Japanese infants' attachment insecurity and externalizing/internalizing problems: Using strange situation and attachment Q-sort methods.

According to attachment theory, an infant-mother attachment is universal, and infants who develop an insecure attachment relationship with their mother are likely to show mental health problems compared to those who develop a secure attachment relationship. These hypotheses have been empirically supported in Western cultures. However, the cross-cultural evidence is still insufficient. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between Japanese infants' attachment insecurity and mental health problems. We studied 81 Japanese infants (Mage = 14.64 months, SD = 1.43, females = 54%) mostly from middle-class families. The Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) and Attachment Q-sort (AQS) assessed infant attachment security. Infant externalizing and internalizing problems were rated concurrently by the mother and 6 months later by the mother and another adult (father or grandmother). Japanese infants' attachment insecurity measured by the AQS was associated with their externalizing problems concurrently and 6 months later. Infants with insecure-resistant attachment measured by the SSP had higher externalizing problems compared to those with secure attachment concurrently (not 6 months later). Attachment insecurity was not related to internalizing problems. These findings partly supported the association between attachment insecurity and mental health problems. This research also recommends observing infant attachment at home.

De acuerdo con la teoría de la afectividad, una unión afectiva infante-madre es universal y los infantes que desarrollan una insegura relación de afectividad con sus madres están propensos a mostrar problemas de salud mental, comparados con aquellos que desarrollan una relación afectiva segura. Estas hipótesis han sido empíricamente apoyadas en las culturas occidentales. Sin embargo, la evidencia entre las culturas es aún insuficiente. El propósito de este estudio fue examinar la asociación entre la inseguridad de la afectividad de los infantes japoneses y los problemas de salud mental. Estudiamos a 81 infantes japoneses (edad promedio = 14.64 meses, SD = 1.43, niñas = 54%), principalmente de familias de clase media. El Procedimiento de la Situación Extraña (SSP) y la Afectividad Q-sort (AQS) evaluaron la seguridad de afectividad del infante. Las madres, concurrentemente, les dieron un puntaje a los problemas de externalización e internalización del infante, y seis meses después los hicieron la madre y otro adulto (el padre o la abuela). La inseguridad de la afectividad de los infantes japoneses, tal como se midió por medio de AQS, se asoció con sus problemas de externalización concurrentemente y seis meses después. Los infantes con una afectividad insegura y de resistencia, tal como se midió por SSP, tenían más altos problemas de externalización comparados con aquellos con una afectividad segura concurrentemente (no a los seis meses después). La inseguridad de la afectividad no se relacionó con problemas de internalización. Estos resultados en parte apoyan la asociación entre la inseguridad de la afectividad y los problemas de salud mental. Esta investigación también recomienda observar la afectividad del infante en casa.

Selon la théorie de l'attachement, l'attachement bébé-mère est universel, et les bébés qui développent une relation d'attachement insécure avec leur mère sont à même de présenter des problèmes de santé mentale comparés à ceux ayant développé une relation d'attachement sécure. Ces hypothèses ont été soutenues empiriquement dans les cultures occidentales. Cependant l'évidence transculturelle demeure insuffisante. Le but de cette étude était d'examiner le lien entre la sécurité de l'attachement des nourrissons japonais et les problèmes de santé mentale. Nous avons étudié 81 nourrissons japonais (Mâge = 14,64 mois, SD = 1.43, filles = 54%) en grande partie issues de la classe moyenne. La Procédure de Situation Etrange (SSP) et l'AQS (en anglais Attachment Q-sort) ont évalué la sécurité de l'attachement du bébé. Les problèmes d'externalisation et d'internalisation du bébé ont été évalués en même temps par la mère et six mois plus tard par la mère et un autre adulte (père ou grand-mère). L'insécurité de l'attachement des bébés japonais mesurée par le AQS était liée à des problèmes d'externalisation simultanément et six mois plus tard. Les bébés avec un attachement insécure-résistant mesuré par le SSP avaient des problèmes d'externalisation plus importants comparé à ceux avec un attachement sécure simultané (pas six mois plus tard). L'insécurité de l'attachement n'était pas liée à des problèmes d'internalisation. Ces résultats soutiennent partiellement le lien entre l'insécurité de l'attachement et les problèmes de santé mentale. Cette recherche recommande aussi d'observer l'attachement du bébé à domicile.

