has found numerous behavioral, cognitive, neurological, and physiological similarities between the two species. Additional research has found that humans and dogs can share cross-species attachments that are comparable to mother-infant attachments. Furthermore, attachment styles in dogs are classified the same way they are in children. The statistics on the vast amount of dogs in animal shelters, too many of which are being senselessly killed, are shocking. I propose a two-part study that first assesses which attachment style pairings are most successful and which are unsuccessful based on measurements of …

Patterns And Predictors Of Stability And Change In Representations Of Romantic Relationships In Adolescence And Young Adulthood, Claire Stephenson Flansburg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research on the stability of attachment representations across the lifespan has led to two alternative perspectives: the prototype and revisionist perspectives (Fraley, 2002). The prototype perspective posits that there is a stable factor underlying fluctuations in representations and the revisionist perspective argues that there is no inherently stable factor. The current study employed a latent trait-state model to investigate these alternative models of stability and change in representations of romantic relationships in adolescence and young adulthood. The study also sought to identify individual characteristics and relationship experiences that are associated with changes in representations. In a sample of 200 participants, …

Comic Book Fandom: An Exploratory Study Into The World Of Comic Book Fan Social Identity Through Parasocial Theory, Anthony Robert Ramirez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Comic books and their extensive lineup of characters have invaded all types of media forms, making comics a global media phenomenon that are having a wider profile in media and popular culture. The community of comic book fans has grown as well. The purpose of this study is to investigate how these fans identify with their favorite comic book character(s) through the application of parasocial theory, in order to discover if and how various identification levels lead to the fan's level of fandom or attachment. Various fans of comic books are interviewed, in order to investigate attachment levels and level …

Relationships That Appear To Contribute To The Development Of An Earned- Secure Attachment, Abby E. Feinberg

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study was undertaken to explore what relationships appear to contribute to the development of an earned- secure attachment with a specific focus on the type and quality of the relationship. Well over 1,000 people received the study through social media requesting participation in a SurveyMonkey survey consisting of 3 screening questions, 14 demographic questions, 6 multiple choice questions, and 4 open ended questions. The screening and demographic questions allowed the 1,035 participants to be categorized by attachment style. The survey items assessed most important current relationship type and quality. The findings of this research corroborated with previous studies that …