Mothers who are experiencing psychopathology are often unable to provide sensitivity to their infants, which is critical for the development of a secure attachment. The objective of the current study was to provide a statistical, quantitative consensus on the relationship between maternal psychopathology and infant attachment, by performing a number of meta-analyses. Prevalence rates of non-secure attachment in infants of mothers with overall and specific psychopathologies were calculated. Infants of mothers with psychopathology were also found to be at increased risk for developing a non-secure attachment, displayed significantly greater levels of attachment non-security, and there was a significant relationship between symptomology and non-security. Moderator analyses were also run to determine if any variables moderated this relationship. The results of this study indicate that it may be beneficial for clinicians to identify mother-infant dyads who may benefit from early interventions that focus on improving maternal mental health and enhancing infant attachment. / October 2016

The current study investigated the association of interparental conflict, parent-child attachment, and children's behavior problems in middle childhood. Although the effects of interparental conflict have been studied extensively, there has been little research done in the developmental period of middle childhood. This study examined the potential mediating role of the attachment relationship between parents and children in a community sample consisting of 86 two-parent families with at least one child between the ages of 8-11. Path modeling procedures indicated that attachment security serves as a mediator between interparental conflict and child behavior problems based on child reports. In particular, child-reported attachment security to the mother significantly mediated the association between children's perceptions of threat from interparental conflict and child-reported internalizing and inattentive/hyperactive symptoms. Child-reported attachment security to the father was not a significant mediator and mediation was not supported in parent-report models. The current findings have implications for families experiencing conflict and speak to the importance of attachment in the parent-child relationship when explaining the association between instances of interparental conflict and child behavioral outcomes. In particular, parents who engage in conflict can prevent the damaging effects of that conflict by making the conflict less overt, explaining to children the reasons for the conflict, and providing children with some assurance that a secure parent-child and interparental relationship is still present, despite the conflict.

No description available.

Thesis advisor: Jean M. Bartunek / Whereas some organizations effectively vanish when they die, others have robust legacies grounded in ongoing, post-death organizing that preserves valued organizational elements after an organization dies. Through post-death organizing, former members perpetuate an organization's legacy, or a shared understanding of its historical contributions. Post-death organizing may be best understood as an expression of the endurance of former members' identification with a defunct organization. This dissertation develops and tests a model of the role of organizational identification endurance in members' propensity to participate in post-death organizing and the consequent effects on organizational identity. The model identified the cognitive, evaluative, and affective processes underlying organizational identification and its individual and situational antecedents. Data for this study were drawn from a survey of 2,192 former employees of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 28 countries around the world. The analysis of these data was conducted using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling procedures. The resulting model demonstrated strong fit with the data according to several goodness-of-fit indices. The model provides support for a positive relationship between organizational identification endurance and four antecedent factors, including need for organizational identification, positive affectivity, length of service, and perceived relational organizational identity orientation. As expected, organizational identification endurance was positively related to participation in post-death organizing and perceived strength of a defunct organization's identity. Participation in post-death organizing was also positively related with perceived organizational identity strength. Contrary to expectations, the extent to which individuals' employment coincided with years of growth was negatively related to the endurance of organizational identification. Further investigation of this relationship through post-hoc analyses provided inconclusive support for a relationship in either direction between these variables. This research on post-death organizing elaborates scholarly and managerial understanding about former organizational members' motives for participating in post-death organizing. Rather than simply moving to new organizational settings, individuals who are strongly identified with their defunct organizations will be drawn towards opportunities to preserve the organizational characteristics on which their identification is based. This research also has important implications for identification research. This research sheds light on the processes that enable the endurance of organizational identification, which may be more long lasting than the organizations from which it is derived. This research elaborates theories of identification by illuminating the intertwined effects of cognition, evaluation and affect on identification and its implications for individuals' behavior during and after experiences of organizational death. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Organization Studies.

