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According to attachment theory, a sense of attachment security provides a foundation for mental health, social adjustment, and psychological thriving. In this article, we review what has been learned from laboratory experiments on the causal effects of contextually boosting a person’s sense of attachment security. We begin with a brief account of attachment theory and the construct of attachment security. We then review findings from laboratory experiments showing that contextual activation of mental representations of attachment security has beneficial effects on emotion regulation, psychological functioning, and prosocial behavior.

This authoritative text provides a systematic, comprehensive overview of theory and research on adult attachment. The authors trace how Bowlby's original constructs have evolved through the study of adolescents and adults.

In this article, we conceptualize the sense of attachment security as an inner resource and present theory and research on the broaden and build cycle of attachment security generated by the actual or symbolic encounter with external or internalized loving and caring relationship partners. We also propose that the body of research stimulated by attachment theory offers productive hints about interventions that might increase positive experiences and prosocial behavior by bolstering a person's sense of security. On this basis, we review recent experimental studies showing how interventions designed to increase attachment security have beneficial effects on mental health, prosocial behavior, and intergroup relations, and discuss unaddressed issues concerning the mechanism underlying the beneficial effects of these interventions, the temporal course of these effects, and their interaction with countervailing forces.

Emotional support in the context of psychological caregiving is an important aspect of human–human interaction that can significantly increase well-being. In this study, we tested if non-verbal gestures of a non-humanoid robot can increase emotional support in a human–human interaction. Sixty-four participants were invited in pairs to take turns in disclosing a personal problem and responding in a supportive manner. In the experimental condition, the robotic object performed emphatic gestures, modeled according to the behavior of a trained therapist. In the baseline condition, the robotic object performed up-and-down gestures, without directing attention towards the participants. Findings show that the robot’s empathy-related gestures significantly improved the emotional support quality provided by one participant to another, as indicated by both subjective and objective measures. The non-humanoid robot was perceived as peripheral to the natural human–human interaction and influenced participants’ behavior without interfering. We conclude that non-humanoid gestures of a robotic object can enhance the quality of emotional support in intimate human–human interaction.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after traumatic events is prevalent and can lead to negative consequences. While social media use has been associated with PTSD, little is known about the specific association of online hate speech on social media networks and PTSD, and whether such association is stronger among those with difficulties in emotion regulation, who may have a harder time coping with hate speech. In a general population sample of Jewish adults (aged 18–70) in Israel ( N  = 3,998), assessed about two months after the wide-scale terror attacks of October 7, 2023, regression analysis was used to explore the association of online hate speech and self-reported PTSD symptomology. Difficulties in emotion regulation (DER) was explored as a moderator of the association. Greater frequency of hate speech was significantly associated with increased PTSD symptomology, adjusting for problematic use of technology, terror and war exposure, and prior mental health issues. The association differed significantly by DER; as difficulties increased, the association was stronger. Public health campaigns could educate about the potential harms of hate speech to help individuals make informed choices, and clinicians could discuss possible hate speech effects with patients more vulnerable to PTSD, for example, those with emotion dysregulation.

This study investigated the complex relationships between adverse childhood experiences (ACE), post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and substance use disorder (SUD) following a large-scale collective trauma in Israel. We utilized a longitudinal design with a quasi-representative sample of 1,343 Jewish Israeli adults, measuring PTSS and SUD both before (April 2022) and after (December 2023) the October 7th attack. Using regression analysis and structural equation modeling, we tested the sensitization and self-medication hypotheses, and the direct effect of ACE on SUD beyond PTSS. Results demonstrate that higher ACE scores significantly predicted greater elevations in PTSS following the trauma, supporting the sensitization hypothesis. Pre-trauma PTSS significantly predicted increases in SUD, consistent with the self-medication hypothesis. Critically, ACE directly predicted an elevation in SUD even when controlling for PTSS. SEM analysis provided evidence for a direct contribution of ACE to changes in SUD after the collective trauma. This provides new evidence suggesting that early adversity confers a distinct, independent risk for SUD that is not solely mediated by post-traumatic stress. These findings underscore the profound and multifaceted impact of childhood experiences on long-term well-being and highlight the need for trauma-informed interventions that address both immediate stress reactions and the enduring consequences of early adversity.

