Attachment States Of Mind Research Articles

The role of childhood trauma and attachment state of mind in mothers’ birth experiences

ABSTRACT Negative birth experiences are common. It is yet unclear which women may be most at risk already before pregnancy. Childhood trauma and non-autonoumous/unresolved attachment state of mind may affect how women experience giving birth. This study used longitudinal data to test childhood trauma and attachment state of mind as predictors of birth experience in at-risk sample of primipara women (N = 193). The Adverse Childhood Experiences questionnaire and the Adult Attachment interview were administered during pregnancy, and women reported about their birth experience three months postpartum. Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling was applied to answer the research questions. Childhood physical neglect and parental substance abuse were predictive of a more negative birth experience, while attachment state of mind was not associated with how women experienced giving birth. Cross-validation suggests that these findings may be considered externally valid. Further research using validated measures on birth experience are needed.

Do Turkish mothers’ emotion regulation, psychological symptoms and caregiving helplessness vary based on attachment states of mind?

ABSTRACT Mothers’ emotion regulation, mental health, and feeling of helplessness in caring for their child may vary based on maternal attachment classifications. Particularly, insecure attachment and unresolved state of mind can act as risk factors. Therefore, we examined how emotion regulation strategies of suppression and cognitive reappraisal, maternal symptoms of depression and anxiety, and caregiving helplessness differ based on maternal attachment classifications in the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Fifty mothers of children in the early childhood (AgeRange = 12-56 months) completed a pack of questionnaires, including Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Brief Symptom Inventory, and Caregiving Helplessness Questionnaire. Then AAI interview protocol was administered and coded. Mothers did not vary in emotion regulation strategies, indicating emotion regulation balance. However, mothers with secure/autonomous AAIs reported less anxiety than mothers whose AAIs were judged to show unresolved loss or unresolved trauma. The mothers who provided AAIs judged to be secure/autonomous scored lower in depression and caregiving helplessness than mothers whose AAIs were judged to show unresolved loss or unresolved trauma. To our knowledge, this is one of the first studies conducting AAI in Turkish mothers. We revealed the critical role of secure attachment for mental health and caregiving helplessness that can facilitate interventions targeting maternal attachment mind state.

Relationship between Executive Functions, Social Cognition, and Attachment State of Mind in Adolescence: An Explorative Study.

The passage from pre-adolescence to adolescence is presented as a turning point for the achievement of those abilities in social understanding as they commonly appear in adulthood. Developmental perspectives point to the possible role of neuro-cognitive maturation and social experiences to facilitate this growth. This paper has the goal to goalsto propose a valid and reliable measure of the new quantitative and qualitative advancements in social understanding occurring in the adolescent passage; relying on this, the research has two main objectives (a) to establish the associations between the advancements in social understanding and the executive functions held responsible for the neuro-cognitive rearrangements of adolescence; (c) to evidence the significant associations between attachment models and the development of social understanding in this phase of life. 100 subjects (50 boys and 50 girls, aged 11-15) were administered with AICA, SCORS, CNT, Stroop Color-Word Test, and WISC-III. Advancements in the complexity of self-other representations and mentalization of interpersonal exchanges significantly occurs in the passage from pre-adolescence to adolescence and seem to be promoted by increased performances in executive control and cognitive shifting. Dismissing state of mind with respect to attachment is associated with lower development of social understanding in adolescence. The neurocognitive reorganization that underlies the passage from pre-adolescence to adolescence seems to provide the scaffolding for more sophisticated interpretations of the social world. Past and current affective experience can boost or hinder the full deployment of such human maturational potential. Given the importance of social cognition for adjustment and psychopathology, clinical intervention should target the amelioration of individual and family abilities in social reasoning and mentalization.

