Lenka Lacinová

Is Emerging Adults’ Attachment Preference for the Romantic Partner Transferred From Their Attachment Preferences for Their Mother, Father, and Friends?

This study examined whether emerging adults’ attachment preference for their romantic partner is complementary to their attachment preferences for their mother, father, and friends using a cross-sectional research design. Participants were 1,021 emerging adults recruited in the Czech Republic (mean age = 21.46, SD = 1.55) who filled out questionnaires. The attachment preference for the romantic partner correlated inversely with the attachment preference for friends but not with the preference for the mother or for the father. Our regression analyses revealed that emerging adults who were currently in a romantic relationship and had a longer romantic relationship were more likely to prefer their partner and less likely to prefer their friends. However, those emerging adults were not necessarily less likely to prefer their parents. For females, the length of romantic relationship was positively linked to their preferences for their mother. Hence, the results of this study accord with the claim that emerging adults’ attachment preferences are shifted to the romantic partner only from friends and not from the parents.

Twenty Years After the Velvet Revolution: Shifts in Czech Adolescents’ Perceptions of Family, School, and Society

Families and schools are traditionally seen as substantial socialization agents forming adolescents’ social values and their views of society. Special attention is paid to the question whether the relative importance of these influences remains stable in times of major social changes. In this study, two different generations of Czech middle adolescents are compared: (a) the “post-totalitarian” generation that grew up in the last decade of the communist regime and entered adolescence during the time of rapid political and socioeconomic changes (data collected in 1995) and (b) the current generation without personal experience with the communist regime, raised in a stable democratic society (data collected in 2010). Both groups of participants (total N = 2,127, aged from 14 to 17 years) were administered an identical questionnaire. First, we examined the changes in adolescents’ perception and evaluation of the society over the last 15 years. Today’s adolescents perceive society more as a community and their future orientations are more focused on materialistic and less on environmental values. While the emotional relationship between the children and parents remains the same, adolescents learn a somewhat different message in the family, emphasizing self-reliance. School environment is perceived more as positive and engaging than 15 years ago. Second, we predicted adolescents’ social views and values from their assessment of family and school environment. Our results show that the effect of parental values on adolescents’ value orientations is higher in the current generation. Positive school environment contributes to the development of socially responsible orientations despite the changes in society.

1312 – Interparental conflict and adolescent suicidality

Introduction High rate of suicidal behavior during adolescence draws the research attention. Numerous motives of suicide attempts were previously described; nevertheless most adolescents reported disturbed relationships with peers and parents. Family background seems to be important, especially the relationship between parents. Objective To examine suicidality in adolescents and recognize the risk factors, especially adolescents’perceptions of interparental conflict. Aim To explore risk factors associated with suicidality in adolescents, with regard to relationships within family, with friends and personality characteristics. Methods The sample consisted of 161 Czech students (14-16 years old) who anonymously completed four questionnaires: CPIC (Children’s Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale), IPPA (The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment), PAQ (Personality Assessment Questionnaire), CASPI (Child-Adolescent Suicidal Potential Index). Results Very high level of psychosocial distress was found in 45 % of respondents, 25 % admitted suicidal ideation or a history of suicidal attempt. The perceived interparental conflict, not the divorce, was confirmed as the important aspect for higher suicidal risk in adolescents. The perceived threat (higher feelings of danger resulting from the conflict situation and inability to influence the conflict) is the main feature of interparental conflict responsible for child maladjustment. Statistically significant differences between suicidal and non-suicidal adolescents were also found in the level of felt security in relationship with their mother, father and with peers. These groups differed in some personal characteristics too (aggressivity level, negative self-perception, emotional instability, and pessimism). Conclusion Results highlight potential targets for intervention among adolescents. Further research is needed to find sensitive predictors.

Similarities and differences regarding changes in attachment preferences and attachment styles in relation to romantic relationship length : longitudinal and concurrent analyses

ABSTRACT This study examines whether attachment preferences and attachment styles with different figures (mother, father, romantic partner, and friends) change over the course of a romantic relationship. Study 1 employed a three-wave longitudinal sample of Czech young adults who were currently in a romantic relationship (N = 870; mean age = 21.57; SD = 1.51; 81% females). Multilevel modeling analyses revealed that, as romantic relationships progressed, attachment preferences for romantic partners increased and preferences for friends decreased. However, preferences for the mother or for the father did not change over time. The parallel pattern was found for attachment avoidance; as romantic relationships progressed, attachment avoidance with romantic partners decreased and avoidance with the best friend increased. Avoidance with mother or with father, however, did not change over time. Study 2 employed a cross-sectional international sample (n = 2,593; mean age = 31.99; SD = 12.13; 79% females). Multiple regression analyses replicated the findings of attachment avoidance in the longitudinal data.

Longitudinal changes in emerging adults' attachment preferences for their mother, father, friends, and romantic partner: Focusing on the start and end of romantic relationships

Only a few studies have longitudinally explored to whom emerging adults prefer to turn to seek closeness, comfort, and security (called “attachment preferences”), and previous studies on attachment preferences in emerging adults have focused only on the beginning of romantic relationships but not on the end of relationships. Czech emerging adults (M = 21.47; SD = 1.48) completed the questionnaire of attachment preferences at two time points, Wave 1 (Summer 2013) and Wave 2 (Summer 2014). Latent difference score analyses revealed that emerging adults who were not in a romantic relationship in Wave 1 but started a romantic relationship between the two waves (n = 97) and those who had a romantic partner in both waves (n = 379) were both more likely to increase their attachment preference for the romantic partner and decrease their preference for friends, whereas those who did not start a relationship (n = 185) were not. Emerging adults who were in a romantic relationship in Wave 1 but were not in Wave 2 (n = 69) decreased their preference for the partner and increased their preference for friends. In all the groups, attachment preferences for the mother, for the father, or for the family did not change. Multiple regression analyses further revealed that for those who had a romantic partner in both waves, their length of romantic relationship was associated with changes in attachment preferences for romantic partners and for friends.

