Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Mattering And Attachment: A Bilateral Association That Underlies Relationship Outcomes In Couples, Jacob Ybarra

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

In this master's thesis, I conducted a quantitative study using data from 100 heterosexual couples in a committed, romantic relationship to better understand the relationship between perceived mattering (PM) and attachment and to explore how mattering relates to various mental health and relationship outcomes. All 200 partners independently completed an online anonymous questionnaire consisting of various quantitative assessments measuring my study variables (e.g., attachment, PM, and relationship and mental health outcomes).

I used dyadic data analysis to examine how study variables related to an individual's outcomes as well as their partner's. Overall, findings from the first analysis highlighted that men …

The Knowledge And Utilization Of Trauma-Informed Care By Educational And Mental Health Professionals Who Serve Children In A Texas City, Mashelle Ancell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to understand the knowledge and utilization of trauma-informed care by professionals serving children within schools, social service agencies, or child therapy in a middle-sized Texas city. Previous studies acknowledged the prevalence of trauma and the need for systemic trauma-informed care in communities. The theoretical framework used to guide this study was attachment theory due to the emphasis on securely attached relationships, which is consistent with trauma-informed care. Data collection methods included an online open-ended questionnaire and semistructured personal interviews. Data analysis was completed using reflexive thematic analysis to develop themes from participant …

Securely Ever After: Attachment,Trust, And Commitment In Married Adult Adoptees, Jill P. Burgon

Theses and Dissertations

Past research suggests that adoptees face a higher risk of insecure attachment and encounter more challenges related to trust and commitment in their romantic relationships compared to nonadopted individuals. This study examines the association between adoption status and marital security among newly married couples, with a focus on the potential moderating role of gender. Using data from a representative sample of newly married couples in the United States (n = 2,110), the relationship between adoption status and multiple measures of marital security were measured using OLS regression. Findings indicate that, during the early stages of marriage, adult adoptees exhibited comparable …

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 …

"Our Loons": Participant Attachments And Motivations Within A Community-Based Monitoring Program, Taylor Tewksbury

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Organizations can benefit from understanding person-place relationships and volunteer motivations as they recruit and sustain involvement in their community-based monitoring (CBM) programs. Place attachment, or the bond between people and their meaningful environments, is one lens through which to explore these relationships. Past studies have associated place attachment with environmentally responsible behaviors (ERB), such as CBM involvement. However, few studies have explored the relationship between place attachment and CBM in the context of volunteers’ attachment to the species of study.

The purpose of this research study was to explore the place-based relationships and motivations among volunteers of the Loon Preservation …

Exploring The Definition Of Resilience: A Convergent Parallel Mixed Methods Study In Adults Over The Age Of 65, Sara J. Blessington

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The definition of a word helps us understand its context and how it is meant to be used in daily life or research. When a word lacks a universal definition, it is hard to know how to use it. “Resilience” is that type of word. The resilience community in psychological research does not have a concrete, universal definition for this word. It takes on whatever characteristics are useful to the investigator. This study began with seeking a universal definition for the domain known as resilience. This study used a convergent parallel design with adults aged 60 and older living independently …

"This Whole Journey Was Sacred": Latter-Day Saint Parents' Process In Coming To Accept A Transgender Child, Julia Campbell Bernards

Theses and Dissertations

This grounded theory methodology (GTM) study examines the process of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in coming to accept a transgender or gender diverse (TGD) child. Data comes from interviews with 38 Latter-day Saint parents of TGD children and 130 Facebook posts from the same population. Data was analyzed using GTM in coding and theory construction. A model of Latter-day Saint parents' process in accepting a TGD child and the factors that impact that process is presented. The results indicate that coming to accept a TGD child tends to engage Latter-day Saint parents cognitively, emotionally, …

What Makes A Good Relationship? Examining The Role Of Psychological Needs On Relationship Satisfaction Moderated By Attachment, Kristin Rutland

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Objective: The current study examined the relative importance of psychological needs as predictors of relationship satisfaction and how differences across dimensions of adult attachment moderate these relationships. Through the examination of psychological needs, relationship satisfaction, and attachment questionnaires, it was predicted that psychological needs predict relationship satisfaction differently across the attachment spectrum, with attachment serving as a moderator of these associations.

