Observed five-year olds playing with a friend and rated the children on dimensions of relationship using the Dyadic Coding System and the Dyadic Relationships Q-Sort. Found that both measures captured similar variation in friendship quality. Also found a congruence between friendship quality and father-child attachment as previously measured at 13…

Twenty-seven married couples completed Adult Attachment Interview, were rated as secure or insecure with respect to attachment, and completed measures of marital satisfaction. Found that self-reported marhdal satisfaction was not related to adult attachment classifications. Insecure-secure and secure-secure dyads did not differ, but both groups…

Examined differences in trust and self-disclosure associated with secure, anxious/ambivalent, and avoidant attachment. Findings from 98 undergraduate students revealed that, in general, subjects who reported themselves as securely attached also reported, in comparison with avoidant attachment, higher levels of trust in partner, amount of…

Examined the influence of social context variables on separation responses in nine-month-old infants. Indicated that nine month olds need not be highly stressed by being put in a new setting with a substitute caregiver. Use of procedures practiced in a model day care program effectively buffeted infant stress responses under individual and group…

Attachment theory provides a framework for understanding children's relationships to their primary and secondary caregivers. The theory describes how secure attachment bonds are formed between children and caregivers and the consequences of both secure and insecure attachment relationships. Recommendations for putting attachment theory into…

A biobehavioral perspective may help settle disagreements about the validity and interpretation of infants' different behavioral patterns of attachment. A study of 41 infants demonstrated that insecure-avoidant infants, despite showing less overt distress after short separations from their mother than secure infants, exhibited arousal patterns as…

Examined the validity of the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) measure by interviewing 83 mothers twice over 2 months, using different interviewers on each occasion. The results indicated that the reliability of the AAI classifications was quite high over time and across interviewers. The AAI classifications were independent of nonattachment…

Eighty infants, toddlers, and preschoolers were observed before, during, and after separations from their mothers. Results suggested that there were no negative cumulative effects of repeated separations. The children seemed to adapt to repeated separations following the stressful experience with their first separation. (GLR)

Results of a study of low-income, inner-city mothers and their 13-month-old infants supported the hypothesis that increased physical contact achieved through the use of a soft baby carrier makes mothers more responsive to their infants and promotes the formation of more secure attachment between infants and mothers. (RH)

Compared women's (n=40) and men's (n=20) levels of self-evolvement based on Kegan's Constructive-Developmental Theory. Findings from U.S. military personnel in Europe revealed no gender differences in self-evolvement. Results suggest stereotypically masculine orientation toward individuation and increased autonomy and stereotypically feminine…

Children of 18 months classified as secure or insecure/avoidant by means of the Ainsworth Strange Situation were observed at home and in a playgroup. Teachers and observers rated girls classified as insecure/avoidant as being more difficult to deal with and having more difficulty with peers than girls rated as securely attached. (PCB)

Examined relationship between coping resources and attachment to parents and peers in 60 college students. Different sets of coping resources predicted maternal, paternal, and peer attachment among subjects. Maternal and paternal attachment were associated with greater number of coping resource than was peer attachment. Findings suggest that…

Alexithymia (difficulty differentiating affective states and expressing feelings, external reliance in decision-making) is studied as a possible mediator by which dysfunctional family environment in childhood affects adult clients' attachment to therapist (N=61). Fear of separation, parent/child role reversal, and marital conflict were associated…

Examined 3- to 13-year olds' memories for an experienced and a never-experienced medical procedure. Found that children 4 years or older at time of the procedure described it more accurately than did younger children. Longer delays between procedure and recall were related to providing fewer correct information units but not more inaccuracies.…

Notes that young children need to express joys and sadness; discusses candle ceremony designed for discussions of grief. Suggests teachers inform parents of the ceremony and solicit their help in preparing children, resolve not to try to solve all problems that may be discussed, inform children the moments are private, and plan for difficult…