A new look at the relations between attachment and intelligence

In this paper we offer a new perspective on the relations between attachment and intelligence, a topic that has received relatively little attention in the recent decades of attachment research. Based on a review of relevant empirical work, a reanalysis of published data, and novel theoretical arguments, we advance a revised model of attachment and intelligence that challenges a number of widespread assumptions in the field. Specifically, we argue that attachment in infancy and childhood is influenced by general intelligence (with lower cognitive ability in ambivalent and disorganized categories compared with secure and avoidant ones), and that attachment states of mind in adulthood show a parallel pattern (with lower cognitive ability in preoccupied and unresolved/unclassifiable categories). The partially genetic correlation between parent and child intelligence gives rise to a previously unrecognized causal pathway linking parents’ states of mind to children’s attachment; parental intelligence also predicts aspects of sensitivity and mentalizing, and thus exerts an additional indirect influence on children’s attachment. Our revised model suggests that intelligence likely contributes to the “transmission gap” between parental state of mind and child attachment; it also offers a novel (partial) explanation of the increased levels of parent–child concordance observed in older children.

Attachment state of mind and trauma in mother and baby home adoptees

This study has two aims: to explore the experiences and impact of adoption among five adults (three males and two females, all over the age of 55) adopted from mother and baby homes in the UK and Ireland, and to establish each participant’s state of mind (SOM) with regards to attachment using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) (George, Kaplan and Main, 1985–1996). It makes use of all information gained from the AAI by analysing the interview transcripts in two ways: (1) using the AAI scoring system ( Main, Goldwyn and Hesse, 2003 ) to assess SOM; and (2) thematic analysis of the transcripts to produce an inductive set of themes. It was found that all participants had an insecure SOM with regards to attachment. For four out of the five participants, this was unresolved/disorganised, and the category ‘preoccupied’ was the most prevalent underlying three-way classification. Qualitative analysis of transcripts identified four overarching themes: (1) identity and belonging; (2) trauma; (3) ‘silenced’ coping; and (4) adverse parenting which reflected their experiences of adoption. The findings indicate that the participants were highly susceptible to trauma associated with loss. They also highlight the importance of suitable adoption placements and vetting of potential adopters. The clinical and research implications of the results and their contribution to the broader discussion of trauma related to adoption are discussed.

Failure to resolve loss and compromised mentalizing in female inpatients with major depressive disorder

ABSTRACT Attachment and mentalizing are central concepts in research on the etiology, course, and treatment of depression. The goal of this cross-sectional study was to clarify the unique value of these constructs in characterizing the presence, severity, and chronicity of depression. We examined 50 female inpatients suffering from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in comparison to 47 matched healthy controls regarding their attachment states of mind, mentalizing capacities, and clinical variables indicating depression severity and chronicity (e.g. illness duration, number of hospitalizations). In the group of depressed patients, unresolved attachment with regard to loss was significantly overrepresented. Dimensionally, patients were more disorganized and more insecure, whereas there was no difference on the dismissing-preoccupied dimension between the two groups. Mentalizing was significantly lower in patients than in healthy controls. Logistic regression analysis revealed attachment insecurity, mentalizing deficits, and unresolved loss to be incrementally relevant to predict MDD. Correlations with clinical parameters in the group of depressed patients showed positive associations between mentalizing deficits, attachment insecurity, and variables indicating illness chronicity. Our findings highlight the relevance of the inability to resolve or reappraise loss experiences in depressive states.

When friendships surpass parental relationships as predictors of long-term outcomes: Adolescent relationship qualities and adult psychosocial functioning.

Perceptions of adolescent-parent and adolescent-peer relationship qualities, and adolescents' attachment states of mind were examined as predictors of adult social and romantic relationship quality, depressive symptoms, and work performance. Adolescents (86male, 98 female; 58% White, 29% African American, 8% mixed race/ethnicity, 5% other groups) were followed from age 13 to 24 via observational, self-, parent-, and close friend-reports. Adolescent close friendship quality was a significantly better predictor of adult peer and romantic outcomes, work performance, and depressive symptoms than parental reports of the parent-teen relationship; attachment security was also a strong predictor of numerous outcomes. Results are interpreted as reflecting the difficulty for parents judging parent-teen relationship quality and as reflecting the growing importance of close friendships during this period.

