Attachment-related expectations and mother-referent memory bias in middle childhood

Understanding the cognitive processing of attachment-relevant information has become a major focus of attachment research. Previous research demonstrated links between attachment and memory for attachment-related information, but results were contradictory and did not control for mood-effects. The current study aimed to provide a conceptual framework to capture inconsistencies. A straightforward memory bias hypothesis was derived and tested. Fifty children (aged 10-12) completed questionnaires assessing confidence in maternal support and depressive symptoms, and a memory task in which they recalled positive and negative words that referred to previous interactions with mother. Less confidence in maternal support and more depressive symptoms were linked to a more negative mother-related memory bias. The effect of confidence in maternal support remained marginally significant when controlling for depressive symptoms, explaining the initial effect of depressive symptoms. These findings support attachment theory's hypothesis that attachment-relevant information is processed in an attachment expectation-congruent way

Mijn angst belet me om voluit te leven

Anne is een meisje van 13 jaar. Ze zit in het derde jaar algemeen secundair onderwijs en volgt de richting moderne talen. Het gezin bestaat uit vader, moeder en Anne. Papa heeft een fulltime baan en moeder is niet werkzaam. Anne werd aangemeld door haar moeder omdat Anne al enkele jaren problemen heeft, maar sinds een jaar gaat dit gepaard met flauwvallen met verlies bewustzijn. Mama omschrijft de problemen van Anne als faalangst, angststoornissen en een laag zelfvertrouwen

Relations of dietary restraint and depressive symptomatology to loss of control over eating in overweight youngsters

This study investigated the dietary restraint and depression pathway to loss of control over eating among a sample of overweight youngsters based on the assumptions of the extended cognitive behavioural theory for bulimia nervosa. The children's version of the eating disorder examination interview and the children’s depression inventory were administered to 350 overweight youngsters (with a mean age of 13.30 years old). Structural equation modelling indicated that the over-evaluation of eating, weight and shape was significantly associated with dietary restraint, which in turn was significantly associated with loss of control over eating. Evidence was also found for a direct pathway between depressive symptoms and loss of control over eating. It can be concluded that in general, the main components to maintain the bulimic cycle in eating disordered patients operate in a similar way to maintain loss of control over eating in overweight youngsters

Adolescent aesthetic athletes: a group at risk for eating pathology?

A

(In)variability of attachment in middle childhood: secure base script evidence in diary data

Secure attachment is characterised by a secure base script regarding the attachment figure as a source for support. Having such a cognitive script should affect the stability of state attachment. Specifically, incongruent attachment-related information should get assimilated to this secure base script, leading to state attachment scores that hardly fluctuate. For children without a script, state attachment should vary depending on the quality of attachment-related interactions. Two diary studies were carried out in 9- to 13-year-old children. Results suggested that with assimilation: (1) securely attached children fluctuated less in their daily attachment-related appraisals; (2) fluctuations were related to conflicts with mother; (3) this relation was stronger for less securely attached children. Consequently, these studies further support the secure base script hypothesis and provide insight into the interplay of trait and state components of attachment-related appraisals