RESEARCH AT TEXAS WOMAN'S UNIVERSITY | |
FACULTY PROFILE SYSTEM | |
| Name: | Anne Scott Stiles, PhD, RN |
| Title: | Professor |
| Department: | Nursing |
| Email address: | astiles@mail.twu.edu |
| Description of research activities: Dr. Stiles focuses on infant attachment using Bowlby’s theory in her research. Her population of interest is infants of teen parents. Teen parents are wrestling with the developmental tasks of identity versus role confusion. When they take on the role of a parent they face an even greater threat of role confusion. Their developmental struggles not only affect their lives, but also the lives of their children. The few studies that have been done on infant attachment in teen parents have shown an increased risk of insecure attachment in these infants. The long-term ramifications of insecure and disorganized attachment include such things as poor social skills, aggression, poor peer relations, poor academic performance, depression, and dissociative disorder, among others. Although some programs have attempted to prevent attachment problems in the general adult population, very little success has been achieved. And there are only a couple of small studies that have tested programs that are aimed at teen mothers. Dr. Stiles' overall goal is to identify the antecedents to infant attachment in infants of adolescent mothers and then to develop and test a program. | |
| Keywords: Infant attachment, teen mother-infant dyads | |
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