Mental health practitioners who incorporate animal-assisted interventions into clinical practice harness the human-animal bond for therapeutic benefit. According to the Animal-Assisted Therapy in Counseling Competencies, practitioners have a duty to understand the complex relational processes within animal-assisted interventions in counseling (AAI-C). These bonding processes may resemble that of an attachment bond in which the client desires to maintain closeness to the practitioner and therapy animal as a result of feeling safe and secure. Researchers studying attachment in the human-animal bond have stated that attachment processes may occur within other human-animal relationships, such as between a guardian and a companion animal. However, there is no empirical research on the attachment processes occurring between humans and therapy animals in AAI-C or how these processes affect the bond between the practitioner and client. A component of the working alliance, maintaining a quality bond can improve treatment outcomes in counseling. Therefore, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine how attachment to a therapy animal impacts the attachment bond between a mental health practitioner and client. Participants completed an online survey with four measures to study the following: (a) client attachment to the therapy animal, (b) practitioner attachment to the therapy animal, (c) the bond between the practitioner and client, and (d) the impact of utilizing an animal in counseling sessions. Data analyses included a multiple regression to determine how practitioners' perceptions of the attachment processes within AAI-C best explain the bond with their clients. Descriptive analysis revealed that practitioners perceived high quality bonding within AAI-C, particularly in their own attachment to the therapy animal. Results of the multiple regression indicated practitioners' attachment to the therapy animal was a significant predictor of the working alliance and bond between the practitioner and client. Practitioners who perceived themselves as extremely skilled in working with the clients' presenting issue also had a statistically significant effect on the working alliance and bond when compared to practitioners who felt less skilled. Implications for practitioners and counselor educators are provided. Limitations and areas of future research are also discussed. / Doctor of Philosophy / Mental health practitioners who incorporate animal-assisted interventions into clinical practice harness the human-animal bond for therapeutic benefit. According to the Animal-Assisted Therapy in Counseling Competencies, practitioners have a duty to understand the complex relational processes within animal-assisted interventions in counseling (AAI-C). These bonding processes may resemble that of an attachment bond in which the client desires to maintain closeness to the practitioner and therapy animal as a result of feeling safe and secure. Researchers studying attachment in the human-animal bond have stated that attachment processes may occur within other human-animal relationships, such as between a guardian and a companion animal. However, there is no practical research on the attachment processes occurring between humans and therapy animals in AAI-C or how these processes affect the bond between the practitioner and client. A component of the working alliance, maintaining a quality bond, can improve treatment outcomes in counseling. Therefore, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine how attachment to a therapy animal impacts the attachment bond between a mental health practitioner and client. Participants completed an online survey with four measures to study the following: (a) client attachment to the therapy animal, (b) practitioner attachment to the therapy animal, (c) the bond between the practitioner and client, and (d) the impact of utilizing an animal in counseling sessions. Data analyses included a multiple regression to determine how practitioners’ perceptions of the attachment processes within AAI-C best explain the bond with their clients. Descriptive statistics revealed that practitioners perceived high quality bonding within AAI-C, particularly in their own attachment to the therapy animal. Results of the multiple regression indicated practitioners’ attachment to the therapy animal influenced the working alliance and bond between the practitioner and client. Practitioners who perceived themselves as extremely skilled in working with the clients’ presenting issue also had an effect on the working alliance and bond when compared to practitioners who felt less skilled. Implications for practitioners and counselor educators are provided. Limitations and areas of future research are also discussed.

