Psychology
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Item Report on the Organizational Climates of Congress(2019-10-24) Hanges, Paul J; Lee, Frances; Miler, Kristina; Wessel, JenniferThe aim of this study is to gain a better understanding of Congress by attending to how the people who serve in the institution perceive Congress’ procedures, norms and expectations for their behavior. What are the “unwritten rules” that members and staff come to understand as they experience the institution? What types of behaviors are rewarded and encouraged inside Congress? How do these shared organizational perceptions and practices, in turn, shape how members of Congress work with other members, both within and between the two major parties? We took an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the climate and culture of Congress. We conducted 60 interviews with either former Members of Congress or House staff members. We found that the reward structure inside congressional parties is oriented around relationships. Results: The Structure of Intraparty Rewards Members advance in influence via their success in cultivating the esteem of their colleagues. This entails developing a reputation for expertise and integrity. But it also means building a social network by doing favors for others, especially fundraising. Members are seen as not considerate of others or unwilling to be “team players” have difficulty rising in influence. Individual members generally advance their standing in the party by building consensus rather than winning conflicts. But coalitions of members can gain greater weight within their party by being seen as winning conflicts. The central importance of relationships in Congress is consistent with patterns prevailing in fluid organizations more generally. The Climate of Intraparty Conflict and Cooperation Nearly all respondents described themselves as feeling free to speak up when they disagreed with their party leaders, though certain norms govern and restrain such behavior. In particular, disagreements with leaders should be raised in private or in party caucus but not in public or the press, though there was also recognition that not all members adhered to this norm. Similarly, verbal disagreement with party leaders is accepted, but active resistance of the party is frowned upon and subject to sanction. Tolerance of intraparty dissent is reasonably high, but members do at times experience pressure to go along with leaders, particularly on highly salient issues central to the party’s program. The Climate of Interparty Conflict and Cooperation Our findings paint a somewhat mixed picture of the state of cooperation across the aisle in Congress, where elements of collaborative and dominating culture are evident. Our interviews also reveal that on issues that are less visible and less important to the parties, working across the aisle to achieve “win-win” outcomes is considered possible and common even in today’s Congress. Many legislators and staff members are interested in working with colleagues across the aisle and have experience doing so. Moreover, clear paths lead to interpersonal cooperation, namely serving together on a committee, personal friendships, and common district interests.Item Parental Attachment Style: Examination of Links with Parent Secure Base Provision and Adolescent Secure Base Use(Taylor & Francis, 2014-06-05) Jones, Jason D.; Cassidy, JudeThe secure base construct represents one of attachment theory’s most important contributions to our understanding of parent–child relationships and child development. The present study represents the first examination of how parents’ self-reported attachment styles relate to parental secure base provision and adolescent (mean age = 16.6 years, SE = .59) secure base use during an observed parent–adolescent interaction. Further, the present study is the first to examine how fathers’, as well as mothers’, attachment styles relate to observed behavior in a parent–child interaction. At the bivariate level, maternal avoidance, but not anxiety, was negatively associated with observed adolescent secure base use. In addition, path analysis revealed that maternal avoidance was indirectly related to less adolescent secure base use through mothers’ self-reported hostile behavior toward their adolescents and through adolescents’ less positive perceptions of their mothers. Further, paternal anxiety, but not avoidance, was indirectly related to less adolescent secure base use through fathers’ self-reported hostile behavior toward their adolescents. No significant findings emerged in relation to parental secure base provision. We discuss these results in the context of attachment theory and suggest directions for future research.Item Psychotherapy Process and Relationship in the Context of a Brief, Attachment-Based, Mother-Infant Intervention(American Psychological Association, 2015) Woodhouse, Susan S.; Lauer, Maria; Beeney, Julie R. S.; Cassidy, JudeThe present study investigated links between the observer-rated process of psychotherapy and 2 key psychotherapy relationship constructs (i.e., working alliance and attachment to the therapist) in the context of a brief, attachment-based, home-visiting, mother–infant intervention that aimed to promote later secure infant attachment. Additionally, links between observer ratings of intervener and mother contributions to process were examined. Participants included 85 economically stressed mothers of first-born, 5.5-month-old, temperamentally irritable infants. Therapists included 2 doctoral-level and 4 master’s-level home visitors. Observer-rated therapist psychotherapy process variables (i.e., warmth, exploration, and negative attitude) were not linked to maternal ratings of working alliance. Therapist warmth, however, was positively associated with maternal ratings of security of attachment to the therapist, and therapist negative attitude was positively related to maternal ratings of preoccupied-merger attachment to the therapist. As expected, both therapist warmth and exploration were positively associated with both maternal participation and exploration. Therapist negative attitude was inversely related to maternal exploration, but not to maternal participation. Results support the idea that attention to the psychotherapy process and relationship may be important in the context of a brief home-visiting parenting intervention with a nonclinical sample. (APA PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)Item Tipping Points in Adolescent Adjustment: Predicting Social Functioning from Adolescents’ Conflict with Parents and Friends(American Psychological Association, 2012-10) Ehrlich, Katherine B.; Dykas, Matthew J.; Cassidy, JudeDespite widespread interest in examining the role of conflict for adolescent development, researchers only rarely have examined adolescents' experiences of conflict across relationships. The present study examined how adolescents' experiences of conflict with parents and friends were linked to their social functioning. Adolescents (n = 189) and their mothers and fathers participated in semistructured discussions about areas of parent-adolescent conflict in the laboratory. In addition, adolescents reported about conflict in their best friendships, and peers reported about adolescents' social acceptance and behavior in social settings. Parent–adolescent conflict was associated with peer-reported aggression and delinquency, and friendship conflict was associated with delinquency and prosocial behavior. In addition, significant Parent–Adolescent Conflict × Friend–Adolescent Conflict interactions revealed that parent–adolescent conflict was associated with poor social functioning only when conflict with best friends was also high. The findings suggest that consideration of conflict across relationships may yield insight into the specific contexts in which conflict is associated with negative outcomes for adolescents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)Item Parental Knowledge of Adolescent Activities: Links With Parental Attachment Style and Adolescent Substance Use(American Psychological Association, 2015) Jones, Jason D.; Ehrlich, Katherine B.; Lejuez, C. W.; Cassidy, JudeParents’ knowledge of their adolescents’ whereabouts and activities is a robust predictor of adolescent risk behavior, including the use of drugs and alcohol. Surprisingly few studies have attempted to identify parental characteristics that are associated with the degree of parental knowledge. The present study is the first to examine how parental attachment style relates to mother, father, and adolescent reports of parental knowledge. Further, we used structural equation modeling to test the associations among parents’ attachment styles, reports of parental knowledge, and adolescents’ alcohol and marijuana use. Participants included 203 adolescents (M age = 14.02, SD = .91) living in 2-parent households and their parent(s). As predicted, mothers’ and fathers’ insecure attachment styles were negatively associated with self-reported and adolescent-reported parental knowledge, and all 3 reports of parental knowledge were negatively related to adolescent substance use. Mothers’ and fathers’ attachment styles were unrelated to adolescent substance use. However, evidence emerged for indirect effects of parental attachment style on adolescent substance use through reports of parental knowledge. Implications for prevention efforts and the importance of multiple reporters within the family are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)Item Examining Maternal Depression and Attachment Insecurity as Moderators of the Impacts of Home Visiting for At-Risk Mothers and Infants(American Psychological Association, 2009) Duggan, Anne K.; Berlin, Lisa J.; Cassidy, Jude; Burrell, Lori; Tandon, S. DariusHome visiting programs for at-risk mothers and their infants have proliferated nationally in recent years, yet experimental studies of home visiting have yielded mixed findings. One promising strategy for explicating the effects of early home visiting is to examine moderators of program impacts. This study assessed the roles of maternal depression and attachment insecurity as moderators of the impacts of Healthy Families Alaska home visiting services for at-risk mothers and their infants. At-risk families (N = 325) were randomly assigned to home visiting or community services as usual (n = 162 and 163, respectively). Maternal depression and attachment insecurity (attachment anxiety and discomfort with trust/dependence) were measured at baseline. Maternal psychosocial and parenting outcomes were measured when children were 2 years old via maternal self-report, observation, and review of substantiated reports of child maltreatment. Maternal depression and attachment insecurity interacted in their moderation of program impacts. For several outcomes, home visiting impacts were greatest for nondepressed mothers with moderate-to-high discomfort with trust/dependence and for depressed mothers with low discomfort with trust/dependence. Implications for practice and policy are discussed. (APA PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)Item Adolescent Friendships in the Context of Dual Risk: The Roles of Low Adolescent Distress Tolerance and Harsh Parental Response to Adolescent