{"title":"Bridging parental attachment insecurity, social cognition, parenting, and temperament to elucidate the origins of antisocial orientation in preschoolers.","authors":"Haley M Herbert, Juyoung Kim, Grazyna Kochanska","doi":"10.1080/14616734.2025.2575464","DOIUrl":"10.1080/14616734.2025.2575464","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>One pathway to children's antisocial orientations implicates a longitudinal sequence from parents' attachment insecurity to their hostile representations of the child (Internal Working Models, IWMs) to negative parenting. The relevant research, however, is subject to limitations. One, although parts of that path have been robustly supported, few studies have formally examined the entire longitudinal cascade. Two, the pertinent studies have rarely considered child temperament. In a study of 200 families (mothers, fathers, and children), we examined whether the path from parental insecurity in infancy, to parental hostile IWMs of the child, to negative parenting, both at toddler age, to children's antisocial orientation at preschool age was moderated by children's toddler-age temperament. For mothers and children, the path was found only for children with highly difficult temperaments. Research bridging frameworks informed by attachment theory, social cognitive representations, parenting, and temperament can enhance our understanding of early origins of antisocial outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":8632,"journal":{"name":"Attachment & Human Development","volume":" ","pages":"910-934"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145336333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Amit Yaniv-Rosenfeld, Shani Agmon, Hagai Maoz, Hila Z Gvirtz
{"title":"Maternal ADHD symptom severity and mother-child dyadic synchrony: an experimental study.","authors":"Amit Yaniv-Rosenfeld, Shani Agmon, Hagai Maoz, Hila Z Gvirtz","doi":"10.1080/14616734.2025.2572576","DOIUrl":"10.1080/14616734.2025.2572576","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Dyadic synchrony, the temporal alignment of behaviors and affect between mother and child, is central to successful interactions. The role of maternal ADHD symptoms in this process is underexplored. Thirty mother-child dyads engaged in a free-play task. Maternal ADHD symptoms were assessed, dyadic synchrony was measured with human-coded ratings (Coding Interactive Behavior, CIB) and automated analysis (Motion Energy Analysis, MEA), and maternal affect was assessed before and after the interaction. Higher maternal ADHD symptoms were linked to lower CIB-rated synchrony, but not maternal affect. MEA showed complementary patterns, correlating with specific CIB dimensions. Findings highlight maternal ADHD symptomology as a risk factor for reduced dyadic synchrony and suggest additive value in combining human-coded and automated assessments.</p>","PeriodicalId":8632,"journal":{"name":"Attachment & Human Development","volume":" ","pages":"893-909"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145285534","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mentalization, emotional arousal and readiness to gather information in the context of an ongoing relational rupture.","authors":"Yotam Strifler, Gary M Diamond","doi":"10.1080/14616734.2025.2539276","DOIUrl":"10.1080/14616734.2025.2539276","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The ability to openly consider the mental states of others has been termed mentalizing and is crucial to maintaining interpersonal relationships. Theory and previous research findings suggest that emotional arousal may impact mentalization. This study examined whether the arousal associated with a relational rupture impacted young adults' ability to mentalize about their family member with whom they were in conflict. Fifty-four young adults were interviewed about an ongoing conflict with a significant family member. Average heart rate, skin conductance, and level of mentalization were measured at the speech-turn level. Results showed a curvilinear association between mean heart rate and reflective functioning (RF). No effects were found for skin conductance. Logistic regression showed RF scores predicted participants' readiness to engage in information gathering. Moderate emotional arousal was associated with higher RF, and those with higher RF were nearly twice as likely to be ready to gather new information from the other.</p>","PeriodicalId":8632,"journal":{"name":"Attachment & Human Development","volume":" ","pages":"849-867"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144793362","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jessica A Stern, Sayaka Awao, Mario Mikulincer, Phillip R Shaver, Jude Cassidy
