Adult attachment theory continues to play an important role in explaining pathology within couples. Pornography is becoming more and more pervasive since the inception of the internet. This study looked at the relationship between insecure attachment, accessibility, responsiveness, and engagement with frequency of male pornography use. Little is known about pornography use and its impact on couple dynamics. This study specifically looked at pornography use predicting insecure attachment within couples. The sample was taken from the RELATionship Evaluation (RELATE) and consisted of 189 couples. Male pornography use was found to be a predictor of insecure attachment and low levels of responsiveness in him. The female partner's assessment of her male partner's low engagement, responsiveness, and accessibility in their relationship was predicted by his pornography use. These findings may inform therapists of the possibilities for direction in therapy when a couple is struggling with insecure attachment development.

This study bridges the gap in literature about the impact of father absence on female adult attachment and current stress levels. A sample of 666 female college students between the ages of 18 and 22 at the University of Kentucky was recruited to complete an online survey about their experience with their fathers and the effects on their attachment and stress levels, while assessing the age of their first sexual experience. Father absence seems to be a significant predictor of earlier sexual activity among females and anxious attachment styles, along with higher stress levels. When the father is absent from the home, females have sex earlier than when the father is present in the home. Females who experience father absence have higher anxious attachment levels and higher current stress levels. These findings inform therapists about the importance of recognizing attachment injuries when dealing with individuals and supports the need for mother and father involvement in a female’s life.

Infidelity violates a western norm that a range of interpersonal behaviours should remain exclusive in committed romantic relationships. Once exposed, the aftermath can be detrimental to all concerned. However, despite a cultural majority endorsing this belief and apprised of the potential consequences of its violations, infidelity or extradyadic relationships are widespread. Furthermore, individual differences in beliefs about what constitutes infidelity blur the boundaries of acceptable behaviour, making the concept of unfaithfulness difficult to fully describe. This variation in attitudes and behaviour, along with the consistent media attention infidelity attracts affirms the enigmatic nature of the behaviour. In response, an aim of the study was to clarify the construct of infidelity among a contemporary Australian sample. This was achieved in two ways. Firstly, the study examined beliefs and behaviours associated with unfaithfulness using qualitative (focus group) and largely quantitative (survey) data. Secondly, the study involved investigation of the association between infidelity and several individual, relationship and environmental variables. Differences in relationships and environmental conditions can be conceptualised within the theoretical framework of the investment model, while adult attachment theory and a lovestyles typology offer theoretical underpinnings to the study of individual differences. Specifically, the aim of this stage of the study was to examine how adult attachment styles (anxious, avoidant), lovestyles (eros, ludus, storge, mania, pragma, agape), relationship variables (satisfaction, investment, commitment), and an environmental variable (perceived alternatives) predicted infidelity. The sample comprised 243 women and 69 men between the ages of 18 and 60 years (M = 31.3 years, SD = 11.9) who were currently in a romantic relationship of at least one year or who had recently been in such a relationship. Participants completed measures pertaining to attachment, lovestyles and various aspects of relationship quality in addition to several measures of extradyadic behaviour. The study found that infidelity, as defined by respondents, was engaged in by 20% of individuals in their current relationships and by 42% of individuals in their previous relationships. Regarding the nature of infidelity, the current findings indicated that various sexual and emotional behaviours carried out with someone other than one's primary partner were considered unfaithful by the vast majority, while fantasy and flirting behaviours were generally seen as acceptable. It was noteworthy, however, that a substantial minority also viewed fantasy as unfaithful, underlining the inherent complexity of the construct. The hypotheses concerning the variables predicting infidelity were partially supported. Results suggested that individuals most likely to engage in extradyadic behaviour were those with an avoidant attachment style or a Ludus lovestyle, more perceived alternatives to their relationship, and most unexpectedly, higher levels of investment in their relationship. Conversely, those least likely to engage in these behaviours were those with an Eros Lovestyle and greater levels of commitment to their relationship. The study confirmed the prevalence of infidelity and emphasised the differential attitudes, behaviours and motivations associated with it. These differences are discussed in relation to the theories presented and an argument is made for research on infidelity to take a broader focus, one that includes the combined aspects of individuals, their relationships and the environment. Implications of these findings for individuals and couples and for the professionals who work with them are discussed, along with suggestions for future research.

