Conference Agenda

Attachment research has traditionally emphasized associations between insecurity and psychopathology, whereas less attention has been devoted to understanding how attachment orientations toward parents relate simultaneously to trauma-related distress and positive adaptation. The present study examined adolescents’ anxious and avoidant attachment toward mothers and fathers and their associations posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSD), posttraumatic growth (PTG), and thriving, conceptualized as multidimensional positive functioning (Su et al., 2014), while also exploring potential gender differences.

Participants in this sub-sample were 423 Israeli adolescents (ages 13–18; 44.2% female) who completed questionnaires of attachment anxiety and avoidance toward each parent, PTSD, PTG, and thriving. Preliminary analyses indicated that higher levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance toward both mothers and fathers were associated with higher PTSD. In contrast, PTG and thriving were negatively associated primarily with attachment avoidance, particularly toward fathers, whereas associations with attachment anxiety were weaker or nonsignificant. Additional analyses revealed that insecure attachment to parents was broadly associated with lower support, engagement, meaning, optimism, self-worth, and positive affect, and with higher loneliness and negative affect. Several associations differed by gender, suggesting partially distinct relational pathways for males and females.

Findings suggest that while both anxious and avoidant attachment confer vulnerability for posttraumatic distress, avoidant attachment may be especially detrimental for positive posttraumatic adaptation and flourishing. These results extend attachment theory by demonstrating that parent-specific attachment insecurity is relevant not only for maladjustment but also for adolescents’ capacity to experience growth and thrive following adversity, underscoring the importance of differentiating attachment dimensions and parental figures when examining resilience processes.

Introduction

Technology-related interruptions within caregiver-child relationships, or “Technoference,” impact cognitive and socio-emotional development (McDaniel & Radesky, 2018). Given the potential risk to secure attachment, identifying factors that influence intervention efficacy is imperative.

To assess caregivers’ desire to change technology-related behavior, McDaniel and colleagues (2023) repurposed the Readiness to Change (RTC) Scale, a Harm Reduction concept. Most caregivers contemplated change without action; stage of change did not relate to objective technology use but to perception of problematic use.

Reflective Functioning (RF), the ability to recognize mental states in self and others (Fonagy, Target, Steele, & Steele, 1998), may be associated with perceived Technoference and RTC. Related research shows caregiver sensitivity positively correlates with decreased parental Technoference (Wolfers et al., 2020; Braune-Krickau et al., 2021). This preliminary study investigates associations between RF, Technoference, and RTC, to guide future dyadic interventions.

Methods

RTC is administered within a larger questionnaire via Qualtrics, while RF is measured by coding caregiver’s responses to the Adult Attachment Interview conducted over Zoom. Perceived Technoference is assessed using the smartphone use item from self-report Technology Device Interference Scale.

Results

Analyses were conducted on 15–21 caregivers (95% cisgender women; M age = 39.3 years, SD = 5.46) of children aged 4-7 (M = 5.38, SD = 1.12). Due to limited power, effect sizes were emphasized. RF showed small-to-moderate associations with lower pre-contemplation (r = -.30) and higher contemplation (r = .37), consistent with hypothesized links between mentalization and RTC. Perceived cellphone-related interruptions were moderately associated with contemplation (r = .49, p = .054).

Discussion

RF appears aligned with greater readiness, though effects may be indirect or underpowered. Associations between contemplation and perceived smartphone interference highlight that awareness of technoference may motivate behavior change. Results underscore the value of device-specific measurement and a non-judgmental framework for understanding parent-child attachment amidst technoference.

This study forms part of the UK contribution to the international SWITCH project, a large-scale
longitudinal investigation examining how children’s social wellbeing influences their transition into
school across four European countries. In the UK, children will be followed from Reception through
Year 1, a period marked by rapid development in social cognition and executive function, both shaped
by early attachment experiences.
In a first step, SWITCH will collect data from representative samples of 1,000 children per
country, gathering parent and teacher reports on wellbeing, mental health, early literacy, numeracy,
and sociodemographic factors. In a second step, subsamples of 80 children will undergo in-depth
laboratory-based assessments, initially together with a parent during Reception and then together
with a peer during Year 1. These assessments will include behavioural observations and structured
interviews. Furthermore, we will measure of interpersonal neural synchrony (INS)–the temporal
alignment of brain activities during social interaction–derived from functional near-infrared
spectroscopy hyperscanning (fNIRSh), initially in parent-child and subsequently in child-peer dyads.
INS will be combined with behavioural assessments to derive a global measure of bio-behavioural
synchrony (BBS).
A particular focus of structured interviews will be on children’s attachment representations
measured using the Picture-Based Story Stem Battery (PSSB), a narrative, play-based measure derived
from the MacArthur Story Stem Battery. The PSSB assesses children’s attachment representations with
regards to their parents through responses to attachment-activating story dilemmas. By examining
attachment during Reception, the aim is to understand how early relational representations shape
children's social wellbeing during the transition into school.
By July, preliminary data will be available, allowing an initial examination of associations
between children’s attachment representations, BBS, and behavioural indicators of social wellbeing.
By integrating neural, behavioural, and contextual data, this study seeks to uncover how attachment
representations and social wellbeing support children’s school readiness and developmental
outcomes.