Method: Data was collected from online crowd sourcing software, Amazon Mechanical Turk (Mturk). There were one hundred and fourteen participants, ranging from 18-78 years of age (M = 27.39, SD = 11.21), who were currently involved in a romantic …

Psychosocial Development In Adolescents With Disabilities: Modification And Evaluation Of Measures, Myles Maxey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are often overlooked in research, including psychosocial development (self-esteem, autonomy, attachment, and identity formation). Reliable and consistent survey tools are essential to understanding developmental trends. This study focused on creating surveys that could be comprehended by all adolescents, no matter if they experience IDD or not. Findings from this study suggested that there are more similarities than difference across areas of psychosocial development among adolescents with IDD as well as with their typically developing peers. These findings can help researchers more accurately assess psychosocial development for more adolescents, including those experiencing IDD.

Testing A Contextual Framework Of Intimate Partner Violence In Young Adults, Phoebe Tabb Hitson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Bell and Naugle (2008) proposed a comprehensive theoretical framework that includes multiple variables hypothesized to be involved in intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, including distal and proximal variables. The current study (1) assessed the extent to which childhood physical abuse victimization, interparental violence, insecure attachment, accepting beliefs about violence, sexism, stress, alcohol and marijuana use, relationship satisfaction, emotion regulation, and anger management were associated with physical IPV perpetration; (2) determined whether some of these variables influenced physical IPV perpetration more than others; (3) explored the mediation of distal variables by more proximal variables in predicting physical IPV perpetration; and (4) …

Returning Thanks To God And Others: The Relational, Prosocial, And Emotional Consequences Of Transcendent Indebtedness, Jenae Marie Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

Gratitude and indebtedness facilitate cooperative relationships and altruism. Although most of the world endorses some belief in God, gratitude and indebtedness to God have not received adequate empirical attention. The "Gratitude to God" research initiative was created to address this gap, of which the current project is an appendage. This project encapsulates a multiphase research proposal, including three parts; a pilot study and two experimental studies. The purpose of the pilot study (N = 475) was to create and test experimental manipulations for the two experimental studies. Experiment 1 (N = 659; highly religious emerging adult sample) was a 3x2 …

Physical Aspects Of Sexuality, Attachment, And Sexual Satisfaction, Chelsea Zollinger Allen

Theses and Dissertations

Healthy sexuality includes relational, emotional, and physical elements (Busby et al., 2021). However, there are gaps in what is known about the physical aspects of sexual relationships. Genital acceptance and physical sexual knowledge are two areas of physical relationships that may have an effect on the satisfaction of sexual relationships. Attachment, namely levels of anxious and avoidant attachment, is another factor that has been related to sexual relationships (Allsop et al., 2021; Bennett et al., 2019; Busby et al., 2020). Results from a dyadic sample of 515 couples who had been in a relationship for at least two years were …

Isolation, Cohesion And Contingent Network Effects: The Case Of School Attachment And Engagement, G. Robin Gauthier, Jeffrey A. Smith, Sela Harcey, Kelly Markowski

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Isolation and cohesion are two key network features, often used to predict outcomes like mental health and deviance. More cohesive settings tend to have better outcomes, while isolates tend to fare worse than their more integrated peers. A common assumption of past work is that the effect of cohesion is universal, so that all actors get the same benefits of being in a socially cohesive environment. Here, we suggest that the effect of cohesion is universal only for specific types of outcomes. For other outcomes, experiencing the benefits of cohesion depends on an individual’s position in the network, such as …

