This study examined the relationship between adult attachment style and pursuer-distancer patterns in couples. Both uni- and bi-directional pursuer-distancer patterns were studied. Participants were 67 individuals (including 32 couples) in therapy. Each partner, independent of the other, completed an anonymous questionnaire containing the Multi-item Measure of Adult Romantic Attachment (Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998) and a four-item measure of pursuer-distancer pattern designed for this study. The relationship between male dismissing attachment style and the presence of a pursuer-distancer pattern in the couple approached significance. Analyses of attachment style and the specific direction of the pursuer-distancer pattern as a couple-level variable were non-significant. However, when self-report of pursuer-distancer pattern was analyzed as an individual-level variable, a significant relationship was found between pursuing and a preoccupied attachment style and between distancing and a dismissing attachment style. Fearful attachment style was related to bi-directional pursuer-distancer pattern when measured by partner's report but not when measured by self-report. Dismissing and fearful attachment styles in males were related to lower relationship satisfaction in males and females. Pursuer-distancer patterns (particularly female-pursue and bi-directional patterns) were significantly related to lower relationship satisfaction in males and females. No relationship was found between attachment style or pursuer-distancer pattern report and the gender of the participant. Implications for treating pursuer-distancer patterns couples are discussed. / Master of Science

Robert Agnew proposed a new version of strain theory in 1992. In this article, Agnew argued that strain is not only a result of the blocked opportunity to achieve goals as Merton had argued, but that strain also results from the removal of positively valued stimuli and the presence of negative stimuli. With such a theory, criminologist had focused on how this may explain juvenile delinquency. Yet very little attention was given to how this may affect adult criminality as well. Similarly, Hirschi (1969) presented social control theory as a means of describing the causes of juvenile delinquency. While these theories have been repeatedly tested and supported with respect to delinquency, they have rarely been used to describe adult criminality. This paper intends to compare the utility of Agnew's general strain theory and Hirschi's control theory in explaining the criminal behavior of fathers. For general strain theory, it is predicted that fathers who have either high contact and low relationship quality or who have low contact and high relationship quality will have significantly higher criminal activity than those who have high contact and relationship quality or low contact and relationship quality. Conversely, social control theory predicts that fathers who have low relationship qualities with their children are more likely to commit criminal acts. This paper aims to ascertain which of these hypotheses is more accurate. / Master of Science

Parents of children who have been diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) often face a challenging dilemma. They are faced with parenting children who often respond from an orientation of feeling unloved and mistrustful of their caregivers. The purpose of this study was to develop a detailed description of the story of four such parents. A multi-case qualitative design and constructivist and coping theoretical frameworks guided the investigation. The constant comparative method of analysis was used to develop three core categories that described the subtitles of parent's experiences. Parent's quotes were used to further embellish the findings. The findings include parent's experiences in recognizing RAD behavior, their response to this behavior, and advice and recommendations they would share with others dealing with this diagnosis. Parents described their child's behavior, resources and methods they used to cope, and had both encouraging and critical reflections of their experiences. / Master of Science

Psychologists suggest that development early in life is related to the behaviors and personality that each individual exhibits later in life. Research shows that development continues into adulthood and throughout an individual's lifetime. In fact, human development is related to the environment around the individual as well as the individuals' interactions with others, especially individuals' primary caregivers (Bowlby 1988). These relationships can be seen in attachment. Attachment behavior is any form of behavior that one individual uses to maintain an attachment to another individual who is believed to be better able to cope with the world. This research project examines the associations among these early experiences in emerging adults' lives in the context of their attachment styles, their attributions, and their current relationships with romantic partners and peers. One hundred thirteen undergraduate female students in Psychology courses at the University of Central Florida between the ages of 18- to 25-years completed a packet of questionnaires assessing these variables. All participants indicated that they were involved in a relationship at the time of the study. Results of this study indicate that emerging adults' attachment to their parents, their perceptions of their parents, their attributions about their romantic partners, and their attachment to their partners and their peers are related significantly. These findings emphasize the importance of research investigating the relationships among attachment to parents and relationships during emerging adulthood.

This study investigates how existential connectedness and pet attachment influence loneliness in pet owners. Existential connectedness is a relatively new concept that further explains the relationship between loneliness and pet attachment. Participants completed the Existential Isolation Questionnaire, the Lexington Attachment to Pet Scale, and the UCLA Loneliness Scale in order to explore whether higher attachment to a pet is related to decreased loneliness among pet owners with low existential connectedness. Participants with low existential connectedness and high pet attachment to a personal pet of their own had significantly lower loneliness scores than those participants with low existential connectedness and low pet attachment. The participants with high existential connectedness had lower levels of loneliness overall and showed no difference in loneliness scores between low and high pet attachment. This study advances the understanding of the complicated relationship between pet ownership and loneliness in pet owners.

