Compared reports of gay and heterosexual male college students about particular behaviors and feelings during childhood and adolescence. Results were interpreted as providing general support for Bell's heterogamy principle that regardless of one's sexual orientation, romantic attachments will be to people perceived different from one's self.…

The implications of attachment theory for clinical work with maltreated children are examined in the context of the therapeutic relationship. The article describes therapeutic strategies in which the clinician intervenes to enable the child to modify negative and pessimistic beliefs and expectations of others and of self. (Author/DB)

Examined first-born preschoolers' adjustment to siblinghood, as indexed by security of attachment, in 194 2-parent families. Security of firstborn attachment decreased significantly after a secondborn's birth, but the decrease was smaller among firstborn under 24 months than among 2- to 5-year-olds. Mothers' marital harmony, affective involvement,…

Based on Aristotelian ethics, an "Adolescent Ethical Behavior in Leisure Scale" (AEBLS) was developed. Data from high- and low-risk adolescents were used to examine correlations between AEBLS scores and measures of substance use, school bonding, and dispositional leisure boredom. Results support the use of AEBLS scores to discriminate…

Examines the relationship between parental attachment histories and child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. The Adult Attachment Interview was given to 27 mothers and fathers with children 3.5 years old. Models that included fathers' attachment histories predicted more variance in kindergarten teachers' descriptions of children's…

Examines the emotional development of preschoolers, including the issues of emotional expression, emotional understanding, regulation of emotions, developmental significance, and the role of the caregiver-child relationship. Finds that caregivers influence the emotional development of children as they model, coach, and respond to children.…

Examined validity of attachment-based measures of parent-child relationships designed for 9- to 12-year-olds. Measures included self-reports of perceptions of security and avoidant and preoccupied coping, a projective interview assessing attachment state of mind, parents' reports of willingness to serve as an attachment figure, and ratings of…

This article describes a number of strategies and social-emotional interventions for use with maltreated children. These include: structure to increase feelings of safety and security, positive behavior management techniques, and methods that foster social and emotional resiliency. (Author)

Examined longitudinally the association between attachment at age 6 and school-related cognitive functioning 2 years later in a French Canadian sample. Found that secure children had higher scores than insecure peers on communication, cognitive engagement, and mastery motivation. Controlling children were at greatest risk for school…

The goal of this study was to examine whether attachment security and child temperament predicted differences in the elaboration and emotional content of mother-child discourse in 2 contexts and whether those differences were related to a child's socioemotional development. Fifty-one preschool children and their mothers were videotaped reading a…

This study examined how high school students cope with stress as a function of their attachment style. Data were gathered from 75 adolescent-parent pairs in Texas and included measures of attachment, coping style, life stress, and whom the respondent would turn to in times of stress. Adolescents' attachment security was positively related to…

The purpose of this study was to compare memories of attachments to parents, friends, and romantic partners in relation to the maintenance of high school friendships and romantic relationships. College students recorded the length of their friendships and romantic relationships during high school and rated the quality of each. They also rated…

The authors examined the roles of depression and attachment to fathers in college women's eating dysfunctions. Three-hundred six undergraduate women completed (1) a diagnostic measure of eating dysfunctions that categorized them as asymptomatic, symptomatic but not eating disordered, or eating disordered; (2) 3 dimensional measures of attachment…

This document presents the proceedings of the 17th Annual Research Forum held June 29, 2012, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Included herein are the following 25 action research papers: (1) "Reading and Writing": A Study Comparing the Strengths of Peer Review and Visible Author Writing Strategies (Elizabeth Behar); (2)…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation among attachment state of mind, students' learning dispositions, and academic performance during the college transition. Sixty-two students were involved in a short-term longitudinal study and were interviewed with the Adult Attachment Interview. Students' learning dispositions were assessed at…