Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2001. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-98). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ71619.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-99). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-99). Also available on the Internet.

This paper is based on Bowlby's attachment theory in the exploration of Christian pastoral care literature. Kirkpatrick and Granqvist account for the majority of previous research on the subject, however, not related to counselling or counselling literature. The selected pastoral literature, which is three books by each author: Liselotte J Andersson and Margareta Melin provide several possible associations with attachment theory. In the process, nonetheless, more literature has been studied than those reported here. This paper aims to investigate whether a relationship with God is given as an attachment relationship of the selected pastoral literature. The questions are divided into a descriptive and analytical one: "In what way are visible extension made of pastoral literature written by J Andersson and Melin?" and "Is God's relationship stated as an attachment relationship in pastoral literature? If yes, in what way?" The method used is controlled theory analysis, which means that attachment theory is the base from which the counselling literature is interpreted. It is an interpretative method whose goal, according Malterud (2014), is to “explore the meaning of the content of social and cultural phenomenon as it is experienced by those involved themselves in their natural context” (s. 31). It's more about understanding than explaining. The conclusion is that God's relationship in several ways is listed as attachment relationship, based on Bowlby's attachment theory.

Place is highly connected with outdoor education; it is defined by the location of the learning process and it designates both practically and theoretically ways to foster to students a strong bond with natural places. Place attachment refers to this bond or, in other words, the love relationship, one can develop with a place. This research tries to investigate if there is a causal relationship between outdoor education and development of place attachment. A quasi-experimental design research was conducted to 31 teenagers, 12-13 years old. A questionnaire, for measuring the level of place attachment to the natural surroundings of their school, was distributed at two different timelines. Four different dimensions of place attachment were measured; place identity, place dependence, social bonding and nature bonding. The experimental group participated in the program “Attachment to my Local Natural Landscape”, which was developed especially for this study and promoted direct connection with the land, through outdoor activities. The control group received no intervention. The results demonstrated that the program influenced only the female participants of the experimental group. No significant differences were indicated between the two groups after the implementation of the program. The small sample and the short length program implemented were important limitations of this study, which demand further future research to extract more clear results.

This longitudinal study examined factors that contribute to change in attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance over the transition to parenthood. Participants were a community sample of 98 heterosexual couples expecting their first child who were recruited through maternity resources in the Victoria, B.C. area. Specifically, this study considered whether prenatal perceived stress levels predicted change in adult attachment security. For men, higher stress levels predicted more change in attachment security. We also examined whether increases in stress levels from the prenatal to the postnatal period predicted changes in attachment security and found that increases in stress from the prenatal to postnatal period were associated with more change in attachment for men; results were marginally significant for women. In addition to examining the impact of stress on the absolute value of change in attachment, this study considered perceived support and perceived anger as moderators of the relationship between stress and directional change in attachment. Measures of general support and perceived anger did not moderate this relationship. Observational ratings of partner’s positive and negative support behaviours during support-seeking interactions were examined as potential moderators. The interaction between stress and positive emotional support predicted decreasing avoidance for women. Interactions between stress and negative affect marginally predicted increasing anxiety for men and women. Dyadic analyses were also used to clarify how changes in participants’ attachment security over time were influenced by their partners’ prenatal attachment security. For women, partner levels of attachment avoidance at the prenatal period predicted increasing attachment anxiety. These findings emphasize that adult attachment exists in the context of interpersonal relationships, and demonstrate the importance of using dyadic and longitudinal data to study attachment. Implications for attachment theory and intervention are discussed. / Graduate / 0451 / 0621 / 0622 / taracg@uvic.ca