Experimentation with psychoactive substances, including cannabis, is common during adolescence. Yet, this experimentation comes with important risks, as early and frequent use is associated with a higher risk for addiction due to the rapid changes in the brain during this developmental period. Given these developmental consequences of substance use, it is critical to understand factors that are associated with early substance use. Among these factors, an insecure child-parent attachment has been shown to be an important risk factor for substance use problems. Studies have also shown that poorer cognitive function, such as impaired inhibitory control, is associated with insecure attachment and cannabis use, potentially suggesting associations between these two variables. However, previous studies often employ attachment measures taken in adolescence or adulthood, limiting our understanding of how early attachment relationships contribute to the risk for early substance use. To address this gap, we explored whether (a) attachment insecurity, measured in early childhood, predicts cannabis use initiation and frequency in adolescence, and (b) whether inhibitory control mediates this association. Participants were part of the first cohort of the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (n = 242). Attachment (in)security was measured at 30 months with the parent-report Attachment Q-Sort questionnaire. Cannabis use was self-reported at ages 13 to 17. Linear regression results show that lower attachment scores at 30 months significantly predicted earlier cannabis use initiation (β = -0.13), but not frequency. Mediation analyses showed that inhibitory control mediates the association between attachment (in)security and earlier cannabis use in adolescence, with a moderate effect size (R² = 0.30). Our study suggests that attachment insecurity, even in early childhood, is associated with cannabis use initiation in adolescence, highlighting the importance of prevention and intervention efforts to support the formation of a secure attachment bond.

Youth with ADHD are at risk for internalizing problems. However, factors moderating comorbidity risk remain underexamined. Attachment theory offers a framework for understanding heterogeneity in emotional outcomes, and secure attachment is associated with lower anxiety and depression.

Using cross-sectional data from Chinese youth (N = 144; ages 7-16) receiving outpatient care, we examined attachment as a correlate of internalizing comorbidity and a moderator of the association between ADHD and internalizing problems. ADHD symptoms were assessed via parent report using the SNAP-IV, while anxiety, depression, and attachment to mothers and fathers were assessed via youth self-report using the SCARED, CDI, and IPPA, respectively.

Attachment to mothers was significantly more secure among youth with ADHD alone than among those with ADHD and elevated depressive (d = -.88, p < .001) or anxiety symptoms (d = -.65, p < .001). A similar pattern was observed for attachment to fathers in relation to ADHD and comorbid depressive (d = -.74, p < .001) and anxiety symptoms (d = -.47, p = .005). Youth’s attachment to mother significantly moderated the association between ADHD and depression (β = .15, p = .04), with securely attached youth showing a positive association between ADHD and depressive symptoms (β = .33, p = .001). No such pattern was observed for insecure youth (β = .03, p = .73).

Results indicated that insecure attachment emerged as a risk factor for internalizing comorbidity. Moreover, for secure youth, decreases in ADHD symptom severity were accompanied by decreases in depressive symptoms; in contrast, this association was absent among insecure youth. Clinicians may tailor interventions by attachment status, addressing attachment-related relational processes alongside behavioral intervention for insecure youth with ADHD. Future longitudinal and intervention research should examine the mediating role of attachment and mechanisms linking ADHD symptoms to internalizing problems, to inform attachment-tailored interventions.

Early childhood is a crucial period for development, strongly shaped by the quality of the child–caregiver relationship (Sroufe, 2006). Most young children form bonds with two types of caregivers: parents and educators (Verschueren et al., 2012). Although educator–child interactions are relevant to development, they have been less studied than parent–child relationships, particularly regarding socio-emotional outcomes (Gebauer et al., 2021; Wyslowska et al., 2020). In early childhood education, the “processes” dimension of Early Childhood Care and Education refers primarily to the educator–child relationship (Burns et al., 2023), with the quality of this interaction largely explaining children’s developmental outcomes in early educational contexts (Sabol & Pianta, 2012). However, empirical knowledge regarding which specific aspects of this interaction are associated with child development in early education remains scarce (Eadie et al., 2022). Additionally, some studies have examined how educators’ personal characteristics, such as sensitivity or mental health, may influence educator–child interactions and, in turn, child development. While these studies report promising findings, further research is needed to consolidate this evidence (Burns et al., 2024). Within this context, the present review aims to systematize: (1) the literature addressing the relationship between the quality of educator–young child interactions and children’s socio-emotional development, and (2) the evidence on educator-related variables that contribute to interactions that promote children’s socio-emotional development. A literature search was conducted in the PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Scopus, and SciELO databases to identify studies on educator–child interactions and educator variables related to children’s socio-emotional development, published between 2006 and 2026. Relevant studies were synthesized to review current empirical evidence, its strengths and limitations, and to highlight key domains for future research.

Child attachment security reflects early caregiving environment quality and has been associated with differences in child social and emotional development. A key factor for secure child attachment development is parents’ availability for co-regulation, which, in turn, is intrinsically linked to parental interaction and relationship quality. This study therefore investigates the alignment of mother-father brain activity–also known as interpersonal neural synchrony (INS)–during interaction with their child as a novel biological correlate for both parental interaction and relationship quality and child attachment. The present study furthermore aims to assess how parental autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) traits may be linked to the above associations, because past research has revealed altered INS patterns in relation to ASD and ADHD in various contexts and across development.

As part of our study, cohabiting couples and their 4-8-year-old child play a cooperative Jenga game by taking turns to build the highest possible tower. Mothers’ and fathers’ brain activity is recorded over the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning and INS derived using wavelet transform coherence analysis. Behavioural synchrony is coded based on video-recordings by independent raters and parent-reported child attachment obtained with the Attachment Insecurity Screening Inventory or Attachment Relationship Inventory. Additionally, parents complete a series of self-report questionnaires, including the autism spectrum quotient (AQ-10) to assess ASD traits and the ASRS-5 to assess ADHD traits, and dyadic difference scores are calculated to assess similarity in parental neurodivergence traits.

We expect a positive correlation between child attachment security and mother-father INS and behavioural synchrony during cooperative gameplay. Furthermore, we foresee a negative correlation between parental neurodivergence difference scores and mother-father INS and behavioural synchrony. Data collection is ongoing and preliminary results will be available at the time of the conference.

