Psychosocial research is increasingly focused on attachment, specifically on the potential mechanisms associating attachment with psychological functioning (Cassidy & Shaver, 2016). In past decades, attachment research has sought to better understand the development of individual psychological distress as well as relationship distress, given its major impacts on the overall well-being of individuals. It is worth noting that researchers have identified specific intrapersonal and interpersonal factors that are important variables to consider in the link between attachment and both individual distress and relationship dissatisfaction (Ensel & Lin, 1991; Hobfoll, 2002). However, little attention has been paid to investigating these mechanisms using a dyadic approach in order to gain a better understanding of reciprocal impacts within couple relationships. Since dyadic research methods have not been commonly utilized for understanding distress within an attachment framework, this has limited our understanding of the effect partners have on one another. Consequentially, the importance of dyadic effects has possibly been minimized in research. The present thesis, composed of two main studies, aims to verify if self-esteem and dyadic trust help explain the link between insecure romantic attachment (attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance) and individual and relationship distress using actor-partner interdependence mediation model analyses. The studies presented in the present thesis were approved by the University of Ottawa’s Research Ethics Board. The first study was comprised of two separate studies, both of which aimed to assess a conceptual model examining whether low self-esteem mediates the relationship between insecure romantic attachment and high psychological distress using two independent samples within unique periods in adulthood: a young adult student sample and a sample of couples in later adulthood who are parents. The first sample consisted of 485 Canadian university students (414 females; M age= 19.83 years) who were all in a couple relationship for at least 6 months at the time of participation. Bootstrapping procedures were utilized to assess indirect effects, and results supported our hypothesized model. As such, low self-esteem mediated the relationship between insecure romantic attachment and high psychological distress for both men and women. The second sample consisted of 35 couples in later adulthood who are parents (70 individuals, M age = 41.04 years). An actor-partner interdependence meditational model was tested to assess actor, partner, and indirect effects. Results showed that low male self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between male attachment anxiety and high male psychological distress. Similarly, low female self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between female attachment anxiety and high female psychological distress. Interestingly, high female self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between female attachment avoidance and low female psychological distress. Unexpectedly, low self-esteem in women fully mediated the relationship between female attachment anxiety and low male psychological distress. In the same vein, high self-esteem in women partially mediated the relationship between female attachment avoidance and high male psychological distress. The second study investigated whether low dyadic trust mediates the relationship between insecure romantic attachment and low relationship satisfaction in a third independent community sample of heterosexual couples engaged in a relationship for at least 12 months. The sample consisted of 199 Canadian couples ranging from young to later adulthood (398 individuals, M age = 31.02 years). An actor-partner meditational model was used to test hypothesized relations. Results revealed that lower dyadic trust partially explained the relationship between both male and female attachment avoidance and male attachment anxiety with lower relationship satisfaction. Findings from these studies have major implications for both clinical applications as well as future research directions. Specifically, gaining a better understanding of the role of romantic partners in the overall well-being of individuals can confirm as well as guide couple therapy conceptualizations and techniques. Uncovering existing dyadic patterns can also help support romantic relationship theories and shape future research avenues.

Background: It is estimated that adolescent offenders account for 65% of contact child sexual abuse. A range of explanatory theories and models of intervention have been proposed. These are mainly based on cognitive theories with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and psycho-education remaining as the dominant models of treatment intervention. This research explored the issue of harmful sexual behaviour from the psychosocial perspective, drawing on attachment theory and social constructionism. Aim: The research explored attachment strategies among young people with harmful sexual behaviour. It examined young people’s understanding and explanations regarding their sexually abusive behaviour. This included an exploration of how the participants’ accounts and defensive strategies were shaped by wider family and cultural discourses regarding masculinity and sexual activity. In selected cases, the family intergenerational patterns of attachment and emotional regulation were analysed. Furthermore, the research explored the prevalence of harmful sexual behaviour in the study area. This included an exploration of statutory responses and services which were offered to people who engaged in harmful sexual behaviour. Methods: The research employed three interconnected research methods: a) a quantitative audit data of fifty cases which had been reported to the Children’s Services; b) qualitative and descriptive quantitative exploration of eight Transition to Adulthood Attachment Interviews and semi-structured interviews; c) qualitative exploration of the family context and trans-generational patterns of defensive strategies by conducting an Adult Attachment Interview in three cases. The analysis of the attachment and open-ended interviews utilised a combination of the structured ‘discourse analysis’ developed for the Adult Attachment Interview and Critical Discourse Analysis. Findings: The research found that there was no clear and consistent pathway of social care for young people who engaged in harmful sexual behaviour. The analysis of psychological defensive processes found that all of the participants presented with complex insecure attachment strategies alongside intrusions of unresolved traumas or losses. The exploration of intergenerational patterns of attachment strategies identified that all parents showed complex avoidant attachment strategies with intrusion of unresolved trauma and loss. The qualitative study identified a range of discourse themes and strategies in the accounts the young people offered in order to explain their actions and to maintain their sense of self. The dominant discourse themes shared by the young people were: a) life is hard and violence is normal; b) a sense of powerlessness; c) sexual entitlement, d) bravado and denial of vulnerability. Conclusion: Complex insecure attachment strategies with intrusion of trauma and loss play a significant role in the development of harmful sexual behaviour. In addition, the study suggests that the complex relationship between care, comfort and sexual behaviour should be a central focus of clinical interventions with this group of young people and should be investigated further in future research studies.