Monogeneans are mainly ectoparasitic on fish, but the family Polystomatidae radiated onto tetrapods and can be found on the skin and gills of the Australian lungfish, in the urinary bladder of frogs, gills and skin of salamanders, cloaca and phalodeum of caecileans, on the eye, nostrils, mouth, cloaca or urinary bladder of freshwater turtles, and on the eye of the hippopotamus. These host organisms are ecologically related through their association with freshwater habitats that favour parasite transmission. Firm attachment is critical to maintain a close relationship with their hosts. Attachment organs usually comprise of several units that are semi related to each other due to the need to form a functional unit. Interactions between subunits are expected to be under stabilising selection, and therefore hinder evolutionary change. Monogeneans are renowned for their effective posterior attachment structures in the form of hooks or hamuli and suckers that secure them, permanently or semi-permanently, to their hosts. The aim of this study was to investigate the morphology and functioning of attachment organs of selected polystomes representing different genera. A number of genera were selected in the study of attachment structures, genera included: Protopolystoma, Polystoma, Eupolystoma, Neopolystoma, Polystomoides and Oculotrema. Light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy was used to study the external morphology. Histology followed by light microscopy, confocal microscopy and enzyme digestion techniques followed by scanning electron microscopy was used to study the internal morphology. It was found that variation in haptoral components do exist, even among congeners, living for example in the bladder and oral cavity of the same host. Environmental factors relating to host ecology need to be taken into account when studying the morphology of monogenean haptors. Such factors play an important role in the adaptation of monogeneans and have possibly led to the change in microhabitats, which in turn explain the variation of haptoral components between parasites. Not all haptoral structures necessarily function in attachment throughout the entire life of the parasite and different haptoral structures are important for attachment to the host at different developmental stages of the parasite. / PhD, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Monogeneans are mainly ectoparasitic on fish, but the family Polystomatidae radiated onto tetrapods and can be found on the skin and gills of the Australian lungfish, in the urinary bladder of frogs, gills and skin of salamanders, cloaca and phalodeum of caecileans, on the eye, nostrils, mouth, cloaca or urinary bladder of freshwater turtles, and on the eye of the hippopotamus. These host organisms are ecologically related through their association with freshwater habitats that favour parasite transmission. Firm attachment is critical to maintain a close relationship with their hosts. Attachment organs usually comprise of several units that are semi related to each other due to the need to form a functional unit. Interactions between subunits are expected to be under stabilising selection, and therefore hinder evolutionary change. Monogeneans are renowned for their effective posterior attachment structures in the form of hooks or hamuli and suckers that secure them, permanently or semi-permanently, to their hosts. The aim of this study was to investigate the morphology and functioning of attachment organs of selected polystomes representing different genera. A number of genera were selected in the study of attachment structures, genera included: Protopolystoma, Polystoma, Eupolystoma, Neopolystoma, Polystomoides and Oculotrema. Light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy was used to study the external morphology. Histology followed by light microscopy, confocal microscopy and enzyme digestion techniques followed by scanning electron microscopy was used to study the internal morphology. It was found that variation in haptoral components do exist, even among congeners, living for example in the bladder and oral cavity of the same host. Environmental factors relating to host ecology need to be taken into account when studying the morphology of monogenean haptors. Such factors play an important role in the adaptation of monogeneans and have possibly led to the change in microhabitats, which in turn explain the variation of haptoral components between parasites. Not all haptoral structures necessarily function in attachment throughout the entire life of the parasite and different haptoral structures are important for attachment to the host at different developmental stages of the parasite. / PhD, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Background: Attachment styles involve perceptions of the self and others and influence how individuals relate to other people. Insecure attachment styles have been strongly associated with the life experiences, criminal behaviour and mental health presentations common to patients in forensic settings. Therefore, challenging interactions associated with patients’ insecure attachment styles and contact with traumatising material are considered common for psychologists working within these settings. However, previous research has also indicated that a significant number of psychologists may also have insecure attachment styles. Forensic settings have been associated with stress and burnout amongst health care professionals. However, no previous research has explored how psychologists’ attachment styles may impact their levels of compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction or influence their self-care in this setting. Aims: This is an exploratory study which addresses a gap in the literature. It aims to explore the attachment styles and prevalence of compassion fatigue (burnout and secondary traumatic stress) and compassion satisfaction amongst psychologists in forensic settings. It will also qualitatively explore how psychologists manage negative feelings that arise in relation to their work and their use of self-care strategies in a range of situations. Finally, it will explore differences in the self-care strategies used by psychologists with different attachment styles. Methodology: An online survey was used to gather data from 66 psychologists currently working in forensic settings in the United Kingdom. Quantitative measures of attachment style, compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue were combined with qualitative questions regarding psychologists’ self-care strategies. This provided data which was analysed using a mixed methodology, including correlational statistical analysis and qualitative content analysis. Attachment style groups were identified from the quantitative data and qualitative content analysis was applied to explore group similarities and differences in psychologists’ self-care strategies. Results: The results indicated that participating psychologists had a range of attachment styles. Compassion fatigue was not found to be as prevalent as suggested by previous research. Positive correlations were found between attachment related anxiety and burnout, and attachment related avoidance and burnout. Compassion satisfaction was found to be common within the present sample. A negative correlation was found between attachment related avoidance and compassion satisfaction. Similarities and differences in psychologists’ self-care were highlighted between different attachment style groups. Implications: A potential vulnerability was identified for psychologists with insecure attachment styles, in relation to burnout and reduced compassion satisfaction. Furthermore, there appeared to be a lack of knowledge and understanding of attachment theory and how this applies to clinical work. Therefore, a key implication is the development of training for psychologists in relation to this topic. Use of multiple self-care strategies was common and self-care was perceived as important to clinical practice by the majority of the present sample. However, a training need for skills to be taught early in the psychologists’ career and a need for self-care to be more widely supported at an organisational level regardless of stage of career was identified. The study concludes with a review of methodological considerations and the limitations these may present to the current findings.