Recent studies have highlighted a significant association between atypical maternal behaviors (AMB) and emotional regulation (ER) difficulties in children (Khoury et al., 2022; Lyons-Ruth & Yarger, 2022; Lyons-Ruth et al., 2023). Building on this work, some authors have proposed a typology of AMB, identifying distinct profiles that reflect specific interactional dynamics within the mother-child dyad. Based on this framework, they hypothesize that children’s emotional expression and regulation may vary according to the AMB profile to which they are exposed (Khoury et al., 2022; Lyons-Ruth & Yarger, 2022; Lyons-Ruth et al., 2023). The present study aims to explore this hypothesis by focusing specifically on variables related to the co-regulation (CR) process between mothers and their children. Using the AMBIANCE-Brief scale during the Strange Situation procedure, three profiles were coded among 91 mother–child dyads assessed when the children were 16 months old: intrusive/self-referential (n = 11), helpless/fearful (n = 23), and non-disrupted (n = 57). The second reunion episode of this procedure was divided into four segments during which child distress and maternal regulation-supportive behaviors (physical contact, vocalizations, distractions) were assessed.

As shown in Table 1, results show that, compared to other profiles, children in the intrusive/self-referential profile exhibit higher levels of distress, while their mothers engage in multiple supportive behaviors simultaneously, particularly during the first two segments (Figure 1). In contrast, children in the helpless/fearful profile show little distress, and their mothers demonstrate fewer regulatory behaviors than those in the other profiles (Figure 2). Children in the non-disrupted profile display moderate distress at the beginning, which decreases over time (Figure 3). Their mothers initially use physical contact and vocalizations, followed by distraction strategies. These findings highlight differences in the co-regulation (CR) process across AMB profiles, suggesting that interventions could be tailored to the specific needs of dyads presenting distinct risk profiles.

Parental sensitivity is a central component of early caregiving, yet observational research has predominantly focused on infancy and non-representative samples. Using data from the Trondheim Early Secure Study, a stratified population-based cohort, this study examined correlates of observed parental sensitivity in preschool age. The baseline cohort, which the current study is based on, included 1,007 families at age 4 (50.9% girls), and observational sensitivity data were available for n = 860 parents (84.8% mothers).

Parent–child interactions were videotaped in a structured 30-minute laboratory task and coded using the Emotional Availability Scales (EAS) sensitivity scale by certified coders (10% double-coded; ICC = .71). Candidate correlates covered parent (parenting stress; symptoms of depression, anxiety, and personality disorder [PD] clusters A–C), child (attachment representations, effortful control, receptive vocabulary, and child perceptions of parental emotional availability), and contextual factors (maternal education, cohabitation status, and teacher–child closeness). Weighted Pearson partial correlations were estimated in Mplus with robust standard errors, adjusting all correlates for one another; missing data were handled using full information maximum likelihood.

After mutual adjustment, higher observed sensitivity was modestly associated with higher maternal education (r = .20), child language skills (r = .14), effortful control (r = .12), child-perceived parental sensitivity (r = .15), and teacher–child closeness (r = .15). Lower sensitivity was associated with higher parenting stress (r = −.09), higher PD symptoms (cluster A r = −.15; cluster B r = −.12; cluster C r = −.09), and more anxious-insecure attachment representations (r = −.09). Parental anxiety and depressive symptoms, cohabitation status, and child gender were not significantly associated with sensitivity. Effects were small to modest.

Findings suggest that observed parental sensitivity in preschool may reflect transactional processes rather than solely parental characteristics. This underscores the importance of a broader interpretive lens when assessing parental sensitivity beyond infancy.

Introduction. Due to the ongoing effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, the general population and especially parents have experienced increased stress (Racine et al., 2022). High levels of parental stress have been linked to lower quality of parent-child relationships (Chung et al., 2022). However, no study to date has synthesized the magnitude of the association between parental stress or anxiety and parent-child relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic, nor examined its variability across contexts.

Aims. The aim of this meta-analysis is to estimate the association between parental stress or anxiety and the quality of the parent-child relationship during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to test whether this association is moderated by sample characteristics (e.g., gender, age, parental level of education) or contextual factors (e.g., number of children in the family, COVID-19 waves, public health measures).

Methods. Eligible studies included parents of children aged 6 months-18 years, were conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2022), and used validated measures of parental stress/anxiety and parent-child relationships. A systematic search was performed across five databases (CINAHL, PsycINFO, Medline, ERIC, and PBS Collection), followed by manual reference screening. Study selection and data extraction were conducted independently by two of the authors. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed using CMA 4.0 to estimate the overall effect size (Hedges’ g) and to examine potential moderators through subgroup analyses and meta-regressions.

Results. Twenty-four studies published between 2021 and 2024 were included in the meta-analysis, revealing an association in the expected direction, whereby greater parental symptomatology was linked to poorer relationship quality (g= .268). Three moderators emerged as significant: number of children in the family, parental educational level, and COVID-19 waves.

Discussion. The discussion focuses on how the unique context of COVID-19 affected families and examines which factors may mitigate the association between parental stress or anxiety and the parent-child relationship.

Background

Maternal depressive symptoms have been associated with lower parental sensitivity. We investigated the role of autonomic nervous system (ANS) reactivity, using the Still-Face paradigm (SFP) as a stressful parenting task, alongside self-reported parenting stress as a potential mechanism of this relationship.

Methods

N=180 first-time pregnant women participated. Depressive symptoms were measured at 12, 22, and 32 weeks of pregnancy and at 3 months postpartum using Beck Depression Inventory. At 3 months, dyads participated in the SFP, while mothers’ respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and pre-ejection period (PEP) were recorded concurrently; parenting stress was also assessed using the Parenting Stress Index. At 12 months, sensitivity was observed during a 5-minute free play session. In a structural equation model, indirect pathways were tested from postnatal depressive symptoms to sensitivity, through ANS reactivity and parenting stress.