Thesis advisor: Belle Liang / Previous research on mentoring has primarily focused on outcomes associated with these relationships. This body of literature has shown that youths can reap academic, psychological, social, and vocational benefits from the support and guidance provided by these relationships. In addition to outcomes, there has been a slow, but steady, shift to understand the process, or experience, of mentoring from the perspectives of both the mentor and youth. Yet both of these lines of inquiry tend to presuppose that youths are ready, willing, and able to engage in a relationship with a mentor, as long as one is available. Indeed, other research shows that not all youths are ready to be mentored. Therefore, in an attempt to address the conceptual gap regarding the understanding of how youths come to participate in mentoring relationships, the current study used developmental frameworks to investigate precursors to youths' readiness to be mentored. Specifically, this study considered the role of demographic characteristics and parental attachment with eighth grade youths' readiness to be mentored. Readiness to be mentored was conceptualized as consisting of attitudinal and probable-action elements, based on help-seeking theory, and was assessed using adapted scales that were piloted in the current study. Youths in eighth grade from four K-8 elementary schools in the Northeast (N=104) completed self-report questionnaires assessing parental attachment, attitude towards seeking a mentor, likelihood to engage a mentor, demographic characteristics, and mentor characteristics. The gender differences that were hypothesized were not supported; rather, mentor presence was linked to positive attitudes towards seeking a mentor and increased likelihood to engage a mentor. Among the youths with mentors, aspects of parental attachment differentially predicted attitude towards seeking a mentor and likelihood to engage a mentor. Of particular interest was that those without mentors most frequently reported not needing a mentor. This finding draws attention to the understandings youths have of the role and potential utility of mentoring in their lives, and the factors that shape these understandings. Theoretical considerations, implications for future research, and practice implications are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology.

Mak, Chi Kuan. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 54-57). / Abstracts in English and Chinese; appendix also in Chinese.

Utah is a popular second-home destination due to its unique landscapes that offer numerous natural amenities. Therefore, this research utilizes a mail survey of residents in six Utah counties to examine if seasonal residents become attached to their local communities in the same way as year-round residents. The objective of this research was two-fold: 1) to determine if the commonly cited dimensions of community attachment are an accurate representation of the concept itself; and 2) to determine if the foundations of community attachment, based on those conceptual dimensions, are different for year-round and seasonal homeowners. Prior research has shown that length of residence is the best predictor of community attachment. Therefore, a measure of length of residence for year-round residents is used, while a proxy measure of frequency of visitation to seasonal homes is used for seasonal residents. In addition to the residency categories, traditional sociodemographics are used as control variables. Structural equation models, which allow for the use of latent variables, are utilized to complete the objectives of this research. In general, levels of attachment were highest for longstanding year-round residents. Additionally, newcomer year-round residents and seasonal residents who visit their secondary communities more often possessed attachment, but at slightly lower levels than year-round longstanding residents. Seasonal residents who visit their seasonal communities less frequently had the lowest levels of community attachment. The multivariate results revealed that a multidimensional conceptualization of community attachment is appropriate. The operationalization of the commonly cited dimensions of community attachment (social bonds, participation and sentiments) used in this research all proved to be important elements of the higher order construct "community attachment" for both year-round and seasonal residents. Finally, the results indicated that the foundations of community attachment are different for seasonal and year-round residents. For year-round residents, community attachment is best predicted by the social bonds dimension, while for seasonal residents the participation dimension is the most important. In all, however, all three of the dimensions of community attachment used herein are important, thereby indicating that any future research on this important topic would be best suited to use a multidimensional conceptualization of community attachment.

