Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Oct 1, 1995
37 Mothers of children with conduct disorder who had received Parent Management Training (PMT) we... more 37 Mothers of children with conduct disorder who had received Parent Management Training (PMT) were interviewed using the Adult Attachment Interview, 13-43 months after treatment. Child behaviour levels at follow-up were strongly associated with the scores at referral in the unresolved attachment group, but not in the resolved group. This was reflected in a statistical interaction between referral behaviour score and resolved/unresolved attachment status in a regression model. This model, which also included a strong independent contribution from a composite psychological stress index, explained 66% of the variance in follow-up behaviour scores. The implications of these results for predicting the outcome of PMT are discussed.
ABSTRACT This special section dedicated to papers concerned with change processes in psychodynami... more ABSTRACT This special section dedicated to papers concerned with change processes in psychodynamic child and adolescent psychotherapy poses a set of interesting questions. What makes an intervention psychodynamic? How do we measure psychotherapy process? How can we bring psychodynamically-oriented treatment to a wider community, especially those that would not otherwise have access? These questions highlight the rich dialogue that can take place when we draw on psychoanalytic constructs and techniques to inform clinically relevant research, and then extrapolate these, to bring treatment to where they are desperately needed.
... Morality, disruptive behaviour, borderline personality disorder, crime, and their relationshi... more ... Morality, disruptive behaviour, borderline personality disorder, crime, and their relationship to security of attachment. ... Type: Book chapter. Title: Morality, disruptive behaviour, borderlinepersonality disorder, crime, and their relationship to security of attachment. ...
The aim of this paper is to identify a theoretical framework which may provide a meaningful conte... more The aim of this paper is to identify a theoretical framework which may provide a meaningful context for developing practical interventions to build upon the concept of resilience. In so doing I shall briefly consider the importance of the concept, what is known about it, and then focus on a specific facet of the problem: intergenerational transmission of maladaptive relationship patterns and resilience to such a threat.
New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development
This comment on the Special Issue contributions regarding the attachment network addresses the cl... more This comment on the Special Issue contributions regarding the attachment network addresses the clinical implications of the findings from three perspectives: (1) the need to look beyond maternal influences on child developmental outcomes; (2) to be open to every seemingly peripheral influence on the child as this may have a central impact on the child, for example, grandmothers, the parental couple relationship, and others not living in the child's home but nonetheless influential; and (3) identify and cultivate security spreading effects that help change not only the child, but the child's relationships with others in and outside the family-to the benefit of all. Some evidence-based attachment-based interventions are highlighted.
International Journal of Behavioral Development, 2016
In this article, we test the hypothesis that beliefs about the ideal mother are convergent across... more In this article, we test the hypothesis that beliefs about the ideal mother are convergent across cultures and that these beliefs overlap considerably with attachment theory’s notion of the sensitive mother. In a sample including 26 cultural groups from 15 countries around the globe, 751 mothers sorted the Maternal Behavior Q-Set to reflect their ideas about the ideal mother. The results show strong convergence between maternal beliefs about the ideal mother and attachment theory’s description of the sensitive mother across groups. Cultural group membership significantly predicted variations in maternal sensitivity belief scores, but this effect was substantially accounted for by group variations in socio-demographic factors. Mothers living in rural versus urban areas, with a low family income, and with more children, were less likely to describe the ideal mother as highly sensitive. Cultural group membership did remain a significant predictor of variations in maternal sensitivity b...
An unsettled question in attachment theory and research is the extent to which children’s attachm... more An unsettled question in attachment theory and research is the extent to which children’s attachment patterns with mothers and fathers jointly predict developmental outcomes. In this study, we used individual participant data meta-analysis to assess whether early attachment networks with mothers and fathers are associated with children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Following a pre-registered protocol, data from 9 studies and 1,097 children (mean age: 28.67 months) with attachment classifications to both mothers and fathers were included in analyses. We used a linear mixed effects analysis to assess differences in children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms as assessed via the average of both maternal and paternal reports based on whether children had two, one, or no insecure (or disorganized) attachments. Results indicated that children with an insecure attachment relationship with one or both parents were at higher risk for elevated internalizing symptomatolog...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Background: The Friends and Family Interview (FFI) is assumed to be a valid method to study attac... more Background: The Friends and Family Interview (FFI) is assumed to be a valid method to study attachment stability and attachment-related psychopathological processes in adolescence, but no studies have yet tested the test–retest reliability of this interview or the longitudinal association of attachment patterns in response to the FFI from adolescents with symptoms such as psychotic-like experiences (e.g., hallucinations, bizarre behavior, dissociation, self-harm) that are known to have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This study involved 102 community adolescents (M = 14.64, SD = 1.63, 46% males) assessed twice: during a severe COVID-19-related lockdown (in Italy) (T1) and four months later (T2). Measures were the FFI (assessing attachment patterns: secure-autonomous, insecure-dismissing, insecure-preoccupied, and insecure-disorganized) and the thought problems scale of the Youth Self-Report to assess psychotic-like symptoms. Results: revealed high stability of four-...