{"title":"Relational roots of retributive vs. restorative justice: attachment insecurity predicts harsher responses to crime.","authors":"Jessica A Stern, Sayaka Awao, Mario Mikulincer, Phillip R Shaver, Jude Cassidy","doi":"10.1080/14616734.2025.2532068","DOIUrl":"10.1080/14616734.2025.2532068","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Crime is among the most important issues to U.S. voters, often determining the outcome of major elections, with consequences for public policy. In two studies, we examine the role of attachment in predicting responses to crime. In Study 1 (<i>N</i> = 561), attachment avoidance was associated with reduced support for restorative justice. Attachment anxiety was indirectly linked to support for retributive justice, via heightened beliefs in a dangerous world and mindsets that people cannot change. Study 2 (<i>N</i> = 327) replicated results from Study 1 and demonstrated that a brief experimental intervention to boost individuals' felt security reduced negative attributions about a crime suspect's motives. Among participants high in attachment avoidance at baseline, boosting security mitigated punitive responses toward the suspect - reducing recommended jail time, pessimistic beliefs about rehabilitation, negative attributions, and negative emotions. Findings have implications for understanding and shifting public attitudes and policy regarding criminal justice.</p>","PeriodicalId":8632,"journal":{"name":"Attachment & Human Development","volume":" ","pages":"811-832"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144793363","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shyly Aptaker Ben-Dori, Naama Atzaba-Poria, Tahl I Frenkel
{"title":"Individual differences in infants' expectations and preferences for responsive vs. unresponsive parent-puppets and their associations with early maternal behavior.","authors":"Shyly Aptaker Ben-Dori, Naama Atzaba-Poria, Tahl I Frenkel","doi":"10.1080/14616734.2025.2562511","DOIUrl":"10.1080/14616734.2025.2562511","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Infants' mental representations of attachment are thought to develop across the first year. Due to methodological challenges, empirical attempts to assess these representations are scarce. The study presents a preliminary attempt to validate a measure of infants' attachment representations. Seventy-two mother-infant dyads (34 girls) were assessed. At 4-months, 60 dyads were observed during free-play interactions. At 10-months, 72 infants viewed a puppet-show depicting a responsive vs. an unresponsive parent-puppet. Looking-time patterns indexed infants' expectations, and puppet choice indexed infants' preference for parent-puppets' responsiveness. Infants generally expected (d = 0.42) and preferred (66%) parent-puppet-responsiveness. Moreover, maternal \"responsive secure-base\" behavior at 4-months was associated with infants' expectations (<i>r</i> = .29, <i>p</i> = .025) and preference (d = 0.6) for responsiveness at 10-months. Findings support theoretical concepts, providing preliminary evidence for infants' preverbal attachment representations and their roots in early social experience with their attachment figures. Future research using larger samples and standard attachment assessments is needed to validate this measure.</p>","PeriodicalId":8632,"journal":{"name":"Attachment & Human Development","volume":" ","pages":"868-892"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145136174","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Enhancing classroom emotional support: the positive impact of improved mentalizing abilities in early childhood teachers following a group-based intervention.","authors":"Yael Rozenblatt-Perkal, Noa Gueron-Sela, Naama Atzaba-Poria","doi":"10.1080/14616734.2025.2534614","DOIUrl":"10.1080/14616734.2025.2534614","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Teachers' mentalization may be particularly important for fostering positive classroom environments that support children's cognitive and social-emotional development. To date, no studies have directly examined whether enhancing teachers' mentalizing abilities leads to improvements in classroom climate. This study evaluated the impact of DUET, a mentalization-based group intervention for early childhood teachers and examined whether improvements in teachers' mentalizing abilities were related to enhanced classroom Emotional Support, a key component of classroom climate. Eighty-six early childhood teachers participated in the intervention. Teachers' mentalizing abilities and classroom Emotional Support were evaluated pre- and post-intervention. Following the intervention, significant improvements were observed in both teachers' mentalizing abilities and classroom climate. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that changes in teachers' mentalizing abilities significantly predicted improvements in classroom climate. These findings suggest that targeting teachers' mentalization capacities may be a promising approach for creating more supportive early childhood learning environments.</p>","PeriodicalId":8632,"journal":{"name":"Attachment & Human Development","volume":" ","pages":"833-848"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144871176","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