"Bumps in the Road": A Pilot Study of a Therapeutic Technique for the Integration of Unresolved Family Loss and Trauma.

The ability to sustain a coherent narrative about experiences of trauma and loss is a prominent feature of secure-autonomous attachment states of mind as assessed in narrative tasks such as the Adult Attachment Interview. The current study examines the clinical application of the concepts of narrative coherence and discourse segregation within a therapeutic intervention for whole families. Bumps in the Road is a family drawing task, which aims to facilitate the co-construction of family narratives about adversities such as trauma, loss and hardship. The technique aims to increase the family’s narrative coherence about such challenging events. The paper first presents a description of the task itself together with the discourse theories of defensive processing of adverse events. The study also presents pilot quantitative findings from 19 parents on the psychometric properties of a coding system of the families’ discourses in undertaking the task and the therapist’s techniques in administering the task. The predictive association of coding of the narratives were examined as predictors of change in internalising and externalising symptoms in the referred child, using the Child Behaviour Checklist. Findings showed that therapist competence in administration of the task did significantly predict the magnitude of treatment efficacy. The current study is the first presentation of this novel therapeutic task and sets a platform for further research on the use of narrative tasks and the formal coding of discourse in therapeutic work with children and families.

Emotional regulation and attachment in adolescents with anorexia nervosa

IntroductionThe aim of the present study was to investigate emotional regulation and attachment in adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN).ObjectivesAnorexia Nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder (ED) characterized by self-starvation driving by weight, shape, and eating concerns and extreme dread of food, eating, and normal body weight. Dysfunctional emotional processing and regulation play an important role in the development and maintenance of eating disorders (EDs). Difficulties with emotional awareness and regulation in EDs are hypothesized to have their origins in childhood attachment.MethodsThe study population (N=20) consists of two research groups of patients with AN (group A) and general population controls (group B), matched for gender and age. The age of patients was 12-18 years. All adolescents were female. This study examined the attachment states of mind, assessed by the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), and emotion regulation difficulties, measured by the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS).ResultsGroup A reported significantly higher attachment insecurity (82% vs 50%) than group B. Group A show higher DERS total (nonacceptance, goals, and impulsivity scores) than group B.ConclusionsStudy results show a crucial role of attachment insecurity and emotional dysregulation in the development and maintenance of AN. Developing interventions to improve emotional management skills in the treatment of patients with AN can be an important component in improving treatment outcomes.

The latent structure of the adult attachment interview: Large sample evidence from the collaboration on attachment transmission synthesis.

The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) is a widely used measure in developmental science that assesses adults' current states of mind regarding early attachment-related experiences with their primary caregivers. The standard system for coding the AAI recommends classifying individuals categorically as having an autonomous, dismissing, preoccupied, or unresolved attachment state of mind. However, previous factor and taxometric analyses suggest that: (a) adults' attachment states of mind are captured by two weakly correlated factors reflecting adults' dismissing and preoccupied states of mind and (b) individual differences on these factors are continuously rather than categorically distributed. The current study revisited these suggestions about the latent structure of AAI scales by leveraging individual participant data from 40 studies (N = 3,218), with a particular focus on the controversial observation from prior factor analytic work that indicators of preoccupied states of mind and indicators of unresolved states of mind about loss and trauma loaded on a common factor. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that: (a) a 2-factor model with weakly correlated dismissing and preoccupied factors and (b) a 3-factor model that further distinguished unresolved from preoccupied states of mind were both compatible with the data. The preoccupied and unresolved factors in the 3-factor model were highly correlated. Taxometric analyses suggested that individual differences in dismissing, preoccupied, and unresolved states of mind were more consistent with a continuous than a categorical model. The importance of additional tests of predictive validity of the various models is emphasized.

