Attachment and children's biased attentional processing: evidence for the exclusion of attachment-related information

Research in both infants and adults demonstrated that attachment expectations are associated with the attentional processing of attachment-related information. However, this research suffered from methodological issues and has not been validated across ages. Employing a more ecologically valid paradigm to measure attentional processes by virtue of eye tracking, the current study tested the defensive exclusion hypothesis in late childhood. According to this hypothesis, insecurely attached children are assumed to defensively exclude attachment-related information. We hypothesized that securely attached children process attachment- related neutral and emotional information in a more open manner compared to insecurely attached children. Sixty-two children (59.7% girls, 8–12 years) completed two different tasks, while eye movements were recorded: task one presented an array of neutral faces including mother and unfamiliar women and task two presented the same with happy and angry faces. Results indicated that more securely attached children looked longer at mother’s face regardless of the emotional expression. Also, they tend to have more maintained attention to mother’s neutral face. Furthermore, more attachment avoidance was related to a reduced total viewing time of mother’s neutral, happy, and angry face. Attachment anxiety was not consistently related to the processing of mother’s face. Findings support the theoretical assumption that securely attached children have an open manner of processing all attachment-related information

Attachment representations and social competence in preschool children

Tese apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Doutor em Psicologia na área de especialização Psicologia do Desenvolvimento apresentada no ISPA - Instituto Universitário no ano de 2020.From an attachment theory perspective, based on their interactions’ history with the caregivers, children elaborate a mental representation that summarizes their secure base experiences and adapt them to the larger social world (i.e. with peers and other significant adults). This will guide their social strategies (both adaptive and maladaptive). The empirical evidence is consensual, demonstrating positive associations between attachment security (whether assessed as a behavioral organization or as a mental representation) and social competent behavior. However, most of these studies use indirect measures to assess social competence, prevailing a focus on one informant, mostly teachers’ or mothers’ perspectives while father’s perspective on children’s social competence is disregarded These empirical studies aim to contribute to the current state of knowledge about the impact of attachment relationships for the development of social competence in preschool years, emphasizing the importance of using a multiple informant approach. In the first study, in a sample of 369 mother-father-teacher reports, we explored parents’ and teachers’ perception of children’s social competence using the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation-30 questionnaire and tested for measurement invariance across raters. Using CT-C(M-1), we confirmed a strong agreement between both parents, and only a weak agreement when comparing parents with teacher’ ratings. Results also showed that mothers are in more agreement with teacher than are fathers. We also found that differences between boys and girls are not due to measurement variance. In the second study, in a sample of 82 children and their teachers, we analyzed the contributes of the SBS to teachers’ ratings on child social competence composite, and on externalizing and internalizing behavior composites. Our results indicate that security of attachment representations was positively related with social competence and negatively related with ratings on externalizing behaviors. We also found sex differences in SBS and reported social competence, both favoring girls. In the last study, in a sample of 77 children, we continued exploring SBS relations with children’s social competence by including, not only, indirect teacher’s ratings, but also direct observed measures. Results indicate that having a higher secure base script predicts higher values on both child direct and indirect measured social competence. Sex differences were also found, with girls presenting higher SBS and being rated as more social competent by their teachers. Observers described boys as more social engaged. Taken together, these three empirical studies aim to contribute for the understanding of the relation between attachment relationships and children’s social competence in the preschool group, highlighting the importance of using a multiple informant approach, and exploring sex differences.De acordo com a teoria da vinculação, com base na história das interações que estabelecem com os cuidadores, as crianças elaboram uma representação mental que resume suas experiências de base segura, e adaptam-nas ao mundo social mais amplo (isto é, aos pares e a outros adultos significativos). E são estas que vão guiar as suas estratégias sociais (adaptativas e não adaptativas). A evidência empírica é consensual, demonstrando associações positivas entre a segurança da vinculação (avaliada como organização comportamental ou como representações mentais) e competência social. Contudo, a maioria dos estudos usa medidas indiretas para avaliar a competência social e prevalece um foco exclusivo nos professores ou na perspetiva da mãe, desvalorizando a perspetiva do pai sobre a competência social da criança. Os trabalhos empíricos aqui apresentados têm como objetivo contribuir para o estudo sobre o impacto das relações de vinculação no desenvolvimento da competência social. Enfatizando a importância do uso de uma abordagem com múltiplos informantes. No primeiro estudo, numa amostra de 369 questionários mãe-pai-educadora, explorámos a perceção de pais e educadoras sobre a competência social da criança através do questionário Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation-30 e testamos a invariância da medida entre os diferentes informadores. Usando o CT-C (M-1), confirmámos uma forte concordância entre os pais e uma fraca concordância ao comparar os pais com as educadoras. Os resultados também mostraram que as mães estão mais de acordo com as educadoras do que os pais. Os resultados sugerem ainda que as diferenças entre rapazes e raparigas não se devem a variação de medida. No segundo estudo, com uma amostra de 82 crianças e suas educadoras, analisámos o contributo do SBS para as perceções das educadoras sobre a competência social da criança (através de medidas compósitas de competência social, de comportamento de externalização e de internalização). Os nossos resultados indicam que a segurança das representações de vinculação está positivamente relacionada com a competência social e negativamente relacionada com os comportamentos externalizantes reportados. Foram ainda encontradas diferenças entre rapazes e raparigas no que respeita as representações de vinculação e os comportamentos sociais, favorecendo as raparigas. No último estudo, numa amostra de 77 crianças, continuámos a explorar as relações entre SBS e a competência social das crianças. Contudo, usando não apenas as percepções das educadoras, mas também medidas diretas de observação, para avaliar a competência social das crianças. Os resultados indicam que ter um SBS mais alto prediz valores mais altos na competência social quer ao nível da medida de observação direta e quer ao nível das perceções das educadoras. Também aqui foram encontradas diferenças entre rapazes e raparigas quer no que respeita os SBS (favorecendo as raparigas) quer no que respeita a competência social reportada pelas educadoras (favorecendo também as raparigas) ou observada (favorecendo os rapazes). Assim, com estes três estudos empíricos pretendemos contribuir para a compreensão da relação entre relações de vinculação e competência social das crianças no grupo pré-escolar, destacando a importância do uso de uma abordagem com múltiplos informantes, e explorando as diferenças entre rapazes e raparigas.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FC

