Attachment Part 2

Question 1

STUDY: Attachment from Infancy to Adulthood

METHOD: Assessed quality of caregiving experiences at various points in childhood: (3)

Answer 1

• Maternal sensitivity
• Maternal depression
• Father’s absence

Question 2

STUDY RESULTS: Attachment from Infancy to Adulthood

Answer 2

Less supportive parenting and family instability predicted attachment insecurity in adulthood

Question 3

Avoidance at age 18 predicted by:

Answer 3

• Lower maternal sensitivity
• Father’s absence

Question 4

Anxiety at age 18 predicted by:

Answer 4

Higher maternal depression

Question 5

Evidence that there’s an association between childhood caregiving experiences and

Answer 5

attachment in adulthood

Question 6

Across longitudinal studies, average correlation of ? between childhood caregiving experiences and adult attachment style

Answer 6

correlation of 0.15

Question 7

Suggests that the effect is

Answer 7

small and that some people exhibit incongruent patterns

Question 8

Positive early caregiving but

Answer 8

insecure attachment in adulthood

Question 9

Negative early caregiving but

Answer 9

secure attachment in adulthood

Question 10

We are shaped by early caregiving experiences, but

Answer 10

these foundations are not fate

Question 11

STUDY: Attachment from Infancy to Adulthood - RESULTS:

Less supportive parenting, family instability, and lower quality friendships in childhood/adolescence predicted

Answer 11

attachment insecurity

Question 12

Avoidance at age 18 predicted by:

Answer 12

• Lower maternal sensitivity (-0.16)
• Not consistently living with father (0.17)
• Lower quality friendships (-0.13)

Question 13

Anxiety at age 18 predicted by:

Answer 13

• Higher maternal depression (0.10)
• Lower quality friendships (-0.11)

Question 14

The size of effect of friendship experiences is similar to the size of the

Answer 14

effect of caregiving experiences

Question 15

Friendships in childhood are

Answer 15

just as important as experiences with caregivers

Question 16

Provide opportunities for internal working models to be tested and to have

Answer 16

expectations either reinforced or disconfirmed

Question 17

Internal working models contribute to the stability of

Answer 17

attachment styles over time

Question 18

Confirmation bias

Answer 18

People are likely to interpret ambiguous social information in ways that are consistent with their internal working model

Question 19

Selection effect

Answer 19

• People tend to select partners that are consistent with their internal working models
• Partner selection study from last class

Question 20

STUDY: Stability in Adult Attachment? - RESULTS

Answer 20

• At Time 2, 70% of people classified with same attachment style as Time1
• BUT 30% classified with a different attachment style

Question 21

Suggests that attachment is

Answer 21

less stable than would be theoretically predicted

Question 22

Which attachment style is changing the most in T1?

Answer 22

AVOIDANT and ANXIOUS

Question 23

STUDY: Life Events and Changes to Attachment
RESULTS: Many life events lead to what types of changes in attachment security?

Answer 23

temporary changes in attachment security

Question 24

Events associated with decreased attachment security:

Answer 24

• Getting into an argument with partner
• Being physically apart from partner
• Being sick

Question 25

Events associated with increased attachment security:

Answer 25

* Dating someone new * Partner did something special for the person * Work promotion * Going on vacation

Question 26

How enduring are these changes? - In general, people revert back to their

Answer 26

typical level of attachment security

Question 27

Percentage of events that led to a more enduring change in attachment?

Answer 27

25% of events

Question 28

Increasing Attachment Security - AGE

Answer 28

* People become less anxiously attached as they get older * Less clear results for avoidance

Question 29

Wanting to become more securely attached is associated with

Answer 29

increases in attachment security for a 4-month period

Question 30

Fostering more secure mental models - Anxiously attached:

Answer 30

Foster a secure model of self by learning to rely on others less for validation and learning to feel capable and valued in personal domains

Question 31

Fostering more secure mental models - Avoidantly attached

Answer 31

Foster a secure model of others by challenging self to depend on others and self-disclose more

Question 32

WHAT is associated with increased attachment security?

Answer 32

Psychotherapy

Question 33

Multiple Attachment Styles - TABLE RESULTS

Answer 33

Everyone has relationships characterized by each of the 3 attachment styles (secure, avoidant, anxious)

Question 34

Regardless of general attachment style, the majority of a person’s relationships are

Answer 34

Secure

Question 35

General attachment style is related to the

Answer 35

prevalence of your relationships fitting a specific attachment style relative to other people

Question 36

People who show a general avoidant attachment style have more

Answer 36

avoidant relationships than the securely or anxiously attached people do

Question 37

People who show a general anxious attachment style have more

Answer 37

anxiously attached relationships than the securely or avoidantly attached people do

Question 38

Everybody has relationships that are characterized by

Answer 38

all 3 attachment styles

Question 39

Contributes to within person fluctuations in

Answer 39

Attachment style

Question 40

Suggests that these fluctuations in attachment style may be a function of

Answer 40

which attachment model is cognitively accessible at a given moment

Question 41

STUDY: Contextual Activation of Attachment - primed with warm/supportive VS primed critical/judgement

Answer 41

* People primed with warm/supportive relationship were more likely to seek emotional support than control group * People primed with critical/judgmental relationship were less likely to engage in growth- oriented coping (emphasizing learning from challenges) than control group

Question 42

Coping responses unrelated to

Answer 42

general attachment style

Question 43

Shows that attachment styles can be

Answer 43

primed and influence behaviour in theoretically consistent ways

Question 44

Stability of attachment is moderated by

Answer 44

moderated by relationship length

Question 45

Attachment style is more stable in

Answer 45

longer relationships

Question 46

Implies that people will have more stable attachment styles with

Answer 46

their parents and other people they’ve know for a long time than with romantic partners or newer friends

Question 47

Attachment at any given moment is determined by: (2)

Answer 47

1) Chronic/general attachment style 2) State level of attachment

Question 48

Chronic/general attachment style

Answer 48

* Influenced by caregiver experiences * Past important relationships, like childhood friendships * Some major life events * Age

Question 49

State level of attachment

Answer 49

* Current and recent life events * Most recent interaction with an attachment figure (priming) * Relationship length