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Full text release has been delayed at the author's request until May 13, 2025

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Partners, Parents, and Children: Examining the Roles of Secure Base Script Knowledge Within the Family Context

Olsavsky, Anna Lorraine
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu158758986155005

Abstract Details

2020, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Human Ecology: Human Development and Family Science.
Although researchers have examined the role of attachment representations in family relationships, there has been a historical systematic devaluation of the contributions of fathers to the family system through the persistent tendency to leave fathers out of research. Given that fathers today are more involved in parenting than ever before, family scientists and attachment researchers are missing out on a complete understanding of the inner workings of families when they do not include fathers in their studies. Despite some progress in including fathers in studies assessing self-reported romantic attachment and narrative coherence of mind regarding formative attachment experiences, the Attachment Script Assessment (ASA), a newer measure of attachment, still suffers from a mothers-only bias with less than 20% of existing ASA narratives coming from fathers. The ASA assesses secure base script knowledge—or one’s cognitive model for how to interact with close attachment partners in a supportive and helpful way—in both parent–child and romantic partner contexts, placing it in a unique position among assessments. In this dissertation, I aim to fill this gap through the examination of secure base script knowledge in both fathers and mothers through the use of the 7.5-year wave of the New Parents Project dataset, a longitudinal study of different-sex couples who experienced the transition to parenthood in 2008-2009. In Chapter 1, I begin by situating the ASA in the context of the larger field of attachment. In Chapter 2, I examine sex differences as well as demographic and verbal intelligence factors which may predict mothers’ and fathers’ performance on the ASA; additionally, an exploratory analysis is conducted examining links between self-reported romantic attachment and secure base script knowledge. Results indicated that differences between mothers’ and fathers’ secure base script knowledge are nuanced; fathers tend to score lower than mothers, but do not differ from mothers in their likelihood of using secure base scripts in ASA narratives. No associations were found between self-reported romantic attachment and secure base script knowledge. In Chapter 3, I extend the role of secure base script knowledge to the romantic relationship context by examining the role of secure base script knowledge in mothers’ and fathers’ problem solving and cohesiveness during a couple conflict task. Analyses revealed that fathers’ secure base script knowledge predicted more cohesive couple interactions; this was especially true in families with male first-born children. In Chapter 4, I extend implications of secure base knowledge to the context of parenting and child development through the examination of the role of secure base script knowledge in mothers’ and fathers’ management of children’s negative emotions as well as children’s emotion management. Analyses revealed that mothers’ and fathers’ partner-oriented secure base script knowledge predicted their own and their partners’ more supportive management of children’s negative emotions. Additionally, there was an indirect effect of fathers’ partner-oriented secure base script knowledge on children’s inhibition of emotions via fathers’ supportive management of children’s negative emotions. In Chapter 5, I discuss how findings from this dissertation fit into the attachment and family science literatures as well as theoretical, research, and practical implications. Overall, results of this dissertation underscore the importance of including fathers in attachment and family research and using analytic strategies that allow for examining individuals in the context of their family systems.
Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan (Advisor)
Suzanne Bartle-Haring (Advisor)
Claire Kamp Dush (Committee Member)
Theodore Waters (Committee Member)
216 p.
Developmental Psychology; Families and Family Life
attachment; secure base script knowledge; family systems theory; parenting; fathering; emotion socialization; couple relationships

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Olsavsky, A. L. (2020). Partners, Parents, and Children: Examining the Roles of Secure Base Script Knowledge Within the Family Context [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu158758986155005

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Olsavsky, Anna. Partners, Parents, and Children: Examining the Roles of Secure Base Script Knowledge Within the Family Context. 2020. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu158758986155005.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Olsavsky, Anna. "Partners, Parents, and Children: Examining the Roles of Secure Base Script Knowledge Within the Family Context." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu158758986155005

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu158758986155005
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.