The Experts below are selected from a list of 318 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Phillip R Shaver - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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an Attachment theory perspective on religion and spirituality
2020Co-Authors: Pehr Granqvist, Mario Mikulincer, Phillip R ShaverAbstract:Abstract Attachment theory emphasizes the importance to human beings of socio-emotional bonds with available, sensitive, and supportive others for effective emotion regulation, mental health, and psychosocial functioning. Originally, the theory focused on the quality of the infant–parent relationship, but it was extended to friendships and romantic relationships in adulthood and to a person’s relationship with God. In this chapter, we focus on an Attachment theory perspective on religion and spirituality and argue that Attachment theory and research provide a useful framework for studying and understanding the development of religious beliefs and a believer’s relationship to God. We open with a brief outline of Attachment theory and research. We then review research showing that a believer’s perceived relationship with God meets the defining criteria for Attachment bonds and hence that God can serve as a protective and supportive Attachment Figure. The chapter also considers evidence for the correspondence model that suggests that Attachment to God mirrors peoples’ other Attachment bonds, as well as evidence for the motivated compensation model that suggests that Attachment to God may be used to substitute for insecure Attachment bonds. Finally, we review research on connections between particular religious phenomena and Attachment-related individual differences in the “earthly” realm of interpersonal relationships.
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pets as safe havens and secure bases the moderating role of pet Attachment orientations
Journal of Research in Personality, 2012Co-Authors: Sigal Zilchamano, Mario Mikulincer, Phillip R ShaverAbstract:We examined the extent to which a pet functions as an Attachment Figure. In Study 1, 165 pet owners performed a goal exploration task, assessing the number of life goals generated and confidence in goal attainment. In Study 2, 120 pet owners performed a distress-eliciting task while assessing blood pressure. In both studies, participants were divided into three conditions: pet physical presence, pet cognitive presence, and no pet presence. As compared to no pet presence, physical or cognitive pet presence increased the number of life goals generated and self-confidence in goal attainment and reduced blood pressure during the distress-eliciting task. The findings confirm the ability of a pet to provide a safe-haven and a secure-base and the moderating role of Attachment insecurities.
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experimental findings on god as an Attachment Figure normative processes and moderating effects of internal working models
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2012Co-Authors: Pehr Granqvist, Mario Mikulincer, Vered Gewirtz, Phillip R ShaverAbstract:Four studies examined implications of Attachment theory for psychological aspects of religion among Israeli Jews. Study 1 replicated previous correlational findings indicating correspondence among interpersonal Attachment orientations, Attachment to God, and image of God. Studies 2-4 were subliminal priming experiments, which documented both normative and individual-difference effects. Regarding normative effects, findings indicated that threat priming heightened cognitive access to God-related concepts in a lexical decision task (Study 2); priming with "God" heightened cognitive access to positive, secure base-related concepts in the same task (Study 3); and priming with a religious symbol caused neutral material to be better liked (Study 4). Regarding individual differences, interpersonal Attachment-related avoidance reduced the normative effects (i.e., avoidant participants had lower implicit access to God as a safe haven and secure base). Findings were mostly independent of level of religiousness. The present experiments considerably extend the psychological literature on connections between Attachment constructs and aspects of religion.