Attachment theory (J. Bowlby, 1982/1969, 1973) is one of the most useful and generative frameworks for understanding both normative and individual-differences aspects of the process of affect regulation. In this article we focus mainly on the different attachment-related strategies of affect regulation that result from different patterns of interactions with significant others. Specifically, we pursue 3 main goals: First, we elaborate the dynamics and functioning of these affect-regulation strategies using a recent integrative model of attachment-system activation and dynamics (P. R. Shaver & M. Mikulincer, 2002). Second, we review recent findings concerning the cognitive consequences of attachment-related strategies following the arousal of positive and negative affect. Third, we propose some integrative ideas concerning the formation and development of the different attachment-related strategies.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Theoretically, people who have the benefits of secure social attachments should find it easier to perceive and respond to other people's suffering, compared with those who have insecure attachments. This is because compassionate reactions are products of what has been called the caregiving behavioral system, the optimal functioning of which depends on its not being inhibited by attachment insecurity (the failure of the attachment behavioral system to attain its own goal, safety and security provided by a caring attachment figure). In a series of recent studies, we have found that compassionate feelings and values, as well as responsive, altruistic behaviors, are promoted by both dispositional and experimentally induced attachment security. These studies and the theoretical ideas that generated them provide guidelines for enhancing compassion and altruism in the real world.

Background: War captivity is one of the most severe human-made traumatic events which lead to self-amplifying cycle of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and attachment insecurities. Solid evidence in the literature pointed out on the intergenerational transmission of PTSD symptoms. However, no research has been conducted on the intergenerational transmission of attachment insecurities and the effect of the self-amplifying cycle among former prisoners of war (ex-POWs) and their offspring attachment insecurities. Objective: This research aims to explore the intergenerational impact of a self-amplifying cycle of PTSD and attachment insecurities among ex-POWs on their offspring's attachment orientations. Method: We sampled dyads of Israeli ex-POWs of the Yom Kippur war and their adult offspring (ex-POW group) (n = 80) as well as dyads of Israeli veterans who fought in the Yom Kippur war, but were never held captive, and their adult offspring (control group) (n = 40). Veterans reported on PTSD severity and attachment orientations (anxiety, avoidance). Offspring reported on attachment orientations. We conducted (a) hierarchical regressions to predict offspring attachment orientations as a function of veterans' attachment orientations, and (b) moderated mediation analyses examining the role of veterans' PTSD in the intergenerational transmission of attachment orientations. Results: Ex-POWs' attachment anxiety was associated with offspring's reports of higher attachment anxiety and avoidance, and this intergenerational transmission of attachment was mediated by ex-POWs' PTSD severity. These effects were not significant in the control group. Conclusions: Decades after the war end, the intergenerational sequelae of war captivity are evident by the impact of the self-amplifying cycle of PTSD and attachment insecurities among ex-POWs and their offspring's attachment insecurities. Therefore, it is imperative for clinicians to recognize the intergenerational transmission and to focus not only on the trauma but also on the traumatized person's attachment injuries and the shattering of core beliefs about the world, self, and others, in the context of attachment-based therapies. * War captivity is a potent pathogen for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms and attachment injuries apart and simultaneously. Studies revealed the self-amplifying cycle of PTSD symptoms and attachment insecurities decades after the captivity trauma ended.* Solid evidence in the literature pointed out on the intergenerational transmission of PTSD symptoms. However, no research has been conducted on the intergenerational transmission of attachment insecurities and the effect of the self-amplifying cycle among former prisoners of war (ex-POWs) and their offspring.* Ex-POWs' attachment anxiety was associated with offspring's reports of higher attachment anxiety and avoidance, and this intergenerational transmission of attachment was mediated by ex-POWs' PTSD severity.* Therefore, it is imperative for clinicians to recognize the intergenerational transmission and to focus not only on the trauma but also on the traumatized person's attachment injuries and the shattering of core beliefs about the world, self, and others, in the context of attachment-based therapies.