This dissertation explores language comprehension in native speakers (NSs) and second language (L2) speakers of French. Recent findings suggest that whereas NSs process complex sentences using both syntax and semantics, late learners of a L2 process shallowly, relying on lexical, semantic, and pragmatic cues to interpretation. Studies supporting this Shallow Structure Hypothesis (Clahsen & Felser, 2006b) rely on limited methodologies, however, and are challenged by reports demonstrating proficiency and cognitive effects on processing. In addition, recent research suggests that native language comprehension is not always complete or accurate (Ferreira & Patson, 2007) and is subject to variability (Dabrowska, 2012). This dissertation brings new evidence to bear on NS-L2 differences through the structural priming paradigm and investigates several factors thought to contribute to NS-L2 differences, including the exploratory effect of relative language dominance. Evidence from a self-paced reading task examining off-line and on-line priming of relative clause attachment height suggests that prior exposure to structural information through comprehension influences NSs' subsequent comprehension at the post-interpretive stage. Results argue for priming at the level of abstract hierarchical syntax and an implicit learning account of persistence. This study is one of few to demonstrate priming of ambiguously attached modifiers during comprehension and the first to do so within a L2. Unlike for NSs, the nature of the L2 priming effect is linked to discourse information. Age of acquisition was found to be a more important factor in L2 priming than language dominance. The results also argue that both native and L2 speakers are susceptible to shallow processing, though they use slightly different strategies. While NSs in the current study were more willing to accommodate competing syntactic and semantic analyses, ultimately accepting a less-than-complete analysis, the L2 parsing mechanism preferred to settle on one interpretation. The evidence here lends partial support to the hypothesis that L2 processing relies more on semantic/pragmatic information than NS processing but crucially does not exclude the possibility of L2 syntactic processing and highlights NS-L2 similarities in terms of the contexts that trigger shallow processing. / text

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This study aimed to explore the influence of adult attachment on relationship quality in parents of children with ADHD. A mixed methods design was used to address the research objectives. Study One (quantitative) explored the different pressures that having a child with ADHD places on parents with different attachment styles, and how the parents differ in their way of responding to such pressures based on their attachment styles. Two hundred and fifty four participants were employed: 101 parents of children with ADHD, and 153 parents of children without ADHD. Four established questionnaires were used: Connors Parental rating Scale (CPRS), Communication Pattern Questionnaire (CPQ), Experience in Close Relationship (ECR), and Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS). The results showed that parents of children with ADHD reported greater marital conflict and worse dyadic adjustment than parents of children without ADHD. Moreover, behavioural problems in children with ADHD correlated negatively with interpersonal relationship in the parental couple. Finally, attachment style moderated the impact of ADHD symptoms on interpersonal problems in the couple. On the other hand, Study Two (qualitative) explored parents’ experiences of how the disorganised behaviour of children with ADHD or the normal naughtiness of children without ADHD had an impact on the relationship. The differences between parents with children with and without ADHD with regard to their attachment styles were also studied. Forty eight participants extracted from the Study One were participated in this Study Two. The results through the thematic analyses indicated that parents of children with ADHD experienced the stress related to their children’s condition which was negatively affected their couple relationship. Not only that, the parents with different attachment styles experienced differently in both group. In considering both studies, the qualitative themes may explain how attachment insecurity moderates the impact of having a child with ADHD on relationship variables. The theme may be particularly important, as it may have a negative influence on the interpersonal communication of the parents with insecurity attachment. It is proposed that this research can make a contribution towards relevant intervention programs to facilitate support for parents of children with ADHD.

The process of adoption in the U.S. is incredibly hard to navigate as an adoptive parent. Each primary type of adoption (international, foster, private domestic) comes with its own challenges and costs. One of the hardest challenges for both adopted children and adoptive families forming a secure and satisfactory attachment. Examining what goes into a child’s ability to attach to caregiver will help the analysis of the attachment issues that all adoptive families undergo. The adoptive parent must also start to form an attachment to their child as well as help the child transition into their new placement. Adoptive parents however, often find themselves questioning the legitimacy of their parenthood with their new child. This is further hindered if the child has problems forming secure attachments to others. A greater breadth of resources are needed to counteract these common issues so that adoptive families can get more specific help for their unique situations. As adoption becomes more socially acceptable and prevalent, stronger pushes towards data collection and research will help future adoptive families to form secure attachments more quickly and easily.