Predicting parental sensitivity: contextual stress exposure across preconception to parenthood

This thesis investigated the influence of concurrent and historical stress on parental sensitivity to infants. Parental sensitivity was found to be mostly resilient to a history of stress but when living with stress, parents were often less responsive to infant needs. Findings support the relevance of interventions and support for enhancing parental sensitivity in contexts of pressure

Workplace Incivility toward Individuals with Disabilities, Secure Attachment Style, and Mental Health: Focus on Mediator and Moderator Effects

Despite the value of workplace civility, civility has been replaced by social exchanges that include statements and behaviors deemed largely unacceptable and undeniably rude. One type of rude behavior that appears innocuous is called workplace incivility, yet incivility disturbs efficient functioning among employees, intensifies work stress, and poses a grave financial hazard to an organization. Literature expressly on incivility toward individuals with disabilities is virtually non-existent, although emerging literature reveals that employees with disabilities are at a greater risk of experiencing workplace mistreatment vis-à-vis employees without disabilities. This quantitative study investigated the role of workplace incivility with respect to individuals with disabilities, its relation to mental health, and the role of secure attachment as a moderator and incivility as a mediator. While incivility that an employee experiences was expected to facilitate mental health decline, an employee’s secure attachment style was expected to buffer against it. Sequential hierarchical regression and structural equation model analyses were conducted to construe relationships among observed variables of two hypothetical models in this non-experimental design. The models included both direct and indirect paths consisting of mediator and moderator effects. The study indicated that (a) having a disability was linked to increased incivility encounters, (b) incivility encounters had a negative effect on target’s mental stability, (c) encountering incivility intensified the negative link between having a disability mental stability, (d) attachment security moderated or weakened the negative link between having a disability and incivility encounters, (e) increased levels of attachment security increased workplace mental stability, and (f) having a disability was significantly linked to decreased workplace mental stability. The study revealed that employees with disabilities were vulnerable to damaging mental health-related outcomes of incivility but that secure attachment shielded them against incivility encounters