Elaine Scharfe
Professor
B.A. (University of Western Ontario)
M.A., Ph.D. (Simon Fraser University)
Office: DNA C130
Phone: 705-748-1011 ext. 7354
Email: escharfe@trentu.ca
Webpage: www.attachmentmatters.ca
- Please note, I will not be accepting honours thesis, practicum/reading students or graduate students for the 2025-26 school year.
Research interests:
Influence of relationships on health emotional development across the lifespan.
John Bowlby (1969/1982) defined attachment as the instinct to form relational bonds with others and the development of strategies to seek and maintain proximity to these attachment figures when distressed, ill, or afraid. These strategies are internalized into representations or internal working models that help to guide interpretation of and reactions to social situations from infancy to old age. Although attachment representations are proposed to be relatively stable, a key challenge to attachment researchers is to identify conditions under which attachment patterns are likely to change. I am currently exploring mechanisms of continuity and change of attachment in the context of life transitions (e.g., school transitions, transition to parenthood). In addition, I am interested in the influence of attachment behaviours on ways of coping with stress during transitions, health outcomes during transitions, and cognitive reappraisals of attachment representations during transitions. My current research focuses on how early caregiving relationships impacts on individuals’ physical and psychological development.
Teaching:
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PSYC 2550H-A FA PTBO: Theories of Human Development
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PSYC 3730H-A FA PTBO: Intimate Relationships
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PSYC 4560H-A WI PTBO: Relationships & Health
Selected publications:
Scharfe, E. (2007). Cause or consequence?: Exploring causal links between attachment and depression. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 26, 1050-1066.
Scharfe, E., & Cole, V. (2006). Stability and change of attachment representations during emerging adulthood: An examination of mediators and moderators of change. Personal Relationships, 13, 363-374.
Scharfe, E., & Eldredge, D. (2001). Associations between attachment representations and health behaviors in late adolescence. Journal of Health Psychology, 6, 287-299.