Distress(American Psychological Association, 2013-10) Ehrlich, Katherine B.; Cassidy, Jude; Gorka, Stephanie M.; Lejuez, C. W.; Daughters, Stacey B.Given extensive evidence about the importance of relationships with friends during development, a large body of research has examined the correlates of these significant social experiences. Most of this research, however, has examined either individual characteristics (e.g., behavior, personality) or contextual factors (e.g., family), and most of the work has studied relationships during childhood. The present study extended previous research by examining how both an individual factor (adolescent distress tolerance) and a contextual factor (parental response to adolescent distress) are linked to adolescents’ friendships. Adolescents (N = 161) completed two behavioral measures of distress tolerance, and parents reported about their responses to adolescent distress. Although distress tolerance and parental responses to distress were not directly associated with adolescents’ positive or negative friendship experiences, for adolescents with low distress tolerance, harsh parental responses were negatively associated with adolescents’ positive friendship quality. Further, for adolescents whose parents used harsh responses to distress, distress tolerance was negatively associated with adolescents’ positive friendship quality. Results highlight the importance of studying both individual and familial factors related to adolescents’ social functioning. (APA PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)Item Empathic responding and hippocampal volume in young children(American Psychological Association, 2019-09) Stern, Jessica A.; Botdorf, Morgan; Cassidy, Jude; Riggins, TracyEmpathic responding—the capacity to understand, resonate with, and respond sensitively to others’ emotional experiences—is a complex human faculty that calls upon multiple social, emotional, and cognitive capacities and their underlying neural systems. Emerging evidence in adults has suggested that the hippocampus and its associated network may play an important role in empathic responding, possibly via processes such as memory of emotional events, but the contribution of this structure in early childhood is unknown. We examined concurrent associations between empathic responding and hippocampal volume in a sample of 78 children (ages 4–8 years). Larger bilateral hippocampal volume (adjusted for intracranial volume) predicted greater observed empathic responses toward an experimenter in distress, but only for boys. The association was not driven by a specific subregion of the hippocampus (head, body, tail), nor did it vary with age. Empathic responding was not significantly related to amygdala volume, suggesting specificity of relations with the hippocampus. Results support the proposal that hippocampal structure contributes to individual differences in children’s empathic responding, consistent with research in adults. Findings shed light on an understudied structure in the complex neural systems supporting empathic responding and raise new questions regarding sex differences in the neurodevelopment of empathy in early childhood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)Item The Generalization of Attachment Representations to New Social Situations: Predicting Behavior during Initial Interactions with Strangers(American Psychological Association, 2008-12) Feeney, Brooke C.; Cassidy, Jude; Ramos-Marcuse, FatimaThe idea that attachment representations are generalized to new social situations and guide behavior with unfamiliar others is central to attachment theory. However, research regarding this important theoretical postulate has been lacking in adolescence and adulthood, as most research has focused on establishing the influence of attachment representations on close relationship dynamics. Thus, the goal of this investigation was to examine the extent to which attachment representations are predictive of adolescents' initial behavior when meeting and interacting with new peers. High school adolescents (N = 135) participated with unfamiliar peers from another school in 2 social support interactions that were videotaped and coded by independent observers. Results indicated that attachment representations (assessed through interview and self-report measures) were predictive of behaviors exhibited during the discussions. Theoretical implications of the results and contributions to the existing literature are discussed. (APA PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)Item Do Adolescents and Parents Reconstruct Memories About Their Conflict as a Function of Adolescent Attachment?(Wiley, 2010-09-14) Dykas, Matthew J.; Woodhouse, Susan S.; Ehrlich, Katherine B.; Cassidy, JudeThis study examined whether 17-year-old adolescents (n = 189) and their parents reconstructed their memory for an adolescent–parent laboratory conflict over a 6-week period as a function of adolescent attachment organization. It also compared participants’ perceptions of conflict over time to observational ratings of the conflict to further characterize the nature of the attachment-related memory biases that emerged. Secure adolescents reconstructed interactions with each parent more favorably over time, whereas insecure adolescents showed less favorable reconstructive memory. Likewise, mothers of secure girls reconstructed conflicts more favorably over time, whereas mothers of insecure boys showed less favorable reconstructive memory. Participant ratings were associated with observational ratings in theoretically consistent ways. Contrary to expectations, fathers showed no attachment-related memory biases.