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influence of family of origin and adult romantic partners on romantic Attachment security
Journal of Family Psychology, 2008Co-Authors: Rachel E Dinero, Phillip R Shaver, Keith F Widaman, Rand D Conger, Dannelle LarsenrifeAbstract:Beginning with Bowlby's (1969/1982) seminal theoretical work, the study of Attachment has progressed along two fairly independent trajectories (described by Simpson & Rholes, 1998, and Mikulincer & Shaver, 2003). One line of research has focused on the Attachment relationship between child and parent, primarily in infancy but also as late as adolescence (e.g., Allen & Land, 1999). The other line of research has focused on the Attachment dynamics of adult romantic and marital relationships (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2003, 2007). The present report focuses on self-reported romantic Attachment security in adult romantic relationships and the degree to which it is linked to experiences in Attachment relationships with parents and romantic partners (e.g., Bartholomew, 1990; Bretherton & Munholland, 1999). Mikulincer and Shaver (2003, 2007) have summarized much of the research on Attachment processes in terms of a three-component model of what Bowlby (1969/1982) called the Attachment behavioral system. According to this model, threats activate the Attachment system and cause a person to notice the presence or absence (“availability” and “responsiveness”) of a security-providing Attachment Figure. If no such Figure is perceived to be available and responsive, the person has to make an explicit or implicit decision to hyperactivate or deactivate the Attachment system. Over time, a person's experiences in such situations alter and shape the parameters of the Attachment system, making either security-based strategies or hyperactivating (anxious) or deactivating (avoidant) strategies more likely. Attachment theory, then, proposes that when Attachment relationships involve behaviors that are responsive, sensitive, caring and available, the person in such a relationship is more likely to develop a secure rather than insecure Attachment style. Attachment relationships without these behavioral characteristics should lead to greater insecurity in Attachment. Despite this theoretical interest in social-relational sources of Attachment security, there is little evidence concerning the developmental origins of romantic Attachment styles because most studies of adult romantic Attachment begin with people who are already college students or mature adults. Moreover, there is relatively little research combining behavioral observations of parent-child and romantic interactions with self-reports of Attachment style. The purpose of the present study is three-fold: (1) to examine the contribution of the quality of family interactions during adolescence to later romantic Attachment styles and the quality of romantic interactions in adulthood, (2) to examine the contribution of romantic relationship interactions to subsequent romantic Attachment style, and (3) to assess the degree to which romantic Attachment style predicts the quality of behavioral interactions in romantic relationships. Figure 1 provides a schematic for the conceptual model which guides the study. The next sections consider the theoretical and empirical bases for each of the predicted associations in the proposed model. Figure 1 The conceptual model for the study.
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moving toward a secure Attachment style can repeated security priming help
Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2008Co-Authors: Omri Gillath, Emre Selcuk, Phillip R ShaverAbstract:Despite the abundant literature on Attachment processes and the development of a secure or insecure Attachment orientation during childhood, it is still unclear whether adult Attachment style can be changed through systematic interventions, and if so how the change process works. One way to learn more about such change is to create it, on a small scale, in the laboratory. It is already known that a person’s sense of security can be momentarily changed in the laboratory (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007a). But there is clearly a difference between very short-term and longer-term change. According to Bowlby (1982), the development of an Attachment orientation in childhood is based on many encounters and interactions with caregivers, which gradually create a mental network of relatively stable expectations and concerns. Thus, it may take many episodes of security priming in a laboratory to begin to affect a young adult’s Attachment style in a lasting way. Here, we explore this possibility, review existing evidence from our own and other researchers’ laboratories, and discuss directions for future research. Beginning in infancy, people rely on Attachment Figures (close relationship partners who provide protection, comfort, and support; Bowlby, 1982) when they encounter stresses, threats, or disappointments. Over time, these Figures and encounters with them are internalized as mental representations, which Attachment theorists call ‘working models’ (e.g., Bretherton & Munholland, 1999). These models can represent the self, key relationship partners, and major kinds of interactions with such partners. Such mental representations are associated in memory with particular emotions, motives, and goals that, taken together, form a person’s Attachment style (e.g., Gillath et al., 2006; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007b). Attachment styles are thought to develop through a combination of conditioning and cognitive representation (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007b). For example, Attachment Figures who reliably provide safety and support in times of need reinforce the association in long-term memory between turning to them and having one’s anxiety and stress reduced. Eventually, merely calling a supportive Attachment Figure to mind and perhaps also
Karen L. Bales - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Infant titi monkey behavior in the open field test and the effect of early adversity
American Journal of Primatology, 2017Co-Authors: Rebecca H. Larke, Alice Toubiana, Katrina A. Lindsay, Sally P. Mendoza, Karen L. BalesAbstract:The open field test is commonly used to measure anxiety-related behavior and exploration in rodents. Here, we used it as a standardized novel environment in which to evaluate the behavioral response of infant titi monkeys (Callicebus cupreus), to determine the effect of presence of individual family members, and to assess how adverse early experience alters infant behavior. Infants were tested in the open field for 5 days at ages 4 and 6 months in four successive 5 min trials on each day. A transport cage, which was situated on one side of the open field, was either empty (non-social control) or contained the father, mother, or sibling. Infant locomotor, vocalization, and exploratory behavior were quantified. Results indicated that age, sex, social condition, and early experience all had significant effects on infant behavior. Specifically, infants were generally more exploratory at 6 months and male infants were more exploratory than females. Infants distinguished between social and non-social conditions but made few behavioral distinctions between the Attachment Figure and other individuals. Infants which had adverse early life experience demonstrated greater emotional and physical independence, suggesting that early adversity led to resiliency in the novel environment.