H Eltanamly, A May, F McEwen, E Karam, Michael Pluess
{"title":"Father-separation and well-being in forcibly displaced Syrian children.","authors":"H Eltanamly, A May, F McEwen, E Karam, Michael Pluess","doi":"10.1080/14616734.2024.2406610","DOIUrl":"10.1080/14616734.2024.2406610","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Forcibly displaced children often face separation from their parents, particularly fathers. These children endure the hardships of war, displacement, and the loss of a key attachment figure. Despite the critical role of attachment in children's well-being during periods of heightened stress, the impact of separation due to war and displacement has received little attention in empirical work. Findings from 1544 Syrian refugee children (<i>M</i><sub>age</sub> = 10.97, <i>SD</i> = 2.27) living in informal settlements in Lebanon with their mothers (<i>M</i><sub>age</sub> = 38.07, <i>SD</i> = 8.49), including 367 father-separated children, show that father-separated children experienced more war-related events and worse refugee environments. Structural equation modelling showed that beyond the direct relation of war exposure and quality of the refugee environment on well-being, father separation was uniquely related to more depressive symptoms and worse self-development, but not to anxiety, PTSD, or externalising problems in children. Maternal parenting did not explain these outcomes, though it had a protective function for children's well-being.</p>","PeriodicalId":8632,"journal":{"name":"Attachment & Human Development","volume":" ","pages":"715-735"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142370866","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kazuko Y Behrens, Karen Jones-Mason, Tommie Forslund
{"title":"John Bowlby's theory of attachment and separation: revisiting his original visions after 50+ years, what we know today, and where to go from here?","authors":"Kazuko Y Behrens, Karen Jones-Mason, Tommie Forslund","doi":"10.1080/14616734.2025.2550829","DOIUrl":"10.1080/14616734.2025.2550829","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8632,"journal":{"name":"Attachment & Human Development","volume":" ","pages":"657-661"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144939684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Statement of Removal: Maternal sensitivity in mother-infant interactions in Rio de Janeiro - Brazil.","authors":"","doi":"10.1080/14616734.2018.1454059","DOIUrl":"10.1080/14616734.2018.1454059","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8632,"journal":{"name":"Attachment & Human Development","volume":" ","pages":"iii"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"35953370","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The psychological impact of parental work migration on left-behind children in Romania: a literature review.","authors":"Natalia Constantinescu, Ramona Sandnes, Fabien Bacro","doi":"10.1080/14616734.2025.2536935","DOIUrl":"10.1080/14616734.2025.2536935","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Parental labour migration is a widespread phenomenon in developing countries across Central and Eastern Europe and may impact the emotional security of Left-Behind Children (LBC) due to prolonged separation from primary attachment figures. In Romania, official data estimate that nearly 58,000 children have parents working abroad. Parental migration has both positive and negative effects on children's development. This review examines the scope of the phenomenon and its psychological impact on Romanian children. A literature search was conducted across Web of Science, PubMed, SAGE, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, and Google Scholar for studies published between 2007 and 2024. Fourteen studies were included, highlighting psychological effects of parental migration on children's mental health and parent-child relationships. The findings are discussed through the lens of attachment theory. Further research is needed to understand the long-term consequences of such separations. The findings are relevant not only to researchers but also to institutions seeking to develop policies aimed at reducing parental labour migration or mitigating its negative impact on LBC.</p>","PeriodicalId":8632,"journal":{"name":"Attachment & Human Development","volume":"27 5","pages":"684-714"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145136141","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}