published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

Recently, attachment theory has been proposed as a possible unifying framework for assessing the parent-child relationship as part of custody determinations, due to the theory's rich empirical support. Though forensic evaluators have begun to incorporate the child’s attachment to his/her caretaker, the question of the parents' adult attachment style has so far been overlooked as a potentially relevant area for gathering information regarding parenting. Adult attachment theory not only has implications for parenting, but also for understanding co-parenting relationships and conflicts, which is often the primary reason for many child custody referrals. This study will use an attachment framework to explore group differences between child custody litigants and satisfied married couples on the Rorschach Inkblot Test. Analyses of these variables will be completed through multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). Additionally, discriminant function analysis (DFA) will be conducted to explore the dimensionality of the multivariate composites between groups. Information derived from the prospective study will contribute to understanding specific attachment related group differences and thus serve as the first step in establishing the R-PAS as a system for detecting attachment organization in child-custody litigants. It is hoped that this research will better inform forensic evaluators concerning: stress and coping styles; co-parenting; caregiving fitness; and ultimately child custody decisions. / text

Previous studies have shown that a child’s attachment relationship with the mother and the mother’s psychosocial functioning are influential to the child’s psychosocial functioning in terms of the development of psychopathology. The current study aimed to examine the relationships between maternal and child psychosocial functioning in terms of internalizing and externalizing symptoms and sleep problems, as well as child attachment quality. The potential mediating or moderating role of attachment quality in the mother-child psychosocial functioning linkage was investigated. A total of 151 children and their mothers from a local community sample participated in the study. The children reported on their sleep problems and attachment quality. The mothers reported on their sleep problems, their children’s sleep problems, their internalizing symptoms, and their children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Results showed that maternal internalizing symptoms were predictive of child internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Attachment quality was predictive of child externalizing symptoms. The relationships among maternal and child sleep problems and attachment quality were inconclusive. No mediation or moderation effect of attachment quality on the relationship between maternal and child psychosocial functioning was suggested. Implications and future research directions were discussed. / published_or_final_version / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

This thesis describes the relationship between adult attachment style, coping strategies, identity development and perception of social support. 107 participants answered four self-report questionnaires examining their attachment style, coping strategies, identity development status and perception of social support. Correlation analyses were used. Results showed secure attachment to significantly positively correlate with identity moratorium and to negatively correlate with identity foreclosure. Avoidant attachment significantly positively correlated with denial and mental disengagement and negatively correlated with seeking social support. Individuals with high avoidant attachment scores were more likely to have high scores for identity diffusion, more likely to perceive fewer available social supports and were less likely to be satisfied with this support. Anxious ambivalence positively correlated with denial and mental, behavioural and alcohol/drug disengagement, and negatively correlated with active and planning which are pro-active coping strategies. Anxious ambivalence positively correlated with identity diffusion and negatively with identity foreclosure. Individuals with high anxious ambivalence scores were more likely to be dissatisfied with social support. Overall, secure attachment was found to correlate with acknowledging the need for an identity search. Insecure attachment was found to relate to less effective coping methods, to correlate with not acknowledging the need for an identity search and dissatisfaction with social support. Results are considered in terms of attachment styles and applications, for example in therapeutic settings.

No description available.

No description available.

Synen en individ har på arbete och tron på sin förmåga inom yrkeslivet formas i många fall redan under tonåren. Anknytningsrelationerna till föräldrarna och det sociala stödet inom en familj påverkar den enskilda individens karriärsidentitet och framtida yrkesval. Studien syftar till att belysa aspekter av hur den upplevda synen på tonåren i efterhand gällande familjerelationer, skolgången och synen på arbete har spelat roll för enskilda individers nuvarande yrkesval, karriärsidentitet, och tron på den egna förmågan. Studien har genomförts genom kvalitativa intervjuer av en grupp chefer (med 5 chefer och 4 icke-chefer), och visade bland annat på att cheferna upplevde ett större socialt stöd från sin familj under tonåren, jämfört med icke-cheferna. Resultatet diskuteras utifrån aspekter som berör det sociala stödet betydelse för framtida karriärsval, och vikten av skolans betydelse för framtida yrkesval och karriärsidentitet. Vilket ska ha en stor betydelse för individer som har en lägre socioekonomisk bakgrund

