Attachment styles and secure base priming in relation to emotional reactivity after frustration induction

This paper demonstrates the dynamic interplay of attachment styles and sexual functioning by presenting a couple with anxious–avoidant and anxious–ambivalent attachment patterns that are evident in their sexual difficulties. It uses the language of attachment and object relations theory to discuss their sexual and marital dysfunction and illustrates the integration of behavioural and psychoanalytic techniques to provide treatment. Particularly, it makes use of Fairbairn’s (1943) concept of the ‘return of the repressed’ to help each partner reclaim lost, unconscious parts of themselves and, in turn, improve their sexual functioning. It also makes extensive use of transference and countertransference as therapeutic tools. The treatment outcome supports the attachment tenet that a secure base serves as the foundation for exploration (Ainsworth, 1972), in this case, of the body (Holmes, 2007).

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Investigating the Interpersonal Dynamics Between Coaches and Athletes Based on Fundamental Principles of Attachment

Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology ◽

10.1123/jcsp.4.2.112 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 112-132 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Louise Davis ◽

Sophia Jowett

Keyword(s):

Relationship Satisfaction ◽

Attachment Theory ◽

Attachment Styles ◽

Self Report ◽

Secure Base ◽

Interpersonal Dynamics ◽

Attachment Figure ◽

As Relationship ◽

The Relationship ◽

Associated Data

Grounded in Bowlby’s (1969/1982, 1988) attachment theory, this study aimed to explore (a) the pervasiveness of the three main functions of attachment within the context of the coach-athlete relationship, (b) the associations of athletes’ attachment styles with such important variables as satisfaction with the relationship and satisfaction with the sport, and (c) the process by which athletes’ attachment styles and satisfaction with sport are associated. Data were collected through self-report measures of attachment functions and styles as well as relationship satisfaction and sport satisfaction from 309 student athletes (males = 150, females = 159) whose age ranged from 18 to 28 years (Mage = 19.9, SD = 1.58 years). Athletes’ mean scores indicated that the coach was viewed as an attachment figure fulfilling all three functions of secure base, safe haven, and proximity maintenance. Bivariate correlations indicated that athletes’ avoidant and anxious styles of attachment with the coach were negatively correlated with both relationship satisfaction and sport satisfaction. Mediational regression analysis revealed that athletes’ satisfaction with the coach-athlete relationship may be a process that links athletes’ attachment styles with levels of satisfaction with sport. The findings from this study highlight the potential theoretical and practical utility of attachment theory in studying relationships within the sport context.

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Attachment relationships in old age

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships ◽

10.1177/0265407509360984 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 191-199 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Victor G. Cicirelli

Keyword(s):

Old Age ◽

Attachment Styles ◽

Adult Life ◽

Support Networks ◽

Secure Base ◽

Safe Haven ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Men And Women ◽

Attachment Relationships ◽

The Relationship

There is still relatively little known about attachment relationships late in life. This study investigated changes in number and identities of attachment figures in older adults’ support networks. Participants were 80 married and widowed men and women aged 60—99 (M = 77.8). Each identified attachment figures for proximity seeking, secure base, and safe haven functions, ranked in importance; the Relationship Scales Questionnaire (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991) assessed attachment styles. Elders had smaller attachment networks than reported for younger adults; women and the married had larger networks (p < .05). The nature and identities of attachment figures changed from those of earlier adult life to adult children, deceased loved ones, and God. Elders had fewer full-blown attachments but a greater variety of attachment figures. The widowed had a greater proportion of dismissive attachment styles. The results suggest that attachment figures are needed for maximum adaptation in old age.

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Characterizing Human–Dog Attachment Relationships in Foster and Shelter Environments as a Potential Mechanism for Achieving Mutual Wellbeing and Success

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani10010067 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 67 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Lauren E. Thielke ◽

Monique A.R. Udell

Keyword(s):