The purpose of my study is to highlight the knowledge of toddlers introduction to preschoolfrom the educators perspective. Four educators have been interviewed about their experiences regarding toddlers introduction seen as a phenomenon. My thesis approach is inspired by phenomenology. My research questions focus on the following: educators experiences of different introduction models to preschool, what do the educators believe is significant for creating security for the child and can the educators see any changes regarding the introduction during their years in preschool? The surveys data is collected with the method of qualitative interviews followed by an analysis based on the phenomenological approach. In my findings I could see that the educators use what is called parent active introduction when introducing toddlers into preschool. The parents role during this model is to be active and helpin the daily activities along with their children. All the educators had experiences with the old, traditional model in which the parents took a more secluded role. All the educators where satisfied with the model they were using during the introduction. They all mentioned the importance of making the parents feel comfortable and safe in the environment and how that could help when bonding with the toddler. The educators expressed that making the toddlerand parent feel safe was the most important issue when introducing them to preschool.

Introduction Individual’s attachment style and coping styles have been suggested to be related to each other whereby early attachment experiences shape the coping behaviours that individuals are most likely to engage in at times of stress. A systematic review was carried out to examine the available literature on attachment status and coping style in both adolescent and adult populations with the aim of establishing what is currently known about the association between these two concepts. A research study was carried out with the aim of investigating the relationship between adolescents’ attachment type, coping style and participation in health risk behaviours. The study also aimed to explore the relationship between attachment, coping and personality state dominance. Method A literature search was conducted following PRISMA (2009) and Cochrane (2008) guidelines. Papers were quality assessed and strengths and limitations considered. With regards the empirical project, a cross-sectional survey design was adopted to investigate the mediating role of coping style on adolescent risk taking and its relationship with attachment and state dominance (negativism and telic). Seventy-six first year psychology undergraduate students participated in the study. Participants completed the A-RQ attachment questionnaire, the ACS coping questionnaire, the TDS and NDS personality trait questionnaires, the YRBS behaviour questionnaire and the SDQ mental health screening tool. Results The systematic review yielded an initial 812 papers from use of the search terms. Eleven papers met criterion for inclusion in the review. The papers were quality assessed and strength and difficulties of the papers were reviewed. The findings highlight the need for further robust investigations into the subject area, and recommendations are made for future investigations. With regards the empirical project, analysis revealed that the relationship between attachment security and risk taking related to feelings of sadness and plans or attempts to carry out suicide. This was not mediated by use of higher levels of unproductive coping in adolescents. Analysis also revealed that high negativism dominance predicted increased participation in alcohol, tobacco and drug misuse. This relationship was not mediated by increased use of unproductive coping behaviours. Conclusions The need to establish a more consistent conceptualisation of coping was apparent. It was suggested that future research needs to address limitations in the field including the validity of some self-report measures of attachment, inconsistency in selection of measures, over-reliance on self-report measures and an absence of research out with westernised cultures. Adolescents’ attachment insecurity in key relationships would seem to be one vulnerability factor that contributes to the development of emotional difficulties and adolescents’ preference for being in a rebellious state (high negativism dominance) would seem to contribute to participation in risky substance misuse and so at the very least, these should be considered as predictors for engagement in specific types of health risk behaviour.

