The study explored maternal and paternal attachment, taking a multidimensional approach, in relation to adolescent self-harm. Based on adolescents’ perception of their mothers and fathers availability, anger, and empathy, we examined what contribution of attachment was most predictive of self-harm separately and simultaneously. The sample included 564 Canadian high school students in grade 8 to 12. The quantitative survey was conducted on computers, and was from a three year longitudinal study, using the second and third annual assessments. Cross-sectionally, the results suggested low parental availability, anger toward mothers, and low empathy toward fathers to be related to self-harm. Longitudinal analysis did not support the hypotheses. In sum, attachment to mothers and fathers both contributed to the understanding of adolescent self-harm.

Inattentive responding by research participants may decrease the reliability and validity of self-report measures. The current studies broaden the record of personality traits correlated with inattention by examining individual differences in attachment anxiety and avoidance among adults in romantic relationships. Based upon the characteristics typically exhibited by adults high on attachment avoidance, I expected an overlap between this personality trait and inattention, such that participants higher on attachment avoidance would exhibit higher levels of inattentive responding when answering self-report questions about their relationship. Two studies addressed this hypothesis using both self-report data from individuals and partner-report data from romantic couples to examine the association between a participant’s attachment avoidance and their level of inattentive responding while participating in research focusing on their romantic relationships. Self-reported attachment avoidance was associated with greater inattentive responding in both studies. However, partner-reported attachment avoidance was not significantly associated with inattentive responding in Study 2. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This thesis describes the development of a parent-to-infant attachment based questionnaire for use by health visitors as a discussion tool. An interpretive methodology was followed incorporating a sequential multi-method design. The original purpose of the study, to develop an attachment screening tool, changed due to reflexive decision making and the impact of changes in service delivery. This presented an opportunity to develop a tool that supported focused conversation between health visitors and parents about early relationships. Parallels between parent infant relationships and health visitor parent relationships were identified in four parent focus groups and four health visitor interviews. The resulting data were used to inform the development of the pilot questionnaire. Five parent-to-infant attachment relationship constructs were developed from attachment theory and current practice in infant mental health. These were combined with parent terminology preferences, and formed into a twenty-five item questionnaire. The twenty-five item questionnaire was used to collect data from twelve parents. Statistical testing on twenty-four test-retest completions of the tool resulted in a ten-item discussion tool that showed face and construct validity. Evidence of acceptability to practitioners and parents was gathered using a health visitor survey.

Preferential attachment networks with power law degree sequence undergo a phase transition when the power law exponent τ changes. For τ > 3 typical distances in the network are logarithmic in the size of the network and for 2 < τ < 3 they are doubly logarithmic. In this thesis, we identify the correct scaling constant for τ ∈ (2, 3) and discover a surprising dichotomy between preferential attachment networks and networks without preferential attachment. This contradicts previous conjectures of universality. Moreover, using a model recently introduced by Dereich and Mörters, we study the critical behaviour at τ = 3, and establish novel results for the scale of the typical distances under lower order perturbations of the attachment function.

Des recherches ont mis en évidence l’influence des modèles d’attachement sur les relations amicales, amoureuses et sociales. Cela interroge sur la portée de cette influence. La concordance observée entre les représentations d’attachement liées aux différentes relations suggère une généralisation des modalités d’attachement. Dans l’étude 1, nous explorons l’existence d’une influence des représentations d’attachement sur les relations dans l’environnement virtuel. L’étude 2 explore la généralisation des modalités d’attachement à des situations de la vie quotidienne ainsi que le rôle de l’insécurité dans la généralisation excessive et le caractère envahissant des schémas d’attachement. L’étude 1 (256 adultes tout-venant) comporte des auto-questionnaires, remplis en ligne, sur les relations d’attachement, l’usage d’Internet et le dévoilement de soi. Certains (n=56) ont aussi passé un entretien d’attachement. L’étude 2 (89 adultes tout-venant, dont 56 de l’étude 1) comporte un entretien d’attachement et un entretien de vie quotidienne. Les résultats de ces études indiquent :1) un lien entre l’attachement et l’usage social d’Internet, médiatisé par une recherche de communication sécurisée et un dévoilement de soi ; 2) une généralisation partielle de l’attachement au père aux situations du quotidien ; 3) un lien entre l’attachement à la mère et le degré de flexibilité face aux situations du quotidien. Tandis que les représentations d'attachement implicites sont liées au comportement au quotidien, le style d'attachement auto rapporté est lui davantage lié aux comportements sur Internet. Les limites, perspectives futures et implications cliniques sont discutées. / Research suggests that attachment models influence friendships, romantic relationships and other relationships. The question remains as to the extent of their influence. Concordance between attachment representations of different relationships suggest a generalization of attachment patterns. In Study 1, we examine the possible influence of attachment representations on relationships established on the Internet. Study 2 explores generalization of attachment patterns in situations of everyday life, and the role of insecurity in excessive generalization and pervasiveness of attachment schemas. In study 1, 256 adults completed self-reports on line on attachment, the use of the Internet, and self-disclosure. An attachment interview was also administered to a subsample of 56 participants. The same interview was used in study 2, along with an interview on everyday behavior (N=89). Results show 1) associations between attachment and the social use of the Internet, 2) partial generalization of attachment to father and everyday behavior, and 3) a link between attachment to mother and flexibility in everyday behavior. Whereas implicit representations of attachment are associated with everyday behavior, explicit declarative attachment style is linked to reported behavior on the Internet. The limits, future perspectives, and clinical implications are discussed.