Diverse Trajectories of Hikikomori Symptoms During Job Search and the Role of Identity Distress: Three Wave Longitudinal Research.

Objective: Hikikomori, a prolonged form of social withdrawal, has received attention in various research areas. This longitudinal study aimed to identify diverse trajectories of hikikomori symptoms among young Japanese adults engaged in a job search. It also tested whether identity distress, a critical developmental issue, predicts these trajectories while controlling for other risk factors (depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, career expectations, and gender). Methods: A total of 756 third-year Japanese university students (at Time 1, M age = 20.88 years; women: 78.97%) who engaged in job search participated in our three-wave longitudinal survey at six-month intervals. To assess hikikomori symptoms, we used the 25-item Hikikomori Questionnaire. In addition, identity distress was measured using the 10-item Identity Distress Survey. Results: Latent class growth analysis revealed four different trajectories of hikikomori symptoms. Most young adults showed severe levels and escalating hikikomori symptoms over time. In contrast, a small proportion of young adults prevented hikikomori symptoms through the period of job search. Additionally, young adults with more severe levels of identity distress followed trajectories marked by severe hikikomori symptoms after controlling for other risk factors. Conclusion: The present study's findings contribute to developing a primary intervention for hikikomori symptoms by identifying the period of greatest risk. Group-based counseling support for hikikomori from the perspective of identity is recommended.

Attachment hierarchy in Japan: examining the validity of important people interview in Japanese young adults.

To assess young people's attachment hierarchy, the Important People Interview (IPI) was developed based on Bowlby's conceptualization of ethological behavioral systems. The present study examined the validity of the IPI in a sample of Japanese young adults (N = 472; Mage = 20.34, SD = 1.28; females = 53.81%), because Bowlby's behavioral systems conceptualization has been assumed to be universal. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed agood fit of the IPI model with a Japanese sample. The ranking of the mother in attachment hierarchy correlated positively with young adults' self-esteem, and the ranking of the father correlated negatively with their depressive symptoms. The absence of romantic partner; shorter romantic relationships; living separately with mother, father, and romantic partner; and less frequent meetings with the mother, father, and romantic partner correlated with the higher ranking of friends. When other attachment figures are unavailable, people may flexibly use friends to meet their attachment needs.

Positive and negative valences of identities: Longitudinal associations of identity content valences with adaptive and maladaptive functioning among Japanese young adults.

Erikson's psychosocial developmental theory assumes that valence of one's identity (i.e., identity content valence) defined by positive and negative identity elements is important for understanding patterns of (mal)adaptation. However, previous empirical research on identity and (mal)adaptation has focused on how individuals deal with identity issues (e.g., exploration and commitment), while neglecting identity content valences. In contrast, this study assessed identity content valences in terms of positive and negative identity elements. Theoretically, identity content valences affect (mal)adaptation, whereas individuals' (mal)adaptation influences their identities. Consequently, this study examined reciprocal relationships between identity content valences and adaptation (i.e., prosocial behaviors) and maladaptation (e.g., externalizing symptoms) in a sample of Japanese young adults, including socioculturally relevant indicators of maladaptation (i.e., hikikomori symptoms and suicidal ideation). This study includes 2,313 Japanese young adults who participated in a three-wave longitudinal study. The cross-lagged panel model and random intercept cross-lagged panel model revealed reciprocal relationships between identity content valences and (mal)adaptation at the between-person level. Negative identity elements positively predicted suicidal ideation. Meanwhile, prosocial behaviors positively predicted positive identity elements, whereas hikikomori symptoms and suicidal ideation positively predicted negative identity elements. These relationships were significant only for socioculturally relevant indicators, suggesting the importance of considering sociocultural contexts.

Identity processes and identity content valences: Examining bidirectionality.

