Couples' Conflict Style Affected By Infant Attachment Patterns

A recent study, published in the journal Psychological Science, has discovered a link between the way in which couples' recover from conflict and their attachment patterns as infants.

“Attachment theory describes the dynamics of long-term relationships between humans especially as in families and life-long friends. Its most important tenet is that an infant needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to occur normally, and that further relationships build on the patterns developed in the first relationships.”

From this theory, Mary Ainsworth, a developmental psychologist, identified three attachment styles, or patterns, that a child may have with attachment figures. These include secure, anxious-avoidant (insecure) and anxious-ambivalent or resistant (insecure). A fourth pattern, disorganized attachment, was identified later.

“Attachment theory was extended to adult romantic relationships in the late 1980s by Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver. Four styles of attachment have been identified in adults: secure, anxious-preoccupied, dismissive-avoidant and fearful-avoidant. These roughly correspond to infant classifications: secure, insecure-ambivalent, insecure-avoidant and disorganized/disoriented.”

Accordingly, researchers at the University of Minnesota studied a cohort of couples born in the mid-seventies while they engaged in a discussion about a subject they disagreed on followed by a “cool down” discussion about a subject they agreed upon. Researchers noticed an interesting phenomenon during the so-called cool down period. Some couples were fully capable of making the transition from the disagreed upon subject to the agreed upon subject, while other partners or couples could not move on from the conflict discussion.

Interestingly, a look back at the observations of these participants in the seventies at age 12 to 18 months of age suggests that their current behaviour is associated with their attachment type as infants. “People who were more securely attached to their caregivers as infants were better at recovering from conflict 20 years later. This means that if your caregiver is better at regulating your negative emotions as an infant, you tend to do a better job of regulating your own negative emotions in the moments following a conflict as an adult.”

Fortunately, researchers also uncovered evidence to suggest that those individuals that were categorized as insecurely attached infants who are in relationships that recover well from conflict are couples that are most likely to stay together so long as one partner can quickly disengage from the conflict and avoid dwelling on any resulting negative thoughts and emotions.

“This is some of the first evidence that romantic partners play an important role in buffering the potential harmful effects from poor experiences earlier in life.” It is refreshing to know that the people in our lives can play such an important role in altering the consequences of our earlier life experiences.



How Couples Recover After an Argument Stems from Their Infant Relationships
Attachment theory


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Greater Suicide Risk Found Among People Living At Higher Altitudes

Researchers have examined twenty years of mortality data from counties across the United States and discovered that those living at higher altitudes were at greater risk of suicide. Geographically speaking, altitude refers to the height above mean sea level. High altitudes mean low air pressure, lower temperatures and less oxygen.

Barry Brenner, MD, PhD, and David Cheng, MD, University Hospitals Case Medical Center (Cleveland, OH), and coauthors Sunday Clark, MPH, ScD, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (PA), and Carlos Camargo Jr., MD, DrPH, Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston), examined cause-of-death data from all 2,584 U.S. counties between 1979 and 1998 and found that, as a group, people living at higher elevations had a statistically significant higher rate of suicide.

In addition, a link was still evident when all other factors, such as age, gender, race and level of income were held constant. Furthermore, researchers’ uncovered evidence that this correlation was not in any way linked to higher death tolls resulting from other causes. In reality, residents of higher altitude locations were found to have significantly lower rates of overall mortality.

What could be contributing to this elevated risk of suicide? Could it be that the locations are simply less densely populated? Are there higher rates of addiction among the residents? Could it be that a cold climate increases this risk? Are residents in these areas more likely to own guns? Or could it really be that a lack of oxygen to the brain, especially for those already struggling with mental illness, is the contributing risk factor?

Top 10 highest cities worldwide:

10. Mizma, Ethiopia – 11483 ft
9. Apartaderos, Venezuela – 11502 ft
8. Raíces, Mexico – 11919 ft
7. Laya, Bhutan – 12533 ft
6. Olacapato, Argentina – 13153 ft
5. Dolpa, Nepal – 14301 ft
4. Parinacota, Chile – 14435 ft
3. Komic, Lahaul-Spiti district, India – 15049 ft
2. Colquechaca, Bolivia – 15393 ft
1. La Rinconada, Peru and/or Wenzhuan, China – 16728 ft

Suicide Risk Greater for People Living at Higher Elevations, Study Finds
Altitude
List of highest towns by country

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Mental Health Blog Celebrates Another Year

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Sleep Helps Improve Memory and Creativity

It is common knowledge that sleep is an important part of healthy living, but just how important is it? We already know that sleep helps to strengthen our memories and store them in some sort of order so that they may be retrieved as needed at a later date.

Recently, the journal, Current Directions in Psychological Science, has published findings that explain how sleep is also important for the reorganization of memories. According to Jessica D. Payne of the University of Notre Dame, who co-wrote the article with Elizabeth A. Kensinger of Boston College, our brain extracts the emotional details from our memories during our slumber, while keeping the most relevant information in tact so that it may reconfigure those memories and use them to create new and creative ideas.

Payne and Kensinger study what happens to memories during sleep, and they have found that a person tends to hang on to the most emotional part of a memory. For example, if someone is shown a scene with an emotional object, such as a wrecked car, in the foreground, they're more likely to remember the emotional object than, say, the palm trees in the background -- particularly if they're tested after a night of sleep. They have also measured brain activity during sleep and found that regions of the brain involved with emotion and memory consolidation are active.