Magister Artium - MA (Psychology) / The state of postgraduate studies in South Africa has come under renewed enquiry in recent years as concern is placed on the inconsistency between postgraduate enrolment and graduation rates. The discrepancy between the enrolment and completion rates is attributable to a range of factors. Literature identified the supervisory relationship as an important and significant factor in predicting completion. The establishment of a good working alliance in the beginning of the thesis process has been identified as a crucial task. As a result, it is useful to gain insight into how students set about establishing working relationships with new supervisors and how they rate the quality thereof. The present study was conducted with Psychology Masters students who were in their first semester of the first enrolment in the Community and Health Sciences faculty at the University of the Western Cape. Attachment theory provided the theoretical framework for the study as it posits that the quality of current relationships are a function of early relationship experiences. Thus students were thought to draw on earlier experiences when setting about establishing new relationships such as the supervisory relationship. The study was exploratory and descriptive in nature. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven eligible participants who have been selected purposively. Transcriptions have been subjected to a Thematic Analysis. Ethics clearance has been requested from and granted by the Senate Research Committee and all relevant ethics principles such as, confidentiality, anonymity, voluntary participation and informed consent, have been adhered to. Findings indicated that supervision was a central component for graduate completion, underscoring the importance of early supervisory sessions to form a strong working alliance. Furthermore, the findings indicated that the supervisor's role in providing the expertise and support largely contributed to the success of establishing strong and productive supervisory relationships. Participants perceived strong supervisory relationships as necessary to foster completion of higher degree requirements. The development of a new supervisory relationship activated relational patterns for students that underscored the importance of recognizing the supervisory relationship as a relationship.

Client engagement in psychotherapy has been identified as a significant component of the therapeutic process, and research has found compelling links to psychotherapy outcomes. Attachment theory has been used to explore the various domains of client engagement in therapy. Specifically, the development of the therapy relationship and the client’s engagement in therapy can be understood as reflecting how a client forms new relationships in general. The primary aim of this dissertation is to explore how the attachment styles of adult clients and beginning therapists (still in training) influence clients’ engagement in individual psychotherapy, in terms of regularity of attendance, self-disclosure of important/relevant topics to the therapist, and the client’s perception of the working alliance. More specifically, this study explores the roles of client and therapist attachment style in client attendance and client self-disclosure, over and above what is explained by the alliance’s relationship with these other engagement measures. Data used in this dissertation were collected as part of an ongoing longitudinal study conducted at the Dean Hope Center for Educational and Psychological Services, a community-based outpatient training clinic at Teachers College. Participants were 181 adult individual psychotherapy clients and their masters and doctoral level student-therapists (n = 118). In this study, client and therapist attachment style (attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety) was measured using the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale- Short Form. The client engagement variables were measured using the client-rated Disclosure to Therapists Inventory-IV (client self-disclosure and self-disclosure discrepancy), the client-rated Working Alliance Inventory- Short Form (client-rated alliance), and objective measures of client attendance at scheduled sessions collected from a review of clinic attendance records (session attendance). Results showed no significant relationship between client or therapist attachment styles, or their interaction, and the client-rated alliance in this sample. Results also indicated no significant relationship between client or therapist attachment styles, or their interaction, and attendance during the initial sessions of therapy, after accounting for any effects of the alliance. However, results did show significant relationships between client and therapist attachment style and attendance in therapy after the initial sessions and self-disclosure discrepancy (extent of self-disclosure based on importance and relevance of topics to the client), after controlling for any effects of the alliance. Specifically, results showed that clients with a more secure attachment style had a higher percentage of attendance after the initial therapy sessions than clients with a more insecure attachment style. In addition, clients whose therapists were higher on attachment anxiety had a lower percentage of attendance after the initial therapy sessions, whereas clients whose therapists were higher in attachment avoidance had a higher percentage of attendance after the initial therapy sessions. Results also showed that clients with higher attachment anxiety showed greater self-disclosure discrepancy, in that they disclosed less to their therapists than was expected based on the salience of topics to clients. There was also a trending interaction between therapist attachment avoidance and client attachment anxiety on self-disclosure discrepancy. Study findings are compared to findings in the literature, and results are discussed in terms of attachment theory. Specific limitations and strengths of the study are then discussed. Implications of the study findings in terms of the development and training of beginning therapists are outlined. Findings in the current study indicating that client and therapist attachment style play a role in client attendance at therapy sessions and client self-disclosure in sessions, point to the need for more research in this area and additional consideration of the relationship between these variables and how they impact the therapeutic process, and ultimately therapy outcome.

