Interdisciplinary Insights on Nonverbal Responses within Attachment Relationships

As an extension of the thinking of Schachner, Shaver, and Mikulincer 2005, Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 29], it is suggested that other disciplines (e.g., evolutionary psychology, social neuroscience) provide guidance with respect to factors that may influence nonverbal behavior within attachment relationships. An integration of biological and cognitive approaches provides a more complete understanding of the routes through which, and the extent to which, there is continuity between attachment processes in parent–child and adult relationships. As a specific illustration drawn from parent–child relationships, consideration is given to the cognitive biases more common among depressed or abusive mothers, and the resultant consequences for insecure attachment—as mediated by physiological stress responses and the ineffective communication processes that follow from those responses.