Complex networks are composed of a large number of interacting nodes. Examples of complex networks include the topology of the Internet, connections between websites or web pages in the World Wide Web (WWW), and connections between participants in social networks.Due to their ubiquity, modeling complex networks is importantfor answering many research questions that cannot be answered without a mathematical model. For example, mathematical models of complex networks can be used to find the most vulnerable nodes to protect during a virus attack in theInternet, to predict connections between websites in the WWW, or to find members of different communities insocial networks. Researchers have analyzed complex networksand concluded that they are distinguished from other networks by four specific statistical properties. These four statistical properties are commonly known in this field as: (i) thesmall world effect,(ii) high average clustering coefficient, (iii) scale-free power law degree distribution, and (iv) emergence of community structure. These four statistical properties are further described later in this dissertation. Mostmodels used to generate complex networks attempt to produce networks with these statistical properties. Additionally, most of these network models generate homogeneous complex networks where all the networknodes are considered to have the same properties. Homogenous complex networks neglect the heterogeneous nature ofthe nodes in many complexnetworks. Moreover, somemodels proposed for generating heterogeneous complexnetworks are not general as they make specific assumptions about the properties of the network.Including heterogeneity in the connection algorithm of a modelwould makeitmore suitable for generating the subset of complex networks that exhibit selective linking.Additionally, all modelsproposed, to date, for generating heterogeneous complex networks do not preserve all four of the statistical properties of complexnetworks stated above. Thus, formulation of a model for the generation of general heterogeneous complex networkswith characteristics that resemble as much as possible the statistical properties common to the real-world networks that have received attention from the research community is still an open research question. In this work, we propose two new types of models to generate heterogeneous complex networks. First, we introduce the Integrated Attribute Similarity Model (IASM). IASM uses preferential attachment(PA) to connect nodes based on a similarity measure for node attributes combined with a node's structural popularity measure. IASM integrates the attribute similarity measure and a structural popularity measure in the computation of the connection function used to determine connectionsbetween each arriving (newly created) node and the existing(previously created or old) network nodes. IASM is also the first model known to assign an attribute vector having more than one element to each node, thus allowing different attributes per node in the generated complex network. Networks generated using IASM have a power law degree distribution and preserve the small world phenomenon. IASM models are enhanced to increase their clustering coefficient using a triad formation step (TFS). In a TFS, a node connects to the neighbor of the node to which it was previously connected through preferential attachment, thus forming a triad. The TFS increases the number of triads that are formed in the generated network which increases the network's average clustering coefficient. We also introduce a second novel model,the Settling Node Adaptive Model (SNAM). SNAM reflects the heterogeneous nature of connectionstandard requirements for nodes. The connectionstandard requirements for a noderefers to the values of attribute similarity and/or structural popularityof old node ythat node new xwould find acceptable in order to connect to node y.SNAM is novel in that such a node connection criterion is not included in any previous model for the generation of complex networks. SNAM is shown to be successful in preserving the power law degree distribution, the small world phenomenon, and the high clustering coefficient of complex networks. Next,we implement a modification to the IASM and SNAM models that results in the emergence of community structure.Nodes are classified into classes according to their attribute values. The connection algorithm is modified to include the class similarity values between network nodes. This community structure model preservesthe PL degree distribution, small world property, and does not affect average clustering coefficient values expected from both IASM and SNAM. Additionally, the model exhibits the presence of community structure having most of the connections made between nodes belonging to the same class with only a small percent of the connections made between nodes of different classes. We perform a mathematical analysis of IASM and SNAM to study the degree distribution for networks generated by both models. This mathematical analysis shows that networks generated by both models have a power law degree distribution. Finally, we completed a case study to illustrate the potential value of our research on the modeling of heterogeneous complex networks. This case study was performed on a Facebook dataset. The case study shows that SNAM, with some modifications to the connection algorithm, is capable of generating a network with almost the same characteristics as found for the original dataset. The case study providesinsight on how the flexibility of SNAM's connection algorithm can be an advantagethat makes SNAM capable of generating networks with different statistical properties. Ideas for future research areas includestudyingthe effect of using eigenvector centrality, instead of degree centrality, on the emergence of community structure in IASM; usingthe nodeindex as an indication for its order of arrival to the network and distributing added connections fairly among networknodes along the life of the generated network; experimenting with the nature of attributesto generatea more comprehensive model; and usingtime sensitive attributes in the models, where the attribute can change its value with time, / Ph. D.