Results

As shown in Figure 1, postnatal depressive symptoms were predicted by prenatal depressive symptoms (b=0.57, p< 001). Higher postnatal depressive symptoms were associated with higher parenting stress (b=0.29, p<.001) and with lower PEP in the reunion episode compared to the still-face episode (b=-0.03, p< 05), and showed a negative direct effect on sensitivity (b=-0.03, p<.05). PEP and RSA reactivity were not significantly associated with sensitivity. The indirect effect of postnatal depressive symptoms on sensitivity via parenting stress was significant (b = 0.01, p < .05), whereas indirect effects via RSA or PEP were non-significant. The total effect of postnatal depressive symptoms on sensitivity was non-significant (b=-0.003, p=.54).

Conclusions

Postnatal depressive symptoms were not significantly associated with sensitivity. A small indirect effect via self-reported parenting stress was observed. RSA and PEP reactivity did not mediate this association, indicating that ANS reactivity, as measured in the SFP, does not give insight into individual differences in sensitivity.

The Tripartite Attachment Battery (TAB) is a comprehensive measure of individual differences in adult attachment characteristics. Its Secure Attachment Scale assesses the tendency to experience the felt sense of security. Its Organized Insecurity Scale assesses the two major dimensions of attachment insecurity (viz., attachment anxiety and avoidance) along with elements of the secondary attachment strategies (viz., hyperactivation and deactivation) associated with them (e.g., the Self-Reliance subscale related to deactivation). The Disorganized Attachment Scale assesses the inconsistent use of both hyperactivating and deactivating strategies. There is strong support for the psychometric properties of the TAB, but its length (i.e., 86 items) makes it impractical for use in many settings. In the current studies, a short-form version of the TAB (TAB-SF) was created and evaluated. In Study 1, secondary analyses of TAB data were used to select items for short-form versions of each TAB scale and subscale. These new measures included 56 items. Study 2 utilized data collected from an independent sample via an online survey. Factor analyses were conducted on each scale. The findings were generally supportive of the item-to-subscale configuration anticipated. However, two of the ten subscales developed in Study 1 were not supported. The final version of the TAB-SF included 48 items distributed across the Secure Attachment Scale (3 subscales; 19 items), Organized Insecurity Scale (5 subscales, 25 items), and Disorganized Attachment Scale (single factor, 4 items). The internal consistencies and test-retest reliabilities of these TAB-SF measures were adequate or better, and correlations between them and two measures of psychological functioning (i.e., self-esteem and peace of mind) were supportive of their construct validity. While additional refinement of the short-form Organized Insecurity Scale may be required, the TAB-SF is, in many ways, comparable to the TAB and may be used as a more concise measure of adult attachment.

Context: Fourteen percent of women report having experienced at least one sexual assault before adulthood. Survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) frequently experience relationship difficulties in adulthood, characterized by less marital stability, reduced dyadic satisfaction, and an increased risk of breakups and domestic violence. Research suggests that secure attachment to parents play a mediating role in the relationship between CSA and the quality of subsequent intimate relationships.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the link between CSA and attachment security in couple relationships, and to test the mediating roles of attachment security to, respectively, mother and father.

Method: Seventy-eight women aged 20 to 49 (M = 36.3 years) participated in the study. They completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein et al., 1994; Paquette et al., 2004) and underwent the Multiple Model Attachment Interview (Miljkovitch et al., 2015).

Results: CSA is negatively associated with attachment security to the mother (p < .001) and father (p = .003). The effect of CSA on attachment to partner is mediated by attachment to father [95% CI: -0.1116, -0.0108; p < .017]. Conversely, attachment to mother was not linked to attachment to partner.

Discussion: These results support the hypothesis that childhood sexual abuse is associated with lower attachment security to both parents. This association could be explained by the fact that these children, faced with often unspeakable trauma and a lack of adequate parental support, are
thwarted in the development of a sense of security. However, only attachment to the father is linked to attachment to the partner, suggesting that the relationship with the father may serve as a model for romantic relationships and could represent a relevant target for interventions aiming to reduce relational risks in CSA survivors.​

Background: Dysregulated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity in infancy has
negative long-term implications for health and development. Insecure attachment behaviors
emerging in toddlerhood have been associated with concurrent elevated cortisol, but studies
have not assessed earlier cortisol output in relation to later Insecure attachment. The current
study examined attachment-related differences in cortisol output at both 4 and 15 months of
age.

Methods: 105 mother-infant dyads, stratified for maternal childhood maltreatment, were
assessed at 4 and 15 months infant age. Infant salivary cortisol was collected at three time
points during the Still-Face Procedure at 4 months and the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) at
15 months (baseline, 20 minutes post-stressor, and 40 minutes post-stressor). Infant salivary
cortisol output was indexed by area under the curve with respect to ground (AUCg). Infant
attachment behavior was assessed at 15 months during the SSP. Infant hair cortisol
concentrations (HCC), indexing several months of cortisol secretion, were assessed at 15
months via ELISA assay.

Results: Too few infants were classified as Avoidant (n = 4) to analyze. Infants classified as
Resistant (n = 12) or Disorganized (n = 27) at 15 months had higher salivary cortisol output at 4
months, compared to infants classified as Secure (n = 62). At 15 months, only Resistant infants
exhibited higher salivary cortisol levels than Secure infants, with elevated levels at 20- and 40-
minutes post-SSP, but not at baseline. Disorganized infants exhibited lower HCC at 15 months
than Resistant infants, suggesting potential blunting of the HPA-axis.