Key players in sport teams. An exploratory study on the effects of attachment styles on intra-team relational networks

Relationship issues in sport are considered vital for the overall wellbeing of athletes (Jowett, 2005). The way athletes interact, create and maintain relationships is thought to be powerfully influenced by the athletes' attachment states of mind (Thomson & Jaque, 2018). To our knowledge, no study so far has investigated the impact players' attachment styles, as personality dispositions, have on overall intra-team relationship dynamics. This paper examines intra-team social relational networks from the perspective of adult attachment theory. Cross-sectional data were collected from 10 sport teams (158 players) from different sports. Self-report data were collected to assess attachment style and social relationships with teammates. Social network analyses (SNA) were used to calculate players' centrality scores based on incoming and outgoing relational nominations. Multilevel linear analysis was further performed to check inferential relationships between the study variables. Data showed that attachment styles of players, as personality dispositions, affected partly centrality degree positions within the various team social relational networks. The study offers an innovative perspective on the interactional and dynamic world of social relationships in sports teams and confirms that attachment style differences among players predispose them to particular positions within the team social relational networks. Although the current research has an exploratory character, it shows a new direction in the study of groups and sport team dynamics.

Attachment state of mind and childhood experiences of maltreatment as predictors of sensitive care from infancy through middle childhood: Results from a longitudinal study of parents involved with Child Protective Services.

The current longitudinal study examined whether attachment states of mind and childhood maltreatment predict sensitive caregiving during infancy, early childhood, and middle childhood among a sample of 178 parents who were involved with Child Protective Services. Nearly all the parents had themselves experienced childhood maltreatment based on their reports on the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (Bernstein et al., 2003) when their children were infants. Adult Attachment Interviews (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1985) were administered to parents when their children were infants (M = 10.92 months, SD = 8.66). Parental sensitivity was rated based on observations of parent-child interactions at three time points: infancy, early childhood, and middle childhood. During infancy, dismissing states of mind of parents predicted marginally lower sensitivity scores than autonomous states of mind. In early and middle childhood, dismissing states of mind of parents predicted significantly lower sensitivity ratings than autonomous states of mind. Unresolved states of mind of parents predicted significantly lower sensitivity scores than autonomous states of mind only during early childhood. Childhood maltreatment was not significantly associated with parents' sensitivity ratings at all three time points. Findings suggest that among parents with Child Protective Services involvement, most of whom had themselves experienced maltreatment, parents' unresolved states of mind predict insensitive caregiving in early childhood, and parents' dismissing states of mind predict insensitive caregiving from infancy through middle childhood.

Social-emotional functioning in planned lesbian families: does biological versus non-biological mother status matter? An Italian pilot study

ABSTRACTTo date, few studies have investigated the social-emotional functioning of planned lesbian families, wherein only one parent is the biological mother of the child. We examined if being a biological versus non-biological mother plays a role in planned lesbian couple functioning and mother-infant play interactions. The present study analyzes the attachment state of mind, couple alliance, parenting stress, and emotional availability in a sample of 40 mothers (20 biological and 20 non-biological). The results showed that mothers’ life-long attachment experiences and related mental states of mind, rather than biological relatedness between the parent and child, matter in a mother and child’s emotional involvement in parent-child interaction. Furthermore, the results confirmed the different impact of the perceived quality of the couple alliance on biological and non-biological mothers. The findings obtained elucidated what counts in this new family typology, and constitute a heuristic solicitation for future studies to better understand the key factors and mechanisms implied in social-emotional functioning.

The Anorectic Girl and Her Father - The Interpersonal and Intrapsychic Meaning to the Girl