A Closer Look At Relationship Structures: Relationship Satisfaction And Attachment Among People Who Practice Hierarchical And Non-Hierarchical Polyamory, Sharon M. Flicker, Flavia Sancier-Barbosa, Amy C. Moors, Lindsay Browne

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Although polyamorous relationships have received increasing attention from researchers over the past decade, little attention has been paid to differences in relationship configurations: some individuals arrange their relationships hierarchically, prioritizing a primary partner; other relationship structures are non-hierarchical with no relationships prioritized over others. Across two samples (N_Study1= 225; N_Study2= 360), we compared relationship satisfaction and attachment security between individuals in hierarchical and non-hierarchical configurations. Greater variability in attachment security was found between partners in hierarchical relationships than those in non-hierarchical relationships; no significant differences were found in variability in relationships satisfaction across these groups. …

Attachment And Identity In Higher Education: Lived Experiences Of Korean Adoptees, Janeice A. Garrard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

South Korea has been the largest sending country of adoptees since the Korean War. Many of the adoptees were placed in predominantly White communities in the Midwest United States. In the existing literature, researchers revealed that Korean adoptees expressed feelings related to loss of ethnic identity, birth culture, and place of belonging. It has not been fully understood how attachment and identity influence Korean adoptees in their pursuit of a higher education. Therefore, this study sought to examine the impacts of attachment to birth culture, adoptive culture, and adoptive family combined with issues of ethnic identity in the lived …

“Soldiers Of The Same Struggle”: A Comparison Of Attachment And Personality Between Justice-Involved Youth In Gangs And Not In Gangs, Lyndsey Keyte

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Risk factors for juvenile delinquency and gang membership are essentially identical, although only a certain subset of justice-involved youth join gangs. In an attempt to identify factors that differentiate justice-involved youth in gangs from justice-involved youth not in gangs, the present study compared attachment styles and personality traits of 406 detained justice-involved youth, 154 of whom were gang-involved and 252 of whom were not. Results showed no significant differences in personality traits or attachment styles between justice-involved youth in gangs and not in gangs. However, results demonstrated attachment styles and personality traits characteristic of both groups of justice-involved youth.

Domestic Bliss, Or Technological Diss? Problematic Media Use, Attachment, And Relationship Outcomes, Mccall A. Booth

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how problematic media use (technoference, internet gaming disorder symptoms, and pornography use) predicted later partner relationship outcomes, operating through the mediator of attachment behaviors. Participants (N = 1039) were from Waves II–IV of the Couple Relationships and Transition Experiences (CREATE) study, a nationally representative quantitative study on marriage relationships across the United States. Both spouses completed surveys reporting problematic media use, attachment behaviors, and relationship outcomes at three separate time points each spaced a year apart. In order to test the hypotheses, three longitudinal actor-partner interdependence models with indirect paths were estimated, …

Examining Relationships Between Early Childcare Teachers' Adult Attachment Orientations And Quality Of Interaction In The Infant Classroom, Alexandra Morris Benoit

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Over the past several decades, women have entered the workforce in increasing numbers. This has led to the majority of infants and young children being cared for outside of the home by extra-familial caregivers. Research has shown the benefits that quality childcare can have on the developmental trajectories of children, as well as the detrimental effects that can be seen when children experience low quality care. Further, children are particularly vulnerable in the first year of life when they are establishing attachment bonds with their primary caregivers. With the long hours that many spend in the care of childcare workers, …

The Manifestation Of Neighborhood Effects: A Pattern For Community Growth?, Michael R. Cope, Jorden E. Jackson, Scott R. Sanders, Lance D. Erickson, Tippe Morlan, Ralph B. Brown