Attachment Styles ◽

Secure Base ◽

Potential Mechanism ◽

Animal Shelters ◽

Pet Dogs ◽

Attachment Relationships ◽

Foster Homes ◽

Shelter Dogs ◽

Dog Attachment ◽

Attachment Bonds

This study aimed to characterize attachment relationships between humans and dogs living in animal shelters or foster homes, and to contextualize these relationships in the broader canine attachment literature. In this study, 21 pairs of foster dogs and foster volunteers and 31 pairs of shelter dogs and shelter volunteers participated. Each volunteer–dog dyad participated in a secure base test and a paired attachment test. All volunteers completed the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale (LAPS), a survey designed to measure strength of attachment bonds as reported by humans. Although no significant differences were present in terms of proportions of insecure and secure attachments between foster and shelter populations, proportions in the shelter population were significantly lower (p < 0.05) than the proportions of attachment styles that would be expected in a population of pet dogs based on the published literature on pet dog attachment styles. Additionally, findings are presented in relation to data from a paired attachment test that demonstrate foster and shelter dogs spend more time in proximity to humans when the human is actively attending to the dog and encouraging interaction, as would be expected based on previous studies. We also present findings related to the presence of disinhibited attachment (previously reported in children who spent a significant portion of time living in institutionalized settings) which is characterized by a lack of preferential proximity seeking with a familiar caregiver and excessive friendliness towards strangers in foster and shelter dogs.

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Adolescents' Secure-Base Behavior from the Perspective of Information Processing

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.101.2.419-429 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 101 (2) ◽

pp. 419-429

Author(s):

Yoshihiro Shima

Keyword(s):

Information Processing ◽

Reaction Time ◽

Attachment Styles ◽

Internal Working Models ◽

Secure Base ◽

Working Models ◽

Related Information ◽

Internal Working ◽

Negative Relationships

Secure-base behavior in adolescents was examined from the perspective of information processing. The secure-base behavior was operationally defined as accessibility to attachment-related information and assessed by reaction time to target stimuli. Study 1 was conducted on 37 undergraduates (10 classes as Secure, 12 men, M age=19.3 yr.) to investigate whether differences in attachment styles would show different forms of information processing. There was a difference in reaction time to negative targets between Secure and Insecure participants. Study 2 was conducted on 45 undergraduates (8 classed as Secure, 22 men, M age = 19.4 yr.) to investigate whether activation of the internal working models would show different forms of information processing. There was a difference between Secure and Insecure participants in patterns of reaction time to stimuli for positive and negative relationships. Results were discussed on the basis of secure-base behavior.

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Bowlby's secure base theory and the social/personality psychology of attachment styles: Work(s) in progress

Attachment & Human Development ◽

10.1080/14616730210154216 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 230-242 ◽

Cited By ~ 61

Author(s):

Everett Waters ◽

Judith Crowell ◽

Melanie Elliott ◽

David Corcoran ◽

Dominique Treboux

Keyword(s):

Attachment Styles ◽

Secure Base ◽

Personality Psychology ◽

Base Theory ◽

The Social

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Effects of Attachment Styles on the Experience of Equity in Heterosexual Couples Relationships

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1026//1618-3169.50.4.298 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 50 (4) ◽

pp. 298-310 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Ina Grau ◽

Jörg Doll

Keyword(s):

Attachment Theory ◽

Attachment Style ◽

Intimate Relationships ◽

Attachment Styles ◽

Experimental Studies ◽

The Other ◽

Heterosexual Couples ◽

Secure Attachment ◽

Dependent Variables ◽

Equity Ratio

Abstract. Employing one correlational and two experimental studies, this paper examines the influence of attachment styles (secure, anxious, avoidant) on a person’s experience of equity in intimate relationships. While one experimental study employed a priming technique to stimulate the different attachment styles, the other involved vignettes describing fictitious characters with typical attachment styles. As the specific hypotheses about the single equity components have been developed on the basis of the attachment theory, the equity ratio itself and the four equity components (own outcome, own input, partner’s outcome, partner’s input) are analyzed as dependent variables. While partners with a secure attachment style tend to describe their relationship as equitable (i.e., they give and take extensively), partners who feel anxious about their relationship generally see themselves as being in an inequitable, disadvantaged position (i.e., they receive little from their partner). The hypothesis that avoidant partners would feel advantaged as they were less committed was only supported by the correlational study. Against expectations, the results of both experiments indicate that avoidant partners generally see themselves (or see avoidant vignettes) as being treated equitably, but that there is less emotional exchange than is the case with secure partners. Avoidant partners give and take less than secure ones.

