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Key research themes
1. How does attachment theory explain intrapersonal and interpersonal functioning across the lifespan, particularly in the context of personality disorders and psychotherapy?
This research theme focuses on how attachment theory serves as a comprehensive framework for understanding the development, maintenance, and treatment of personality pathology and its implications for psychotherapy processes. The theory elucidates the influence of early attachment experiences on adult interpersonal relationships, mental health, and personality disorders, emphasizing the role of internal working models and attachment representations in emotional regulation and psychopathology. It also explores how attachment-informed approaches can enhance therapeutic outcomes.
Key finding: This paper establishes attachment theory as a parsimonious and empirically substantiated explanatory model for the etiology and maintenance of personality disorders (PDs), integrating evidence from developmental,... Read more
Key finding: This study outlines Bowlby's attachment theory relevance for psychotherapy, emphasizing how early attachment experiences shape internal working models which guide adult relational and emotional functioning. It reviews... Read more
Key finding: This work develops the 'Attachment Dynamic' as a theoretical model linking attachment phenomena to neuroses and personality disorders in adults, integrating concepts of companionable and supportive interactions. It proposes... Read more
Key finding: This editorial argues for the indispensability of attachment theory knowledge in psychiatry, highlighting research linking attachment insecurity to increased prevalence in clinical populations and its mediating role in... Read more
2. What are the valid and reliable methodologies for assessing attachment representations in adolescence and adulthood, and how do these measures compare and converge?
This theme investigates the development, validation, and comparative efficacy of measurement tools for assessing attachment across adolescence and adulthood, addressing challenges inherent in assessing internal working models and attachment classifications in different developmental stages. The research evaluates self-report instruments, projective narratives, interviews, and neuroimaging-compatible assessments, focusing on discriminant validity, cross-measure convergence, and methodological implications for developmental and clinical research.
Key finding: This study adapts and validates the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP) for adolescents aged 15-18, demonstrating discriminant validity independent of verbal intelligence, social desirability, story length, or... Read more
Key finding: This paper proposes the use of the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP) as a standardized narrative measure to activate the adult attachment system in an fMRI environment. It outlines theoretical justifications... Read more
Key finding: This empirical comparison of two self-report adult attachment measures—the three-category Attachment Style Prototype (ASP) and the two-dimension, four-category Experiences in Close Relationships (ECR)—demonstrates that while... Read more
3. How do attachment styles and mental representations regulate emotional processes and social behaviors, including self-regulation, interpersonal distance, and affective bonds across life contexts?
This research area explores the mechanisms through which attachment styles influence emotion regulation patterns, social proximity preferences, and affective dispositions that mediate human relational dynamics. It encompasses neurobiological, psychological, and cultural investigations into how secure and insecure attachment modulate responses to social stress, autonomy needs, and caregiving behaviors. The focus includes examining hyperactivation and deactivation strategies in attachment anxiety and avoidance, attachment-related influences on peripersonal and interpersonal space, and the affective underpinnings of enduring social bonds.
Key finding: This study links attachment styles to self-regulatory mode orientations of locomotion (goal-directed movement) and assessment (evaluative comparison), demonstrating that anxious attachment correlates with higher assessment... Read more
Key finding: Through a series of preregistered studies, this research finds that attachment anxiety sharpens peripersonal space boundaries and increases comfort with social proximity irrespective of intimacy and reduces the malleability... Read more
Key finding: This conceptual chapter expands classical attachment theory into cultural and affective studies by framing attachments as enduring affectional bonds extending beyond individuals to material and spiritual entities, emphasizing... Read more
Key finding: This study assesses character defense mechanisms underlying attachment anxiety and avoidance using the Defense Style Questionnaire among 250 university students. Results indicate distinctive psychological defense profiles... Read more