Attachment and depressive symptoms in middle childhood

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 1135-1148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Bosmans ◽  
Nicoleta Poiana ◽  
Karla Van Leeuwen ◽  
Adinda Dujardin ◽  
Simon De Winter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Mood Induction ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Emotional Reactions ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Intraindividual Variation ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Induction Condition

The current study investigated whether biological sensitivity to emotional information moderates the link between attachment anxiety/avoidance and depressive symptoms. Sixty children (9–12 years old) completed questionnaires on attachment and depressive symptoms. Skin conductance level (SCL) was measured across three conditions: an emotionally neutral baseline condition, a negative mood induction condition, and a positive mood induction condition. SCL variability (SCLV) was calculated as the intraindividual variation across these conditions expressing the extent to which children are biologically sensitive to positive and negative emotional information. Results showed that SCLV moderated the association between depressive symptoms and attachment anxiety. Attachment anxiety was only linked with depressive symptoms when children showed more SCLV, suggesting that attachment anxiety is only a risk factor for children who are biologically sensitive to respond to emotional information. SCLV did not moderate the association between depressive symptoms and attachment avoidance. Instead, a significant correlation was found between attachment avoidance and SCLV, which replicated previous research and might be caused by more avoidantly attached children’s unsuccessful attempts to suppress emotional reactions.

Different effects of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance on depressive symptoms: A meta-analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (12) ◽  
pp. 3028-3050
Author(s):  
Leying Zheng ◽  
Yadan Luo ◽  
Xu Chen
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Adult Attachment ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Cultural Orientation ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Attachment Dimensions ◽  
Significant Moderator

Although insecure adult attachment is thought to be associated with depressive symptoms, results of research on the link between attachment dimensions (attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance) and depressive symptoms have been inconsistent. The aim of this study was to use meta-analysis to examine the strength of the correlations between the two attachment dimensions and depressive symptoms. A total of 64 papers and 78 independent samples were included in this meta-analysis. Results showed significant associations between both attachment dimensions and depressive symptoms. Additional analyses indicated that attachment anxiety was more strongly related to depressive symptoms, whereas attachment avoidance was weakly related to depressive symptoms. Cultural orientation and sex were found to moderate the relationship between attachment anxiety and depressive symptoms. Age was a significant moderator of the relationships between both attachment anxiety and avoidance and depressive symptoms. Results of the meta-analysis and the implications were discussed.

Perceptions about marital conflict: Individual, dyadic, and family level effects

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 3537-3553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine B. Ehrlich ◽  
Michelle R. vanDellen ◽  
Julia W. Felton ◽  
C. W. Lejuez ◽  
Jude Cassidy
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Marital Conflict ◽  
Married Couples ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Level ◽  
Adolescent Conflict ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
The Relationship

Husbands and wives often provide different reports about the qualities of their relationship—a pattern of reporting that is often discounted as measurement error. In the present study, we tested three research questions related to perceptions of marital conflict in a sample of 123 married couples. First, we tested whether individual and partner attachment and depressive symptoms were associated with reports of conflict. Then, we examined whether these characteristics also explain absolute and directional discrepancies in reports of marital conflict. Finally, we examined how discrepancies in reports of marital conflict might be related to discrepancies in other dyadic reports within the family. Analyses revealed that individuals’ attachment avoidance and anxiety, but not depressive symptoms, were linked to their own perceptions of marital conflict. Further, partners’ attachment anxiety was positively associated with one’s own perceptions of marital conflict. Additional analyses revealed that wives’ attachment avoidance was positively associated with absolute discrepancies about conflict. Wives’ attachment avoidance predicted directional discrepancies, such that they reported relatively more conflict than their husbands reported as their attachment avoidance increased. Husbands’ attachment anxiety was marginally associated with overreporting conflict relative to their wives’ reports. Finally, discrepancies in spouses’ reports of marital conflict were associated with mother–adolescent and father–adolescent discrepancies in reports of parent–adolescent conflict. Results highlight the importance of measuring both partners’ perceptions of the relationship in order to capture meaningful variation in multi-informant reports.

