Objectives: Primary school children's representations of themselves and their attachment figures were explored by assessing their family drawings. The main aim of the study was to empirically explore differences in the representations of children with secure versus insecure attachment. The study was theoretically informed by attachment theory and methodologically based on widely-used systems fo...

The development of sleep-wake regulation in infants depends upon brain maturation as well as various environmental factors. The aim of the present study was to evaluate sleep duration and quality as a function of child attachment to the mother. One hundred and thirty-four mother-child dyads enrolled in the Maternal Adversity, Vulnerability and Neurodevelopment (MAVAN) project were included in t...

BACKGROUND Although exposure to early life stress is known to affect mental health, the underlying mechanisms of its impacts on depressive symptoms among institutionalized children and adolescents have been little studied. METHODS To investigate the role of attachment and self-esteem in association with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and depressive symptoms, 342 children (149 boys, 193 ...

background: according to the attachment theory, anxiety disorders due to the child and based on attachment disorders are defined. this study examined the relationship between mother's attachment style and school anxieties of mentally retarded male students.   methods: all mentally retarded male students of secondary schools during academic year of 2008-2009 in shiraz were studied (127 students)...

This exploratory qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with adjudicated and non-adjudicated adolescents and their parents to identify: (1) different behavioral manifestations of affect regulation and attachment interactions as described by respondents; and (2) interactional patterns that we might wish to target in a therapeutic intervention. Parents used more functional internal aff...

This study longitudinally assessed associations between secure and ambivalent attachment with mothers, fathers and professional caregivers in infancy, and personal space regulation and perceived interpersonal competence in 64 early adolescents (31 boys, 33 girls). Children classified as ambivalently attached to their mothers and/or professional caregivers in infancy displayed significantly larg...

Two studies tested whether children’s attitudinal ambivalence toward their parents is related to their attachment styles within relationships. Across both studies, children who were ambivalent toward their father were less securely attached in their relationships than were children who were nonambivalent toward their father. Study 1 also showed that the relation between attitudinal ambivalence ...

This paper reports on an autonomous agent simulation of infant attachment behaviour. The behaviours simulated have been observed in home environments and in a controlled laboratory procedure called the Strange Situation Experiment. The Avoidant, Secure and Ambivalent styles of behaviour seen in these studies are outlined, and then abstracted to their core elements to act as a specification of r...