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between attachment and emotion understanding in preschoolers. Data was collected from 16 preschool children and their mothers recruited from a private learning center in a downtown metropolitan area. Attachment was measured by use of the Attachment Q-sort, 3.0 (Waters, 1995), while emotion understanding was assessed through use of Denham's (1986) affective perspective-taking task and interviews of children concerning naturally occurring emotions and emotion causes (Fabes et al., 1991). Results included a significant correlation (p < .05) between secure attachment and preschooler's ability to decipher the cause of another's emotion; however, a significant correlation was not found between secure attachment and preschooler's perspective-taking ability or ability to name other's emotions. Thus, conclusions about the impact of attachment upon emotion understanding were mixed, and more research on the subject was implicated.

Purpose The purpose of the study was to examine the educator’s thoughts and experiences regarding the term “attachment”. Similarly, we wanted to find out what strategies educators use to create comfortable and secure relationships for the younger children within the large groups of children. According to this purpose, we have formulated the following questions: What experience has educators in working with large groups of children? How do educators perceive the term attachment in relation to the younger children in preschool? Which known strategies the educators use to ensure the younger children’s security within the larger group? Method We have, with a qualitative method, interviewed six educators at three preschools in different municipalities. As a complement to the collected data, we made observations at two of the preschools. Our greatest focus and importance have been on the empirical evidence from the interviews conducted. Theory In our study we have taken the support of Bowlby's “attachment theory” which highlights the importance of close emotional relationships and we also used current research in the field. We have chosen to assume only this theory because we believe that it corresponds to the study's main purpose, namely children's secure attachment. Results From an attachment theory perspective that emphasize the importance of close and emotional relationships for the individual child's development and comfort, one of our results indicates that large groups of children complicate the educators ability to meet the individual child's needs on a daily basis. Based on the interview material it became clear that all educators agree on the importance of being a calm and present educator in the attachment work with younger children. Our results indicate that strategies such as dividing large groups in to smaller ones, as well as a structured working team, are important factors in order to tie in with all children within the larger groups. Most educators emphasize that an inspiring environment that raises the child's curiosity and exploration, promotes the child´s sense of security at the preschool. / Syfte Studiens syfte har varit att ta reda på pedagogers tankar om och erfarenheter av begreppet anknytning. Vi ville även ta reda på vilka strategier pedagogerna använder sig av för att skapa trygga relationer för de yngre barnen i stora barngrupper. Utifrån detta syfte har vi formulerat följande frågeställningar: Vilka erfarenheter har pedagogerna av att arbeta med stora barngrupper? Hur uppfattar pedagogerna begreppet anknytning i förhållande till de yngre barnen i förskolan? Vilka uttalade strategier säger pedagogerna att de använder sig av för att skapa trygghet till de yngre barnen i stora barngrupper? Metod Vi har med en kvalitativ metod intervjuat sex pedagoger på tre förskolor i olika kommuner. Vi har även observerat på två av förskolorna som ett komplement till vårt intervjumaterial. Det är empirin från intervjuerna som vi har lagt störst fokus och vikt på. Teori Vi har tagit stöd av Bowlbys anknytningsteori som belyser vikten av nära känslomässiga relationer i vår studie samt använt oss av aktuell forskning. Vi har endast valt att utgå från denna teori då vi anser att den motsvarar studiens huvudsyfte det vill säga barns trygga anknytningar. Resultat Ett av våra resultat påvisar att stora barngrupper försvårar pedagogers möjligheter att dagligen tillgodose det enskilda barnets behov, sett utifrån ett anknytningsteoretiskt perspektiv som betonar vikten av nära och känslomässiga relationer för det enskilda barnets utveckling och trygghet. I intervjumaterialet framkom det att alla pedagoger är överens om vikten med att vara en lugn och närvarande pedagog i anknytningsarbetet med yngre barn. Vårt resultat påvisar att strategier som gruppindelning samt ett strukturerat arbetslag är betydelsefulla faktorer i arbetet med stora barngrupper. Flertalet pedagoger betonar att en inspirerande miljö bidrar till att väcka barns nyfikenhet och utforskande, vilket främjar barnets trygghet på förskolan.