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differences in titi monkey callicebus cupreus social bonds affect arousal affiliation and response to reward
American Journal of Primatology, 2012Co-Authors: Benjamin J Ragen, Sally P. Mendoza, Karen L. Bales, William A MasonAbstract:Titi monkeys (Callicebus cupreus) are a monogamous, New World primate. Adult pair-mates form a bidirectional social bond and offspring form a selective unidirectional bond to their father. Some of the neurobiology involved in social bonds and maternal behavior is similar to the neural circuitry involved in nonsocial reward. Due to these overlapping mechanisms, social states may affect responses to external rewarding stimuli. We sought to determine whether having a social Attachment, and/or being in the presence of that Attachment Figure, can affect an individual's response to a rewarding stimulus. In addition, we compared affiliative bonds between pair-mates to those between offspring and fathers. Eighteen adult male titi monkeys were either living alone (Lone), with a female pair-mate (Paired), or with the natal group (Natal; N = 6/condition). Each individual went through eight 30-min preference tests for a sweet substance, Tang. For Paired and Natal males, half of the test sessions were with their Attachment Figure and half were alone. Lone males were always tested alone. Preference scores for Tang, time spent drinking, affiliative, and arousal behaviors were measured. Paired and Natal males emitted significantly more isolation peeps and locomoted more when tested alone compared to when tested with their Attachment Figure, and paired males engaged in more affiliative behavior than Natal males. Lone males engaged in significantly more behaviors indicative of behavioral arousal such as locomotion and piloerection compared to Paired and Natal males. Finally, Paired males drank significantly more Tang and had a significantly greater preference for Tang compared to Lone and Natal males. These results indicate that offspring undergo a behavioral separation response upon separation from their father that persists into adulthood, Lone males are more behaviorally reactive, and that living with an Attachment Figure and the type of Attachment relationship result in different responses to a rewarding sweet stimulus.
Guy Bosmans - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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reactive Attachment disorder symptoms and prosocial behavior in middle childhood the role of secure base script knowledge
BMC Psychiatry, 2020Co-Authors: Bien Cuyvers, Eleonora Vervoort, Guy BosmansAbstract:Children with Attachment disorder show prosocial behavior problems. Children with a reactive Attachment disorder show inhibited and emotionally withdrawn behavior. Consequently, these children typically display prosocial behavior problems. However, the underlying mechanism between reactive Attachment disorder and prosocial behavior problems is still unclear and findings in literature are mixed. The current study investigated the role of children’s Attachment representations in this association. Attachment representations reflect knowledge about a cognitive script regarding the Attachment Figure as a source for support (Secure Base Script). We tested whether secure base script knowledge 1) mediates or 2) moderates the link between reactive Attachment disorder and prosocial behavior problems in 83 children (6–11 years; 83.1% boys) recruited from special education schools for children with behavioral problems. Children completed a pictorial Secure Base Script Test. Their reactive Attachment disorder symptoms were assessed during an interview with the primary caregivers. Primary caregivers and teachers filled out a prosocial behavior questionnaire about the child. Results did not support the mediation hypothesis, but evidence for the moderation hypothesis was found. Secure base script knowledge attenuated the negative association between Attachment disorder symptoms and prosocial behavior. These findings contribute to the discussion about the link between Attachment representations and Attachment disorders.
