From an unknown other to an attachment figure: How do mental representations change as attachments form? Abstract Mental representations are the building blocks that guide affect, thought, and behaviors within adult attachment relationships. To date, research has focused on how individual differences in mental representations meaningfully relate to a person's chronic attachment style and the at...

In this presentation, I delineate fi ve refi nements that I and my associates have introduced during the last decade to the literature on religion and spirituality from an attachment-theory perspective. First, I describe the principle of social correspondence as an addition to the idea that religiousness refl ects generalizing working models of attachment. Second, I focus on what we have learne...

This study examined whether working models of attachment are associated with observed positive emotion, sadness, and anger during marital conflict. Individuals (n = 176) from a longitudinal study of families participated in the current cross-sectional study. Narrative interviews assessed the unique and combined contribution of attachment representations based on parents (adult attachment) and p...

There is increasing evidence that adult attachment plays a role in the development and perseverance of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This meta-analysis aims to synthesise this evidence and investigate the relationship between adult attachment styles and PTSD symptoms. A random-effects model was used to analyse 46 studies (N=9268) across a wide range of traumas. Results revea...

The present study investigated the relationship between adult attachment style and sexual behavior among HIV-positive patients. HIV-positive (HIV+) participants (A' = 48) completed questionnaires assessing number of sexual partners, adult attachment, self-esteem, and depressive symptoms. Results revealed that insecure attachment styles (particularly negative attachment representations of self a...

background & aim: aggression is a phenomenon that causes irreversible damage to a community. psychodynamic theory suggests that aggression is rooted in early relationships with family members, especially mother. according to this theory, infant-mother relationship is a major predictor of an individual’s behavior from childhood to adulthood. this study aimed to investigate the correlation betwee...