Interparental conflict appraisal and general fearfulness in middle adolescence

The purpose of this study is to analyze relationships between interparental conflict and experienced fears in middle adolescents. A total of 534 fifteen-year-old adolescents from the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (49% girls) completed measures of interparental conflict (Childrens Perceptions of Interparental Conflict Scale) and their subjective experienced fears (free-response method Cake of Fear). Multiple linear regression analyses indicate that sex significantly predicted the number of reported fears as did feelings of own efficacy in coping with interparental conflict. Girls tend to report more fears and higher conflict frequency, intensity, and threat than boys; the growing feeling of coping efficacy with parental conflict decreases the amount of reported fears only in the group of boys.

Fears in Czech Adolescents A Longitudinal Study

The present study investigates developmental patterns of fear in adolescence. It is based on longitudinal data collected as a part of the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ELSPAC) project. A total of 186 Czech adolescents (43% girls) were assessed repeatedly at the age of 11, 13, and 15 years. The free-response method was used to examine individual-specific fears. Fear occurrence, content, and intensity changes in 19 general fear categories in the age groups studied were investigated. The findings reveal that the most common fears of 11- and 13-year-old adolescents were related to school. However, at the age of 15, the most common fear category was the fear of losing someone, or the fear of something happening to somebody. Furthermore, we found that developmental trajectories of fear categories are characterized by a transition from the specific and concrete fears of childhood to the more general and abstract fears of adolescents.

Vztah k očekávanému dítěti a jeho souvislosti s vybranými intra- a interpersonálními charakteristikami žen v třetím trimestru těhotenství

Studie se zabýva vztahem těhotných žen k jejich ocekavanemu ditěti. U vzorku 339 žen ve třetim trimestru těhotenstvi byla zkoumana spojitost vztahu k ocekavanemu ditěti s uzkostnosti, depresivitou, kvalitou partnerskeho vztahu a s vyhýbavosti a uzkostnosti citove vazby k partnerovi. Byl kontrolovan vliv parity, planovanosti a chtěnosti ditěte a věku matky. Nejsilnějsim prediktorem vztahu k ocekavanemu ditěti byla kvalita partnerskeho vztahu - ženy, ktere hodnotily svůj partnerský vztah jako kvalitni, pociťovaly silnějsi vztah k ocekavanemu ditěti. Byl prokazan take vliv parity (prvorodicky pociťovaly k ocekavanemu ditěti silnějsi vztah než vicerodicky) a planovanosti ditěte (ženy, jejichž těhotenstvi bylo planovane, pociťovaly k ocekavanemu ditěti mirně silnějsi vztah). Ve výzkumu byla poprve použita nova skala k měřeni vztahu k ocekavanemu ditěti, ktera překonava některe limity dosavadnich metod. Metoda měři různe aspekty vztahu k ditěti v oblasti emocni, kognitivni i behavioralni.

Adolescents’ multiple versus single primary attachment figures, reorganization of attachment hierarchy, and adjustments: the important people interview approach

ABSTRACT Using 212 adolescents from a central-European country (mean age = 14.02, SD = 2.05, ranged from 11 to 18 years; females = 54%) and a multi-informant method to measure adolescents’ behavioral and emotional adjustments, the present study explored three aspects regarding the attachment hierarchy. (1) The three types of behavioral systems of Rosenthal and Kobak’s important people interview (IPI) were initially validated using an exploratory factor analysis with a US sample. Using a confirmatory factor analysis with a Czech sample, we replicated these three behavioral systems: attachment bond, support seeking, and affiliation. (2) We found that adolescents who developed attachment bond to multiple primary attachment figures were likely to score lower on both teacher-rated and parent-rated internalizing problems compared to those who had a single primary attachment figure. These multiple primary attachment figures tended to be family members (not peers). (3) Early adolescents who placed parents low in their attachment hierarchy scored higher on self-reported negative affect and lower on self-reported positive affect compared to early adolescents who placed parents high. The present study highlights multiple (vs. single) primary attachment figures as a protective factor and the premature reorganization of attachment hierarchy as a risk factor for adolescents’ emotional and affective adjustments.

Déjà Vu Experiences in Healthy Czech Adults.

Abstract The study examines the prevalence of déjà vu in healthy Czech adults and explores its relationships with a number of variables: age, sex, neuroticism, depression, the degree of irritability in the limbic system, perceived stress, and finally attachment avoidance and anxiety. The participants were 365 healthy adults ranging from 18 to 70 years recruited in the Czech Republic (mean age = 29.05; SD = 11.17) who filled out online questionnaires. Déjà vu experiences were reported by 324 (88.8%) of them. Persons who experienced déjà vu were younger than the persons who had not experienced it. We found that sex, levels of neuroticism, depression, perceived stress, and attachment did not serve as predictors of experiences of déjà vu phenomena. Finally, those who had reported déjà vu experiences reported more limbic system irritability symptoms. We discuss the possibility that déjà vu reports together with other studied variables mainly reflect the participants’ willingness to report “extraordinal” experiences.