Developing identities that are well-aligned with sociocultural expectations is a key psychosocial developmental task for adolescents and emerging adults. Most studies have examined identity development focusing on how individuals develop their identities (identity process), such as identity exploration and commitment. Meanwhile, researchers have emphasized incorporating the what of identity development (identity content) with identity processes to further the understanding of identity development in sociocultural contexts. This study focuses on the positive and negative valences of identity defined by desirable and undesirable images shared in sociocultural contexts. We investigated the bidirectional associations of identity exploration and commitment processes with positive and negative identity elements using longitudinal data over three measurement waves. Participants were 2,313 Japanese emerging adults enrolled in higher education (70.95% women; Mage = 20.43). The cross-lagged panel analysis and random-intercept cross-lagged panel analysis were used to estimate associations at both between- and within-person levels. Results indicated that commitment making negatively predicted negative identity elements, whereas identification with commitment positively predicted positive identity elements. Meanwhile, positive identity elements positively predicted identification with commitment only for participants with low levels of negative identity elements, while negative identity elements negatively predicted commitment making and identification with commitment. These associations were found only at the between-person level. The findings highlight that emerging adults develop identities through close interactions in which they engage in identity exploration and commitment processes, as well as construct identity content valences. Developmental sequences of identity, along with their sociocultural contexts and practical implications, are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Maternal Perceptions of Infant Behavior as a Potential Indicator of Parents or Infants in Need of Additional Support and Intervention.

The goal of the present study is to examine the relationship between early infant behaviors, which can be easily reported by parents, with parent-infant bonding and maternal mental health. It has long been established that child characteristics and behaviors have a significant impact on parent well-being and how parents respond to their infants. Examining parent perceptions of challenging infant behaviors may help health professionals identify high risk infants in need of intervention and mothers in need of additional support. Mothers of 73 infants between the ages of 3.5 weeks and 6 months filled out questionnaires. Infant stomach issues were positively correlated with bonding issues, maternal anxiety and maternal depression. Infant crying issues were also positively correlated with bonding issues, maternal anxiety and maternal depression. Potential clinical and research applications of the instrument include early identification of caregivers in need of support and screening for further clinical assessment and care.

The Relationships Between Initial Consonants in Japanese Sound Symbolic Words and Familiarity, Multi-Sensory Imageability, Emotional Valence, and Arousal.

Sound symbolic words consist of inevitable associations between sounds and meanings. We aimed to identify differences in familiarity, visual imageability, auditory imageability, tactile imageability, emotional valence, and arousal between Japanese sound symbolic words with voiced initial consonants (VCs; dakuon in Japanese; e.g., biribiri) and Japanese sound symbolic words with semi-voiced initial consonants (SVCs; handakuon in Japanese; e.g., piripiri), and between VCs (e.g., daradara) and Japanese sound symbolic words with voiceless initial consonants (VLCs; seion in Japanese; e.g., taratara). First, auditory imageability and arousal were significantly higher in VCs than SVCs, whereas familiarity, tactile imageability, and positive emotion (emotional valence) were significantly higher in SVCs than VCs. Second, visual imageability was higher in VCs than VLCs, while familiarity and positive emotion were higher in VLCs than VCs. Initial consonants in Japanese sound symbolic words could be associated with specific subjective evaluations such as familiarity, visual imageability, auditory imageability, tactile imageability, emotional valence, and arousal.

Are one's attachment avoidance toward a particular person and his/her placement of this particular person in the attachment hierarchy inversely overlapping? Four bifactor-analysis studies.

Do one's hierarchical preference for attachment support from a particular person over other people (attachment hierarchy) and his/her discomfort with closeness and uneasiness about being dependent on that particular person (attachment avoidance) inversely overlap? These two constructs have been distinctly conceptualized. Attachment hierarchy has been regarded as a normative characteristic of attachment relationships, while attachment avoidance has been considered to reflect an individual difference of relationship quality. Employing bifactor analyses, we demonstrated a unidimensional general factor of these two concepts in four studies exploring Czech young adults' relationships with mother, father, friends, and romantic partner (Study 1); U.S. young adults' relationships with a romantic partner (Study 2); Czech adolescents' relationships with mother, father, and friends (Study 3); and Japanese young adults' relationships with mother, father, and romantic partner (Study 4). These convergent results provide the replicable and generalizable evidence that one's attachment avoidance toward a particular person and her/his placement of that particular person in the attachment hierarchy are inversely overlapping.

