Self-report questionnaires based on Harter’s response format (“Some kids . . . but other kids . . . ”) are commonly used in developmental and clinical research settings, but the reliability and ...validity of this format in middle childhood are still under debate. The current study aimed to test the psychometric proprieties of Harter versus Likert response formats as applied to two attachment questionnaires in a sample of 410 Italian children aged 8 to 10 years. Participants completed the Experiences in Close Relationships–Revised Child version (n = 102, 4-point Likert-type scale; n = 104, adapted Harter version) and the Security Scale (n = 95, Harter’s format; n = 109 adapted 4-point Likert version). Results of multigroup confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the two response formats exhibited comparable reliability and factorial validity, although a slight superiority of Harter’s format emerged for the Security Scale. External validity was supported for both answer formats. Implications for developmental theory and practice are discussed.
The purpose is to solve the problem that the current research on the impact of the microstructure of mental elasticity and its constituent factors on the development of the mental elasticity of ...children is not comprehensive, and the traditional artificial analysis method of mental problems has strong subjectivity and low accuracy. First, the structural equation model is used to study the microstructure of poor children's mental elasticity, and to explore the structural relationship and functional path between the mental elasticity of children and the self-efficacy of their mental health, psychological anxiety, and attachment. Second, a prediction model of mental problems of children in plight based on the backpropagation neural network (BPNN) is constructed. Finally, middle schools in the representative areas of Northwest China are selected as the research unit. The relevant research data are collected by issuing questionnaires, and the data set is constructed to verify the performance of the model. The experimental results show that the average prediction errors of the BPNN model and the support vector regression (SVR) model are 1.87 and 5.4, respectively. The error of BPNN is 65.4% lower than that of SVR, so BPNN has a better performance. The prediction results of the test set show that the actual error and the relative error of the BPNN model are controlled in the range of 0.01, and the prediction accuracy is high. The structural equation model has a high fitting degree. The results of the questionnaire analysis show that attachment, self-efficacy, and psychological anxiety exert a significant direct impact on mental elasticity. This exploration aims to conduct a micro investigation on the relationship among the three core variables (attachment, self-efficacy, and mental health) in the resilience research of children in plight, and analyze their resilience, to provide a theoretical basis for the resilience intervention design of vulnerable groups.
•No increase in attachment security was observed in toddler child care over the first 4 months.•Group-related caregiver sensitivity was positively associated to attachment security.•Dyadic caregiver ...sensitivity was not associated to attachment security.•Girls were more securely attached.•Dyadic or group-related caregiver sensitivity did not explain gender differences.
The aim of this study was to identify factors that help toddlers form attachment relationships with their caregivers during the transition from sole home care to out-of-home childcare.
We investigated relationship building between toddlers and their new caregivers during the first four months in childcare. In a sample of 104 toddlers (aged 10–33 months) in 71 Viennese childcare centres, we assessed attachment security (using the Attachment Q-Sort) at three time points. We also assessed children’s experiences with their new care providers at each time point, focusing on dyadic caregiver sensitivity (a) during one-to-one interactions with the individual target child, and (b) during interactions with all children in the group. We investigated whether attachment security in the early months of childcare differs between girls and boys, to see if gender, in combination with caregiver interaction, has a role in predicting differences between toddlers’ attachment security. Higher attachment security was found in girls, and in those children with caregivers scoring higher on the group-related measure of sensitivity. Dyadic sensitivity did not predict toddlers’ attachment security. Findings support the development of attachment/relationship theory, in the context of childcare for young children, that takes account of children’s experiences in groups rather than only in one-to-one interactions.
Family offers an important source of social support where individuals acquire social abilities that are necessary to create positive human relationships. This influence has been discussed by ...different sociological and psychological theories along the life span of individuals. In medicine, empathy, teamwork, and lifelong learning have been described as specific elements of professionalism that have special importance in the interaction with patients and in physicians' well-being at the workplace. This study was performed with the aim of demonstrating the following hypothesis: In the absence of specific training in empathy and teamwork and lifelong learning abilities, their development in medical students is associated with the students' perception of loneliness from their family environment.
A cross-sectional study was performed in the only two medical schools of Cusco (Peru), one private and the other public. Jefferson Scales of Empathy, Teamwork, and Lifelong Learning were used as the main measures. Mother-son and father-son relationships and family loneliness were measured to characterize the family environment. In addition, information related to sex, medical school, academic achievements, and place of origin were collected to control possible biases. Comparative, correlation, and multiple regression analyses were performed among the variables studied.
In a sample of 818 medical students, differences by school appeared in empathy, teamwork, lifelong learning, and family loneliness. In addition, family loneliness showed an inverse correlation with empathy, teamwork, and learning measures. While having a positive relationship with the mother was associated with a greater development of empathy and learning abilities in the entire sample, a similar effect was observed in father-son relationships, but only in the private medical school group. Finally, in the public medical group, a multiple regression model explained 43% of the variability of empathy based on a lineal relationship with teamwork (
< 0.001), lifelong learning (
< 0.001), and family loneliness (
< 0.001).
These findings confirm how family loneliness is detrimental to the development of medical professionalism. Also, they support the important role that the family, and especially parents, plays in the development of empathy, teamwork, and abilities in medical students. Finally, these findings highlighted important differences among students enrolled in public and private medical schools.