According to attachment theory, the establishment of an attachment bond to a caregiver not only provides the infant with protection from danger, but also many other resources presumably beneficial to the child’s general psychological development. Although there is substantial empirical support for a link between attachment security and social functioning in childhood and adolescence, less is known about whether childhood attachment contributes to social functioning beyond adolescence. Similarly, attachment has been found predictive of broad aspects of a person’s functioning, but few attempts have been made to link attachment to the currently dominating perspective on personality, the Five Factor Model (FFM). Results in Study I partially supported our expectations, by showing prospective links from middle childhood security to various aspects of social functioning in young adulthood. Further, security contributed to developmental change in social functioning from middle childhood to young adulthood. In Study II, middle childhood security was found to predict some of the FFM personality traits (primarily extraversion and openness) concurrently and prospectively, partially supporting our expectations. The third aim of this thesis was to address whether attachment disorganization, which has usually been found predictive of maladaptive phenomena, may predict also other, non-pathological outcomes. In Study II, we found that higher levels of disorganization in young adulthood were concurrently associated with more openness and lower conscientiousness. Furthermore, in Study III disorganization was shown to be concurrently associated with more New Age spirituality and more absorption in adulthood. In addition, absorption was, in accordance with our expectations, found to statistically mediate the link between disorganization and New Age spirituality. Hence, these findings supported our assumption that disorganization might be expressed in other life domains besides specifically maladaptive ones. Taken together, we suggest that attachment spreads its influence to a broad set of life domains through its continuous influence on general psychological components such as cognitive representations and self-regulation abilities. However, the modest strength of our results indicates that attachment is only one among several factors involved in the development of social functioning, personality traits, and spirituality.

This study investigated links between childhood victimization, adult attachment style, and adult physical health outcomes among women. Existing research has found that female survivors of childhood abuse are more likely than non-abused women to experience a host of negative long-term sequelae, particularly in terms of mental and physical health concerns. Examining the attachment security of abuse survivors may facilitate our understanding of the relationship between early victimization and later health. Attachment theory posits that the security of childhood relationships with caregivers influences the quality of later interpersonal relationships. As a consequence of childhood abuse, normal attachment patterns are thought to be disrupted. Furthermore, insecure adult attachment has been linked to poorer physical health in community samples. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), adult attachment insecurity was found to partially mediate health outcomes among female survivors of childhood victimization in an undergraduate sample. Findings suggest that the experience of childhood maltreatment is tied to an increase in women's physical health concerns in a holistic manner, where victimization affects later perceptions of symptoms, functional impairment, and illness behaviour. Furthermore, adult attachment and relational behaviour appears to be a pathway through which this association is formed. Implications for health practitioners, clinicians and researchers are discussed. / Graduate

Denna undersökning hade för avsikt att granska relationen mellan skam och vuxenanknytning. Både skam och anknytning har genom tidigare forskning visat sig vara arbetsmodeller som grundläggs tidigt i människors liv och som påverkar vår självuppfattning, självkänsla och hur vi relaterar och fungerar med andra människor. Dessa inre modeller förblir relativt stabila under vår livstid. Med hjälp av självskattningsformulär mättes deltagarnas anknytningstyp och deras upplevelse och hantering av skam. Resultaten visar på en signifikant skillnad mellan anknytningskategori och självrapporterad nivå av skamuppleverser. Trygg anknytning och otrygg/avvisande anknytning uppger lägre poäng på skamskattningsskalan ESS medan otrygg/ängslig och otrygg/upptagen uppger högre poäng på skamskattningsskalan ESS. Detta ger stöd åt tidigare forskning som gjorts om anknytning och skam. Ytterligare forskning behövs, kvantitativ och kvalitativ från olika vinklar, för att få en djupare förståelse för dessa komplexa mekanismer mer ingående och hur det dynamiska samspelet mellan dem. / This study examined the relationship between shame and adult attachment. Both shame and attachment has in previous studies shown to be working-models whitch are made early in peoples life and which effects our self-image, selfesteem and how we relate och function together with other people.These inner working-models are relativly stable across life-span. With use of self-report, mesures of adult attachment and shame was made and the results showed a significant difference between the type of adult attachment and self-reported shame level. Secure attachment and unsecure/dissmissive attachment reported lower levels of shame in the self-reported messure Experience of Shame Scale ESS while the unsecure/fearful and unsecure/preoccupied reported higer  levels of shame in the self-reported messure Experience of Shame Scale ESS. This supportes previous studies made in attachment and shame. More reaserch is needed to, in a profound way, understand these komplex mechanisms.