Considering the negatively formed identity: Relationships between negative identity and problematic psychosocial beliefs.

INTRODUCTION: Developing a firm sense of identity is a critical developmental task in adolescence and emerging adulthood, but little or no empirical research exists regarding individuals who firmly form negative identities and psychosocial beliefs. This study examined the formation of negative identities in youth and its association with psychosocial beliefs in terms of variable-oriented psychosocial facets (i.e., dichotomous beliefs, cynicism, and social distrust) and person-oriented psychosocial profiles. METHODS: A total of 2313 young Japanese people (70.9% were females) aged 18-25 years answered the self-report questionnaire. RESULTS: We consequently found that individuals with negative identities possessed problematic psychosocial facets, such as high dichotomous beliefs and cynicism, as well as low social trust. Furthermore, individuals with negative identities had profile characterized by strong hostility toward others/societies. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our study provided a comprehensive understanding of how youth with negative identities face difficulty in constructing relationships with society, which has been neglected in prior research.

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

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.

Secure base script and psychological dysfunction in Japanese young adults in the 21st century: Using the Attachment Script Assessment.

The universality of secure base construct, which suggests that one's use of an attachment figure as a secure base from which to explore the environment is an evolutionary outcome, is one of the core ideas of attachment theory. However, this universality idea has been critiqued because exploration is not as valued in Japanese culture as it is in Western cultures. Waters and Waters (2006) hypothesized that one's experiences of secure base behaviors are stored as a script in memory, and developed a narrative assessment called the Attachment Script Assessment (ASA) to evaluate one's secure base script. This study examined the validity of the ASA and the utility of secure base concept in Japanese culture. A sample of Japanese young adults (N = 89; M = 23.46; SD = 3.20; 57% = females) completed both the ASA and self-report questionnaires. The results revealed that the ASA score was associated with two dimensions of self-report questionnaires assessing parent-youth attachment relationships (trust and communication). The ASA score was not related to Japanese cultural values (amae acceptance, interdependent self-construal, and low independent self-construal). However, a low ASA score was related to a psychological dysfunction in the Japanese cultural context; hikikomori symptoms, which are defined as a desire to remain in his or her own room and his or her understanding of this behavior in other people. We concluded that since hikikomori can be interpreted as an extreme inhibition of exploration, the association between low secure base script and hikikomori symptoms suggests the utility of secure base construct in Japan. (PsycINFO Database Record

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

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.

Very extensive nonmaternal care predicts mother-infant attachment disorganization: Convergent evidence from two samples.

We examined whether a maximum threshold of time spent in nonmaternal care exists, beyond which infants have an increased risk of forming a disorganized infant-mother attachment. The hours per week infants spent in nonmaternal care at 7-8 months were examined as a continuous measure and as a dichotomous threshold (over 40, 50 and 60 hr/week) to predict infant disorganization at 12-15 months. Two different samples (Austin and NICHD) were used to replicate findings and control for critical covariates: mothers' unresolved status and frightening behavior (assessed in the Austin sample, N = 125), quality of nonmaternal caregiving (assessed in the NICHD sample, N = 1,135), and family income and infant temperament (assessed in both samples). Only very extensive hours of nonmaternal care (over 60 hr/week) and mothers' frightening behavior independently predicted attachment disorganization. A polynomial logistic regression performed on the larger NICHD sample indicated that the risk of disorganized attachment exponentially increased after exceeding 60 hr/week. In addition, very extensive hours of nonmaternal care only predicted attachment disorganization after age 6 months (not prior). Findings suggest that during a sensitive period of attachment formation, infants who spend more than 60 hr/week in nonmaternal care may be at an increased risk of forming a disorganized attachment.