Background and objectives: The stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic spurred alarming levels of stress and anxiety in college students. It is important to identify factors that attenuate the negative effect of stress on anxiety. Framed by the attachment diathesis-stress process perspective, this study examined how the two dimensions of insecurity in…

Internal working models of social relationships are based on the earliest attachment bonds we make with caregivers (Bowlby, 1969, 1973), and relate to a number of later outcomes in childhood, adolescence and adulthood. In education, attachment styles map on to young children's educational journey but finding evidence in older groups has been…

Interpersonal relationships are the recent focus of research identifying protective factors in adolescent psychological health. Using an attachment theory perspective, this study examines the relationship of normative attachment strength and individual differences in attachment expectancies on self-reports of depression and stress in 511…

The events surrounding Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court will have an effect of college campuses--and not just in the near term. Campuses will be brimming over with concerns about how people treat each other, how people engage with each other, how people of different views can respond to each other and how we form attachments to…

The definition of a traumatic event in Criterion A for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was narrowed in DSM-5 for events involving indirect exposure to the death of a loved one. Whereas the DSM-IV definition encompassed the sudden, unexpected death of a loved one regardless of the circumstances, the DSM-5 definition now requires that the death…

Previous research demonstrates that carriers of the short allele of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) show both greater susceptibility to depression in response to stressful life events and higher rates of generation of stressful events in response to depression. The current study examines relational security (i.e., self-reported beliefs…

The Attachment and Clinical Issues Questionnaire (ACIQ; M. A. Lindberg & S. W. Thomas, 2011), was developed over an 18-year period containing 29 scales. The purpose of the present study was to test (a) the validity of the attachment scales in terms of how they predict to whom one turns in times of stress and for affective sharing, and (b) how the…

This review identifies key issues in research on adolescent coping with stress with parents, friends, and romantic partners during the past decade. An analysis of 78 studies revealed findings on relationship stressors and the potential links between the use of different coping styles for different relationship types. Research has confirmed…

This study investigated whether gender, stressful problems common among college students, and adult attachment orientations (anxiety and avoidance) contributed to self-reported perpetration of psychological abuse in dating relationships among 127 college students. College men's stress levels were the strongest predictor of perpetration of…

Epidemiological studies have shown that substance abuse among African American women is occurring at an alarming rate that exceeds rates for White women. The heightened use of alcohol and drugs among African American women is a problem that resulted from their racial, historical, and structural position in American society. The literature reveals…

Decades of studies show that children's behavior is shaped by relationships in the "social ecology" of family, peers, school, and community. But in recent decades the prevailing scientific dogma was that genes determine destiny. Now it is clear that experience changes genes. For better or worse, environmental experiences including nutrition,…

When the Commission on Children At Risk--a group of 33 children's doctors, research scientists, mental health and youth service professionals--presented to the Nation its report on the crises of deteriorating mental and behavioral health of children in the US, the 83-page report was entitled "Hardwired to Connect: The New Scientific Case for…

This study examined the relationship between parental attachment, changes in parental attachment, and psychological functioning and adjustment for college freshmen. Twice during the first semester, 271 freshmen completed self-report measures of parental attachment, psychological distress, self-competence, and college adjustment. Higher attachment…

The purpose of this study is to explore the variation in emotional closeness in the adult grandchild and grandparent relationship in relation to the occurrence of potentially stressful life events in childhood. A sample of university students (N = 119) completed a questionnaire measuring elements of intergenerational solidarity. Comparisons were…

The numbers of children raised by their grandparents are increasing. Although placement with their grandparents may be the best setting for children whose parents can no longer care for them, research suggests the children may experience difficult school functioning such as behavioral, emotional, and academic problems. Additionally, the…