There is evidence that functions related to attachment may play an important role in the etiology and maintenance of eating disorders, particularly anorexia and bulimia nervosa (Kuipers & Bekker, 2012; Tasca & Balfour, 2014). However, there is little research available on attachment functioning in those with binge-eating disorder (BED). This dissertation consists of three studies that examine the role of attachment states of mind and attachment dimensions in understanding BED and co-morbid overweight, and to examine mechanisms related to group treatment response for those with BED. The first study assessed attachment state of mind classifications (i.e., attachment categories) to understand better: 1) the psychopathology and maintenance of BED and co-morbid overweight, and 2) the treatment response of women with BED who receive Group Psychodynamic Interpersonal Psychotherapy (GPIP; Tasca, Mikail, & Hewitt, 2005). Overweight women with BED (subsequently referred to as women with BED), overweight women without BED, and normal weight women without BED completed the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; Main, Goldwyn, & Hesse, 2002). Those with BED completed the AAI pre- and six months post- GPIP and those without BED completed the AAI at one-time point. Women with BED have significantly higher rates of insecure (preoccupied) and unresolved/disorganized attachment states of mind compared to normal weight women without BED. Women with BED had similar rates of insecure and unresolved/disorganized attachment states of mind as overweight women without BED. With respect to treatment completers, changes in attachment states of mind were not statistically significant. However, follow-up analyses indicated clinically meaningful changes which are discussed in the study. The second study used attachment dimensions of coherence of mind and reflective functioning (measured using the AAI) to add to our understanding of the psychopathology and maintenance of BED and co-morbid overweight. Higher Reflective Functioning scores differentiated normal weight women from both women with BED and overweight women without BED, and the latter two groups did not differ from each other. Coherence of Mind scores did not differentiate the groups. The third study used attachment dimensions of coherence of mind and reflective functioning to understand better group psychotherapy response for those with BED who received GPIP. Greater reflective functioning at pre-treatment was associated with a decline in binge eating frequency at 12 months post-treatment. Pre-treatment levels of coherence of mind was not related to group treatment outcomes. Reflective Functioning scores significantly improved from pre- to six months post-treatment. Further, more than 39% of participants demonstrated clinically reliable improvement and almost 32% experienced clinically reliable recovery with respect to reflective functioning. These results were moderated by pre-treatment self-reported attachment anxiety. That is, those with lower attachment anxiety showed significant improvement in reflective functioning, whereas those with higher attachment anxiety did not show this improvement. A third of participants experienced clinically significant improvement in coherence of mind, but this change was not statistically significant. Overall, attachment dimensions and attachment state of mind classification contribute to our understanding of the etiology and maintenance of BED and co-morbid overweight, as well as to our understanding of the group treatment response of those with BED. Addressing attachment insecurity and low reflective functioning in those with BED may improve treatment outcomes.