Background: Little is known about the role of the fathers of anorectic women. The aim of this study was to investigate the attachment state of mind in anorectic women and their fathers. In addition, two other groups of young women and their fathers were included. Methods: In total there were three groups consisting of women between 18-30 years with anorexia nervosa (AG), drug-dependency problems (DG) and students (SG) without significant problems. We also included the parents of all three groups. The diagnoses of anorexia nervosa and drug-dependency were made according to DSM-IV [1] and ICD-10 [2]. Several methods were used in the study. [3, 4] The Adult Attachment Interview [5] was the focus of this report. Results: The analyses showed that the Anorectic women (AG) had more of a dismissing attachment state of mind, than those who were categorized as enmeshed or secure/autonomous. The attachment of the fathers showed more of a dismissing state of mind than of those categorized as with secure or enmeshed attachment. The subcategories showed that both among the anorectic women and the fathers the dismissing attachment state of mind with restriction of feelings was most represented. The dependent women (DG) had more of an unresolved/enmeshed attachment state of mind than those who were categorized as dismissing or secure/autonomous. The attachment of the fathers showed more of an unresolved/secure attachment state of mind than of those categorized as dismissing or enmeshed. The subcategories showed that enmeshed attachment state of mind of the dependent girls differed from fathers with the unresolved/secure attachment state of mind. Conclusion: This study illustrates the similarities and the differences of attachment styles among anorectic women and their fathers in comparison to the dependent women and their fathers. The insecure attachment is dominant in the two groups but differ in its expressions. The number of participants in the study was low and larger studies are needed to clarify the interpersonal and intra-psychic meaning to the anorectic woman.

Attachment and childhood adversity in athletes, actors, dancers, and healthy controls

An investigation into patterns of childhood adversity and attachment states of mind may provide information that can optimise performance for athletes/performers and their coaches/teachers. This cross-sectional study was designed to examine four groups: athletes (n = 23), actors (n = 39), dancers (n = 30), and healthy control participants (n = 25). The study goals included determining group distribution for attachment classifications and group mean differences for inferred parental caregiving, childhood adversity, adult traumatic events, and degree of resolution for past trauma/loss experiences. The Adult Attachment Interview, Adverse Childhood Experience Questionnaire, and Traumatic Event Questionnaire were administered to participants. The most significant finding in this study was the substantial prevalence rates of unresolved mourning and adverse childhood experiences, especially in the actor group. The athlete group had a greater prevalence of a dismissing attachment classification, suggesting a non-optimal deactivating coping strategy. It is recommended that attachment and trauma-informed care be implemented in the training and treating of athletes and performing artists.

Childhood abuse and neglect and insecure attachment states of mind in adulthood: Prospective, longitudinal evidence from a high-risk sample.

The present report used data from the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation to investigate the factor structure and childhood abuse and/or neglect related antecedents of adults' attachment states of mind in a high-risk sample. Adult Attachment Interviews (AAIs) were collected when participants were age 26 years (N = 164) and Current Relationship Interviews (CRIs) were collected from participants (N = 116) and their romantic partners when target participants were between ages 20 and 28 years (M = 25.3 years). For both the AAI and the CRI, exploratory factor analyses revealed that (a) attachment state of mind scales loaded on two weakly correlated dimensions reflecting dismissing and preoccupied states of mind and (b) ratings of unresolved discourse loaded on the same factor as indicators of preoccupied states of mind. Experiencing any subtype of abuse and/or neglect, especially during multiple developmental periods, and experiencing multiple subtypes of abuse and/or neglect during childhood were associated with risk for preoccupied (but not dismissing) AAI states of mind regarding childhood relationships with caregivers. Analyses focused on the particular subtypes, and perpetrators indicated that the predictive significance of childhood abuse/neglect for adult's AAI preoccupied states of mind was specific to experiences of abuse (but not neglect) perpetrated by primary caregivers. In addition, experiencing chronic or multiple subtypes of childhood abuse and/or neglect increased risk for dismissing (but not preoccupied) CRI states of mind regarding adult romantic partners.