Background. Recent research into attachment theory has suggested it provides a useful framework for understanding the psychological therapeutic process. Clinical application of attachment theory has been a recent development in adult mental health research. Previous studies have focused on patient attachment styles and a systematic review of the literature highlights the limited research that explores both patient and clinician attachment patterns. The reported study aims to explore both patient and therapist attachment and the dyadic interaction on the therapeutic process, and, in particular, how attachment influences the early engagement and development of the therapeutic alliance. Methods. Patient participants and clinician participants completed a self-report measure of attachment prior to commencing a psychological intervention. Early engagement was measured through appointment attendance and independent therapeutic alliance ratings from patients and clinicians were completed after the third appointment. Correlations and regression analysis explored the extent to which patient and clinician attachment predicts early engagement and the therapeutic alliance. Results. Fifty-five patients and 38 clinician’s self-report attachment styles indicate greater security amongst clinicians. Patients presenting to mental health services reported higher levels of anxious and avoidant attachment patterns, which were predictive of greater psychological distress. Patient avoidant attachment was associated with poor engagement and both patient anxiety and avoidance attachment were predictive of therapeutic alliance. No relationship was found between therapist attachment and early engagement or therapeutic alliance, and there were no significant interactions between patient and therapist attachments patterns. Conclusions. Findings from the current study suggest that patient attachment style is predictive of reported psychological distress, early engagement and therapeutic alliance. Applying the principles of attachment theory to clinical practice could therefore provide greater insight into the interpersonal dynamics between patient and therapist and help inform services as to how to improve engagement and alliance with insecure patients. The strengths and weaknesses of the study are discussed, which highlights the need for further research with larger samples to build on the current limited findings.

Objective: The Exeter Model is an integrative systemic-behavioural and systemic-empathic couple therapy for treating people with depression. ‘Attachment narratives’ is a component of the systemic-empathic approach, which seeks to help the couple understand how past relationships impact on the current relationship with the aim of rebuilding trust and security between the couple. This study sought to examine how attachment narratives in this Model are used by therapists. Method: Narrative Analysis was employed to explore attachment narratives in three couples who had completed therapy in an outpatient clinic where one member of the couple had been referred with depression. Results: Analysis highlighted four specific ways in which therapists used attachment narratives. These consisted of: therapist enabled stories of past relationships to be foregrounded; attachment theory employed to build hypothesis about attachment styles based on past relationships; therapist helped the couple understand how attachment styles maintain unhelpful cycles of relating and introduced alternative relationship narratives enabling improved trust and security. Analysis also demonstrated the structuring of these attachment narratives across the therapy sessions. Conclusion: This study shows that through the therapist paying attention to attachment styles, awareness of unhelpful cycles of relating within couples can be highlighted, and adjustments to how the couple can relate to each other suggested. This exploratory study serves to better inform the use of the Exeter Model.

Doctor of Philosophy / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Jared A. Durtschi / Despite previous literature illustrating strong links between social relations, mental health, and health outcomes, much remains unknown regarding the associations among adult romantic attachment, depression, and reports of physical health within those diagnosed with a chronic disease. Using a sample of 197 individuals who reported a diagnosed chronic disease and in a cohabiting or romantic relationship from the Flourishing Families Project, a mediated latent growth curve analysis was used to test to what extent trajectories of reported physical health across two years were a function of attachment and depression. Specifically, trajectories of physical health were modeled to examine changes over two years with time-invariant covariates of depressive symptoms and adult attachment predicting initial levels of physical health and changes in physical health over time. Results indicated that as depressive symptoms increased, initial levels of physical health were worse. Higher reports of attachment anxiety were linked with better initial reports of physical health. Further, higher reports of depressive symptoms and attachment anxiety predicted a significant upward shift in the expected trajectory of improved physical health. These results expand current research and theory by examining how adult attachment and depression are linked with expected trajectories in physical health over time.

Research suggests that trauma plays a part in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and psychosis, but it is unclear what role psychotic symptoms or hospitalisation have. Some research has been carried out on mediators and predictors of PTSD and integrating the evidence has key implications for individual and service outcomes. The two papers presented in this thesis aim to contribute to research in this area, followed by a critical review of the research, its relevance and future implications.Paper One is a systematic review of the literature investigating the prevalence of psychosis-related and hospital-related PTSD and considered what factors moderate or mediates these symptoms. Studies showed high levels of psychosis-related and hospital-related PTSD and seventeen factors that may influence the development of psychosis-related or hospital-related PTSD were explored. However incidence rates in different populations are lacking and there is a need to better explore mediating and moderating factors.Paper Two aimed to investigate the traumatic nature of psychosis and hospitalisation and their relationships with attachment and recovery styles in people with psychosis in a secure setting. The final section, the Critical Review, aimed to place the research in a wider context, considering the findings from the research, limitations of the study, highlighting important issues for services, and implications for interventions and future studies.

