Abstract The focus of this thesis is early attachment among institutionalized infant orphans. Previous research has pointed towards attachment problems in dysfunctional institutions, but did not take a comparative approach to understanding attachment. The present research was conducted in an orphanage in Kaya, a little town located in the Center North Region of Burkina Faso, Africa. The 22 children at the institution were aged four months to five years and were mostly from the Mossi ethnicity. Using mixed psychological and anthropological methods such as behaviors checklist, attachment questionnaires, and participant observation, this research indicates that orphans do not display evident features of unsecure attachment such as avoidant, resistant, or disorganized attachment: 79% of the children would seek proximity with caregivers, 93% would make visual contact, and 79% would often explore their environment. However, a significant number of children in the orphanage showed disinhibited reactive attachment: 36% of the children would seek contact with a stranger; only 21% would be anxious to see a stranger. Using a cross-cultural approach, the study questions the classification of disinhibited reactive attachment as a problematic ailment and suggest that the behavior might not be seen negatively, but can have positive outcome in the transition process from the orphanage to the adoptive family. The research also examines the factors related to orphanhood that can have consequences on the future of children and consecutively on their chances to form secure attachment. The research underlines many other difficulties between caregivers and orphans such as the lack of training, the young age of the caregivers, and the reluctance to get attached to the children in order to avoid difficult separations. This study emphasizes the complexity of the early attachment process of institutionalized orphans.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between early attachment and marital satisfaction. Whereas partner attachment has been found to be related to marital satisfaction, little research has examined the relationship of early attachment to marital satisfaction. It was hypothesized that early attachment would impact the three components of marital satisfaction, i.e., communication, sexual satisfaction, and love/partner attachment in early adulthood. Participants were 35 male and 119 female college students ages 18 to 40 years (M = 27 yrs), who completed a questionnaire comprised of Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) (Spanier, 1976), the sexual satisfaction subscale from the ENRICH measure (Olson, Fournier, & Druckman, 1983), the Communications Patterns Questionnaire (CPQ) (Christensen & Sullaaway, 1984), the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA), (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987), and the Experience in Close Relationships ‑Revised (ECR ‑R) Questionnaire (Fraley, Waller, & Brennan, 2000). Results supported the hypothesized relationship between early attachment and marital satisfaction as early attachment was found to have a direct effect on partner attachment and an indirect effect on communication and sexual satisfaction. The results of this study suggest that early secure interactions between a child and caregiver promotes adult partner attachment, which in turn impacts marital satisfaction.