The purpose of the current study was to examine links between Gottman's (1994, 1999) conflict resolution (CR) styles and marital distress indicators (the four horsemen), adult attachment, and Snyder's (1997) marital satisfaction inventory. (MSI-R). One hundred and one heterosexual couples (202 individuals; mean age = 43.5 years, SD = 11.15), currently involved in a marital style relationship (length of relationship M = 19 years, SD = 10.8), were recruited via undergraduate psychology students at a Melbourne university, who requested the questionnaires be completed by their parents or other relatives if they were not eligible for inclusion, and via a Melbourne relationship counselling centre. No evidence was found for matching of conflict resolution styles between partners in the couples, therefore hypotheses testing matching of conflict resolution style against marital distress indicators, marital satisfaction and attachment orientation were not supported. Women were found to score higher on the anxiety adult attachment dimension than men, but no gender differences were found on the 'avoidance' adult attachment dimension. Hypotheses testing links between adult attachment and Gottman's conflict resolution styles (CR) were supported. Participants classified into the secure attachment category were found to score significantly higher in validating CR than those classified as avoidant (dismissive or fearful), and significantly lower in volatile CR than preoccupied participants. Avoidant CR scores were found to be significantly lower amongst secure women than dismissive women, and amongst secure men than both dismissive and fearful men. The hypothesis that women would be higher in contempt and criticism than men was supported, whilst the prediction that men would be higher in stonewalling than women was not supported. Participants classified as secure were associated with lower levels of marital distress indicators and marital dissatisfaction variables than those classified as insecure, as predicted; however some gender differences were apparent in the pattern of differences between the attachment groups in these variables. The hypothesis testing partners' similarity to one another on Gottman's marital distress indicators was not supported; however strong support was found for the notion that partners believed themselves to be similar to their partners on these variables. The hypothesis that secure or dismissive participants would have greater perceived similarity than preoccupied or fearful participants was supported for men but not for women. The prediction that anxious attachment scores would be associated with higher accuracy of partner perception was supported for women but not for men. The prediction that anxious attachment would decrease with age and length of relationship was supported for women but not for men; and the final prediction that accuracy of partner perception would diminish with length of relationship was supported for men but not for women. Overall, results of the current study indicate that there are subtle differences between men and women in the experience of distress in marital relationships, as well as in how relationships change over time. Further, the current research offers evidence that the conflict resolution styles proposed by Gottman may be related to attachment orientation, and may offer some explanation as to how various attachment needs are met via these different methods of marital interaction.

Four adult attachment styles that have been extensively reported in the literature have been labeled secure, dismissing, preoccupied, and fearful. Unfortunately, there are no existing published studies that measure attachment styles of incarcerated women. This study used responses from 158 women incarcerated at a federal prison on the Relationship Questionnaire, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III), and Record of Maltreatment Experiences to examine several facets of the association of attachment styles with childhood abuse and scales on the MCMI-III. The inmates who survived abuse endorsed the fearful and preoccupied attachment styles more, and the secure style less, than did the women who did not acknowledge a history of abuse. There was no statistically significant finding among attachment styles based on physical or sexual abuse. Inmates who were abused by a family member were more likely to endorse the fearful attachment style. The depressive, sadistic, and dependent MCMI-III scales were determined to be more highly associated with fearful or preoccupied attachment styles than with dismissing or secure styles. Finally, the inmates endorsed the anxious/ambivalent (fearful and preoccupied) attachment style more, and the secure style less, than non-incarcerated individuals as reported in the literature.

A cross-cultural survey study examined the impact of adult attachment and self-construal on relationship and mental health outcomes in Hong Kong, Mexico, and the United States. Approximately 200 university students (each currently involved in a romantic relationship) from each culture were recruited to participate. Participants completed self-report measures of adult attachment style, self-construal and several questionnaires about their romantic relationships. The dependent measures examined were relationship satisfaction, commitment, and perceived social support, along with the mental health variable of depressive symptoms. Both universal and culture-specific patterns of adult attachment were observed. Attachment insecurity was negatively related to relationship and mental health outcomes in all cultures under study, providing support for a universal interpretation of attachment theory. However, the negative effects of avoidant attachment on relationship outcomes were found to be stronger in Hong Kong and in Mexico. These findings provide support for a degree of cultural specificity to attachment processes. Additional findings centered on self-construal, and showed that independent self-construal was particularly detrimental to relationship outcomes in Hong Kong. Implications for attachment theory and self-construal research are discussed.