Oxytocin and state attachment responses to secure base support after stress in middle childhood.

We tried to replicate the finding that receiving care increases children's oxytocin and secure state attachment levels, and tested whether secure trait attachment moderates the oxytocin and state attachment response to care. 109 children (9-11 years old; M = 9.59; SD = 0.63; 34.9% boys) participated in a within-subject experiment. After stress induction (Trier Social Stress Test), children first remained alone and then received maternal secure base support. Salivary oxytocin was measured eight times. Secure trait and state attachment were measured with questionnaires, and Secure Base Script knowledge was assessed. Oxytocin levels increased after receiving secure base support from mother after having been alone. Secure state attachment changed less. Trait attachment and Secure Base Script knowledge did not moderate oxytocin or state attachment responses to support. This might mean that, regardless of the attachment history, in-the-moment positive attachment experiences might have a beneficial effect on trait attachment development in middle childhood.

Comparing attachment across cultures, child gender, age, and parental gender: Vietnamese versus Belgian adolescents' self-reported attachment anxiety and avoidance.

The short form of the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Revised Child version (ECR-RC) is a promising self-report measure of anxious and avoidant attachment in Western adolescents, yet little is known about its psychometric properties across cultures. More importantly, little is known about attachment styles across cultures, child gender, and parental gender. The present study aims to address these limitations by studying the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the ECR-RC in a sample of 1,232 Belgian and Vietnamese adolescents (45.9% boys, Mage = 12.3, SD = 1.20, range = 9.0-15.0; 61.36% Vietnamese adolescents). Results indicated that the factor structure of the mother-oriented ECR-RC was replicated across a Belgian and a Vietnamese sample and that the scale was invariant across both cultures and across gender and age. Vietnamese adolescents were more avoidantly and anxiously attached to their mothers compared to their Belgian counterparts. Boys were more avoidantly and anxiously attached compared to girls for the total sample. Considering two countries separately, boys were found to be more avoidantly attached, not anxiously attached compared to girls. Furthermore, with increasing age, more anxious and avoidant attachment was reported, except in Belgian adolescents where anxious and avoidant attachment did not differ over age. Focusing solely on the Vietnamese data, results revealed that the ECR-RC is a reliable measure to assess Vietnamese adolescents' anxious and avoidant attachment to both parents. Vietnamese adolescents did not differ in their levels of anxious attachment toward both parents but showed higher avoidant attachment to fathers compared to mothers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Current Perspectives on the Management of Reactive Attachment Disorder in Early Education.

Children with Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) have special educational needs that are challenging for teachers in early education. In the current contribution, we will discuss a large body of research suggesting that stimulating these children's attachment development is feasible for teachers and potentially a successful strategy to ensure that these children thrive better in the classroom and socially. The current overview discusses research and theory on RAD and RAD treatment and results in the formulation of specific recommendations for the successful management of children with RAD in the classroom.

Reactive attachment disorder symptoms and prosocial behavior in middle childhood: the role of Secure Base Script knowledge.

BACKGROUND: Children with attachment disorder show prosocial behavior problems. Children with a reactive attachment disorder show inhibited and emotionally withdrawn behavior. Consequently, these children typically display prosocial behavior problems. However, the underlying mechanism between reactive attachment disorder and prosocial behavior problems is still unclear and findings in literature are mixed. METHODS: The current study investigated the role of children's attachment representations in this association. Attachment representations reflect knowledge about a cognitive script regarding the attachment figure as a source for support (Secure Base Script). We tested whether secure base script knowledge 1) mediates or 2) moderates the link between reactive attachment disorder and prosocial behavior problems in 83 children (6-11 years; 83.1% boys) recruited from special education schools for children with behavioral problems. Children completed a pictorial Secure Base Script Test. Their reactive attachment disorder symptoms were assessed during an interview with the primary caregivers. Primary caregivers and teachers filled out a prosocial behavior questionnaire about the child. RESULTS: Results did not support the mediation hypothesis, but evidence for the moderation hypothesis was found. Secure base script knowledge attenuated the negative association between attachment disorder symptoms and prosocial behavior. CONCLUSIONS: These findings contribute to the discussion about the link between attachment representations and attachment disorders.

Placebo and nocebo effects and operant pain-related avoidance learning.

INTRODUCTION: Research on learning in placebo and nocebo has relied predominantly on Pavlovian conditioning procedures. Operant learning procedures may more accurately model learning in real-life situations in which placebo and nocebo effects occur. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the development and persistence of placebo and nocebo effects using an operant avoidance learning task. METHODS: Pain-free participants (n = 58) could learn to avoid pain by performing movements that differed in difficulty and intensity of painful stimulation. Participants performed movements in 2 contexts. In the high cost of avoidance context, pain stimulus intensity reduced with increasing movement difficulty. In the low cost of avoidance context, contingencies were reversed. Participants rated pain expectations and pain intensity. During test, movement difficulties were unchanged, but participants always received a medium-intensity pain stimulus. Placebo and nocebo effects were defined as lower/higher pain intensity ratings for trajectories that previously resulted in low/high-intensity compared with medium-intensity stimulation. RESULTS: As expected, participants acquired differential movement-pain expectations and differential movement choices. Testing with a medium-intensity pain stimulus quickly erased differences in movement choice across contexts, but differences in pain expectations were maintained. Pain modulation across context was in line with movement-pain expectations. However, we only observed placebo effects within the low cost of avoidance context and found no evidence of nocebo effects. CONCLUSION: Operant learning can change pain expectations, pain modulation, and pain-related avoidance behavior. Persisting pain expectations suggest that acquired pain beliefs may be resistant to disconfirmation, despite self-initiated experience with novel pain-movement contingencies.