The evolutionary rationale offered by Bowlby implies that secure base relationships are common in child–caregiver dyads and thus, child secure behavior observable across diverse social contexts and cultures. This study offers a test of the universality hypothesis. Trained observers in nine countries used the Attachment Q-set to describe the organization of children’s behavior in naturalistic settings. Children (N = 547) were 10–72 months old. Child development experts (N = 81) from all countries provided definitions of optimal child secure base use. Findings indicate that children from all countries use their mother as a secure base. Children’s organization of secure base behavior was modestly related to each other both within and across countries. Experts’ descriptions of the optimally attached child were highly similar across cultures.

This study examined the antecedents of preschool age children's mental representations of attachment, assessed using the Attachment Story Completion Task (ASCT). Antecedent predictors were maternal attachment scripts, assessed using the Attachment Script Assessment (ASA), and the child's secure base behaviors, assessed using the Attachment Q-Set (AQS). Participants were 121 mothers and their preschool children assessed in three samples (Portuguese sample, n = 31; US Midwestern sample, n = 38; US Southeastern sample, n = 52). AQS and ASA assessments were completed approximately 1.5 years before the ASCT data were collected. No cross-sample contrasts for the attachment variables were significant. Correlations and structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that the three attachment measures were significantly associated and that both maternal secure base script knowledge and children's secure base behaviors (AQS) were uniquely and significantly associated with children's mental representations of attachment (ASCT). A test of the indirect effect between maternal scripts and child representations through children's secure base behaviors was not significant. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.

The psychological correlates of enuresis are receiving growing attention, coherently with a multi-factorial approach to this problem, but to date the empirical findings are still inconsistent and incomplete. The aim of this study is to contribute to the understanding of the socio-affective functioning of enuretic children by exploring four central dimensions: attachment, self-esteem, self-control, and temperament. Twenty-two enuretic children with their mothers were enrolled in the study and matched, based on gender and age, to a control group of continent healthy children. Measures were collected through mothers’ reports and individual administrations to all children. Controlling for socio-demographic variables, we found a significantly lower incidence of secure attachment, lower self-esteem, and higher rates of behavioral problems among the enuretic group, compared with the control group. No differences in the temperamental dimensions were found. These preliminary findings support the view of enuresis as a bio-behavioral problem and, from a practical standpoint, underline the urgency for physicians not to underestimate this disturbance, but, indeed, to treat the problem through medical strategies and to devote attention to the psychological difficulties of these patients.

This paper highlights how the early interpersonal experiences can deeply influence the normal, pathological individual development or his criminal career. In particular, several studies analyzed the attachment style of subjects sent to prison for sexual crimes. Sexual offenders’ attachment is worthy of further investigation and in-depth analysis, as they are more and more often subjected to criminology attention and are socially relevant.

Sexual offenders e legami d’attaccamento. Una ricerca su un campione italiano Ignazio Grattagliano , Alessandro Taurino Alessandro Costantini2Alessandra Latrofa2, Sonia Papagna2, Maria Terlizzi2 Michele Giovanni Laquale2, Rosalinda Cassibba2, Le osservazioni, le analisi e le valutazioni sui sexual offenders ipotizzano che il profilo e le caratteristiche di autori di reati così “particolari”, coinvolgano una serie diversificata di fattori eziologici. Una delle chiavi di lettura è quella che esplora il ruolo giocato dalle esperienze di attaccamento di questi sogetti.La nostra indagine ha avuto lo scopo di rilevare quale fosse la categoria di attaccamento prevalente in un gruppo di venti sexual offenders, condannati e ristretti in carceri italiane. La ricerca ha riguardato sia la dicotomia sicuro/insicuro, sia rispetto alle tre categorie F (free), Ds (dismissing), ed E (entangled), riportando l’eventuale presenza di stati mentali di tipo Unresolved. Sono state inoltre indagate in maniera descrittiva le esperienze infantili di tali soggetti in relazione alle figure significative di attaccamento. Il punto di forza di tale studio, sul piano metodologico, è stato l’utilizzo dell’Adult Attachment Interview. Se, infatti, molte indagini presenti in letteratura evidenziano l’uso di strumenti self-report o di questionari per la rilevazione delle esperienze di attaccamento dei soggetti coinvolti, nella nostra ricerca è stato utilizzato uno strumento standardizzato, la cui validità è ampiamente documentata e riconosciuta nell’ambito della ricerca clinico-psicologica e medico-psichiatrica.

BACKGROUND: Empirical findings show that the child's illness can interfere with parental well-being and with the construction of a well-functioning effective relationship between the child and his/her caregivers. In line with these findings, the present study aims at investigating the negative impact of the baby's diagnosis of clubfoot on the mother and the protective function of social support; moreover, the study aims at implementing, as a pilot experience, an intervention protocol directed to the same sample of mothers, providing emotional and informational support. METHODS: A sample of 34 mothers was recruited within the first 3 months of the baby's life, including 2 groups: a clinical one, with 17 mothers of babies diagnosed with clubfoot, and a control one, with 17 mothers of healthy full-term babies. The participants completed the following instruments in 1 session: the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the Rapid Stress Assessment questionnaire, the Brief COPE, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. RESULTS: The results show that the mothers in the clinical group, compared with those in the control group, reported more stress and depressive symptoms in reaction to the birth of their baby. Moreover, they displayed a pattern of coping strategies different from those of control mothers and coherent with the meaning of having a baby with a malformation. Lastly, the group condition (clinical vs. control) significantly moderated the association of social support with stress and depression. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary findings highlight the negative impact that the congenital malformation of clubfoot can have on mothers' psychological well-being and the protective role of social support. Moreover, the positive feedback from the mothers receiving emotional and informational support confirms the importance of implementing intervention protocols in the hospital unit directed to parents of babies with a congenital malformation. Copyright © 2012 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.