This research explores the influence of pregnancy loss and coping strategies employed while connecting to the fetus in a subsequent pregnancy following a late term loss. Nine participants were interviewed using a qualitative, phenomenological methodology to determine participant's experience. Four themes emerged within the data: (1) support network – participants acknowledged who was there for them and who was not, (2) emotional ups and downs – participants reported the emotional ups and downs from loss to the subsequent pregnancy to delivery and after birth, and how they connected during this process (3) coping – participants describe coping strategies used throughout their experience, and (4) moving forward – participants reported their process of finding their new normal and how this event changed their perspective on life. Limitations, future research and clinical implications were all identified and discussed. / Master of Science

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

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.

According to adult attachment theory (Hazan and Shaver, 1987), people's levels of insecure attachment, both anxious and avoidant, are associated with their abilities to regulate emotions in a relational context. This study is the first to test emotion dysregulation as a mediator for the relationships between levels of insecure attachment and psychological aggression using dyadic data. Cross-sectional, self-report data were collected from 110 couples presenting for couple or family therapy at an outpatient clinic. Data were analyzed using path analysis informed by the Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediational Model (APIMeM; Ledermann, Macho and Kenny, 2011). While the findings did not support a mediating role of emotion dysregulation between levels of anxious or avoidant attachment and psychological aggression, results indicated direct partner effects between people's own levels of anxious attachment and their partners' psychological aggression. Higher levels of anxious attachment were associated with higher levels of emotion dysregulation in both males and females; higher levels of avoidant attachment were only associated with higher levels of emotions dysregulation in females. Limitations and clinical implications for couple therapists are discussed. / Master of Science / People have characteristic ways of interacting with their partners when experiencing distressing emotions—described as attachment dimensions—depending on factors like their comfort with vulnerability, self-worth, and confidence in their partners to provide support. Difficulties managing distressing emotions have been linked with psychological aggression between partners. This study examined if and how much difficulties managing emotions explain the relationships between people’s attachment dimensions and psychological aggression between partners. Although difficulties managing emotions did not explain this relationship, they were related to people’s own attachment orientations. People who were preoccupied with seeking reassurance from their partners, and who had low self-concept, were more likely to experience psychological aggression from their partners. Knowing that this way of interacting with partners is linked with increased likelihood of psychological aggression, couple therapists can work with partners to learn strategies to better self-regulate their own emotions and manage reactivity to each other to decrease psychological aggression. <i>Keywords</i>: emotion dysregulation, adult attachment, psychological aggression, couples

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

With the growing popularity in video games, there has been increased concerns over the prolonged exposure to the entertainment medium. Problematic gaming is defined as a pattern of gaming behavior that causes significant impairment in personal, social, other important areas of functioning, often characterized by preoccupation and loss of interest in other areas. This study examined how problematic gaming behaviors may be influenced by insecure adult attachment and perceived social support from differing sources. It was hypothesized that avoidant attachment would have a significant direct and indirect effect (via perceived social support) on problematic gaming. In addition, perceived social support from online friends and from offline friends were hypothesized to moderate the relationship between attachment and problematic gaming, Participants were recruited from both SONA (n = 151) and Amazon's Mturk (n = 264) to complete an online research questionnaire that measured variables of interest. Results indicated that the direct and indirect effects of attachment avoidance on problematic gaming were supported in both subsamples but the moderator effects were not. Further exploratory analysis found that anxious attachment demonstrated a similar pattern as avoidant attachment, but with a significant moderator effect of perceived social support from online friends (enhance) on the attachment anxiety and problematic gaming relation. Additionally, anhedonia and depressive symptoms were found to be significantly correlated with problematic gaming. Limitations, future research directions, and clinical implications are discussed.

Boston University. University Professors Program Senior theses. / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2999-01-02