Conclusions: These findings converge with those of Lujik et al. (2010) and suggest that specific
forms of insecure attachment may have distinct profiles of HPA-axis activity over the first year.
Longitudinal studies with repeated assessments across infancy are needed to further clarify the
developmental trajectories of acute and chronic stress regulation that precede the attachment
patterns emerging at 15 months of age.

Interpersonal synchrony emerges from continuous mutual adaptation and the corepresentation of self and others’ actions, supporting affiliation, trustworthiness, and secure interactions—processes central to attachment relationships. Although interpersonal synchrony has been extensively studied in healthy populations, far less is known about how maladaptive personality traits, such as borderline personality (BPD) traits, affect both behavioral and neural mechanisms underlying synchronized interaction. Across two complementary studies, we investigated interpersonal synchrony during sensorimotor interaction with a virtual partner (VP) varying in temporal adaptivity. In Study 1 (N = 206), participants from the general population completed a finger-tapping synchronization task with a VP ranging from non-adaptive to overly adaptive. Interpersonal synchrony, variability, perceived synchrony, and affect were assessed as a function of VP adaptivity and BPD traits. In Study 2 (N = 47), participants performed a similar synchronization task while electroencephalography recorded neural activity, including interactive conditions with varying VP adaptivity and a self-paced condition. BPD traits were assessed via self-report, and neural oscillatory activity was analyzed using time–frequency methods. Behaviorally, increasing VP adaptivity was associated with reduced asynchrony and altered subjective interaction experience. Higher BPD traits predicted greater asynchrony and variability, particularly in response to partner adaptivity, alongside a more negative perception of synchrony and affect. At the neural level, alpha-band (8–12 Hz) desynchronization over central sensorimotor areas was observed across conditions, but differed as a function of temporal predictability and anticipation. Stronger alpha desynchronization emerged when participants anticipated a non-adaptive partner and during self-generated tapping. These findings indicate that BPD traits are associated with disrupted interpersonal synchrony at both behavioral and neural levels. Specifically, predictability appears to shape sensorimotor engagement, with BPD traits altering sensitivity to interactive dynamics as a sign of insecure and disorganized attachment. Crucially, these results have implications for attachment theory and the development and maintenance of therapeutic relationships.

Various developmental changes in adolescence (e.g., increased emotional reactivity and autonomy-seeking) may be experienced as stressful by mothers, contributing to heightened mother–child relationship negativity. Relationship negativity, as an ongoing relational stressor, may activate mothers’ insecure attachment systems, thereby increasing vulnerability to maternal depressive symptoms. However, the longitudinal links among these processes remain unclear.

The present longitudinal study tests a sequential process whereby perceived changes in the child are associated with increased mother–child relationship negativity, which is in turn associated with higher maternal attachment insecurity, ultimately linked to elevated maternal depressive symptoms.

Participants were 406 mothers (M_age= 40.23, SD=5.10) with primary and middle school–aged children (51.3% boys; ages 9–13). Mothers completed online questionnaires assessing perceived changes in their child (measured with a study–developed scale), mother–child relationship negativity (Furman & Buhrmester, 1985), maternal general attachment style (van Oudenhoven & Hofstra, 2008), and maternal depressive symptoms (Radloff, 1977). The same surveys were administered in April/May 2022 (T1), September/October 2022 (T2), and April/May 2023 (T3).

Three separate cross-lagged longitudinal mediation models were conducted using Bayesian estimation, each including one maternal insecure attachment style (fearful, preoccupied, or dismissive). Across models, maternal perceptions of changes in the child and mother–child relationship negativity showed positive reciprocal associations over time. Maternal fearful attachment was directly associated with longitudinal increases in maternal depressive symptoms, whereas preoccupied attachment accounted for the longitudinal association between relationship negativity and maternal depressive symptoms.

These findings suggest that adolescence may be a sensitive period for mothers, as relational stress may be linked to maternal emotional difficulties through attachment-style-specific differences in relational stress appraisal and affective vulnerability.

The development of the minimal self has recently gained attention in developmental science (De Klerk et al., 2021). The minimal self describes how one perceives oneself as an immediate subject of experience and is distinguished in the facets sense of agency, body ownership, and interoception. Mechanisms driving their development remain debated. Current theories suggest that minimal self facets are dynamic and plastic, affected by cognitive representations and grounded in early social interactions. From an attachment theoretical perspective, organization of the self is theorized to mirror the organization of the attachment relationship. That is, internal working models of attachment (IWMs) are proposed to entail a representation of the self and influence information processing relevant for the construction of a minimal self. The current study thus investigated the hypothesis that IWMs impact young children’s minimal self.

A total of 120 five-year-old children from an urban area participated. Established measures were used to assess all three minimal self facets: an intentional binding paradigm to assess sense of agency, enfacement illusion to capture body ownership, and an interoceptive accuracy task as operationalization of interoception. IWMs were assessed with the Attachment Story Completion Task (Bretherton et al., 1990).

Regression analyses show that attachment security as a continuum from insecurity to security did not significantly predict all three minimal self facets. Exploratory analyses show a relation between attachment categories (A, B, C) and body ownership.

Thus, the study provides mixed evidence for an influence of IWMs on minimal self facets in childhood: While interoception and sense of agency were not related to attachment, the study highlights the role of attachment patterns for the construction of a sense of body ownership. Securely attached children showed a more balanced sense of body ownership than avoidant and ambivalent attached children, flexibly adapting to new information while maintaining self-other differentiation.