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Regional Frontal Lobe Response Magnitudes During Affective Shifting Covary With Resting Heart Rate Variability in Healthy Volunteers

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803/a000166 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 30 (4) ◽

pp. 165-174 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Ryan Smith ◽

John J.B. Allen ◽

Julian F. Thayer ◽

Richard D. Lane

Keyword(s):

Heart Rate ◽

Heart Rate Variability ◽

Healthy Subjects ◽

Emotional Reactivity ◽

Bold Signal ◽

Resting Heart Rate ◽

Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽

Absolute Value ◽

Cardiac Vagal Control ◽

Resting Heart Rate Variability

Abstract. We hypothesized that in healthy subjects differences in resting heart rate variability (rHRV) would be associated with differences in emotional reactivity within the medial visceromotor network (MVN). We also probed whether this MVN-rHRV relationship was diminished in depression. Eleven healthy adults and nine depressed subjects performed the emotional counting stroop task in alternating blocks of emotion and neutral words during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The correlation between rHRV outside the scanner and BOLD signal reactivity (absolute value of change between adjacent blocks in the BOLD signal) was examined in specific MVN regions. Significant negative correlations were observed between rHRV and average BOLD shift magnitude (BSM) in several MVN regions in healthy subjects but not depressed subjects. This preliminary report provides novel evidence relating emotional reactivity in MVN regions to rHRV. It also provides preliminary suggestive evidence that depression may involve reduced interaction between the MVN and cardiac vagal control.

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Emotions Under the Skin

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803/a000147 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 29 (4) ◽

pp. 161-170 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Catarina Silva ◽

Ana Cláudia Ferreira ◽

Isabel Soares ◽

Francisco Esteves

Keyword(s):

Attachment Style ◽

Attachment Styles ◽

The Other ◽

Regulatory Function ◽

Physiological Reactivity ◽

Emotional Stimuli ◽

Skin Conductance Responses ◽

Lower Accuracy ◽

Emotional Pictures ◽

Valence And Arousal

Abstract. The present study examined physiological reactivity to emotional stimuli as a function of attachment style. Skin conductance responses (SCRs) and heart rate (HR) changes were simultaneously recorded while participants engaged in a visual attentional task. The task included positive, neutral, and negative emotional pictures, and required the identification of a target (neutral picture rotated 90° to the left or right), among a stream of pictures in which an emotional distracter (positive or negative) was presented. Participants additionally rated each of the emotional distracters for valence and arousal. Behavioral results on the attentional task showed that positive pictures facilitated overall target detection for all participants, compared to negative and neutral pictures, and that anxiously attached participants had significantly lower accuracy scores, relative to the other groups. Affective ratings indicated that positive pictures were rated as being more pleasant than negative ones, although no differences were found in HR changes to picture valence. In contrast, negative pictures were evaluated as being highly arousing. Consistent with this, negative pictures elicited larger SCRs in both insecure anxious and avoidant groups, especially for the anxious while the secure group showed SCRs unaffected by stimuli’s arousal. Present results show that individuals with different attachment styles reveal distinct patterns of attentional bias, appraisal, and physiological reactivity toward emotionally arousing stimuli. These findings further highlight the regulatory function of the attachment system.

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Emotional Reactivity to Visual Content as Revealed by ERP Component Clustering

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803/a000145 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 29 (4) ◽

pp. 135-146 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Miroslaw Wyczesany ◽

Szczepan J. Grzybowski ◽

Jan Kaiser

Keyword(s):

Emotional Reactivity ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Affective State ◽

Occipital Lobe ◽

Stimulus Onset ◽

Emotional States ◽

Neural Basis ◽

Temporoparietal Junction ◽

The Right ◽

The Impact

Abstract. In the study, the neural basis of emotional reactivity was investigated. Reactivity was operationalized as the impact of emotional pictures on the self-reported ongoing affective state. It was used to divide the subjects into high- and low-responders groups. Independent sources of brain activity were identified, localized with the DIPFIT method, and clustered across subjects to analyse the visual evoked potentials to affective pictures. Four of the identified clusters revealed effects of reactivity. The earliest two started about 120 ms from the stimulus onset and were located in the occipital lobe and the right temporoparietal junction. Another two with a latency of 200 ms were found in the orbitofrontal and the right dorsolateral cortices. Additionally, differences in pre-stimulus alpha level over the visual cortex were observed between the groups. The attentional modulation of perceptual processes is proposed as an early source of emotional reactivity, which forms an automatic mechanism of affective control. The role of top-down processes in affective appraisal and, finally, the experience of ongoing emotional states is also discussed.

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