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Oct 1, 1995
37 Mothers of children with conduct disorder who had received Parent Management Training (PMT) we... more 37 Mothers of children with conduct disorder who had received Parent Management Training (PMT) were interviewed using the Adult Attachment Interview, 13-43 months after treatment. Child behaviour levels at follow-up were strongly associated with the scores at referral in the unresolved attachment group, but not in the resolved group. This was reflected in a statistical interaction between referral behaviour score and resolved/unresolved attachment status in a regression model. This model, which also included a strong independent contribution from a composite psychological stress index, explained 66% of the variance in follow-up behaviour scores. The implications of these results for predicting the outcome of PMT are discussed.
ABSTRACT This special section dedicated to papers concerned with change processes in psychodynami... more ABSTRACT This special section dedicated to papers concerned with change processes in psychodynamic child and adolescent psychotherapy poses a set of interesting questions. What makes an intervention psychodynamic? How do we measure psychotherapy process? How can we bring psychodynamically-oriented treatment to a wider community, especially those that would not otherwise have access? These questions highlight the rich dialogue that can take place when we draw on psychoanalytic constructs and techniques to inform clinically relevant research, and then extrapolate these, to bring treatment to where they are desperately needed.
... Morality, disruptive behaviour, borderline personality disorder, crime, and their relationshi... more ... Morality, disruptive behaviour, borderline personality disorder, crime, and their relationship to security of attachment. ... Type: Book chapter. Title: Morality, disruptive behaviour, borderlinepersonality disorder, crime, and their relationship to security of attachment. ...
The aim of this paper is to identify a theoretical framework which may provide a meaningful conte... more The aim of this paper is to identify a theoretical framework which may provide a meaningful context for developing practical interventions to build upon the concept of resilience. In so doing I shall briefly consider the importance of the concept, what is known about it, and then focus on a specific facet of the problem: intergenerational transmission of maladaptive relationship patterns and resilience to such a threat.
New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development
This comment on the Special Issue contributions regarding the attachment network addresses the cl... more This comment on the Special Issue contributions regarding the attachment network addresses the clinical implications of the findings from three perspectives: (1) the need to look beyond maternal influences on child developmental outcomes; (2) to be open to every seemingly peripheral influence on the child as this may have a central impact on the child, for example, grandmothers, the parental couple relationship, and others not living in the child's home but nonetheless influential; and (3) identify and cultivate security spreading effects that help change not only the child, but the child's relationships with others in and outside the family-to the benefit of all. Some evidence-based attachment-based interventions are highlighted.
International Journal of Behavioral Development, 2016
In this article, we test the hypothesis that beliefs about the ideal mother are convergent across... more In this article, we test the hypothesis that beliefs about the ideal mother are convergent across cultures and that these beliefs overlap considerably with attachment theory’s notion of the sensitive mother. In a sample including 26 cultural groups from 15 countries around the globe, 751 mothers sorted the Maternal Behavior Q-Set to reflect their ideas about the ideal mother. The results show strong convergence between maternal beliefs about the ideal mother and attachment theory’s description of the sensitive mother across groups. Cultural group membership significantly predicted variations in maternal sensitivity belief scores, but this effect was substantially accounted for by group variations in socio-demographic factors. Mothers living in rural versus urban areas, with a low family income, and with more children, were less likely to describe the ideal mother as highly sensitive. Cultural group membership did remain a significant predictor of variations in maternal sensitivity b...
An unsettled question in attachment theory and research is the extent to which children’s attachm... more An unsettled question in attachment theory and research is the extent to which children’s attachment patterns with mothers and fathers jointly predict developmental outcomes. In this study, we used individual participant data meta-analysis to assess whether early attachment networks with mothers and fathers are associated with children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Following a pre-registered protocol, data from 9 studies and 1,097 children (mean age: 28.67 months) with attachment classifications to both mothers and fathers were included in analyses. We used a linear mixed effects analysis to assess differences in children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms as assessed via the average of both maternal and paternal reports based on whether children had two, one, or no insecure (or disorganized) attachments. Results indicated that children with an insecure attachment relationship with one or both parents were at higher risk for elevated internalizing symptomatolog...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Background: The Friends and Family Interview (FFI) is assumed to be a valid method to study attac... more Background: The Friends and Family Interview (FFI) is assumed to be a valid method to study attachment stability and attachment-related psychopathological processes in adolescence, but no studies have yet tested the test–retest reliability of this interview or the longitudinal association of attachment patterns in response to the FFI from adolescents with symptoms such as psychotic-like experiences (e.g., hallucinations, bizarre behavior, dissociation, self-harm) that are known to have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This study involved 102 community adolescents (M = 14.64, SD = 1.63, 46% males) assessed twice: during a severe COVID-19-related lockdown (in Italy) (T1) and four months later (T2). Measures were the FFI (assessing attachment patterns: secure-autonomous, insecure-dismissing, insecure-preoccupied, and insecure-disorganized) and the thought problems scale of the Youth Self-Report to assess psychotic-like symptoms. Results: revealed high stability of four-...
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Papers by Howard Steele