The table below displays our suggested amount of sleep that is needed at various stages in life:


So, the sleeping brain is actually quite busy. We may not realize how beneficial sleep can be for our brains. Payne says: “People who say they'll sleep when they're dead are sacrificing their ability to have good thoughts now […] we can get away with less sleep, but it has a profound effect on our cognitive abilities”.

Sweet dreams.

Sleep Makes Your Memories Stronger, and Helps With Creativity
Sleep

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Concussions Are Quite Common In Canadian Junior Hockey

The November 2010 issue of Neurosurgical Focus illustrates concern for young players in Canadian junior ice hockey as researchers have uncovered alarming data and trends regarding head injuries and concussions.

"The aftermath of a concussion can impact memory, judgment, social conduct, reflexes, speech, balance and coordination. Epidemiological studies have suggested an association between sport concussions and both immediate and later-life cognitive impairment. As such, this is a public health issue that needs to be taken more seriously by players, parents, coaches, and medical professionals," said Dr. Echlin.

Although, the issue of sports-related head injuries has been a growing concern for some time, this new study is the first to document the significance of this concern among junior hockey players.

Specifically, the Hockey Concussion Education Project (HCEP), a cohort study conducted between 2009 and 2010, researched 67 male ice-hockey players between the ages of 16 and 21 among two fourth-tier teams.

Before the hockey season began, the players were assessed with the Sideline Concussion Assessment Test (SCAT2) and the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Test (ImPACT). Following these tests, players were monitored by one independent physician and one to three independent, non-physician observers, at each regular season game.

The disturbing results…

• 17 players experienced a total of 21 concussions in only 52 games.
  
  
• 5 of those 17 players suffered a second or recurrent concussion during the hockey season.
  
  
• 15 of the same 17 players admitted to having at least one concussion in the past, while 2 admitted to hiding the fact to continue playing.
  
  
• The positions most affected by concussion are: forward position (71%) and defense (29%).
  
  
• No concussions were incurred by goalies.
  
  
• The rate of concussion increases as the game progresses: first period (14%); second period (29%); and third period (57%).
  
  
• 24% of the concussions occurred in players directly involved in a fight.
  
  
• The mean clinical return-to-play duration in 15 players was 12.8 days.

These statistics suggest that more education is needed to convince players, coaches and parents alike that concussion really is a serious problem that should not be ignored. Testing and monitoring after a concussion occurs is extremely important, however more often than not, the extra attention required is more of a burden to most.

In addition, educating players on the dangers should reduce the number of unreported cases and the concealment of concussions to avoid sitting on the bench. Players need to be aware that concussions are quite common in sport and the tough guy act could have devastating results to both physical and mental abilities that could last decades.

Junior Ice Hockey Study Uncovers Alarming Concussion Rates

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Study Suggests That Light Drinking During Pregnancy Is Not Harmful

According to a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, light drinking during pregnancy will not harm your child's behavioural or intellectual development.

A past study found similar findings among 3 year olds, but researchers wanted to study older children in case any symptoms had been delayed in the previous research.

“They used data from the Millennium Cohort Study -- a large study tracking the long term health of children born in the UK -- drawing on a representative sample of 11,513 children born between September 2000 and January 2002.”

As in many studies, researchers relied on the mothers self-reports. When children reached 9 months of age, the mothers were questioned about their drinking habits and other social and economic factors surrounding their lives.

Their alcohol consumption was divided into categories set out by the government's National Alcohol Strategy. “The mothers were classified as teetotal; those who drank but not in pregnancy; light (1 or 2 units a week or at any one time); moderate (3 to 6 units a week or 3 to 5 at any one time); and binge/heavy (7 or more units a week or 6 at one sitting).”

Although the study relied on the mothers’ self-reports of their children’s behavior at the age of 3, a formal assessment on behavioral and intellectual development of these children was completed when they reached 5 years of age.

Results showed that just below 6% of the mothers abstained from drinking and 60% abstained from drinking for the duration of the pregnancy alone. Of the mothers that drank during pregnancy, 26% admitted to light drinking, 5.5% were considered moderate drinkers and 2.5% were classified as heavy or binge drinkers.

Findings among all groups revealed that boys were more likely to have developmental problems, behavioral issues, hyperactivity and peer issues. Girls, on the other hand, were more likely to develop emotional problems. Testing also indicated that girls scored higher in cognitive abilities than boys.

As expected, the children of heavy drinking mothers were more likely to have behavioral and emotional issues as well as problems with hyperactivity. However, the findings did not suggest any behavioral or intellectual deficiencies among children whose mothers were considered light drinkers during pregnancy.

“Children born to light drinkers were 30% less likely to have behavioural problems than children whose mothers did not drink during pregnancy. After taking account of a wide range of influential factors, these children achieved higher cognitive scores than those whose mums had abstained from alcohol while pregnant.”

In today's world, attitudes have hardened and the widespread opinion is to avoid any risks and abstain from drinking alcohol, but this study certainly questions these beliefs. Although the findings may turn our views upside-down, it would be helpful to know if these mothers were light drinkers for the entire duration of pregnancy and/or during breastfeeding before alcohol-dependent mothers are given the green light.

Light Drinking During Pregnancy: Harmful to Child's Behavioral or Intellectual Development?

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Mental Health Blog's Opinion On Technology and Mental Health

The following is an article that mentions Mental Health Blog and outlines my opinion on technology and how it relates to the mental health field.

For those interested in reading the article, please click the following link:

Medical Animation, Technology a Growing Industry

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