Cognitive models of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) suggest that an ambivalent self-concept and dysfunctional beliefs play an important role in the pathogenesis of OCD. Early attachment experience is argued to be the main process through which such ambivalent self-representations develop. The current study investigated self-concept clarity, a broader construct than ambivalence, attachment security, obsessive-compulsive (OC)-relevant beliefs and their relation to OC symptoms. Forty four people who reported experiencing OC symptoms were compared to 34 individuals who reported no mental health difficulties. People who experienced OC symptoms exhibited significantly less self-concept clarity, less attachment security and higher levels of OC-related beliefs. Once levels of depression were controlled for, no significant relationship between attachment security and self-concept clarity was found in the OCD group. OC symptoms were not significantly correlated with self-concept clarity in the OCD group, although significant negative relationships were found between self-concept clarity and specific OC symptoms. Evidence was found to support the notion that OC-relevant beliefs mediate the relationship between self-concept clarity and OC symptoms, in addition to mediating the relationship between attachment anxiety and OC symptoms. Implications for attachment theory and cognitive models of OCD are discussed, along with clinical and research implications.

Background: Attachment literature indicates attachment status is related to trauma with associations between early trauma and insecure attachment. Links between psychosis and trauma have been established within the literature; however the precise nature of this relationship is still not fully understood. A systematic review was carried out to assess the state of the evidence pertaining to psychosis and attachment. Associations between insecure attachment and psychotic symptoms were identified. Other psychological correlates such as perceived parental care, attachment to services and interpersonal problems were found to relate to insecure attachment status. However due to the early stage of this area of research, small clinical sample sizes and heterogeneity of correlates investigated, firm conclusions cannot currently be drawn. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between trauma, attachment, reflective functioning (RF) and distress for people with psychosis with a view to further understanding these links and the clinical implications. Method: Participants with a diagnosis of psychosis were recruited and measures were completed with the principle investigator pertaining to trauma, attachment and distress in psychosis. Results: The majority of the sample reported insecure attachment and low RF and there were high levels of general, and more specifically, interpersonal trauma within the sample. Results indicated that early interpersonal trauma was associated with higher levels of emotional distress. Exploratory mediation analyses implicated anxious attachment in mediating the relationship between interpersonal trauma and distress. Discussion: The results indicate the need to consider early trauma histories and specifically interpersonal trauma and attachment in the context of emotional distress for people experiencing psychosis. Incorporating trauma and attachment based therapeutic approaches for people with psychosis is as relevant as it is for other trauma populations, where these approaches may be more routinely drawn on for formulation and treatment. Limitations of the methodological approach are considered along with suggestions for future research.

Background: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a psychiatric diagnosis characterized by emotional and behavioural instability, and impaired ability to maintain relationships. Previous research has demonstrated an association between BPD and insecure attachment style. It has been argued that BPD is a disorder of attachment, with insecure attachment being associated with inadequate capacity to represent mental states, or to “mentalize”. There is evidence that people with BPD are impaired in their capacity to mentalize in the context of attachment relationships. The term “mentalization” encompasses a broad range of processes including metacognition. There is a theoretical basis for metacognitive deficits in BPD. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence regarding the role of metacognition in BPD and its relationship to adult attachment style. Method: Participants with BPD were recruited from Community Mental Health Teams, Clinical Psychology and a Dialectal Behaviour Therapy (DBT) service within NHS Highland. A comparison group of participants without BPD were recruited from the Clinical Psychology service, having been referred for symptoms of depression. Both groups were administered the Relationship Scales Questionnaire (RSQ)(a self-report measure of attachment); and a short version of the Metacognitions Questionnaire (MCQ-30). Severity of clinical symptoms and current mood was assessed using the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation (CORE) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Results: Participants with BPD scored significantly higher than those without BPD on the attachment-anxiety and attachment-avoidance dimensions of the RSQ. The BPD group also endorsed MCQ-30 items more than the comparison group. There was a significant difference between the groups on the MCQ-30 total score and four of the five subscale scores. There were significant positive correlations between attachment dimension scores and metacognition subscales. The strongest associations were between attachmentanxiety and “uncontrollability and danger” and “need to control thoughts” subscales of the MCQ-30. Only metacognition was predictive of current mood and distress levels. Conclusions: The results of this study show that people with BPD report high attachment-avoidance and attachment-anxiety in their relationships, relative to a non-BPD, depressed comparison group. These findings are consistent with the existing literature regarding the profile of attachment in BPD. This study also found that people with BPD also have more maladaptive metacognitions than people with symptoms of depression. An association between self-reported adult attachment style and maladaptive metacognitiion was demonstrated in the present study. Maladaptive metacognitive strategies and beliefs potentially contribute to maintenance of depressed and anxious mood, as well as broader symptoms of distress.