The Perceived Security from Being Attached to Child and Life Adaptations of Elderly Taiwanese

臺灣人口高齡化的速度飛快，如何令老年人享受安逸、舒適的老年生活已是臺灣社會刻不容緩必須面對的重要議題。本研究主張老年人能否擁有安全依附的情感連結，會是決定老年生活適應的關鍵。為了提升依附理論觀點對於老年人生活適應的解釋，研究一透過17位臺灣老年人的質性訪談資料，彙整得出老年生活中尋求安全依附資源之對象應具備的四項互動特徵：容易親近、願意陪伴、瞭解需求，以及積極關懷。這些行為特徵能夠緩減突發狀況與長期負擔對老年生活適應的負面影響，並且增進生活適應的正面影響。接著，基於臺灣社會對於孝道傳統價值觀的重視，研究二以成年子女作為老年人尋求安全依附資源的對象，建構「子女可安全依附程度」概念，反映老年人評估自己可以向子女尋求安全依附的程度。依據研究一的發現進行《知覺子女可安全依附程度量表》的發展編製。經由預試（152筆有效資料）與正式研究（202筆有效資料），該量表主要包含「可靠回應」與「理解重視」兩個因素結構，並具有可接受的內部一致性信度、聚斂效度、區別效度，以及效標關聯性度。其中「可靠回應」有益於提升老年人正向情感經驗，並緩減負向情感經驗與心理困擾嚴重程度；「理解重視」有益於提升老年人生活滿意度與正向情感經驗，並緩減負向情感經驗。研究二結果並且指出《知覺子女可安全依附程度量表》相較於既有研究常用的測量工具《依附對象量表》，更能夠直接、有效地探討老年人安全依附與其生活適應的關聯性。研究三接著以實驗操弄設計（235筆有效資料），結果指出：對於知覺子女可安全依附程度較高的老年參與者，促發子女的依附心理表徵可以緩減威脅事件對其引發的負向感受；但是對於知覺子女缺乏可安全依附程度的老年參與者，相同的操弄反而會助長威脅事件對其引發的負向感受。研究四採用成年子女—老年父母的對偶資料，結果發現成年子女（100筆有效資料）對於孝道信念的認同程度能增進老年父母（158筆有效資料）知覺子女的可安全依附程度，並且進而降低老年父母的憂鬱程度，以及提升其生命意義感與自由需求滿足程度。四個研究都針對研究發現、限制，以及未來研究方向進行討論。最後彙整本研究論文的成果，提出理論上的創見與可預期的實務貢獻。With the gradual aging of the population in Taiwan society, it’s imperative to facilitate elders’ life easy and comfortable. As a basic need, owning a secure attachment bond is crucial for elders’ life adaptations. To enhance validity of the perspective of attachment theory for elderly Taiwanese, Study 1 as a qualitative study with 17 participants explored the nature of secure attachment bond for elderly Taiwanese and indicated four specific features, namely easy accessing, willingly attending, thoroughly understanding, thoroughly acquainting, and sincerely concerning. These features have been identified as protective factors to help elders deal with negative life events and chronic strains and lower their maladaptive influences. Based on the emphasis of filial piety value in Taiwan society, this article considered adult child as a significant provider of secure attachment bond for elderly Taiwanese and conceptualize a construct ‘perceived security from being attached-to-child’ and developed Attached-to-Child Scale (ATTCS) to measure this construct. By analyzing data from pilot study (152 valid samples) and formal study (202 valid samples), it indicated ATTCS has acceptable coefficient of internal consistency reliability, convergence validity, discriminate validity, and construct validity with two factors, namely Reliable Responsiveness (RR) and Cherishment (CH). Results of structure equation modeling indicated the criterion-related validity of both RR and CH. On one hand, the effect of RR was significant and positive on elders’ positive affection frequency but negative on negative affection frequency and psychological symptom. On the other hand, the effect of CR was significant and positive on elders’ life satisfaction and positive affection frequency but negative on negative affection frequency. Study 2 also verified ATTCS was better relevant to elders’ life adaptations than Who to Attachment Scale (WHOTO; Fraley & Davis, 1997), which was frequently used in previous research. Study 3 further adopted experimental design and recruited 235 elderly participants. The results indicated that priming the attachment bond with adult child relieved the negative affection of threat event for elderly participants scoring high on ATTCS (perceiving higher security from being attached-to-child) but intensified the negative affection for those scoring low on ATTCS (perceiving lower security from being attached-to-child). Study 4 used dyad data from adult children (100 valid samples) and elderly parents (158 valid samples) and indicated adult children who endorsed filial piety belief more strongly facilitated their parents perceiving higher security of being attached-to-child, which also in turn contributes to lower depression but higher meaning of life and freedom in life. For each study, the limitations and future directions were discussed. All findings were organized comprehensively and theoretical implications as well as predictable applications in practice were also proposed in the final