The vocal distress of 10-month-old male and female infants was manipulated by placing the infants alone either with or without toys. The results demonstrate that separation distress is not an automatic response of infants and that maternal responses to separation depend on the infant's sex. (Author/JMB)

Examined discriminant validity of the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) vis-a-vis intelligence, social desirability, discourse style, and general social adjustment. Subjects were 53 native-English-speaking, married women with preschool children. Found modest but significant correlations between IQ scores and social adjustment. Found no relation…

Children's attachment behavior was assessed at 18 months. Children's behavior with peers was observed and teachers' ratings of children's peer relations were gathered from 18 to 24 months. Found that, in response to their own positive behaviors, insecure-resistant children received fewer positive reactions from peers, and insecure-resistant and…

Tests a model for predicting college student distress, including measures of negative life event impacts, adult attachment orientations, and several indexes of self-organization. Results demonstrated that attachment anxiety along with 2 self-organizing predictors (self-splitting, self-concealment) each made unique contributions and collectively…

Examined whether adult attachment was predictive of conflict resolution behaviors and satisfaction in romantic relationships. Both adult attachment dimensions, Avoidance and Anxiety, were predictive of conflict resolution behaviors and relationship satisfaction. Gender differences existed in conflict resolution behaviors, but they were not as…

Assessed gender and sexual orientation differences in the percentage of same-gender peers in youths' friendship networks, the gender of their best friends, and the degree of attachment to these friends. Results for 168 sexual minority and heterosexual youths show notable gender differences among the sexual minority youths, with female sexual…

Investigates communication patterns and subsequent relational outcomes following romantic partners' deception for people with different attachment styles. Reveals that respondents (undergraduate students) with a secure attachment style were more likely to report talking about the issue, whereas anxious/ambivalents were more likely to report…

Counselors who take an ecological perspective on family relationships may be more effective in their consultation, prevention, and direct service roles. Summarizes current research on the nature of parent and child attachments and on the importance of monitoring children's environments. Implications of this research are suggested for counselors…

Used an adaptation of the Texas Revised Inventory of Grief which assesses the grief resulting from loss through death to assess the grief resulting from the ending of a romantic relationship in a college student population (N=337). Results validated the grief response in college students resulting from the ending of a romantic relationship.…

Analyzed postdivorce emotional and psychological adjustment of men (N=144) and women (N=146) over two-year period. Found that greater personal resources before separation, better psychological functioning for women, development of social life, and a new intimate relationship all positively influenced adjustment. Results indicated that reducing…

Tested the hypothesis that development of secure attachments is predictable from synchronous, and insecure attachments from asynchronous interactions across the first year. Findings from 30 dyads (10 secure, 10 avoidant, 10 resistant) supported the hypothesis at one and three months, with synchronous interaction observed at significantly,…

An ethnographic study of adolescent boys in residential treatment explored their experiences with transition from placement to placement. Findings indicated displays of antisocial acting-out behaviors, especially at transition. Results suggest reevaluation of residential treatment within the continuum of care, as successive foster care placements…

Monitored skin conductance of college students while they recalled experiences of separation, rejection, and threat from parents. Students who diverted attention from attachment information to deal with attachment-related issues showed increases in skin conductance levels from baseline. (BC)

Misunderstandings of African-American infant attachments are likely if evaluative standards derived from infant caregiving in traditional white middle-class culture and an external point of view are employed. An exploratory study involving 37 African-American infants found that they had between 2 and 5 primary adult caregivers, as well as a larger…