Attachment behavior

We examined how adult attachment styles influence human perception of support provision. We invited 119 couples to the lab, where they performed an exploration task. We also used pre- and post-exploration measures, including assessing adult attachment styles and partners' perception of support provided during the task. Three independent coders watched the videos of couples interacting and rated partners' support provision behavior. We utilized West and Kenny's (2011) truth and bias model to compare judgments (partners' perception of support received during the exploration task) with so-defined truth (combined rankings from coders). We used regression analysis to investigate how attachment orientation moderates the perception of support provision. On average, individuals tended to over-perceive helpfulness and under-perceive intrusiveness. Attachment avoidance was not a significant predictor of directional bias for helpfulness and intrusiveness. Results for the second exploratory hypothesis show those higher on attachment anxiety to have a weaker bias in underperceiving intrusiveness.

The two principal areas of research addressed by this study were: a) further validation of
Nowak and Vallacher's mouse paradigm, and b) comparison of literatures all
theoretically derived from principles of hedonics. Validation of the mouse paradigm
included examination of the instructional set and detection of individual differences in
various hedonically derived measures of personality. The mouse instructions were framed
in terms of approach ('less good ' versus ' more good') or in terms of avoidance (' more
bad' versus ' less bad ' ). Inclusion of inventories based on the principles of approach and
avoidance allowed for examination of convergent and discriminant validity.
The mouse procedure was able to differentiate self-esteem, self-stability,
introversion/extraversion, neuroticism/emotional stability, and Strelau's Pavlovian
mobility. Depending on the prime used, some differentiation was also seen with measures
of attachment. Differentiation was not found with the mouse procedure for Strelau's
Pavlovian measures of strength of excitation and strength of inhibition. Two factor analyses of the questionnaires used gave rise to conceptually positive and
negative components. The positive component was related to self-esteem, self-stability,
extraversion, strength of excitation, strength of inhibition, mobility, and inversely related
to anxiety and neuroticism. The negative component positively loaded on neuroticism,
avoidance, dismissing attachment, and fearful attachment, and negatively loaded on selfesteem,
self-stability, and secure attachment.
These components were compared with Vallacher and Nowak's hedonically based mouse
paradigm measures. They were consistently found to correlate with distance under the
approach prime and variability in distance under the avoidance prime. This suggests that
individuals who score highly on conceptually positive constructs (approach
temperaments) have more stable absolute attitudes whereas individuals who score higher
on conceptually negative constructs (avoidance temperaments) have greater variability in
attitude.
The approach instructions initially gave rise to lower evaluation, more variability, and
less time at rest than the avoidance instructions. This trend was reflected in the increase
in correlations over time under the positive hedonic condition and a decrease in
correlations with time under the negative hedonic condition. These results suggest a
suppression effect with negative framing.

Kangaroo care (KC), has been shown to promote healthy development for both
pre-term and full-term infants, and to improve mother-infant bonding (Ludington-Hoe,
2011; Charpak et al., 2005). Current research on the maternal benefits of kangaroo care is
scarce, primarily focuses on early KC, and is mostly qualitative in nature (Fegran,
Helseth, & Fagermoan, 2008; Matos et al., 2010). The present study examined the effect
of late KC on maternal behaviors, sensitivity, and mother-infant interactive mutuality
when infants were 3 months of age. Mothers who used kangaroo care as directed were
found to have greater bonding scores and less anxiety about caring for their infants as
measured through the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire. Kangaroo care was also found
to have an effect on mothers’ ability to effectively calm their infants after an arm restraint
task. Further research on the usefulness of late intermittent KC with full-term infants is
needed.

This study examined the relationships of adult attachment, locus of control, and fear of intimacy between adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) and non adult children of alcoholics (NACOAs). A convenience sample of 224 participants, specifically 108 ACOAs and 116 NACOAs, completed the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised Questionnaire (ECR-R), Rotter's Locus of Control Scale (LOC), and the Fear of Intimacy Scale (FIS). Participants were drawn from self-help groups, gatherings, and a health fair held in Palm Beach County, Florida. Data were analyzed utilizing multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), series of analyses of variance (ANOVA), stepwise regression analyses, discriminant function analysis, in addition to correlational analyses. ... ACOAs demonstrated insecure, fearful avoidant attachment patterns, an external locus of control, and greater fear of intimacy. In contrast, NACOAs exhibited secure adult attachment, an internal locus of control, and lower fear of intimacy. This study lends empirical support to clinical practice pertaining to the constructs of adult attachment, locus of control, and fear of intimacy in ACOAs and NACOAs.