Faculty Publications

Neighborhood effects, or the development of community by neighborhoods, are often studied in an urban context. Previous research has neglected to examine the influence of neighborhoods in nonurban settings. Our case study, however, contributes to the existing literature as it takes place in a small, rural-to-urban town at an important point in time where the town was urbanizing. We find that neighborhood effects also influence community satisfaction and attachment in Creekdale, an urbanizing town. Using survey data (N = 1006) drawn from the Creekdale Community Citizens Viewpoint Survey (CCVS), we find that, contrary to conventional wisdom, population size and density …

Adult Attachment Functioning Of Former Foster Youth Initially Placed In Early Adolescence, Adrienne Miller

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Child attachment has been an area of study among scholars for several decades; however, early adolescent attachment is a specific age period that few scholars have examined, especially pertaining to child welfare where placement is a necessary but forced attachment disruption. The purpose of this nonexperimental study was to examine the likelihood of early adolescent attachment during initial placement and to explore the frequencies of this population securely attaching postplacement based on the added variables of placement setting (foster home/kinship home/group home/institution) and sibling accessibility. Attachment theory was the lens through which to analyze the 83 results received via anonymous …

Canine Endogenous Oxytocin Responses To Dog-Walking And Affiliative Human–Dog Interactions, Lauren Powell, Kate M. Edwards, Adrian Bauman, Adam J. Guastella, Bradley Drayton, Emmanuel Stamatakis, Paul Mcgreevy

Paul McGreevy, PhD

Several studies suggest human–dog interactions elicit a positive effect on canine oxytocin concentrations. However, empirical investigations are scant and the joint influence of human–dog interaction and physical activity remains unexplored. The aims of the current study were to (a) examine the canine endogenous oxytocin response to owner-led dog-walking and affiliative human–dog interactions and (b) investigate the moderating effect of the owner-reported strength of the human–dog bond on such responses. Twenty-six dogs took part in a random order cross-over trial, involving dog-walking and human–dog interactions. Urinary samples were collected before and after each condition. The data were analyzed using linear mixed …

Exploring Cherishing: A Qualitative Approach, Pratishtha Bhattacharyya, Rabindra Kumar Pradhan Dr.

The Qualitative Report

The word cherishing is frequently used in our daily jargons. It is also very often mentioned in empirical literature on cherished possessions. However, despite the relevance of the term in the empirical literature on cherished possessions, very little is known about the way it operates in people’s lives. The only link with cherishing happens to be the studies conducted in individualistic cultures on cherished possessions. Besides, there is hardly any consensus on how cherishing operates in collectivistic culture such as India owing to the scarce literature available on the topic. Hence, the present study addresses the gap in the literature …

Sexuality Through The Lens Of Secure Base Attachment Dynamics: Individual Differences In Sexploration, Dylan Selterman, Amanda N. Gesselman, Amy C. Moors

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

A key aspect of attachment functioning is the secure base, which empowers people to explore their environments, though some individuals do this more effectively than others. While most researchers have focused on adult attachment dynamics in terms of stress and threat (safe haven), we argue that concerted attention should also focus on relational processes in times of optimal functioning. In this paper, we introduce a new theoretical concept: secure base sexual exploration (or sexploration). We define this as the degree to which individuals are able to effectively explore multifaceted dimensions of sexuality (e.g., behaviors, identity) as a function …

Canine Endogenous Oxytocin Responses To Dog-Walking And Affiliative Human–Dog Interactions, Lauren Powell, Kate M. Edwards, Adrian Bauman, Adam J. Guastella, Bradley Drayton, Emmanuel Stamatakis, Paul Mcgreevy

Human-Animal Interactions Collection

Several studies suggest human–dog interactions elicit a positive effect on canine oxytocin concentrations. However, empirical investigations are scant and the joint influence of human–dog interaction and physical activity remains unexplored. The aims of the current study were to (a) examine the canine endogenous oxytocin response to owner-led dog-walking and affiliative human–dog interactions and (b) investigate the moderating effect of the owner-reported strength of the human–dog bond on such responses. Twenty-six dogs took part in a random order cross-over trial, involving dog-walking and human–dog interactions. Urinary samples were collected before and after each condition. The data were analyzed using linear mixed …

