Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have severe and pervasive impairments in the development of social interaction, which may affect the attachment relationship with their parents and may have an impact on parenting. In the current investigation 89 families with young children (mean age 26.5 months) were involved, who were diagnosed as…

A secure "state of mind with regard to attachment", as assessed by the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), as well as attachment styles as assessed by questionnaires (the two most prevalent facets of attachment representations assessed in adolescence and adulthood) were examined as potential contributors to adolescents' capacity for…

Attachment and separation are concepts that depict the struggle within individuals between isolated self and involvement with others. Many authors have written about this struggle in a variety of terms. The theory evaluated by this study was elaborated by C. Gilligan (1982). It postulated that there existed two views of life experiences: one based…

Children of alcoholics are at risk for socioemotional and behavioral problems. Adult children of alcoholic parents (ACAs) are at risk for problems in interpersonal relationships. ACAs have been found to have decreased self-esteem and self-acceptance in comparison to adults whose parents are not alcoholic (NACAs). College students who were young…

This study examined mothers' conceptualizations of their relationships with their children in relation to the quality of their attachment with them. In a brief interview, 58 mothers were asked about their satisfaction with their relationship with their child and with a non-attachment topic (division of household chores). Mother-child attachment…

The mother/daughter relationship is probably one of the most enduring affectional bonds. Addressing the assumption that family members differ in their orientation to and dependence on other generations by virtue of their unique roles, three generations of women, 254 mother and daughter pairs, were studied for role convergence and the effect of…

A model of infant social behavior is developed which incorporates attachment to the familiar and fear of strangers as well as detachment from the familiar and exploration of the stranger. (JMB)

The general proposition of attachment theory is that attachment is grounded in an independent, biologically based system. The quality of primary attachment relationships strongly influences a child's early personality organization, particularly the concept of self and others. The theory emphasizes the primary status and biological function of…

Characteristic patterns of infant-parent relationships were examined in a sample of Black infants presumed to be at low risk for psychopathological development. Infant responses toward parents and a stranger in a structured laboratory play session were analyzed to determine normative patterns of Black infant-parent attachments. Infant exploratory…

To assess the effect of early mother-infant proximity on later stress and behavior, two studies were made which involved a sample of mother-baby pairs that was larger than samples utilized in previous studies. In Study 1, involving 300 consecutive mother-baby couples at the Maternity Hospital in Plymouth, England clinical medical officers used a…

Examining relationships in the data from assessments conducted when Japanese infants were 7.5, 12, 23, and 27 months of age, this study provides evidence of an interaction between early attachment and temperamental dispositions. Specifically examined were 7.5-month-olds' stranger and separation distress and general fearfulness; 12-month-olds'…

Love and loneliness hold special interest at a time when divorce and geographical mobility pull so many people apart. Attachment theory offers a useful integrative framework to study adolescent and adult love and loneliness. Attachment theory has three propositions: (1) when an individual is confident an attachment figure will be available when he…

This follow-up study, which was part of a larger ongoing longitudinal project, compared early infant-parent attachment relationships to aspects of both parents' and children's mental representations of attachment when children were 6 years old. The sample consisted of 50 mothers, fathers, and children of predominantly upper-middle class social…

This paper explores important conceptual issues that confront researchers who wish to study the role of empathy in parent-child interaction. Part I reviews the major existing theories of parent empathy offered by the psychoanalytic-object relations and the client-centered schools of thought. In part II, a new processing model derived from the…

To examine the way in which mentally retarded children and adults in community living arrangements view notions of home and family, questionnaires were administered to direct care staff working with 151 retarded children and adults. Questionnaire items touched on such aspects as residents' age, sex, length and type of institutionalization,…