Attachment theory is based on Bowlby's work on the connections between maternal loss or deprivation and personality development and on Ainsworth's interest in security theory. Their separate and joint work is reviewed, along with that of other theorists and researchers whose work influenced them or was influenced by them. (LB)

Examined relationship between parental attachment and eating disorder symptoms for 68 inpatient women with eating disorders and for 162 college women. College women described themselves as more securely attached to parents and reported lower levels of weight and dieting preoccupation, bulimic behavior, and feelings of ineffectiveness. (Author/NB)

Attachment theory provides useful conceptual framework for understanding familial antecedents and long-term consequences of sexual abuse. Themes associated with insecure parent-child attachment (rejection, role reversal/parentification, and fear/unresolved trauma) are frequently found in dynamics of families characterized by sexual abuse, and…

Studied the effects of experimentally manipulated maternal social support on the development of infant attachment in low SES mothers. Examined the possibility that the influence of maternal support varies depending on infant irritability and maternal ego level. Findings provide experimental evidence regarding the importance of social support on…

Associations between mother's models of attachment and mother and child behaviors related to separation were explored in a study of 45 mothers and their 2- to 4-year-old children. Results showed that mother behaviors before and after separation and child reunion behaviors varied according to attachment classification. (SH)

Examined the effect on father-infant relationships of a parent training program on infant massage and bathing. Infants in the treatment group greeted fathers with more eye contact, smiles, vocalizing, reaching, and orienting responses and showed less avoidance behavior than did control group infants. Fathers in the treatment group showed greater…

Examined characteristics of fathers, infants, and marital relationships as antecedents of secure and insecure infant-father attachments in dual- and single-earner families. Change in perceived infant temperament, fathers' recollections of child rearing, and the division of labor distinguished families with secure or insecure infant-father…

Examined parental attachment, family structure, and social and psychological functioning among 226 college freshmen. For females only, insecure attachment and two dimensions of maladaptive family structure were associated with difficulties in social competence and presence of psychological symptoms. Findings suggest that, for college women, close…

Infants were observed three times in the strange situation with their professional caregivers, mothers, and fathers to examine relationships between infant-parent attachment, day care characteristics, and the quality of infants' attachments to professional caregivers. (PCB)

Sixty five year olds and their mothers were given the semiprojective, picture-based Separation Anxiety Test (SAT), which was scored to reflect attachment, self-reliance, and avoidance. Ratings were correlated with observed attachment status during a brief laboratory separation-reunion procedure. (DR)

Assessed the effects of relationship duration on 61 teacher-child dyads. Found that 91% of children who had been with their teacher for more than 1 year had secure attachments, compared to 67% who had been with their teacher for 9-12 months and 50% who had been with their teacher for 5-8 months. (MDM)

Reviews the construct of attachment, its role as a motivational system in infancy, and its development in the first three years. Emphasizes that attachment must be assessed in the context of particular infant-parent relationships, and reviews specific infant and caregiver behaviors salient to the assessment of attachment. (Author/CR)

Discusses the application of emotionally focused marital therapy (EFT) with couples for which one or both of the partners have experienced significant trauma. EFT, in the context of trauma, incorporates the nine steps of conventional EFT and the three stages of the constructivist self-development theory of trauma treatment. (Author/MKA)

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…

Children whose severe attachment problems arise from abuse and rejection pose major challenges to caregivers, teachers, and therapists but should not be viewed from an unduly pessimistic perspective. Describes a ten-step comprehensive treatment strategy designed to create positive bonds between adults and troubled children who carry the diagnosis…