Attachment states of mind among internationally adoptive and foster parents

The first aim of the current study was to examine the latent structure of attachment states of mind as assessed by the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) among three groups of parents of children at risk for insecure attachments: parents who adopted internationally (N = 147), foster parents (N = 300), and parents living in poverty and involved with Child Protective Services (CPS; N = 284). Confirmatory factor analysis indicated the state of mind rating scales loaded on two factors reflecting adults' preoccupied and dismissing states of mind. Taxometric analyses indicated the variation in adults' preoccupied states of mind was more consistent with a dimensional than a categorical model, whereas results for dismissing states of mind were indeterminate. The second aim was to examine the degree to which the attachment states of mind of internationally adoptive and foster parents differ from those of poverty/CPS-referred parents and low-risk parents. After controlling for parental age, sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, (a) internationally adoptive parents had lower scores on the dismissing dimension than the sample of community parents described by Haltigan, Leerkes, Supple, and Calkins (2014); (b) foster parents did not differ from community parents on either the dismissing or the preoccupied AAI dimension; and (c) both internationally adoptive and foster parents had lower scores on the preoccupied dimension than poverty/CPS-referred parents. Analyses using the traditional AAI categories provided convergent evidence that (a) internationally adoptive parents were more likely to be classified as having an autonomous state of mind than low-risk North American mothers based on Bakermans-Kranenburg and van IJzendoorn's (2009) meta-analytic estimates, (b) the rates of autonomous states of mind did not differ between foster and low-risk parents, and

Categorical and dimensional approaches in the evaluation of the relationship between attachment and personality disorders: an empirical study

ABSTRACTAlthough several studies have highlighted the relationship between attachment states of mind and personality disorders, their findings have not been consistent, possibly due to the application of the traditional taxonomic classification model of attachment. A more recently developed dimensional classification of attachment representations, including more specific aspects of trauma-related representations, may have advantages. In this study, we compare specific associations and predictive power of the categorical attachment and dimensional models applied to 230 Adult Attachment Interview transcripts obtained from personality disordered and nonpsychiatric subjects. We also investigate the role that current levels of psychiatric distress may have in the prediction of PD. The results showed that both models predict the presence of PD, with the dimensional approach doing better in discriminating overall diagnosis of PD. However, both models are less helpful in discriminating specific PD diagnostic subtypes. Current psychiatric distress was found to be the most consistent predictor of PD capturing a large share of the variance and obscuring the role played by attachment variables. The results suggest that attachment parameters correlate with the presence of PD alone and have no specific associations with particular PD subtypes when current psychiatric distress is taken into account.

Continuity of attachment in children with disruptive behavior disorders and in their parents: A pilot study

IntroductionThe quality of adult–infant attachment plays an essential role in influencing the children's well-being (Groh et al., 2012). Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBD) has been found as particularly influenced by the presence of unavailability in the parental caregiving. It is widely attested that parents’ attachment states of mind predict the attachment patterns of their children. Nonetheless, the investigation of the attachment organization during the middle childhood shows inconsistent data. Moreover, a paucity of studies focused on the role of father's attachment in this period still remains.ObjectivesThis pilot study investigates the attachment patterns of children with DBD and those of their parents.AimsThe aims are to verify the presence of: (1) an over-representation of Disorganized attachment in these children; (2) an over-representation of Irresolution with respect to abuse or loss in one or both their parents.MethodsThe sample consists of 33 subjects: n = 11 children with DBD and n = 22 parents. The children completed the Child Attachment Interview (Shmueli-Goetz et al., 2000) and the parents completed the Adult Attachment Interview (George et al., 1985).ResultsFindings showed: (1) a significant presence of Disorganized attachment with respect to both parents in the children; (2) an over-representation of Insecure states of mind in their parents; (3) a more significant presence of Disorganization in the fathers than in the mothers.ConclusionThis focus on the topic of intergenerational transmission of attachment in a specific clinical sample enriches the research, underlining the more pronounced role of fathers’ attachment configuration.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Qualitative research in adolescent psychotherapy: attachment and reflective functioning as psychotherapy’s outcomes of an adolescent with anorexia nervosa

The aim of this study was to examine both the change in attachment state of mind and mentalization competencies as outcomes of a two-year weekly psychodynamic psychotherapy of a female adolescent with anorexia nervosa. The Attachment Interview for Childhood and Adolescence (AICA) was administered at pre and post-treatment, and coded both with the attachment coding system and the Reflective Functioning (RF) scale. At the pre-treatment, the anorexic adolescent was assessed as insecure dismissing with very low level of RF, while in the post-treatment a secure attachment model and higher RF were highlighted. The AICA can be considered a useful method to assess the outcomes in adolescent psychotherapy, like the AAI is useful in adult psychotherapy.