The process by which earned-secures achieve attachment security in adulthood, despite having insecure parent-child relationships in childhood, was the focus of the current study. As internal working models are thought to be formed within relationships, specifically primary attachment bonds (Bowlby, 1969), it was postulated that secondary attachment relationships, specifically those that were positive, had the capacity to revise insecure models of self and other. In the current study, the secondary attachment histories of undergraduates who were earned-secure and continuously-insecure, or insecurely attached since childhood, were compared. A new measure of secondary attachment quality was developed (Questionnaire About Secondary Attachment Figures (Q-SAF)), which was used to measure undergraduates' perceptions of their past and current secondary attachment figures. Findings indicated that in comparison to continuous-insecures, earned-secures perceived their negative secondary attachment figures in adolescence as less mean. Earned-secures also reported being less dependent upon these figures' approval of them for their self-worth and more secure within these relationships. In adulthood, earned-secures reported more trust and intimacy with their positive secondary attachment figures. Compared to continuous-insecures, earned-secures described their peers as being more empathic and altruistic during childhood and more warm during adolescence; earned-secures also reported less dependency and greater closeness with their peers throughout development. Grandparents were listed the most frequently by earned-secures as positive secondary attachment figures during childhood and this number was more than double that for continuous-insecures. Further, earned-secures described their grandparents in childhood as being more altruistic and they reported being less concerned with receiving their acceptance. Siblings from childhood were described by earned-secures as being more empathic than those of continuous-insecures, yet earned-secures also reported greater dismissing attachment to their siblings and cousins in childhood. Significant others from adolescence were rated by earned-secures as being less mean than those of continuous-insecures and earned-secures reported being more securely attached to these relationships in both adolescence and adulthood. Implications of the current study and directions for future research are presented.

Lilja, A. & Topilina, G. “Att jobba manualstyrt kräver en god kompetens”. En intervjustudie om Intervju om anknytningsstil i Sverige. Examensarbete i socialt arbete 15 högskolepoäng. Malmö universitet: Fakulteten för hälsa och samhälle, institutionen för socialt arbete, 2019. Standardiserade bedömningsmetoder är en del av socialarbetares vardag. Enligt Socialstyrelsen ökar intresset för att använda standardiserade metoder och ett evidensbaserat arbetssätt inom socialt arbete i Sverige. Samtidigt finns bristfällig information om vilka metoder som anses vara evidensbaserade och vilka som inte är det. Denna studie fokuserar på Intervju om anknytningsstil (IAS) - en standardiserad bedömningsmetod som syftar till att kartlägga och mäta kvalitet på klientens nära relationer. IAS saknar enligt Socialstyrelsen evidens och utvärdering men används i barn- och familjehemsutredningar. Syftet med studien är att ur ett organisationsteoretiskt perspektiv undersöka hur socialarbetare använder IAS i det praktiska sociala arbetet med fokus på de yrkesverksammas uppfattning av metoden och metodens roll i arbetsprocessen. Studien syftar även till att undersöka vilken tilltro socialarbetare har till metoden och resultatet samt om metoden har någon påverkan på kontakten med klienten. För att uppfylla studiens syften har sju socialarbetare intervjuats som använder IAS i sitt arbete. Studiens resultat visar att trots metodens standardiserade utformning skiljer sig användandet både gällande syfte och utförande. Informanterna har skilda uppfattningar om vilka slutsatser som kan dras av IAS och hur metoden påverkar relationen till klienten. De flesta respondenter betvivlar att IAS är knuten till forskning och uttrycker att metoden inte är tillräckligt effektiv och tidsenlig. Samtidigt ser flera av informanterna tydliga fördelar med att använda IAS i sitt arbete. / Lilja, A. & Topilina, G. “You Need to Be Very Competent to Use the Standardised Methods”. An Interview Study of Adult Attachment Interview in Sweden. Degree project in Social Work. 15 högskolepoäng. Malmö University: Faculty of Health and Society, Department of Social Work, 2019. Standardized assessment methods are part of the everyday lives of social workers. According to Socialstyrelsen, the interest in using standardized methods and an evidence-based approach in social work in Sweden is increasing. At the same time there is insufficient information about which methods are