| Summary: | 博士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 心理學研究所 === 102 === Attachment is not only an emotional bond between infants and their attachment
figures, but also an important emotion regulation device to manage threat. Bowlby
proposed that encountering with threat may lead to activation of internal attachment
system, in that the processing of emotional information may be influenced and
manifested as cognitive biases. These biases are further associated with later
development of psychological adjustment. Thus, the present study aimed to explore
the associations among attachment, cognitive biases, and psychological adjustment.
We hypothesized that, under threat condition, individuals may display two stages of
attention biases across time course. They will show attention biases towards
threat-related stimuli and followed by towards intimacy-related stimuli. We also
hypothesized that individuals with different attachment characteristics may display
different biases, and these biases may predict psychological adjustment in distinct
ways. The present study recruited 290 participants via Internet advertisement and
course credit requirement at the Department of Psychology, National Taiwan
University. All participants completed a booklet of measures of attachment
characteristics to form secure, dismissive, preoccupied, and fearful attachment groups
and psychological adjustment including depression and anxiety. They then completed
computerized cognitive tasks to assess attention vigilant and inhibition responses
across different time course. We found that, compared to neutral condition, all
particpants displayed two stages of attention biases towards angry faces and followed
by towards happy faces under threat condition. In addition, there were different
responses of cognitive biases in various attachment groups, in which preoccupied
group showed vigilance-avoidance-vigilance pattern towards happy and angry faces,
while other groups showed vigilance-avoidance pattern towards angry faces and
vigilance pattern towards happy faces. Furthermore, negative biases predicted
well-being in secure group and negative inhibition predicted well-being in dismissive
and fearful groups, whereas positive biases predicted ill-being in preoccupied and
fearful groups. Our study demonstrated that the influence of attachment on emotional
processing biases play a critical role in the development of psychological adjustment.
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