The universality of secure base construct, which suggests that one's use of an attachment figure as a secure base from which to explore the environment is an evolutionary outcome, is one of the core ideas of attachment theory. However, this universality idea has been critiqued because exploration is not as valued in Japanese culture as it is in…

The current research aims to adapt the General Belongingness Scale (GBS), developed by Malone, Pillow, and Osman (2012), into Turkish for adolescents and to conduct the validity and reliability studies for it. Ages of the participants, a total of 567 adolescents including 274 males (48.3%) and 293 females (51.7%) ranged between 14 and 18 (average…

Children with autism are able to show secure attachment behaviours to their parents/caregivers. Most studies on attachment in children with autism used a (modified) Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) to examine attachment security. An advantage of the Attachment Q-Sort (AQS) over the SSP is that it can be attuned to the secure-base behaviour of…

Two studies are reported presenting the development of the Adolescent Friendship Attachment Scale (AFAS), a 30 item self-report measure of adolescent close friendship conceptualized as an attachment relationship. Study One reports the results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with a sample of 490 adolescents aged 13 to 19 years. A…

While well-established attachment measures have been developed for infancy, early childhood, and adulthood, a "measurement gap" has been identified in middle childhood, where behavioral or representational measures are not yet sufficiently robust. This article documents the development of a new measure--the Child Attachment Interview…

This study examined the psychometric characteristics of two parenting measures: the Parent Behavior Importance Questionnaire (PBIQ) and Parent Behavior Frequency Questionnaire (PBFQ). Both research questionnaires are based on the parent development theory (PDT) and offer parent as well as non-parent respondents the opportunity to rate 38 parenting…

Argues that none of the conventional methods for assessing attachment meet all criteria. Describes development of a 100-item sort for assessing secure attachment in toddlers, closely tied to Bowlby's control systems model of attachment. Evaluates the Q-sort in terms of criteria for valid thoery-based assessments that have applicability beyond this…

Applied multidimensional scaling to similarity data to produce a model of Attachment Q-Set (AQS) items as points in a 3-dimensional space. Represented criterion sorts, individual Q-sorts, and empirical correlates as vectors, interpreting each according to the vector's contributions from the three global dimensions. Tested the model's validity and…

Asserts that sociocultural assumptions underlying items in the Parental Investment in the Child Questionnaire (PIC) are outdated and gender biased. Reviews the underlying logic of attachment theory and the PIC portrait of appropriate childrearing. Parental investment is shown to be maternal investment. The model provides debatable and unrealistic…

We are delighted to welcome you to the International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends 2014, taking place in Porto, Portugal, from 4 to 6 of April. Psychology, in our time, offers a large range of scientific fields where it can be applied. The goal of understanding individuals and groups (mental functions and behavioral…

Examined validity of Strange Situation attachment classifications for infants with and without extensive child-care experience and the association of early child-care experience with attachment security. Found that infants were less likely to be secure when low maternal sensitivity was combined with poor quality child care, more than minimal…

Three samples of 24- to 54-month-old children with Down's syndrome were assessed using the Ainsworth Strange Situation Procedure (ASSP) of attachment security and scored according to traditional protocols. Found that developmentally younger subjects were more difficult to classify using the standard scoring rules and that the ASSP may be measuring…

Assessed maternal sensitivity and infants' attachment behavior to test validity of a system of classifying attachment relationships at home. Subjects were 47 mothers of preterm and 42 mothers of full-term infants. Results reaffirm Ainsworth's conceptualization of distinct attachment relationships. (HTH)

Examined validity of the California Attachment Procedure (CAP), which does not involve mother-child separations. Overall, toddlers were more likely to be classified as secure in the CAP than in the Strange Situation (SS) test. The CAP yielded higher rates of security, particularly for children in day care, and security in the CAP correlated more…

Describes the core constructs of attachment theory, namely, the attachment system and secure-base behavior. Discusses contextual factors thought to be crucial in development of individual differences in attachment, especially maternal sensitivity, and considers child characteristics, especially temperament, that may contribute to the attachment…