PSYC426 Quiz 4

How is attachment security/insecurity measured in adolescents?

Answered in two questions(?):

1. How to tap attachments to specific people?

2. New to adolescence: how to tap broader, generalized attachment orientations?

attachment to parents

Teens remained attached to parents, and we can still measure attachment to individual parents

What changes or stays the same when an adolescent is attached to parents/parent?

• most teens view parents as main attachment figure

• can be securely attached to one parent, and insecurely attached to the other

• teens still have many of the same needs (comfort me; help me); the specifics look different

• still defined in same way: confidence in the availability and responsiveness of the person when needed — based on experiences

• rather than watch behavior, ask adolescent directly about use of parent as a secure base

parent as a secure base scale

a 13-item measure designed to assess children’s or adolescents’ perceptions of their parents as a source of sensitivity, availability, and support.

*view image

What are the two measurements of adolescent attachment?

1. “secure base scripts:” Attachment Script Assessment

2. “attachment style” Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR) scale

what are secure base scripts

a knowledge structure containing a sequence of events that typically occurs in a particular situation, such as going to the movies

• a series of if-then contingency statements based on experience

Example of secure base script

• If I go to the movies…

• Then I’ll wait in line to buy popcorn

• Then I’ll watch some previews

• Then my popcorn will run out and I’ll be sad about it

• and so on…

why are attachment-related scripts important?

They are more complex secure internal working models.

Help researchers understand internal working models of attachment because People vary in the extent to which they have knowledge of a secure base script.

If one has repeated experiences of caregivers providing secure base:

They would have access to a clear “secure base script”

If one does NOT have repeated experiences of caregivers providing a secure base:

They would NOT have access to a clear “secure base script”.

How do we measure individuals’ knowledge of secure base scripts?

• procedure taps scripts by using word sets to elicit narratives

• shows adolescents a set of 12 words for each narrative

• asks for a story using these words

• 6 different word sets; asked to tell 6 stories

• easily understand the task

• tape-recorded and coded for transcripts

what are Experiences in Close Relationships scale [ECR]

dimensions reflecting thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in relationships with close others

two dimensions of attachment style

1. attachment avoidance

2. attachment anxiety

attachment avoidance

• 18 items

• discomfort with closeness and dependence, a tendency to deactivate the attachment system

• example item (1-7 scale strongly disagree to strongly agree)

  • “I prefer to not show a partner how I feel deep down.”

attachment anxiety

• 18 items

• strong desires for closeness. Intense fears about rejection and abandonment. Tendency to hyperactive, heighten the attachment system.

• Example item (1-7 scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree)

  • “I worry about being rejected or abandoned”

ECR and Bronfenbrenner

1. Likelihood of attachment avoidance/anxiety

   1. does the likelihood of becoming avoidant/insecure/anxious vary as a function of SES, or neighborhood violence, or x?

2. Context and functioning

   1. pick an attachment style, then pick a factor — schools, culture, policy, workplace, etc.

Example: attachment style x, when faced with factor (y), might have a harder time because z.

Through what mechanisms do caregiving experiences shape long-term physical outcomes?

The mechanisms act as moderators, answering the “why” that leads to the outcome

what is “biological embedding of social experience”

social experiences are happening under the skin.

What are the 3 models of caregiving experiences —> long-term physical health outcomes?

1. Felitti’s ACES model

2. Life History Theory: HPA Axis

3. Ehrlich, Miller, & Chen’s Inflammation model

Felitti’s ACES model: aspects of development

mechanisms by which adverse childhood experiences influence health and well-being throughout the lifespan

*shows the increases of risk in adverse childhood experiences, it does not lead to outcomes up the pyramid

Life History Theory: HPA axis

1. stressful or uncertain environments

2. chronic HPA-axis activation (release of glucocorticoids)

3. faster life history strategy

   1. earlier puberty

   2. earlier sexual behavior

   3. earlier age of 1st reproduction

   4. lower parental investment

4. faster biological aging

   1. faster cellular aging

   2. earlier mortality

Ehrilich, Miller, & Chen’s Inflammation model

caregiving adversity —> stress —> INFLAMMATION —> poor immune function —> poor health & risk for disease

Are attachment-related differences in physical health and disease risk?

short answer: yes

• quality of attachment in childhood and adolescence —> health outcomes in adulthood (promotive effects)

• secure attachment/sensitive parenting may also BUFFER against negative effects of stress on health (protective effects)

Can parenting interventions in adolescence promote long-term physical health?

yes