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can i be your safe haven and secure base a parental perspective on parent child Attachment in young children with a severe or profound intellectual disability
Research in Developmental Disabilities, 2019Co-Authors: Sien Vandesande, Guy Bosmans, Bea MaesAbstract:Abstract Background The general developmental as well as the disability specific literature has stressed the crucial influence of parents on their child’s social-emotional development. Attachment theory provides a framework to describe parental roles within the parent-child Attachment relationship. The current study explored parents’ perspectives on their role as Attachment Figure and the preconditions they consider necessary to establish secure Attachment in children with severe or profound intellectual disability (ID). Methods Semi-structured interviews with 54 parents on their child’s social-emotional development, Attachment behaviour and the parent-child Attachment bond were analysed using the Framework Method. All children were between 15 months and seven years old and had a severe or profound ID. Results Parents reported their child’s clear preference towards them and acknowledged the role they fulfil as stress regulator. Children differed in the extent to which they use their parent to explore new environments. Overall, parents described the Attachment relationship with their child as positive but challenging. Conclusions Parents acknowledged the roles they fulfil both as a safe haven for their child, and (to a lesser extent) as a secure base. Clinical practice could benefit from a parental perspective to identify particular challenges parents encounter in building a secure Attachment relationship.
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Attachment security and attentional breadth toward the Attachment Figure in middle childhood
Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 2009Co-Authors: Guy Bosmans, Ernst H W Koster, Caroline Braet, Rudi De RaedtAbstract:To increase our understanding of the cognitive processes involved in internal working models of Attachment, this study investigated the relationship between secure Attachment and attentional breadth to mother using a dual task design. The content of the cues (mother vs. unfamiliar women) and the duration of the presentation of the cues (34 msec, 100 msec, and 250 msec) were varied. The test was administered to 40 elementary school children between 9 and 12 years of age. As predicted, less securely attached children had a more narrow attentional field around mother at 34 msec. Lower levels of maternal autonomy support were similarly linked with a more narrow attentional field. In conformity with Attachment theory, this effect was fully mediated by the child's level of trust toward mother.
Sally P. Mendoza - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Infant titi monkey behavior in the open field test and the effect of early adversity
American Journal of Primatology, 2017Co-Authors: Rebecca H. Larke, Alice Toubiana, Katrina A. Lindsay, Sally P. Mendoza, Karen L. BalesAbstract:The open field test is commonly used to measure anxiety-related behavior and exploration in rodents. Here, we used it as a standardized novel environment in which to evaluate the behavioral response of infant titi monkeys (Callicebus cupreus), to determine the effect of presence of individual family members, and to assess how adverse early experience alters infant behavior. Infants were tested in the open field for 5 days at ages 4 and 6 months in four successive 5 min trials on each day. A transport cage, which was situated on one side of the open field, was either empty (non-social control) or contained the father, mother, or sibling. Infant locomotor, vocalization, and exploratory behavior were quantified. Results indicated that age, sex, social condition, and early experience all had significant effects on infant behavior. Specifically, infants were generally more exploratory at 6 months and male infants were more exploratory than females. Infants distinguished between social and non-social conditions but made few behavioral distinctions between the Attachment Figure and other individuals. Infants which had adverse early life experience demonstrated greater emotional and physical independence, suggesting that early adversity led to resiliency in the novel environment.
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differences in titi monkey callicebus cupreus social bonds affect arousal affiliation and response to reward
American Journal of Primatology, 2012Co-Authors: Benjamin J Ragen, Sally P. Mendoza, Karen L. Bales, William A MasonAbstract:Titi monkeys (Callicebus cupreus) are a monogamous, New World primate. Adult pair-mates form a bidirectional social bond and offspring form a selective unidirectional bond to their father. Some of the neurobiology involved in social bonds and maternal behavior is similar to the neural circuitry involved in nonsocial reward. Due to these overlapping mechanisms, social states may affect responses to external rewarding stimuli. We sought to determine whether having a social Attachment, and/or being in the presence of that Attachment Figure, can affect an individual's response to a rewarding stimulus. In addition, we compared affiliative bonds between pair-mates to those between offspring and fathers. Eighteen adult male titi monkeys were either living alone (Lone), with a female pair-mate (Paired), or with the natal group (Natal; N = 6/condition). Each individual went through eight 30-min preference tests for a sweet substance, Tang. For Paired and Natal males, half of the test sessions were with their Attachment Figure and half were alone. Lone males were always tested alone. Preference scores for Tang, time spent drinking, affiliative, and arousal behaviors were measured. Paired and Natal males emitted significantly more isolation peeps and locomoted more when tested alone compared to when tested with their Attachment Figure, and paired males engaged in more affiliative behavior than Natal males. Lone males engaged in significantly more behaviors indicative of behavioral arousal such as locomotion and piloerection compared to Paired and Natal males. Finally, Paired males drank significantly more Tang and had a significantly greater preference for Tang compared to Lone and Natal males. These results indicate that offspring undergo a behavioral separation response upon separation from their father that persists into adulthood, Lone males are more behaviorally reactive, and that living with an Attachment Figure and the type of Attachment relationship result in different responses to a rewarding sweet stimulus.
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responses of infant titi monkeys callicebus moloch to removal of one or both parents evidence for paternal Attachment
Developmental Psychobiology, 1995Co-Authors: Kurt A Hoffman, Sally P. Mendoza, Michael B Hennessy, William A MasonAbstract:The response to parental separation in infant titi monkeys was evaluated. Separation from the mother for 1 hr did not elicit an adrenocortical response from the infant unless the father was also removed. Separation from the father elicited a significant elevation in adrenocortical activity even when the mother remained with the infant during the separation period. Infants showed the highest cortisol levels and vocalization rates when both parents were removed and the infant remained alone in the living cage for 1 hr. As in previous research, infants maintained higher levels of contact with the father than with the mother. The results indicate that in this monogamous New World primate, the father is the primary Attachment Figure for the developing
Regina M Sullivan - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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neurobiology of infant fear and anxiety impacts of delayed amygdala development and Attachment Figure quality
Biological Psychiatry, 2021Co-Authors: Regina M Sullivan, Maya OpendakAbstract:Anxiety disorders are the most common form of mental illness and are more likely to emerge during childhood compared with most other psychiatric disorders. While research on children is the gold standard for understanding the behavioral expression of anxiety and its neural circuitry, the ethical and technical limitations in exploring neural underpinnings limit our understanding of the child's developing brain. Instead, we must rely on animal models to build strong methodological bridges for bidirectional translation to child development research. Using the caregiver-infant context, we review the rodent literature on early-life fear development to characterize developmental transitions in amygdala function underlying age-specific behavioral transitions. We then describe how this system can be perturbed by early-life adversity, including reduced efficacy of the caregiver as a safe haven. We suggest that greater integration of clinically informed animal research enhances bidirectional translation to permit new approaches to therapeutics for children with early onset anxiety disorders.
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Attachment Figure s regulation of infant brain and behavior
Psychodynamic psychiatry, 2017Co-Authors: Regina M SullivanAbstract:Altricial infants (i.e., requiring parental care for survival), such as humans and rats, form an Attachment to their caregiver and receive the nurturing and protections needed for survival. Learning has a strong role in Attachment, as is illustrated by strong Attachment formed to non-biological caregivers of either sex. Here we summarize and integrate results from animal and human infant Attachment research that highlights the important role of social buffering (social presence) of the stress response by the Attachment Figure and its effect on infant processing of threat and fear through modulation of the amygdala. Indeed, this work suggests the caregiver switches off amygdala function in rodents, although recent human research suggests a similar process in humans and nonhuman primates. This cross-species analysis helps provide insight and unique understanding of Attachment and its role in the neurobiology of infant behavior within Attachment.