Background. Facilitating shifts toward secure attachment is a central goal in foster care and adoption, yet the empirical evidence on what predicts Earned Secure Attachment (ESA) and how far it protects later functioning remains mixed (Filosa et al., 2024). The English and Romanian Adoptees (ERA) study provides a unique opportunity to examine, in a cohort exposed to severe early deprivation, who becomes secure over time and whether shifting towards security is associated with better outcomes.

Methods. Attachment at ages 4 and 6 was classified into trajectories: Secure→Secure, Secure→Insecure, Insecure→Secure (ESA), Insecure→Insecure and Insecure/Other (IO). Of 217 children with deprivation data, 137 had attachment at both ages (106 low, 31 high). Non-random movement was tested with McNemar; group differences with ANOVA and non-parametric tests.

Results. From 4 to 6, attachment transitions were non-random, with above-chance movement towards Secure (p = .009) and away from IO (p = .020). Children with high versus low deprivation were likely to become secure by 6 (Insecure→Secure 25.4% vs 32.2%; p = .671). Disinhibited Social Engagement (DSE) at 6 differed by trajectory (p = .016), with ESA children resembling Secure peers and both groups showing lower disinhibition than Insecure profiles. We investigated whether parenting variables (e.g. positive parenting, negative parenting, shared enjoyment), family-level predictors (e.g. parental education) and time in the adoptive home predicted shifts towards security, and whether adolescent social, mental health and relationship outcomes differed by trajectory; however, no clear patterns emerged (all ps ≥ .43).

Discussion. Children with early institutional deprivation were as likely to become secure by age 6 as those without, supporting a view that severe early risk did not reduce the probability of ESA. Within this cohort, becoming secure did not translate into outcome advantages in later functioning. We underscore the need for larger ESA-focused studies to clarify long-term outcomes.

Previous research has shown that uncertainty is a common and often challenging part of romantic relationships. We propose that it is not uncertainty in relationships per se that leads to adverse effects, but rather how well people can tolerate it. People differ in their overall ability to tolerate uncertainty, a concept also known as uncertainty intolerance. Previous studies have found that greater intolerance of uncertainty is associated with higher anxious and avoidant attachment styles (Lauriola et al., 2024; Wright et al., 2017). To our knowledge, all of this research is correlational, and the directionality is still unclear. To address this gap, we tested whether a brief mindfulness exercise designed to promote acceptance of uncertainty can reduce state-like anxious or avoidant attachment responses. Participants were randomly assigned to either a mindfulness condition, in which they practice tolerating uncertainty related to a recent or current uncertain relationship event, or a time-matched control condition. Afterwards, participants were presented with different imaginary, uncertain scenarios (similar to the episodic uncertainty scenarios validated by Knobloch & Solomon (2002)). Then, participants answered questions about their attachment responses regarding the scenarios. We hypothesized that participants in the mindfulness condition exhibit lower anxious attachment responses than those in the control condition. Additionally, we explored potential mechanisms that explain the effect of mindfully tolerating uncertainty on attachment responses,e.g., the perceived likelihood of the outcome and the perceived negativity of the event. Our data support this prediction: a short mindfulness intervention significantly reduced anxious attachment responses across imaginary scenarios (Mindfulness: M = 0.58; Control: M = 0.62) (t(486)= 3,31, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.3), whereas avoidant attachment responses did not differ between the two conditions (Mindfulness: M = 0.30; Control: M=0.42, (t(482)= 0.85, p = 0.4, Cohen’s d=0.07). These results provide initial evidence that targeting uncertainty tolerance through mindfulness may help reduce insecure attachment responses in uncertain romantic contexts.

Introduction. Beyond their artistic function, everyday musical interactions are commonly used by parents as tools for emotional regulation and relational connection within parent–child relationships (Koops, 2019). Recent theoretical models propose that family musical engagement may be linked to parental sensitivity (Smith & Kong, 2025). Despite growing theoretical interest, empirical work on associations between informal musical interactions, parental sensitivity, and child attachment security remains scarce.

Aims. The presentation aims to introduce the theoretical framework and to describe family musical practices, parental sensitivity, and child attachment security in early childhood. Specifically, it documents the characteristics of everyday musical interactions in families and explores how these practices relate to observed sensitivity and attachment security.

Materials and Methods. This project draws on secondary analyses of data from a previously completed study (Gaudette‑Leblanc, 2025) involving 38 parent–child dyads with children aged 2 to 5 years, conducted using a mixed‑methods design. Data were collected during a home visit, during which parents participated in two semi‑structured qualitative interviews documenting the family musical environment and the intentions underlying their musical practices. Throughout the visit, observations of parental sensitivity (Maternal Behavior Q‑Sort, MBQS–25 items) and child attachment security (Attachment Q‑Sort, AQS–30 items) were also conducted.

Current Status and Expected Contributions. The poster will present initial findings alongside the theoretical framework, research questions, and methodological design. By integrating family musical practices into attachment research, this project aims to elucidate relational processes through which everyday musical interactions may support parent–child relationships and early child development.

Emerging research suggests that parental reflective functioning (PRF) and mindfulness are distinct yet potentially interacting processes that support caregiving and early socioemotional development. This study examined (1) the association between PRF and mindfulness, and (2) their contributions to socioemotional competencies and problems in infants aged 6–24 months. Participants were 104 parent–infant dyads recruited from the Tuning into Transmission Study (New Zealand; n = 43) and the Parental Wellbeing and Attachment Project (New Zealand; n = 33; Australia; n = 28). Parents completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and the Brief Infant–Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (BITSEA). PRF was assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview, coded for reflective functioning. Pearson correlations and hierarchical multiple regressions were used to examine associations among PRF, mindfulness, and infant socioemotional outcomes. PRF was not significantly associated with overall mindfulness or infant socioemotional outcomes. Among mindfulness facets, non‑reactivity significantly predicted lower socioemotional problems. Acting with awareness was correlated with socioemotional problems but did not account for unique variance, while describing with words was correlated with socioemotional competencies but was not a significant predictor. Infant age was the only significant predictor of socioemotional competencies. A suppression effect was identified, whereby PRF appeared to account for variance related to parental stress, strengthening the association between parental stress and infant socioemotional problems. Findings highlight non‑reactivity as a key mindfulness facet associated with reduced socioemotional problems in infancy and underscore infant developmental stage as the strongest predictor of socioemotional competencies. Although PRF showed no direct effects, it may play an indirect role through interactions with parental stress. Overall, these findings suggest that early parenting interventions may achieve greater impact by combining developmentally informed stress‑reduction strategies with targeted mindfulness skills, while viewing PRF as a potential moderator or enhancer of intervention effects rather than a standalone mechanism of change.

