Disoriented, punitive, and caregiving/role-confused attachment behaviors are associated with psychopathology in childhood, but have not been assessed in adolescence. A total of 120 low-income late adolescents (aged 18-23 years) and parents were assessed in a conflict-resolution paradigm. Their interactions were coded with the Goal-Corrected…

Recent work examining the content and organization of attachment representations suggests that 1 way in which we represent the attachment relationship is in the form of a cognitive script. This work has largely focused on early childhood or adolescence/adulthood, leaving a large gap in our understanding of script-like attachment representations in…

Background: Children reared in institutions experience elevated rates of psychiatric disorders. Inability to form a secure attachment relationship to a primary caregiver is posited to be a central mechanism in this association. We determined whether the ameliorative effect of a foster care (FC) intervention on internalizing disorders in previously…

Objectives: We evaluated a new attachment-oriented intervention aimed at improving parental mind-mindedness, promoting positive parent-child relationships, and reducing child psychopathology in families with adopted children. Method: The sample consisted of 20 families with adopted children (2-5 years of age). After the pretest, the intervention…

Background: A pervasive failure to attend and respond to emotionally salient stimuli is a core feature of psychopathy. We hypothesise that this begins early in life and is expressed most importantly as a failure to attend to core emotional features (viz., the eyes) of attachment figures. The current study tested whether impaired eye contact is a…

Research of childhood psychological maltreatment has documented a range of severe and long-lasting difficulties for children who experience this type of abuse. Consequences can include but are not limited to emotional and behavioural problems, low self-esteem, and relationship difficulties. Accordingly, the development of therapy programs to…

Background: Specific thematic content arising from children's doll play is often considered to give clinically meaningful information regarding their mental state, but has received little systematic enquiry. This exploratory study examined the negative and atypical content themes in the attachment story narratives of children with behaviour…

Objective: To examine the associations among mental health problems, maternal monitoring and permissiveness, mother-daughter communication and attachment, and sexual behaviors among African American girls receiving outpatient psychiatric care. Youths with mental health problems report higher rates of HIV-risk behavior than do their peers, and…

This study explored correlations between risk factors and eating behavior problems in late adolescent, non-clinical females (N = 301). Participants completed questionnaires for assessing eating problems, the closely associated factors of Body Mass Index (BMI) and body dissatisfaction, and a number of other risk variables that are thought to be…

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the role of parental relational styles on the development of psychopathological disturbances in children with Learning Disability (LD). Method: Fifty-six children aged 7-12 diagnosed with LD were evaluated on the basis of the Children Behaviour Check List (CBCL) completed by parents. Parents completed an…

Background: Attachment theory's original formulation was substantially driven by Bowlby's (1969/1982) quest for a meaningful model of the development of psychopathology. Bowlby posited that aberrant experiences of parenting increase the child's risk of psychopathological outcomes, and that these risks are mediated by the quality of the attachment…

Objective: Attachment theory offers an intriguing formulation of protection and risk that ties together key aspects of behavior, emotion, and cognition. The authors present links among attachment status, other developmental domains, and the development and maintenance of externalizing disorders to illustrate an approach to integrating attachment…

The current study examined attachment style, strengths, and difficulties in institutionalized and non-institutionalized children with below-average intellectual abilities. Parents/caregivers and teachers of the children completed a brief measure of attachment style and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, which assesses the most important…

Explored the antecedents and consequences of attachment disorganization among 157 participants in a prospective longitudinal study from 24 months to 19 years. Found that infant history of attachment disorganization was correlated with consequent variables related to: mother-child relationship quality at 24 and 42 months; child behavior problems in…

A longitudinal investigation focused on the etiology of psychiatric and behavioral disorders in a sample of 190 children at risk for developmental problems. Data collection began during pregnancy and included assessments of: (1) parental personality, intelligence, and parenting attitudes; (2) parent-child interaction and relationship quality; (3)…