The shared language, attitudes, practices and patterns of those who participate in “collecting" in the lower mainland area of British Columbia are described. Recurring themes and patterns emerge in the analysis of data obtained through interviews with thirty collector-informants. The generalizability of collecting as a phenomenon which exists outside of what is being collected is established. Collectors' roles as curators and the serious and consuming aspects of collecting, including the cycles of collecting, affection and sentiment held toward collected objects, and the strategies and approaches to the process of collecting are discussed. Propositions set out by previous researchers Belk, Danet and Katriel are examined in light of the data. Implications for museum studies and museum education specifically, are considered. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

Romantic relationships are considered to be the most important bonds established in adulthood (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007). Accordingly, extensive empirical efforts have been expended on delineating factors linked with couple satisfaction. Given the intricacies of these relational bonds, a plethora of studies have likewise focused on exploring the elaborate and explicit processes of close relationships. What emerged was one of the most prolific theories of close relationships: attachment theory. Despite the recognized and confirmed role of attachment processes in couple satisfaction (Feeney, Noller, & Hanrahan, 1994), studies have seldom examined how the relation between explicit relationship factors and couple satisfaction may differ as a function of an individual's romantic attachment. The understanding of the link between variables is often enhanced by understanding what limits or improves this relation, for instance, for whom or under which circumstances (Hayes & Matthes, 2009). Such theoretical accounts of an effect are frequently tested and strengthened by the examination of a moderator effect (a variable that impacts the strength or direction of a predictor and outcome variable; Baron & Kenny, 1986). Accordingly, the overarching aim of the thesis was to explore original moderation models examining whether the established relation between jealousy (article 1) or intimacy (article 2) and couple satisfaction, respectively, differs for individuals with distinct romantic attachment patterns (i.e., attachment anxiety versus avoidance). In this way, the goal was to not only implement novel explorations extending current knowledge of the aforementioned link between jealousy or intimacy and couple satisfaction, but moreover, highlight for whom such relations may differ. Explicitly, the main objective of the first article was to implement a unique model exploring the moderating role of romantic attachment on the relation between emotional, iv cognitive, and behavioural jealousy and couple satisfaction. The study comprised of a large university sample of individuals (N = 502) involved in a heterosexual relationship of at least 12 months duration. Given the view of emotional, cognitive, and behavioural jealousy as an interrelated process (Pheiffer & Wong, 1989), and the corresponding absence of a model examining all facets concurrently, a comprehensive model simultaneously incorporating all of the above mentioned facets of jealousy within one model was implemented. Additionally, provided the unexamined stipulation of jealousy as impacting the relationship satisfaction of both partners of a couple (De Silva & Marks, 1994), this study sought to incorporate a new line of research investigating both one's jealousy and one's perception of their partner's jealousy (emotional, cognitive, and behavioural) and the potentially differential relation with one's couple satisfaction. The exploration of hierarchical models revealed that cognitive jealousy was negatively associated with one's couple satisfaction, whereas emotional jealousy demonstrated a positive association; behavioural jealousy was not shown to add incremental value in one's couple satisfaction. All aforementioned results were applicable to both one's own and one's perception of their partner's jealousy for each respective facet. Results also revealed that romantic attachment influenced the strength of the relation between several facets of jealousy and couple satisfaction, with attachment anxiety mostly increasing and attachment avoidance either decreasing or not influencing this relation. As such, findings suggested that jealousy experiences (one's own or one's perception of their partner's) may have a more detrimental relation with one's couple satisfaction amongst individuals exhibiting higher attachment anxiety. The aim of the second study was to explore an original model examining the moderating role of romantic attachment on the relation between intimacy and couple satisfaction using a community sample of couples (N = 117) involved in a heterosexual relationship of at least 12 v months duration. Given that intimacy is viewed as a multifaceted process (Schaefer & Olson, 1981), the current study concurrently investigated both emotional and sexual facets of intimacy within one model. Additionally, given the view of intimacy as a dyadic process that must accommodate both partners (Reis & Shaver, 1981), an actor-partner interdependence model (APIM: Kenny, Kashy, & Cook, 2006) using Linear Mixed Models (LML) was implemented in order to examine the relation between a participant's and their partner's emotional and sexual intimacy and one's couple satisfaction. Findings revealed that only actor and partner emotional intimacy were significantly and positively linked with actor couple satisfaction when examined concurrently with sexual intimacy; a larger amount of variance was revealed for actor versus partner effects. Results similarly showed that higher actor avoidant attachment moderated the former relation, such that a lessened positive association was demonstrated between actor emotional intimacy and actor couple satisfaction. Hence, findings suggested that the attainment of higher levels of emotional intimacy may be less pertinent for the satisfactory romantic relationship of individuals exhibiting higher attachment avoidance. No additional moderation effects of romantic attachment were found. The applied and clinical implications of both studies are discussed, such as the relevance of considering romantic attachment in ascertaining the link between particular relationship factors and couple satisfaction.