Accessibility of the Mental Representation of Attachment Figures in Patients With Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (8) ◽  
pp. 607-627 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annemiek Karreman ◽  
Nathan Bachrach ◽  
Charlotte M. M. H. Robeers ◽  
Marrie H. J. Bekker
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Attachment Theory ◽  
Trait Anxiety ◽  
Mental Representation ◽  
Attachment Styles ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Attachment Figure ◽  
Clinically Depressed ◽  
Innate Behaviors

According to attachment theory, different attachment styles relate to individuals' innate behaviors aimed at establishing proximity to or distancing oneself from attachment figures when confronted with threat. Unclear is whether these attachment-related threat responses also pertain to clinically depressed or anxious individuals. We therefore examined attachment-related patterns of accessibility of attachment figure representations under threat in 60 patients with anxiety and depressive symptoms (aged 16–58; primary diagnoses: an anxiety disorder, mood disorder, or personality disorder), applying an experimental Stroop procedure. Participants, randomly assigned to one of three priming conditions (neutral, attachment-unrelated threatening, attachment-related threatening prime), were exposed to a person's name preceded by a subliminal prime. Self-reported attachment styles, trait anxiety, and depressive symptoms were measured. Participants with higher scores on attachment avoidance showed reduced accessibility of persons in a neutral context and in response to attachment-unrelated threat, but not in response to attachment-related threat. These effects were independent of trait anxiety and depressive symptoms. Attachment anxiety was not associated with accessibility of persons. These results indicate that the mechanism of attachment-related responses to threat might not pertain to patients with anxiety and depressive symptoms, possibly due to collapse under their chronic strain.

The Relationship Between Texture Responses on the Rorschach and Adult Attachment

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazunori Iwasa ◽  
Toshiki Ogawa
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Adult Attachment ◽  
Japanese Population ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Anxiety Scale ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Comprehensive System ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Sensitive Measure ◽  
The Relationship

We examined the relationship between texture responses (T) on the Rorschach and adult attachment in the Japanese population. 47 Japanese undergraduate and graduate students (mean age = 20.16, SD = 1.87) completed a self-report adult attachment scale as well as the Rorschach. An ANOVA revealed that T = 1 participants were attached more securely than were other groups. T > 1 participants were more preoccupied with attachment and scored higher on an attachment anxiety scale than the T = 1 group. Although these results were consistent with the interpretation of the texture response according to the Comprehensive System (CS), the results obtained for T = 0 participants were inconsistent with hypotheses derived from the CS. T = 0 participants were high on preoccupied and attachment anxiety scores, although they were theoretically expected to be high on dismissing or attachment avoidance. These results indicated that – at least in Japan – T should be regarded as a sensitive measure of attachment anxiety.

Pet Attachment and the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Jane Douglas ◽  
Mun Yee Kwan ◽  
Kathryn H. Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Interpersonal Theory ◽  
Pet Ownership ◽  
Thwarted Belongingness ◽  
Perceived Burdensomeness ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Interpersonal Theory Of Suicide ◽  
Pet Attachment ◽  
The Relationship

Objective: Pet ownership is often assumed to have mental health benefits, but the effect of pets on suicide risk has a scant literature. Method: Using the interpersonal theory of suicide, we examined the relationships between perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, overall attachment to one’s pet (quality of the relationship), pet attachment avoidance (distrustful of the relationship) or anxiety (afraid of abandonment), and suicide risk. Three hypotheses were investigated: 1) higher levels of attachment would be associated with lower suicide risk via lower levels of thwarted belongingness/perceived burdensomeness, 2) lower levels of pet attachment would be associated with higher levels of suicide risk via attachment avoidance/attachment anxiety, and 3) attachment avoidance/anxiety would be associated with higher suicide risk via thwarted belongingness/perceived burdensomeness. Undergraduates (N = 187) completed surveys and indirect effect analyses were utilized. Results: Higher overall attachment was associated with decreased attachment anxiety, which was associated with lower suicide risk. Attachment anxiety was correlated with increased suicide risk. Overall attachment, attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety were not found to indirectly affect suicide risk. Conclusions: Findings suggest that pet ownership may provide both protective and deleterious effects in a nonclinical sample.

