Dominique Treboux

Stability of attachment representations: The transition to marriage.

This study examined the stability of adult attachment representations across the transition to marriage. One hundred fifty-seven couples were assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; C. George, N. Kaplan, & M. Main, 1985), the Current Relationship Interview (J. A. Crowell & G. Owens, 1996), and measures describing relationship functioning and life events 3 months prior to their weddings and 18 months into their marriages. The authors tested the hypotheses that attachment classifications are stable and that change is related to experiences in the relationship and/or life events; 78% of the sample received the same primary AAI classification (secure, preoccupied, and dismissing) at both times. Change was toward increased security and was associated with feelings and cognitions about the relationship. Only 46% of participants initially classified as unresolved retained the classification. Stability of the unresolved classification was associated with stressful life events and relationship aggression.

Assessing secure base behavior in adulthood: development of a measure, links to adult attachment representations, and relations to couples' communication and reports of relationships.

A focus on the secure base phenomenon creates a framework for exploring the function of the attachment system in adulthood. Engaged couples (N = 157) were videotaped in a problem-solving interaction and assessed using the Secure Base Scoring System (SBSS), a system based on Ainsworths analyses of infant-parent secure base use and support. Study 1 showed behavior was significantly related to representations assessed with the Adult Attachment Interview (M. Main & R. Goldwyn, 1994). In Study 2, the interactions were independently scored with the Rapid Marital Interaction Coding System (RMICS; R. E. Heyman & D. Vivian, 1993), a communication-based system. The SBSS predicted relationship variables beyond the RMICS, especially for women. Results indicate that the secure base phenomenon provides a cogent perspective on adult attachment behavior.

When "New" Meets "Old": Configurations of Adult Attachment Representations and Their Implications for Marital Functioning

Two studies addressed the implications of concordance versus discrepancy of attachment representations in individuals at 2 stages in their marital relationships. Engaged (n = 157) and dating (n = 101) couples participated in a multimethod 6-year longitudinal study of adult attachment. Individuals completed the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), the Current Relationship Interview (CRI), and various questionnaires and were observed in interactions with partners. On the basis of AAI and CRI classifications, participants were placed in one of four groups: Secure-sub(AAI)/Secure-sub(CRI), Secure-sub(AAI)/Insecure-sub(CRI), Insecure-sub(AAI)/Secure-sub(CRI), or Insecure-sub(AAI)/Insecure-sub(CRI). Each of the configurations showed a particular pattern of behavior, feelings about relationships and the self, and likelihood of relationship breakup. The findings of the studies address important points about the protective effects of attachment security and have interesting implications for the extension of attachment theory into adulthood.

Bowlby's secure base theory and the social/personality psychology of attachment styles: Work(s) in progress

John Bowlbys goal in developing modern attachment theory was to preserve what he considered some of Freuds most valuable insights about human development and close relationships. First among these were insights into the importance of early experience and the notion that infant-mother and adult-adult relationships are similar in kind. Focussing on prospective and observational methods, Bowlby replaced Freuds drive reduction model of relationship motivation with one that emphasized the role relationships play in support of exploration and competence. He also introduced concepts from control systems theory to highlight and account for the complex monitoring of internal states, relationship experience, and context that shapes proximity seeking, communication across a distance, and exploration away from attachment figures. And where Freud had explained the effects of early experience in terms of psychodynamic structures, Bowlby introduced the concept of mental models. These cognitive constructs are thought to reflect ordinary experience as well as trauma, to tend toward stability, and to remain open to new information.

Characteristics of High-Risk Adolescents' Dating Violence

Eighty-nine high-risk dating violent (DV) and non–dating violent (NDV) male and female adolescents were compared on several factors within the domains of behavioral problems, psychological adjustment, and parenting, in this exploratory investigation. Dating violence status was then regressed onto the significantly differing factors. DV males reported more violence against a past partner and marijuana usage in the past year, earlier onset of drug use other than marijuana, and elevated levels of externalization (together accounting for 58% of variance), whereas DV females reported elevated rates of internalization and having received less parental involvement, supervision, and behavioral control (together accounting for 35% of variance). Past dating violence for males and internalization for females accounted for significant unique variance. Findings, clinical implications, and directions for future research on high-risk adolescent dating violence are discussed.

Social Network Influences on Adolescent Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors

Within a socialization paradigm, a model was developed and tested to examine social network influences on adolescent sexual behavior and contraceptive use. It was hypothesized that the social network influences of parents and peers would affect the contraceptive knowledge and premarital sexual attitudes of adolescents. In turn, knowledge and attitudes were expected to influence sexual behavior and contraceptive use. The sample comprised 161 male and 200 female high school students. Results from the LISREL analyses indicated that the model was a good fit to the data and that the model differed significantly between males and females and between virgins and nonvirgins. Approximately 50% of the variance was explainedfor virgin and nonvirgin females, and for virgin males. Parents were more influential for males, whereas friends were more important for females. The transition to nonvirginity seems to produce a greater change in the social environment offemales than of males.

Interpretations of Child Emotion Expressions and Coercive Parenting Practices Among Adolescent Mothers

This study examined the relation between adolescent mothers’ interpretations of various child emotion expressions and coercive parenting practices (n = 4 mother-child dyads, child ages = 10–34 mos.). The more coercive mothers decoded a range of child emotion expressions as exhibiting greater anger, and attributed greater defiant intentions to the child, compared to less coercive mothers. The findings for attributions of defiance were robust, as they were independent of both emotion decoding and level of child difficulty. Findings are discussed with regard to (a) mothers’ basic assumptions about the child; (b) the robust character of attributions of defiance in relation to coercive parenting; (c) the potential implications of this study for research with adult mothers; and (d) investigation of temporal precedence and developmental pathways in the interrelations among child behavior, maternal cognition, and parenting behavior.