The aim of this study has been to investigate the significance of hide and seek play as a central feature within the intensive psychoanalytic psychotherapy of one looked after child, whose referred symptom of separation anxiety improved during the course of treatment. A mixed methods modified form of thematic analysis has been used to analyse the data and Max QDA has been introduced for data organisational purposes and to support analytic rigour. This single case study is approached from a Critical Realist stance and key findings support the argument for the validity of extending the relationship between the theoretical paradigms of Complexity Theory and Psychoanalysis,beyond the metaphorical towards the methodological with implications for efficiency, triangulation and generalisability of findings; issues which have been historically problematic in single case study research. The mixed methods analytic approach has allowed for the quantitative tracking of frequency and quality of a single marker of change, in the form of hide and seek play, across the course of the treatment. This has revealed an overall pattern in the form of a trajectory, containing properties of a self-organising complex dynamic system. Two levels of abstraction have been identified and investigated demonstrating the presence of sel-similar functioning across different levels of complexity. A ‘period of oscillation’ between variables has been identified which is associated qualitatively to a period of psychological growth and development within the child. This finding is consistent with emerging evidence in the broader field of psychology for the occurrence of a period of critical instability associated with positive treatment outcome. A key qualitative finding is the evidence for the four different sub-types of hide and seek play. This may have implications for the understanding of hide and seek play in every day life and significantly in the lives of looked after children.

No description available.

This thesis defends an account of what it is to trust other people, and what gives matters of trust a characteristic interpersonal or normative importance to us. Trust is an attitude of the trust stance; a more general attitude we take toward others in matters of trust, that includes distrust. Matters of trust are situations we trust/distrust others in. I put forward an account of the trust stance, that explains why matters of trust have interpersonal importance to us. Chapter 1 introduces the key questions to be addressed by the account. I outline how trust can be tied to specific actions, but can also be a general attitude we have about a person, or people. I set out how trust is standardly conceived as an anticipatory/predictive attitude, that also involves interpersonal import. That import is glimpsed in the possibility of betrayal by those we trust, and I point toward existing accounts of betrayal. I present arguments against accounts of trust that take it to be purely predictive, i.e. those of the rational choice/game-theoretic tradition. Chapter 2 introduces the dominant philosophical view of trust, which holds that to trust is to rely on another, such that we can be betrayed by her. I call this the Reliance plus (REL+) view. I offer a critical overview of three prominent REL+ accounts, from Baier (1986), Holton (1994), and Hawley (2014). I illustrate how an account of distrust that Hawley endorses, of betrayable non-reliance on another, results from REL+. Chapter 3 presents an argument against REL+. I argue it cannot allow for the possibility of uncertainty about another, where uncertainty is a trust stance attitude between trust and distrust. Uncertainty is possible, so REL+ must be false. Chapter 4 presents another argument against REL+. The argument is that distrust cannot be a product of non-reliance, so REL+ must be false. I argue that REL+ fails because it ignores a distinction between two senses of 'trust': an activity of reliance, and a mental state of assurance. Distrust is only an attitude of wariness, opposed to assurance, rather than reliance. I defend the claim that reliance requires practical dependence on what is relied on. I build upon in this claim in the next chapter. Chapter 5 defends an account of reliance as an activity, in support of the active/stative trust distinction from chapter 4. I evaluate Smith's (2010) account of reliance, which endorses practical dependence. I argue that Smith's account faces a dilemma, showing the account is either incomplete, or that it renders reliance impossible. I defend a 'role placement in activity' account of reliance, that avoids the dilemma. Chapter 6 defends a distinction between reliance and dependence in general. Where reliance involves practical dependence, I argue that dependence is a matter of fundamentally needing something as a matter of functioning and wellbeing. My account of the concept comes into play in chapter 8. Chapter 7 sets out a more detailed account of the stative trust stance attitudes. I use the active/stative distinction to address a question over whether we can trust voluntarily, and the relation between specific and general trust. I set out the concept of a situational vulnerability, that the trust stance attitudes are about, and which can result from reliance on another. I defend an account of the trust stance as a rolling schema: an anticipatory framework that involves interpreting another's motives toward us, in respect of situations of vulnerability. Chapter 8 argues that the interpersonal import of trust is a product of our felt need for secure attachments to individuals, and to belong to a group. I explain the relationship between social dependence on others and betrayability.