The deleterious effects of separation and deprivation using children who were undergoing chemotherapy for childhood cancer was investigated. Extensive observational and physiological records were obtained on four children under five years of age during six weeks of treatment in a protected environment. In general, findings parallel those reported…

This paper reports the effects of one hour of extra post-partum contact between mother and infant on the quality of the attachment observed when the infant was one year old. It was hypothesized that infants in the extra contact condition would be classified as securely attached while regular contact infants would be less frequently classified as…

This study investigated the effects of availability of a familiar human attachment object (the mother) and familiar inanimate attachment object (the child's blanket) on a child's emotionality and learning of a discrimination task. A total of 64, 2- and 3-year-old children were assigned to groups (nonattached, mother-attached, or blanket-attached),…

The effect of the presence of a parent on the frequency and complexity of the social behavior of children at two cooperative preschools was studied. It was expected that securely attached children would explore their environment more comprehensively and competently when a parent was present than would insecurely attached children. Parents…

These exploratory studies focused on child-pet bonding and the effect of the quality of chldren's home environments on the social development of preschoolers. Survey data from 88 parents regarding the parents, their homes, and their preschool child provided empirical support for the hypothesis that young children derive developmental benefits from…

This paper outlines several properties of internal representational models (IRMs) and offers terminology that may help to differentiate the models. Properties of IRMs include focus, memory systems, content, cognitive function, "metastructure," quality of attachment, behavioral strategies, and attitude toward attachment. An IRM focuses on…

This study investigated links between recalled attachment to parents and current parenting attitudes of 126 parents of elementary school children. Mean age of subjects was 36.3 years; average length of marriage was 13 years. The majority of subjects had not experienced disruption in early attachment relationships or parental marital disharmony.…

Since adult children are both an essential and a limited support system for elderly parents, it is important to understand the factors which elicit and sustain their helping behavior. A causal path model based on the attachment and equity theories was constructed in which adult children's feelings of attachment to their parents lead to their…

The ability of infants to recognize their mothers as distinct from others was investigated by presenting 6 boys and 6 girls at two age levels (5 weeks and 13 weeks) with the following six sequential stimulus conditions: (1) mother's face (MO); (2) stranger's face (SO); (3) mother's face with stranger's voice (MS); (4) stranger's face with mother's…

This study looked at the relationship between mother-infant interaction and children's performance on cognitive measures at age 6. The data on mother-infant interaction were collected for 30 middle class and 30 working class, first born Caucasian girls, 10 months of age. The data collection consisted of observations made in the home and measures…

This study focuses on the roles of partner-and self-perception in the stability and quality of male-male, female-female, female-male, and male-female interpersonal relationships. The results reveal that, with the exception of male same-sex relationships individuals perceive greater satisfaction from "maximizing" or self-enhancement choices in…

This study examined the relationship of multiple domains of the child's environment and attachment security within a socioeconomically at-risk sample of 101 families. Mothers65% percent of whom were Latinaand their children who were in a home visitor program or on the waiting list for the program were visited at home. Measures included observer…

This study examined associations between the quality of adolescent relationships with mothers, fathers, best friends, and boy/girlfriends. One hundred and sixty-two adolescents from three high schools completed questionnaires, in a one-on-one setting in which they rated parent and peer relationships on seven relationship features including…

Attachment theory and stress-coping theory provided a basis for exploring how social cognitive components of internal working models may influence choice of coping strategies in stressful interpersonal situations. A multi-ethnic, non-clinical sample of 185 young adolescents was surveyed about their attachment styles; rejection sensitivity,…

Attachment styles have been shown to be enduring and influential, and studies of attachment phenomena require scores that are reliable and valid. The present study investigated the psychometric integrity of scores on the Adult Attachment Scale using data from 283 college students. This instrument is an 18-item Likert scale that is an expansion of…