Long-term effects of infant attachment organization on adult behavior and health in nursery-reared, captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
Publication Type: |
Journal Article |
Year of Publication: |
2015 |
Authors: |
Andrea W. Clay, Mollie A. Bloomsmith, Kim A. Bard, Terry L. Maple, Marcus J. Marr |
Publication/Journal: |
Journal of Comparative Psychology |
Publisher: |
American Psychological Association |
Keywords: |
animal captivity, animal development, animal ethology, attachment behavior, caregivers, chimpanzees, comparative psychology, health, personality, well-being |
ISBN: |
1939-2087(Electronic);0735-7036(Print) |
Abstract:
This research traces the long-term effects on health, well-being, personality, and behavior of adult chimpanzees as a function of their attachment to a primary human caregiver assessed when they were 1 year of age. Of the 46 chimpanzees assessed at 1 year of age, we assessed health in 43 individuals, adult behavior in 20 individuals, and adult well-being and personality in 21 individuals. Attachment disorganization was found to be a significant predictor of stereotypic rocking in adult chimpanzees, F(1, 18) = 7.50, p = .013. For those subjects (N = 24) with a full 20 years (birth through age 20 years) of health data available, both rearing experience and disorganized attachment were significant predictors of upper respiratory infection frequency, F(2, 21) = 8.86, p = .002. Chimpanzees with disorganized attachment exhibited average subjective well-being as adults, whereas chimpanzees with organized strategies exhibited higher than average subjective well-being as adults. These results support the findings of human attachment research and are in line with attachment-based predictions for chimpanzees, such that the consequences of an early history of disorganized attachment may be adverse and long lasting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved)