Support Processes Predict Declines in Attachment Avoidance Across the Transition to Parenthood

2020 ◽  
pp. 014616722094870
Author(s):  
W. Steven Rholes ◽  
Jami Eller ◽  
Jeffry A. Simpson ◽  
Ximena B. Arriaga
Keyword(s):  
Transition To Parenthood ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Life Transitions ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Working Models ◽  
Attachment Orientations ◽  
Attachment Orientation ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Major Life Transitions

Attachment orientations in adulthood can change over time, but the specific circumstances that directly affect change are not well understood. Bowlby proposed that those circumstances involve the assimilation of information that is incongruent with an individual’s existing attachment orientation and underlying working models. In this study, 137 couples transitioning to parenthood were followed across the first 2 years of their firstborn child’s life, with both partners providing data at five time-points. Only changes in attachment avoidance were examined in this study. Consistent with predictions, downward changes in avoidance were associated with relationship events that introduced information inconsistent with avoidant working models. For example, people who provided more support to their partners declined in avoidance across the transition period. We discuss these findings and new directions needed to better understand when and how attachment orientations change during major life transitions.

Support Processes Predict Declines in Attachment Avoidance Across the Transition to Parenthood

2020 ◽  
pp. 014616722096036
Author(s):  
W. Steven Rholes ◽  
Jami Eller ◽  
Jeffry A. Simpson ◽  
Ximena B. Arriaga
Keyword(s):  
Transition To Parenthood ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Life Transitions ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Working Models ◽  
Attachment Orientations ◽  
Attachment Orientation ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Major Life Transitions

Attachment orientations in adulthood can change over time, but the specific circumstances that directly affect change are not well understood. Bowlby proposed that those circumstances involve the assimilation of information that is incongruent with an individual’s existing attachment orientation and underlying working models. In this study, 137 couples transitioning to parenthood were followed across the first 2 years of their firstborn child’s life, with both partners providing data at five time-points. Only changes in attachment avoidance were examined in this study. Consistent with predictions, downward changes in avoidance were associated with relationship events that introduced information inconsistent with avoidant working models. For example, people who provided more support to their partners declined in avoidance across the transition period. We discuss these findings and new directions needed to better understand when and how attachment orientations change during major life transitions.

scholarly journals Personality, Communication, and Depressive Symptoms across the Transition to Parenthood: A Dyadic Longitudinal Investigation

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma M. Marshall ◽  
Jeffry A. Simpson ◽  
W. Steven Rholes
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Transition To Parenthood ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Life Transitions ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
First Child ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Major Life Transitions

This study adopted a person (actor) by partner perspective to examine how actor personality traits, partner personality traits, and specific actor by partner personality trait interactions predict actor's depressive symptoms across the first 2 years of the transition to parenthood. Data were collected from a large sample of new parents (both partners in each couple) 6 weeks before the birth of their first child, and then at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months postpartum. The results revealed that higher actor neuroticism and lower partner agreeableness predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms in actors. Moreover, the specific combination of high actor neuroticism and low partner agreeableness was a particularly problematic combination, which was intensified when prepartum dysfunctional problem–solving communication and aggression existed in the relationship. These results demonstrate the importance of considering certain actor by partner disposition pairings to better understand actors’ emotional well–being during major life transitions. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology

scholarly journals Associations of early adulthood life transitions with changes in fast food intake: a latent trajectory analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor M. Winpenny ◽  
Megan R. Winkler ◽  
Jan Stochl ◽  
Esther M. F. van Sluijs ◽  
Nicole Larson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Life Transitions ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Parental Home ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Full Time Employment ◽  
Leaving The Parental Home ◽  
Major Life Transitions

Abstract Background Early adulthood is a period of rapid personal development when individuals experience major life transitions (e.g. leaving the parental home, leaving education, beginning employment, cohabitation and parenthood). Changes in social and physical environments associated with these transitions may influence development of health-related behaviours. Consumption of fast food is one behaviour associated with poor diet and long-term health outcomes. In this study we assess how frequency of fast food consumption changes across early adulthood, and how major life transitions are associated with changes in fast food intake. Methods Data were collected across four waves of the Project EAT study, from mean age 14.9 (SD = 1.6) to mean age 31.1 (SD = 1.6) years. Participants reporting data at two or more waves were included (n = 2902). Participants reported past week frequency of eating food from a fast food restaurant and responded to questions on living arrangements, education and employment participation, and having children. To assess changes in fast food we developed a latent growth model incorporating an underlying trajectory of fast food intake, five life transitions, and time-invariant covariates. Results Mean fast food intake followed an underlying quadratic trajectory, increasing through adolescence to a maximum of 1.88 (SE 0.94) times/week and then decreasing again through early adulthood to 0.76 (SE 2.06) times/week at wave 4. Beginning full-time employment and becoming a parent both contributed to increases in fast food intake, each resulting in an average increase in weekly fast food intake of 0.16 (p < 0.01) times/week. Analysis of changes between pairs of waves revealed stronger associations for these two transitions between waves 1–2 (mean age 14.9–19.4 years) than seen in later waves. Leaving the parental home and beginning cohabitation were associated with decreases in fast food intake of − 0.17 (p = 0.004) and − 0.16 (p = 0.007) times/week respectively, while leaving full-time education was not associated with any change. Conclusions The transitions of beginning full-time employment and becoming a parent were associated with increases in fast food intake. Public health policy or interventions designed to reduce fast food intake in young adults may benefit from particular focus on populations experiencing these transitions, to ameliorate their impact.

scholarly journals Impact of personality traits and early life experience on timing of emigration and rise to alpha male status for wild male white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) at Lomas Barbudal Biological Reserve, Costa Rica

Behaviour ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 154 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Perry ◽  
Irene Godoy ◽  
Wiebke Lammers ◽  
Andy Lin
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Life Transitions ◽  
Alpha Male ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Wild Male ◽  
Early Experiences ◽  
Early Life Experience ◽  
Major Life Transitions

It is rare in studies of long-lived animals to know enough about the personalities and early experiences of individuals to use this information to predict their behaviour during major life transitions in adolescence and adulthood. Here, we examine how personality traits and early experiences predict age of natal emigration and timing of first ascent to alpha status in 169 wild male white-faced capuchins studied at Lomas Barbudal, Costa Rica, 75 of whom emigrated and 23 of whom acquired alpha status. Males were more likely to delay natal emigration if they were more extraverted, more neurotic, if their fathers co-resided longer with them, and if there were fewer alpha male turnovers. More extraverted males attained alpha status sooner.

A review on depression following major life transitions

2021 ◽  
pp. 195-220
Author(s):  
Ahmed A. Moustafa ◽  
Daniel Miezah ◽  
Jacob J. Crouse ◽  
Richard Tindle ◽  
Yulia Richard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Transitions ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Major Life Transitions

scholarly journals OLDER WOMEN'S EXPERIENCES OF AGING: THE PHYSICAL, THE PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND THE SOCIAL

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S212-S213
Author(s):  
Nicky J Newton
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Life Transitions ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Life Course Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Qualitative Interview Study ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Major Life Transitions

Abstract According to the life course perspective (Settersten, 2003), major life transitions are embedded in contexts shaped by personal history and social circumstances “as natural as the changing seasons” (Miller, 2010, p.663). Aging itself is perhaps the epitome of all transitions: a relatively measured movement through a series of situations, conditions, and social roles (Hettich, 2010); a transition that particularly lends itself to a life course approach. In this qualitative interview study, 37 women (Mage = 72.27) responded to questions regarding their experiences of the physical, psychological and social aspects of aging. While themes of inevitability and physical health were evident, the highly-personalized nature of aging was also underscored through individual themes of invisibility, freedom from expectations, fear of cognitive decline, and the quality and maintenance of friendships. Similarities and differences in women’s experience of aging are compared; the need to contextualize aging within the life course is discussed.