The quality of early mother–infant interactions plays a crucial role in shaping socio-emotional development, particularly through the mechanisms described by attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969; Grochowska & Kmita, 2025). Within this relational system, interpersonal touch represents one of the earliest and most influential channels of connection (Botero et al., 2020). Recent research highlights the role of C-tactile (CT) afferents in encoding affective touch, underscoring its contribution to emotional regulation, intersubjective exchanges, and the formation of a secure attachment bond (McGlone et al., 2017; McGlone & Rankin, 2025; Montirosso & McGlone, 2020). Despite the recognised importance of maternal touch in infancy, few studies have examined its expression within structured laboratory paradigms designed to elicit attachment behaviours.

This pilot study explores the applicability of the Maternal Touch Coding System (MTCS; Provenzi et al., 2019) to the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP), focusing specifically on the second reunion episode - considered the moment of greatest attachment activation. A sample of 30 mother-infant dyads, drawn from the longitudinal Attaccamento2019 project, participated in the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) when infants were approximately 17 months old. Maternal touch during the reunion episode was micro-coded second-by-second using MTCS, capturing nine distinct categories of tactile interaction.

Preliminary findings indicate that the most frequent touch patterns displayed by mothers were static touch and absence of touch, with distributions differing significantly across attachment classifications.

These results suggest that the SSP may represent a promising context for assessing maternal touch, offering insight into its regulatory and communicative functions during high-stress episodes. Longitudinal research with larger samples is needed to refine coding strategies and clarify the relationship between maternal touch profiles and attachment organisation.

Background: Rheumatologic conditions are chronic systemic diseases characterized by pain and disability, where individual psychological variables significantly influence adjustment. The Attachment-Diathesis Model of Chronic Pain (Meredith et al., 2008) posits that attachment insecurity may function as a vulnerability factor, exacerbating emotional distress and worsening clinical outcomes in chronic illness, although literature in rheumatology remains fragmented. This systematic review aims to map the prevalence of attachment patterns and their association with health indicators in these populations.

Method: Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search was conducted across six databases (Scopus, PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection). The procedure identified 12,628 initial records, narrowed down to 25 quantitative studies following double-blind screening and methodological quality assessment (NOS). Data were extracted and synthesized to analyze classification distributions and associations with clinical outcomes.

Results: The synthesis reveals a notable over-representation of insecure attachment (up to 40% of analyzed studies) compared to normative data. Insecurity emerges as a transdiagnostic risk factor associated with lower quality of life, increased functional disability, anxiety-depressive symptoms, and higher subjective pain intensity. However, significant methodological heterogeneity was observed, with an almost exclusive reliance on self-report measures and a narrow focus on fibromyalgia and systemic lupus erythematosus.

Discussion: Findings underscore the importance of integrating attachment assessment into multidisciplinary rheumatological management, employing diversified methodologies and instruments to deepen the understanding of the patient's profile. Attachment-informed interventions could promote more adaptive coping strategies and better regulation of distress related to chronicity.

Background: Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are characterized by reduced empathy, guilt, and emotional responsiveness, placing youth at elevated risk for antisocial behaviour, aggression, and mental health difficulties across development. The caregiver-child attachment relationship represents a foundational element of early socioemotional development, and insecure attachment may serve as a developmental precursor to CU traits. However, the evidence for the association between attachment and CU traits is still in its infancy. This study will report a meta-analysis examining the association between attachment and CU traits in children and youth.

Methods: This meta-analysis includes all peer-reviewed literature examining CU traits and attachment in children and adolescents. Additional moderated analyses included attachment disorganization, sample types (e.g., high-risk vs. community) and types of attachment measures (e.g., self-reports vs. coded tasks).

Results: The meta-analysis (17 studies) found a significant association between attachment insecurity and CU traits across development (r= .17). The effect was marginally stronger in high-risk samples (r = .23) compared to community samples (r = .16). Additionally, studies using continuous attachment measures showed stronger effects (r = .25) than those using coded tasks (r = .11). Disorganized attachment was also associated with CU traits (r= .17). As disorganized attachment was only available in coded tasks of early to mid-childhood samples, no moderators were examined.

Conclusions: Our results offer preliminary evidence that attachment insecurity is associated with CU traits and thus may serve as a developmental mechanism. Understanding the relations between caregiver-child attachment and CU traits may inform early family-based interventions to reduce risk trajectories for youth displaying CU characteristics.

Attachment styles are known to vary across individuals as well as cultures. Yet the factors that contribute to these differences, especially those in non-Western cultures, are not well understood. The present study attempts to shed light on factors that contribute to individual differences in infants’ behavioral and physiological stress responses in relation to their motor and social development.

