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| 2. |
- Forslund, Tommie, 1983-
(författare)
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Disorganized Attachment Representations, Externalizing Behavior Problems, and Socio-Emotional Competences
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Disorganized attachment is a risk-factor for developmental maladaptation in the form of externalizing behavior problems, and for poor development of competences important for socio-emotional functioning. Concerns have however been raised regarding theoretical overextension, and there is consequently a need for multifactorial studies that examine which outcomes disorganized attachment is reliably important for. There is also a lack of research on the mechanisms that mediate the relation between disorganized attachment and externalizing problems. The present thesis therefore examined whether disorganized attachment is a specific risk-factor for symptoms of Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), or a non-specific risk factor for both types of problems. Several emotional and cognitive competences were investigated as mediators, with the question of whether disorganized attachment becomes associated with externalizing problems primarily through any specific mechanism, or through multiple mechanisms. Three studies were conducted. Children completed the separation anxiety test for attachment representations and laboratory tasks for distinct competences, and parents and teachers rated emotion regulation and ODD- and ADHD-symptoms. Study I was cross-sectional and found that disorganized attachment contributed specifically to conduct problems when accounting for ADHD-symptoms. However, disorganized attachment did not contribute to ADHD-symptoms when accounting for conduct problems. Study II found that children with disorganized attachment representations show deviations in identification of emotional expressions, in the form of a generally diminished ability to discriminate between expressions rather than in response biases. Study III was (short-term) longitudinal and replicated the results from Study I; disorganized attachment was primarily associated with ODD-symptoms, not ADHD-symptoms. Elevated emotional reactivity and poor regulation, particularly for anger and fear, mediated the relation between disorganized attachment and ODD-symptoms. Taken together, the present findings suggest that disorganized attachment may constitute a specific risk factor for externalizing problems pertaining to anger and aggression, such as oppositionality and misconduct, rather than ADHD-problems. Importantly, the findings caution against ideas of a pathway from disorganized attachment to ADHD-symptoms. The deviations in processing and regulation of anger and fear corroborate Bowlby´s proposal that these emotions are closely connected, central to disorganization, and a potential mediating mechanism in relation to externalizing problems.
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| 3. |
- Forslund, Tommie, 1983-, et al.
(författare)
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The Heterogeneity of ADHD Symptoms and Conduct Problems : Cognitive Inhibition, Emotion Regulation, Emotionality and Disorganized Attachment
- 2016
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Ingår i: British Journal of Developmental Psychology. - : Wiley. - 0261-510X .- 2044-835X. ; 34:3, s. 371-387
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study examined the contributions of several important domains of functioning to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and conduct problems. Specifically, we investigated whether cognitive inhibition, emotion regulation, emotionality, and disorganized attachment made independent and specific contributions to these externalizing behaviour problems from a multiple pathways perspective. The study included laboratory measures of cognitive inhibition and disorganized attachment in 184 typically developing children (M age = 6 years, 10 months, SD = 1.7). Parental ratings provided measures of emotion regulation, emotionality, and externalizing behaviour problems. Results revealed that cognitive inhibition, regulation of positive emotion, and positive emotionality were independently and specifically related to ADHD symptoms. Disorganized attachment and negative emotionality formed independent and specific relations to conduct problems. Our findings support the multiple pathways perspective on ADHD, with poor regulation of positive emotion and high positive emotionality making distinct contributions to ADHD symptoms. More specifically, our results support the proposal of a temperamentally based pathway to ADHD symptoms. The findings also indicate that disorganized attachment and negative emotionality constitute pathways specific to conduct problems rather than to ADHD symptoms.
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| 4. |
- Hammarlund, Mårten, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Parental mentalising among mothers with intellectual disability or ADHD : Links with experiences of abuse, neglect and psychosocial risk
- 2023
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Ingår i: JARID. - 1360-2322 .- 1468-3148. ; 36:6, s. 1206-1217
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Parental mentalising difficulties are robustly linked to caregiving problems. Mothers with intellectual disability are at risk for caregiving problems, but knowledge on their parental mentalising abilities is lacking. The present study aimed to fill this gap.Method: Thirty mothers with mild intellectual disability, and 61 comparison mothers with ADHD, were assessed for parental mentalising using the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire. Contributions of intellectual disability, maternal exposure to childhood abuse/neglect and psychosocial risk to parental mentalising were examined through hierarchical regression analysis.Results: Mothers with intellectual disability had a heightened risk for parental mentalising difficulties, in the form of elevated prementalising. Intellectual disability and cumulative childhood abuse/neglect uniquely predicted prementalising among the mothers, whereas cumulative psychosocial risk added to the risk for prementalising specifically among mothers with intellectual disability.Conclusions: Our findings support contextual models of caregiving, and suggest a need for mentalisation-based support for parents with mild intellectual disability.
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| 5. |
- Heeman, Emma J., et al.
(författare)
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Predicting emotion regulation in typically developing toddlers : Insights into the joint and unique influences of various contextual predictors
- 2024
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Ingår i: International Journal of Behavioral Development. - 0165-0254 .- 1464-0651.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Emotion regulation (ER) is a source of risk and resilience for psychological development and everyday functioning. Despite extensive research on various early contextual predictors of child ER capacity, few studies have integrated them into the same study. Therefore, our longitudinal study investigated the joint and independent contributions of several prominent contextual predictors of child ER capacity. We followed typically developing children and their caregivers (N = 118, 47% girls) at three time points (children ages 10, 12, and 18 months). At 10 months, mothers reported household chaos, social support, and parenting stress, and maternal sensitivity was observed and coded with the Ainsworth’s Maternal Sensitivity Scales. At 12 months, child–mother attachment security was assessed using the Strange Situation Procedure. Finally, at 18 months, child ER was obtained with a Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery frustration task. Correlational analyses revealed that household chaos and maternal sensitivity were significantly positively associated with child ER. Multiple regression analyses showed independent effects of household chaos and maternal sensitivity on child ER. Our partly counterintuitive results underscore the significance of cumulative risk and protective factors for ER development and suggest that household chaos and maternal sensitivity may contribute uniquely to better ER in typical toddlerhood.
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| 6. |
- Jónsdóttir, Lilja K., et al.
(författare)
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A challenge to the expected : Lack of longitudinal associations between the early caregiving environment, executive functions in toddlerhood, and self-regulation at 6 years
- 2024
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Ingår i: Developmental Science. - 1363-755X .- 1467-7687.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Previous research and theory indicate an importance of the quality of the early caregiving environment in the development of self-regulation. However, it is unclear how attachment security and maternal sensitivity, two related but distinct aspects of the early caregiving environment, may differentially predict self-regulation at school start and whether a distinction between hot and cool executive function is informative in characterizing such predictions through mediation. In a 5-year longitudinal study (n = 108), we examined these associations using measures of maternal sensitivity and attachment security at 10–12 months, executive function at 4 years, and self-regulation at 6 years. Surprisingly, and despite methodological rigor, we found few significant bivariate associations between the study variables. We found no credible evidence of a longitudinal association between maternal sensitivity or attachment security in infancy and self-regulation at 6 years, or between executive function at 4 years and self-regulation at 6 years. The lack of bivariate longitudinal associations precluded us from building mediation models as intended. We discuss our null findings in terms of their potential theoretical implications, as well as how measurement type, reliability, and validity, may play a key role in determining longitudinal associations between early caregiving factors and later self-regulation and related abilities.
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