Contextualizing Change in Marital Satisfaction During Middle Age

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 1194-1200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara M. Gorchoff ◽  
Oliver P. John ◽  
Ravenna Helson
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Marital Satisfaction ◽  
Middle Age ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Life Transitions ◽  
Empty Nest ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Term Change ◽  
Major Life Transitions

To address the need for longitudinal marital research that takes contextual factors into account, we investigated change in women's marital satisfaction over 18 years of middle age. We examined not only whether marital satisfaction changed, but also why and how it changed. Marital satisfaction increased in middle age, and increased marital, but not life, satisfaction was linked to the transition to an empty nest. More specifically, the transition to an empty nest increased marital satisfaction via an increase in women's enjoyment of time with their partners, but not via an increase in the quantity of that time with partners. Also, increasing marital satisfaction was not attributable to changing partners. Taken together, these findings support the utility of applying a contextualized approach focused on major life transitions to the study of long-term change in marital satisfaction.

scholarly journals Associations between Attachment and Emotion-Specific Emotion Regulation with and without Relationship Insecurity Priming

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah J. Clear ◽  
Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Late Adolescents ◽  
Attachment Representations ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Attachment Orientations ◽  
Attachment Orientation ◽  
Specific Emotion ◽  
Prime Condition

Attachment theory and previous research on emotion regulation (ER) suggest that ER will be associated with adult attachment orientation, with the expectation of different associations of attachment avoidance, anxiety, and security with specific ER patterns. In addition, research has shown that the emotion under consideration and the context may matter to patterns of ER and associations between attachment and ER. In the present study, we examined associations between attachment representations, and emotion specific (sadness, worry, and anger) ER among late adolescents and young adults aged 16 to 23 years ( M = 19.6, SD = 1.58). In addition, to consider context, participants were randomly assigned to report ER following insecurity priming or no priming. Participants were 383 (181 male, 202 female) students who completed a self-report questionnaire. As expected, multivariate regression results examining all attachment orientations simultaneously showed that attachment anxiety was associated with greater dysregulation (sadness, worry, and anger), but also more anger suppression. In contrast, attachment avoidance was associated with greater suppression (sadness and worry), but also more anger dysregulation. Attachment security was associated with less dysregulation (sadness, worry, and anger), and less sadness and worry suppression. Finally, sadness and anger dysregulation were higher when reported after insecurity priming compared to the standard no prime condition, but few associations between attachment orientations and ER were moderated by condition. The results suggest that individuals’ attachment representations are associated with ER, with security a benefit to adaptive ER, and anxiety and avoidance playing different roles in maladaptive ER for different emotions.

scholarly journals The Action Project Method Applied in Nursing Home Settings

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 184-185
Author(s):  
Charlotte Jensen ◽  
Andrea Gruneir ◽  
Matthias Hoben ◽  
Jaclyn Tompalski ◽  
Adam Easterbrook ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Home ◽  
Quality Care ◽  
Life Transitions ◽  
Levels Of Analysis ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Project Method ◽  
Action Project ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Major Life Transitions

Abstract The action-project method (APM), developed in counselling psychology and used in various disciplines, has been shown to be useful for understanding major life transitions in different contexts. We argue that the APM is beneficial for studying the impact of nursing home (NH) home admission and daily life of residents and their families/friends. The APM enables researchers to explore how residents and their families/friends experience NH-life at individual and supraindividual levels of analysis. We applied the APM to solicit the views of residents and individuals close to them to understand their priorities for quality care. The APM data collection consisted of three stages. First, a resident and family member or other caregiver met with the interviewer who initiated a conversation about their experience in the NH. The interviewer then left the room but video-recorded the conversation. Second, the interviewer met with each participant to review the video with each participant offering reflection on the original conversation. These sessions were also recorded. Following transcription and analysis of the conversations, 3 lay-language narratives were created: 1 for each individual and 1 for the pair. Third, participants reviewed their own and the pair’s narrative for additional comments. The APM offers a means to give a voice to NH residents and allows for people to talk about their experiences without the presence of a researcher. By using the APM, researchers can break down individual actions of participants and how these actions come together to form the project of navigating care in NHs.

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