considered to be evidence-based and which are not. This study focuses on Attachment Style Interview (ASI) - a standardized assessment method that aims to map out and measure the quality of the client's close relationships. According to Socialstyrelsen, ASI is lacking in both evidence and evaluation, yet is used in home assessments where children are concerned. The purpose of the study is to investigate, from an organizational theoretical perspective, how social workers use ASI in their practical work, focusing on the perception of professionals regarding the method and the role of the method within the work process itself. The study also aims to investigate what trust social workers have regarding the method and its results, and whether the method has any influence over/on the contact with the client. To fulfill the aims of the study seven social workers currently using ASI in their daily work have been interviewed. The results of the study show that, despite the standardized design of the method, the use differs both in terms of purpose and design. The informants have different opinions about what conclusions can be drawn from the ASI, and how the method affects the relationship with the client. Most respondents doubt that the ASI is linked to research, and state that the method is not sufficiently effective nor contemporary. Nevertheless, several of the informants agree on clear advantages in using ASI in their work.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a well-recognized public health issue with significant consequences for victims, families, communities, and society at large. Although IPV was once thought to be an almost exclusively male-to-female problem, in recent years it has become more widely understood that IPV also occurs in the context of women’s LGBTQ+ relationships. LGBTQ+ individuals experience ongoing stress because they live in a heterosexist society, termed minority stress, which has been associated with many negative sequelae including attachment insecurity and IPV. Thus, it is pertinent to examine how one’s context, specifically minority stress caused by oppression, may uniquely influence IPV in women LGBTQ+ couples. A sample of 64 LGBTQ+ identified women currently in same-gender relationships filled out self-report questionnaires on minority stress, attachment style, and IPV. Contrary to expectations, it was determined that two types of minority stress, internalized homophobia and experiences of discrimination and heterosexism, were not associated with physical or psychological IPV. However, internalized homophobia was significantly associated with attachment avoidance, but not attachment anxiety. Both attachment anxiety and avoidance were significantly associated with psychological, but not physical, IPV. Mediation analysis revealed an inconsistent significant mediation for the effect of internalized homophobia on psychological IPV; this occurs when the mediator acts as a suppressor variable or a variable that masks any direct effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable. In the current study, the overall indirect effect of internalized homophobia on psychological IPV through attachment avoidance and anxiety was significant. The direct effect of internalized homophobia on psychological IPV was significant but the association was negative, such that once attachment (the suppressor variable) was included in the model, lower internalized homophobia was associated with greater psychological IPV. Overall, internalized homophobia uniquely contributed to attachment insecurity, particularly attachment avoidance, which is a significant risk factor for IPV in women’s same-gender relationships The global COVID-19 pandemic onset occurred before data collection commenced, thus questions were added to measure related changes in psychological symptoms, relationship stress, and IPV related to the pandemic. Psychological symptoms including sadness, loneliness, anxiety, and grief increased in the current sample since the pandemic onset. Similarly, self-reported relationship stress due to work, childcare, and health increased since pandemic onset. An increase in relationship stress was significantly positively correlated with an increase in psychological IPV since the pandemic onset. Thus, there was already an impact on participant’s mental health and stress even within the first six months of the pandemic, although most participants did not report an increase in IPV at that time. Overall, the current study highlights the importance of attachment avoidance as a risk factor for IPV in women’s same gender relationships. Additionally, the startlingly high prevalence rates of IPV and discrimination among LGBTQ+ women speaks to the urgent need to continue fighting against oppression and heterosexism to reduce minority stress and to develop IPV resources that better serve the LGBTQ+ population. / Graduate