The purpose of the proposed investigation is to address a critical gap in the adult social support and relationships literatures by examining the """"""""secure base"""""""" function of caregiving in adult close relationships. Specifically, this project will investigate couple members' support of their partners' personal growth, goal strivings, and explorations, as well as the effects of this type of support (and lack thereof) on the recipient. Observational, longitudinal, and survey research methodologies wilt be used in an effort to test an interpersonal model of support-seeking, caregiving, and exploration, and to establish the importance of the secure base caregiving function in adult relationships. Because social support is an interpersonal phenomenon, secure base caregiving behavior will be examined as part of a dyadic process that involves the characteristics and behavior of both interaction partners. Participants will be 180 married couples. During Phase 1, couple members will complete measures of a variety of personal and relationship characteristics. During Phase 2, couples will be videotaped as they engage in a series of activities that permit an examination of important features of secure base caregiving. Six months later, during Phase 3, couple members will complete follow-up assessments of personal and relationship functioning. It is hypothesized that secure base caregiving is part of a normative process, that individual difference factors (e.g., attachment style) influence the quality and functioning of this process, that particular personal- and relationship-level mechanisms may underlie individual differences in this process, and that the provision or tack of secure base caregiving has important consequences for the recipient both immediately (e.g., influence on feelings of competency and exploratory behavior) and over time (e.g., influence on self-esteem, goal strivings, personal adjustment, relationship functioning, health symptoms). The fundamental importance of studying caregiving processes as they unfold within specific interactions with relationship partners lies in the long-term consequences of these interactions for individual health and well-being, it is hoped that the results of this investigation will contribute to the development of useful interventions aimed at improving the health and well-being of relationship partners.