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early life adversity during the infant sensitive period for Attachment programming of behavioral neurobiology of threat processing and social behavior
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 2017Co-Authors: Regina M Sullivan, Maya Opendak, Elizabeth GouldAbstract:Abstract Animals, including humans, require a highly coordinated and flexible system of social behavior and threat evaluation. However, trauma can disrupt this system, with the amygdala implicated as a mediator of these impairments in behavior. Recent evidence has further highlighted the context of infant trauma as a critical variable in determining its immediate and enduring consequences, with trauma experienced from an Attachment Figure, such as occurs in cases of caregiver-child maltreatment, as particularly detrimental. This review focuses on the unique role of caregiver presence during early-life trauma in programming deficits in social behavior and threat processing. Using data primarily from rodent models, we describe the interaction between trauma and Attachment during a sensitive period in early life, which highlights the role of the caregiver’s presence in engagement of Attachment brain circuitry and suppressing threat processing by the amygdala. These data suggest that trauma experienced directly from an abusive caregiver and trauma experienced in the presence of caregiver cues produce similar neurobehavioral deficits, which are unique from those resulting from trauma alone. We go on to integrate this information into social experience throughout the lifespan, including consequences for complex scenarios, such as dominance hierarchy formation and maintenance.
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unique neurobiology during the sensitive period for Attachment produces distinctive infant trauma processing
European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2016Co-Authors: Maya Opendak, Regina M SullivanAbstract:Background : Trauma has neurobehavioral effects when experienced at any stage of development, but trauma experienced in early life has unique neurobehavioral outcomes related to later life psychiatric sequelae. Recent evidence has further highlighted the context of infant trauma as a critical variable in determining its immediate and enduring consequences. Trauma experienced from an Attachment Figure, such as occurs in cases of caregiver child maltreatment, is particularly detrimental. Methods : Using data primarily from rodent models, we review the literature on the interaction between trauma and Attachment in early life, which highlights the role of the caregiver’s presence in engagement of Attachment brain circuitry and suppressing threat processing by the amygdala. We then consider how trauma with and without the caregiver produces long-term changes in emotionality and behavior, and suggest that these experiences initiate distinct pathways to pathology. Results : Together these data suggest that infant trauma processing and its enduring effects are impacted by both the immaturity of brain areas for processing trauma and the unique functioning of the early-life brain, which is biased toward processing information within the Attachment circuitry. Conclusion : An understanding of developmental differences in trauma processing as well as the critical role of the caregiver in further altering early life brain processing of trauma is important for developing age-relevant treatment and interventions. Keywords: Trauma; Attachment; amygdala; development; stress; sensitive period; infant; maternal care (Published: 8 November 2016) Responsible Editors: Bernet Elzinga, Leiden University, The Netherlands; Christian Schmahl, Central Institute of Mental Health, Germany. This paper is part of the Special Issue: Back to Basics: Integrating Clinical and Scientific Knowledge to Advance the Field of Trauma—Highlights of the ISTSS-2015. More papers from this issue can be found at www.ejpt.net For the abstract or full text in other languages, please see Supplementary files in the column to the right (under ‘Article Tools’). Citation: European Journal of Psychotraumatology 2016, 7 : 31276 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/ejpt.v7.31276
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the development and neurobiology of infant Attachment and fear
Developmental Neuroscience, 2012Co-Authors: Margo S Landers, Regina M SullivanAbstract:Survival of altricial infants depends on Attachment to the caregiver – a process that requires infants to identify, learn, remember, and approach their Attachment Figure. Here we review the neurobiolo