Attachment And Relationship Quality: A Longitudinal Cross-Lagged Panel Model Examining The Association Of Attachment Styles And Relationship Quality In Married Couples, Meagan Cahoon Alder

Theses and Dissertations

This is a longitudinal cross-lagged panel model examining the bi-directional association of attachment styles and relationship quality in a community sample of 355 married couples, with at least one child between 10-14 years of age at the beginning of the study and 17-21 years of age at the end of the study. An Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM), was used to test for actor and partner effects, thereby accounting for the non-independent nature of the data. Two separate APIM models were tested with Male Attachment predicting Female Relationship Quality and Female Attachment predicting Male Relationship Quality. Results indicate that own attachment …

Assessing Risks And Potential Protective Factors Of Dating Violence Perpetration And Victimization, Brian Ermon Tussey

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Dating violence is prevalent among college students. While past studies have used multiple theories to explain risks for dating violence perpetration and victimization, the literature on dating violence remains disjointed, using only one or two theoretical perspectives in their models of dating violence. In this study, I examine dating violence perpetration and victimization from four key theoretical perspectives: the background-situational model of dating violence, social learning theory, attachment theory, and the antisocial orientation perspective. Analyses demonstrated that elements of all four theoretical perspectives were associated with dating violence perpetration and victimization. In addition, religiosity and maternal relationship quality were important …

The Time To Love: Ideologies Of "Good" Parenting At A Family Service Organization In The Southeastern United States, Anna Davidson Abella

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to understand definitions of what it means to be a “good” parent as described by parents and child development specialists at a family service organization in the Southeastern United States. Previous research on social reproduction and concerted cultivation have opened up pathways to understanding how social and economic inequality manifest in family life and the social structures of which they are a part. This ethnographic study is an effort to contribute to an anthropology of parenting by unveiling the ways that definitions of “good” parenting in middle-class and wealthy communities reflect time-intensive, attachment-based ideologies …

The Time To Love: Ideologies Of "Good" Parenting At A Family Service Organization In The Southeastern United States, Anna Davidson Abella

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to understand definitions of what it means to be a “good” parent as described by parents and child development specialists at a family service organization in the Southeastern United States. Previous research on social reproduction and concerted cultivation have opened up pathways to understanding how social and economic inequality manifest in family life and the social structures of which they are a part. This ethnographic study is an effort to contribute to an anthropology of parenting by unveiling the ways that definitions of “good” parenting in middle-class and wealthy communities reflect time-intensive, attachment-based ideologies …

The Influence Of Parents And Natural Mentors On Young Adults' Substance Use Behaviours: Evidence From A National Study, Travis Hackshaw

MA Research Paper

This study examines the impact of parenting during adolescence and young adulthood on children’s use of alcohol and illicit drugs in young adulthood. The influence of mentoring relationships are also assessed. Longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and ordered and multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to test models predicting young adults’ frequency of heavy drinking and illicit drug use. Interaction terms were tested between parent and mentor variables as well as college enrolment. Parental monitoring during adolescence reduced young adults’ use of alcohol, but not illicit drugs. Rather, attachment to parents reduced young …

Keeping Them Close: A Qualitative Examination Of Mothers’ Perceptions, Motivations, And Experiences With Babywearing, Hayley Brooke Moran

Masters Theses

As American mothers’ responsibilities and lifestyles evolve, parents adapt by changing their parenting practices to meet the needs of their families. Many mothers in the U.S. have begun carrying their infants on their bodies, a practice referred to in the U.S. as “babywearing.” The present study is one of the first studies to explore the practice of babywearing in the US and how babywearing intersects with a mother’s relationship with her infant and her family. Although there has been research examining the connection between babywearing and technology (Russell, 2014; Lupton, 2012), the purpose of the present study is to examine …