At around 12-months of age, infants’ motor- and social-responsiveness improve significantly. When exposed to stressors during exploration activities, infants exhibit reactivity such as crying, fussing, or freezing. These behavioral responses are shaped by repeated exposure to stressors and caregiver-mediated regulation. In parallel, these experiences also shape physiological stress responses. Two distinct mechanisms regulate physiological stress responses -- the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). Individual differences in physiological stress responses in infants vary across age groups, tasks, and measurements. We predict that physiological stress reactivities precede the behavioral stress responses, and how quickly they stabilize reflects a variability in their status of motor and social development.

Participants were 600 ten-month-old Japanese infants and their mothers. Using one-minute maternal separation in the lab setting, we elicited a mild stress response in each infant, and measured the salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase activation as markers of the HPA axis and of SNS, respectively. Data was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results showed that the baseline level of cortisol was related to both motor ability and social development. Specifically, the higher baseline level of cortisol was positively correlated with more advanced social development. Alpha-amylase activation did not correlate with developmental measures, but correlated negatively with the baseline level of cortisol. These results suggest that preparatory HPA regulation may reflect progress in social development, whereas SNS responses may be influenced by the state of the HPA axis rather than the developmental status.

Background: In recent decades, sociocultural changes have reshaped how families are formed and organized, with the traditional nuclear family declining from 67% of households in 1970 to 37% in 2021. There is now a growing visibility of alternative family configurations, such as multigenerational and same-sex families. Yet it remains unclear whether these societal shifts have translated into more flexible and diverse visions of the ideal family. To address this gap, this study aimed to 1) describe how young adults define their ideal family, and 2) examine variations in ideal family definitions based on sociodemographic and attachment styles.

Method: 1,183 undergraduate students in the United States (M_age = 18,94, SD = 1,23) completed an open-ended question asking them to describe their ideal family, along with questionnaires measuring attachment and sociocultural identity (i.e., gender, race/ethnicity, political orientation, and religiosity). Ideal family definitions were coded for core themes (e.g., whether a partner, children, or extended family is named) and for qualitative markers, including adherence to a traditional nuclear family schema, precision and rigidity, capturing how narrowly or flexibly young adults defined their ideals.

Results: Most participants endorsed a relatively traditional view of the ideal family. Specifically, 90% desired a romantic partner and 77% wanted children, whereas fewer mentioned marriage (49%), extended family (44%), or friends (11%). Individuals with higher avoidance scores were less likely to include a partner, children, or expressions of love in their ideal family definition, whereas those with higher attachment anxiety were more likely to mention love and provided longer descriptions. Gender, ethnicity, political conservatism, and religiosity were also associated with a traditional, inclusive, and rigid description of young adults’ ideal family.

Implications: These findings suggest that young adults maintain a traditional vision of families. Future research should examine whether these views translate into bias towards different family forms.

Background:

The Attachment Script Assessment (ASA; Waters & Waters, 2006) and the secure-base script coding of the Adult Attachment Interview (AAIsbs; Waters & Facompré, 2021) are both narrative-based methods used to assess secure base script knowledge, an internalized set of temporally-organized expectancies about attachment relationships. Although both measures are designed to capture the organization of secure-base script expectations, they differ in their demands: the ASA elicits standardized narratives from word prompts, whereas the AAIsbs derives secure-base content from the autobiographical accounts of early caregiving. Little is known about whether performance on these assessments is differentially shaped by parents’ developmental and contextual experiences.

Method:

Participants (N = 144 parents of infants) completed both the ASA and the AAI, which were separately scored for secure base script knowledge. Participants also reported on their history of childhood adversity, current depressive symptoms, and cumulative sociodemographic strain (e.g., poverty, single parenthood, low education).

Results:

Using residualized difference scores, higher childhood adversity predicted lower-than-expected AAIsbs scores relative to the ASA, B = -.23; p < .001, whereas greater current sociodemographic strain predicted lower-than-expected ASA scores relative to the AAIsbs, B = -.29; p < .001. Depressive symptoms were not a significant predictor of either RDS score.

Conclusions:

Discrepancies between secure base script knowledge on the ASA and AAIsbs appear systematic rather than random. The AAIsbs may be more influenced by parents’ developmental histories of adversity, whereas the ASA may be more sensitive to current contextual stress. These findings highlight how parents’ life experiences can shape the expression and measurement of attachment representations across distinct assessment approaches.

As awareness surrounding the climate crisis increases, a growing number of researchers have been interested in examining determinants of inter-individual differences in climate-related emotions, such as climate anxiety and worry. Attachment patterns have rarely been examined as potential determinants, even though the attachment system directly influences how individuals attend to, process, and respond to threats. In a series of four studies, we relied on cross-sectional, longitudinal, and dyadic survey data to examine the associations between attachment patterns, specifically security, anxiety, and avoidance, to both partners and parents, and levels of climate anxiety and worry. Results from Study 1 (Canadian undergraduate sample: N = 1,527, M = 18.9 years, 72.7% women) suggest that attachment anxiety with the mother was associated with greater climate change worry, which in turn was associated with greater climate anxiety. Study 2 (American undergraduate sample: N = 1,280, M = 19.0 years, 61.5% women) and Study 3 (American undergraduate longitudinal sample: N = 388, M = 19.6 years, 64.0% women) found that romantic attachment anxiety was associated with greater climate change worry, which in turn was associated with greater climate anxiety. Results from Study 4 (Canadian longitudinal mother-child dyads; N = 1,230, M = 12.8 years, 48.9% girls) indicate that mothers’ romantic attachment anxiety and avoidance at time 1 were both negatively associated with children’s attachment security at time 2, which in turn was negatively associated with climate change worry at time 2. These results suggest that attachment patterns are associated with inter-individual variation in climate emotions and underscore the need to integrate an attachment perspective into climate psychology to enhance our understanding of variations in responses to climate-related distress. These findings shed light on the potential of attachment-informed approaches to foster climate resilience through security, care, and collective agency.