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Fostering Attachment Security: The Role of Interdependent Situations.

ABSTRACT: This work adopts an Interdependence Theory framework to investigate how the features of interdependent situations that couples face in their daily life (i.e., situations in which partners influence each other's outcomes) shape attachment security toward their current partners. An experience sampling study examined attachment tendencies and features of interdependent situations that people experience with their partner in daily life to predict satisfaction and trust in their relationship, and changes in attachment avoidance and anxiety toward their partner over time. Results revealed that encountering situations with corresponding outcomes (i.e., situations in which both partners have the same preferences) and with information certainty (i.e., situations in which there is clear knowledge of each partner's preferences) assuage people's insecurity. On the contrary, situations of mutual current and future interdependence (i.e., situations in which each person's current or future outcomes are dependent on their partner's behavior) undermined security for anxiously attached individuals. Power (i.e., the asymmetry in partners' dependence) was not related to attachment security. This work underscores the importance of studying the role of the situations that partners experience in their daily life and the way they are related to relationship feelings and cognitions.

SUBMITTER: Righetti F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7589934 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Fostering Attachment Security: The Role of Interdependent Situations.

Righetti Francesca F Balliet Daniel D Molho Catherine C Columbus Simon S Faure Ruddy R Bahar Yaprak Y Iqmal Muhammad M Semenchenko Anna A Arriaga Ximena X

International journal of environmental research and public health 20201020 20

This work adopts an Interdependence Theory framework to investigate how the features of interdependent situations that couples face in their daily life (i.e., situations in which partners influence each other's outcomes) shape attachment security toward their current partners. An experience sampling study examined attachment tendencies and features of interdependent situations that people experience with their partner in daily life to predict satisfaction and trust in their relationship, and cha ...[more]

PMID: 33092173

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Project description:BackgroundResearch on parent-level factors linked to adolescent attachment security would inform interventions to prevent or reduce youth psychopathology and other negative outcomes. The current study examined one relevant parent-level variable: maternal interpersonal problems. Interpersonal problems, a key characteristic of personality pathology, are well described by the interpersonal circumplex (IPC) and have been shown to be associated with maladaptive adult attachment in close/romantic relationships; however, studies have not examined relationships with offspring attachment. Therefore, the first aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between maternal interpersonal problems and adolescent attachment insecurity. Based on previous evidence that parents' recalled bonding with caregivers is associated with the quality of bonding and attachment with offspring, the second aim was to examine whether mothers' recalled bonding with their own mothers partially explained this relationship.MethodsParticipants included 351 psychiatric inpatient adolescents (Mage = 15.26, 64.1% female) and their biological mothers. Logistic regressions tested whether maternal interpersonal problems were associated with Child Attachment Interview classifications (secure vs. insecure; secure vs. preoccupied vs. dismissing; not disorganized vs. disorganized). A mediation model (N = 210) tested whether the relationship between maternal interpersonal problems and adolescent attachment was mediated by the mother's recalled maternal bonding.ResultsMaternal interpersonal problems were associated with insecure (vs. secure), dismissing (vs. secure), and preoccupied (vs. secure) attachment. There was no significant relationship between maternal interpersonal problems and disorganized attachment. Mediation analyses showed that maternal interpersonal problems were indirectly related to adolescent attachment security via the mother's recalled maternal care, though only a small amount of variance (7%) in adolescent offspring attachment was accounted for by the model.ConclusionsResults provide the first evidence that maternal interpersonal problems are associated with higher likelihood of insecure attachment in adolescents. Therefore, researchers could consider drawing upon the IPC literature to further examine mechanisms of intergenerational risk and to tailor interventions aimed to improve parent-child relations and attachment. Additionally, findings highlight the mediating role of the mothers' recalled experiences with caregivers in the transmission of risk, suggesting attachment-based or mentalization-based interventions may be helpful for mothers with interpersonal problems and personality pathology.

Dataset Information

Fostering Attachment Security: The Role of Interdependent Situations.

Publications

Fostering Attachment Security: The Role of Interdependent Situations.

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