Perceptions of Sex Offenders’ Partners: Associated with Perceptions of Offenders and Influenced by Attachment

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason P. Martens ◽  
Jessica L. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Attachment Theory ◽  
Sexual Offenders ◽  
Attachment Styles ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Negative Perceptions ◽  
Highly Correlated

Abstract Little research exists on how partners of sex offenders are perceived. Using attachment theory, we hypothesised that one's attachment would generalise to perceptions of sexual offenders and their partners. One hundred and six British adults’ attachment styles were assessed, as well as perceptions of sex offenders and their partners. Generally, perceivers’ attachment avoidance was associated with positive perceptions of both partners and offenders, while attachment anxiety was associated with negative perceptions of partners but positive perceptions of sex offenders. Perceptions of sex offenders and their partners were highly correlated and negative in nature, and sex offenders were more negatively perceived.

scholarly journals The role of environmental sensitivity in the development of rumination and depressive symptoms in childhood: a longitudinal study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Lionetti ◽  
Daniel N. Klein ◽  
Massimiliano Pastore ◽  
Elaine N. Aron ◽  
Arthur Aron ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Parenting Style ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Internalizing Problems ◽  
Depressive Symptomatology ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Healthy Children ◽  
Environmental Sensitivity ◽  
Permissive Parenting

AbstractSome children are more affected than others by their upbringing due to their increased sensitivity to the environment. More sensitive children are at heightened risk for the development of internalizing problems, particularly when experiencing unsupportive parenting. However, little is known about how the interplay between children’s sensitivity and parenting leads to higher levels of depressive symptoms. In the current study, we investigated the interaction between early parenting and children’s sensitivity on levels of depressive symptomatology in middle childhood, exploring the role of rumination as a possible mediator in a community sample. Participants included 196 USA resident families, from a middle class and mostly European–American background, and their healthy children, followed up from age 3 until 9 and 12 years. Environmental sensitivity was assessed observationally when children were 3 years old. Parenting style was based on parent-report at the age of 3 years. When children were nine, they completed questionnaires on rumination and depressive symptoms (repeated at 12 years). Analyses were run applying a Bayesian approach. Children’s sensitivity interacted with permissive parenting in predicting rumination at age 9. Rumination, in turn, was associated with depressive symptoms at age 9 and, to a lesser extent, at age 12. No relevant interactions emerged for authoritative and authoritarian parenting. Sensitive children may be at heightened risk for internalizing problems when exposed to a permissive parenting style. Permissive parenting was associated with increased ruminative coping strategies in sensitive children which, in turn, predicted higher levels of depression. Hence, rumination emerged as an important cognitive risk factor for the development of depressive symptoms in sensitive children.

scholarly journals Attachment Characteristics Among Women Victimized in No, One, and Multiple IPV Relationships: A Case–Control Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122098115
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Christie Ørke ◽  
Stål Bjørkly ◽  
Mariana Dufort ◽  
Solveig Karin Bø Vatnar
Keyword(s):  
Partner Violence ◽  
Emotional Abuse ◽  
Case Control Study ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Attachment Anxiety ◽  
Multiple Relationships ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Violent Relationships ◽  
Control Study

This cross-sectional study compared attachment characteristics among women victimized by intimate partner violence (IPV) in no, one, and multiple relationships ( N = 154). Results indicated that compared with the nonvictimized, victimized women had increased likelihood of higher attachment avoidance. Compared with women victimized in one relationship, women victimized in multiple relationships had higher likelihood of higher attachment anxiety scores. Adjusting for childhood adversities, childhood sexual abuse was an independent risk factor for IPV. Childhood emotional abuse mediated the association between attachment anxiety and IPV victimization in multiple relationships in particular. Attachment theory appeared useful for better understanding women’s vulnerability for multiple violent relationships.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document