Given the aging of the global population, the experience of adult children preparing to care for their aging parents is increasingly valued. In this article, I not only examined the associations ...between Taiwanese adult children’s attachment relationships with parents and their experience of filial anxiety but also took a psychocultural perspective to explore the mediating role of filial piety, the most representative value in the Chinese family. I collected survey data from 1305 middle-aged Taiwanese adults over 40 years old whose father or mother was alive and over 65 years old. The results from the first model for both father–child and mother–child datasets showed that secure attachment relationships with parents had a significant positive association with adults’ parental-welfare-focused filial anxiety B (FAB) but a significant negative association with their caregiver-role-focused filial anxiety A (FAA). The results from the second analysis indicated that secure attachment relationships with parents, for both father–child and mother–child datasets, had a significant positive association with adults’ endorsement of reciprocal filial piety beliefs, which significantly related to higher levels of FAB but lower levels of FAA. For both the father–child and mother–child datasets, secure attachment relationships with parents also had a significant positive association with their endorsement of authoritarian filial piety beliefs. Subsequently, their endorsement of authoritarian filial piety belief significantly related to a higher level of FAB in only the mother–child dataset. In conclusion, these findings broaden the understanding of adult children’s experience of filial anxiety that could be related to their attachment relationship with parents and their endorsement of reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety.
The general developmental as well as the disability specific literature has stressed the crucial influence of parents on their child’s social-emotional development. Attachment theory provides a ...framework to describe parental roles within the parent-child attachment relationship. The current study explored parents’ perspectives on their role as attachment figure and the preconditions they consider necessary to establish secure attachment in children with severe or profound intellectual disability (ID).
Semi-structured interviews with 54 parents on their child’s social-emotional development, attachment behaviour and the parent-child attachment bond were analysed using the Framework Method. All children were between 15 months and seven years old and had a severe or profound ID.
Parents reported their child’s clear preference towards them and acknowledged the role they fulfil as stress regulator. Children differed in the extent to which they use their parent to explore new environments. Overall, parents described the attachment relationship with their child as positive but challenging.
Parents acknowledged the roles they fulfil both as a safe haven for their child, and (to a lesser extent) as a secure base. Clinical practice could benefit from a parental perspective to identify particular challenges parents encounter in building a secure attachment relationship.
本研究旨在探討青少年國三至高二憂鬱症狀的長期發展變化，並釐清不同依附關係（父母依附、同儕依附、學校依附）對於青少年憂鬱症狀發展的影響。研究對象為台灣青少年成長歷程研究（Taiwan Youth Project, ...TYP）中2002年國中三年級青少年，並持續追縱之後兩年的憂鬱症狀發展情形。資料分析以潛在成長曲線模式為主。研究結果發現，青少年的憂鬱症狀起始值和成長變化情形存在個別差異。其次，國三時憂鬱症狀程度較高的青少年，整體憂鬱症狀成長速率較慢；而國三時憂鬱症狀程度較低的青少年，隨後時間內憂鬱症狀成長速率較快。最後，青少年的憂鬱症狀在高一時急遽成長，持續上升至高二。在依附關係上，同儕依附和學校依附對青少年憂鬱症狀較具影響力，同時影響憂鬱症狀起始狀態和成長速率，而父親依附只影響憂鬱症狀起始狀態、母親依附則對憂鬱症狀沒有顯著影響。基於研究結果，本研究對教育工作和未來研究提出相關建議, This study aimed to: (a) establish model of the trajectory of adolescents’ depressive symptoms over time with the latent growth curve model; (b) identify the impact of different types of attachment relationships on changes of depressive symptoms. Research data were retrieved from the Taiwan Youth Project (TYP). The participants were 2,690 9th, 10th and 11th grade students in three waves (2002, 2003, and 2004). Results indicated that: (a) there were individual differences in the initial status and trajectory of adolescents’ depressive symptoms; (b) the changing rate of trajectory of depressive symptoms were slower in adolesc
•We investigated the relations between male and female professional caregivers’ mind-mindedness (besides their sensitive responsiveness and respect for autonomy) and 3-year-olds’ secure ...attachment.•Caregivers’ mind-mindedness was positively associated to children’s secure attachment.•The association between mind-mindedness and children’s secure attachment was not affected by caregivers’ gender.•Caregivers’ respect for autonomy mediated the relation between caregivers’ mind-mindedness and children’s’ secure attachment for girls but not for boys.
Mind-mindedness refers to the caregiver’s ability to be attuned to the child’s mental states. Within the parent-child relationship, mind-mindedness relates to parents’ sensitive caregiving, and to children’s secure attachment. However, the same relations are still unexplored in out-of-home care settings. We investigated the associations between childcare professionals’ mind-mindedness, sensitive responsiveness and respect for autonomy, and child-caregiver attachment security. Moreover, we examined whether these relations are influenced by caregivers’ and children’s gender. Participants were 17 caregiver couples (17 males, 17 females) and 34 three-year-old children (17 boys, 17 girls), recruited in childcare centers. Mind-mindedness toward the boy or the girl (dyadic) or both children (non-dyadic), sensitive responsiveness and respect for autonomy were assessed during a semi-structured play. Attachment security was assessed through observations. Male and female caregivers had equivalent scores of mind-mindedness, sensitive responsiveness, and respect for autonomy. Similarly, children were securely attached to male and female caregivers. Girls’ and boys’ secure attachment was predicted by caregivers’ use of non-dyadic mind-related comments. For girls, but not for boys, the relation was partially mediated by caregivers’ respect for autonomy. The results are discussed in terms of their relevance for the quality of child-caregiver relationships, and children’s socio-emotional development.
A relationship-based theoretical framework for child welfare services is proposed. Research literature is reviewed relative to attachment theory, relationship quality of maltreated child–parent and ...maltreated child–surrogate parent dyads, and effective child–parent and child–surrogate parent relationship-enhancing interventions. Authors recommend that establishment or repair of a protective, emotionally responsive positive child–parent or child–surrogate parent relationship be the central focus of child welfare services. A model is offered as a conceptual foundation for measures to be used in federal Child and Family Services Reviews.
PDF
