Attachment styles, memories of parental rearing and therapeutic bond: a study with eating disordered patients, their parents and therapists

Abstract. Employing one correlational and two experimental studies, this paper examines the influence of attachment styles (secure, anxious, avoidant) on a person’s experience of equity in intimate relationships. While one experimental study employed a priming technique to stimulate the different attachment styles, the other involved vignettes describing fictitious characters with typical attachment styles. As the specific hypotheses about the single equity components have been developed on the basis of the attachment theory, the equity ratio itself and the four equity components (own outcome, own input, partner’s outcome, partner’s input) are analyzed as dependent variables. While partners with a secure attachment style tend to describe their relationship as equitable (i.e., they give and take extensively), partners who feel anxious about their relationship generally see themselves as being in an inequitable, disadvantaged position (i.e., they receive little from their partner). The hypothesis that avoidant partners would feel advantaged as they were less committed was only supported by the correlational study. Against expectations, the results of both experiments indicate that avoidant partners generally see themselves (or see avoidant vignettes) as being treated equitably, but that there is less emotional exchange than is the case with secure partners. Avoidant partners give and take less than secure ones.

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Emotions Under the Skin

Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1027/0269-8803/a000147 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 29 (4) ◽

pp. 161-170 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Catarina Silva ◽

Ana Cláudia Ferreira ◽

Isabel Soares ◽

Francisco Esteves

Keyword(s):

Attachment Style ◽

Attachment Styles ◽

The Other ◽

Regulatory Function ◽

Physiological Reactivity ◽

Emotional Stimuli ◽

Skin Conductance Responses ◽

Lower Accuracy ◽

Emotional Pictures ◽

Valence And Arousal

Abstract. The present study examined physiological reactivity to emotional stimuli as a function of attachment style. Skin conductance responses (SCRs) and heart rate (HR) changes were simultaneously recorded while participants engaged in a visual attentional task. The task included positive, neutral, and negative emotional pictures, and required the identification of a target (neutral picture rotated 90° to the left or right), among a stream of pictures in which an emotional distracter (positive or negative) was presented. Participants additionally rated each of the emotional distracters for valence and arousal. Behavioral results on the attentional task showed that positive pictures facilitated overall target detection for all participants, compared to negative and neutral pictures, and that anxiously attached participants had significantly lower accuracy scores, relative to the other groups. Affective ratings indicated that positive pictures were rated as being more pleasant than negative ones, although no differences were found in HR changes to picture valence. In contrast, negative pictures were evaluated as being highly arousing. Consistent with this, negative pictures elicited larger SCRs in both insecure anxious and avoidant groups, especially for the anxious while the secure group showed SCRs unaffected by stimuli’s arousal. Present results show that individuals with different attachment styles reveal distinct patterns of attentional bias, appraisal, and physiological reactivity toward emotionally arousing stimuli. These findings further highlight the regulatory function of the attachment system.

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Attachment and Field Dependence: Individual Differences in Information Processing

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040.9.1.43 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 43-55 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Patrizia Vermigli ◽

Alessandro Toni

Keyword(s):

Information Processing ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Field Dependence ◽

Attachment Styles ◽

Close Relationships ◽

Adult Age ◽

Males And Females ◽

Figure Test ◽

The Relationship ◽

Measure Field

The present research analyzes the relationship between attachment styles at an adult age and field dependence in order to identify possible individual differences in information processing. The “Experience in Close Relationships” test of Brennan et al. was administered to a sample of 380 individuals (160 males, 220 females), while a subsample of 122 subjects was given the Embedded Figure Test to measure field dependence. Confirming the starting hypothesis, the results have shown that individuals with different attachment styles have a different way of perceiving the figure against the background. Ambivalent and avoidant individuals lie at the two extremes of the same dimension while secure individuals occupy the central part. Significant differences also emerged between males and females.

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The Cross-Cultural Equivalence of Parental Rearing Measure: EMBU-C

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759.22.2.85 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 85-91 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Maja Deković ◽

Margreet ten Have ◽

Wilma A.M. Vollebergh ◽

Trees Pels ◽

Annerieke Oosterwegel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Factor Analysis ◽

Cultural Differences ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Child Rearing ◽

Latent Factors ◽

Immigrant Adolescents ◽

Confirmatory Factor ◽

Parental Rearing ◽

The Cross ◽

Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis

We examined the cross-cultural equivalence of a widely used instrument that assesses perceived parental rearing, the EMBU-C, among native Dutch and immigrant adolescents living in The Netherlands. The results of a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the factor structure of the EMBU-C, consisting of three latent factors (Warmth, Rejection, and Overprotection), and reliabilities of these scales are similar in both samples. These findings lend further support for the factorial and construct validity of this instrument. The comparison of perceived child rearing between native Dutch and immigrant adolescents showed cultural differences in only one of the assessed dimensions: Immigrant adolescents perceive their parents as more overprotective than do Dutch adolescents.

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Attachment Styles, Physical Proximity, and Relational Satisfaction

Aviation Psychology and Applied Human Factors ◽

10.1027/2192-0923/a000062 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 106-112

Author(s):

Anita Shrivastava ◽

Andrea Burianova

Keyword(s):

Attachment Styles ◽

Romantic Relationship ◽

Distinct Type ◽

Relational Satisfaction ◽

Long Distance ◽

Avoidant Attachment ◽

Geographic Separation ◽

Relationship Of ◽

Attachment Dimensions

This study aimed to explore the relationships between attachment styles, proximity, and relational satisfaction. This was achieved by assessing a distinct type of long distance romantic relationship of flying crews, compared with proximal (non-flying crew) romantic relationships. The responses of 139 expatriate professionals revealed significant associations between proximity and anxious and avoidant attachment dimensions. The role of the avoidant dimension in comparison with that of the anxious dimension was found to be a significant predictor of relational satisfaction. This study contributes significantly toward addressing the role of proximity and attachment in relational satisfaction in a new context of geographic separation.

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