Maternal Adult Attachment Research Articles

Contributions of maternal adult attachment to socialization of coping

This research examined whether maternal adult attachment predicted the coping suggestions mothers made to their children. A sample of 157 youth (M age = 12.42, SD = 1.20) and their maternal caregivers completed semi-structured interviews and questionnaires in a two-wave longitudinal study. Results revealed that maternal insecure attachment predicted fewer engagement coping suggestions (orienting toward stress) and heightened disengagement coping suggestions (avoiding or denying stress) both concurrently and over time. These associations were found after adjusting for other relevant characteristics of the child, mother, and family context. This study contributes to our understanding of the implications of adult attachment for parenting behavior, suggesting that insecure attachment undermines a parent's ability to provide adaptive coping guidance to their children.

Maternal adult attachment representations across relationship domains and infant outcomes: the importance of family and couple functioning

This study focused on maternal adult attachment with respect to family of origin experiences (assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview) as well as maternal marital attachment (assessed using the Marital Attachment Interview), both obtained during the prenatal period, to evaluate the extent to which accounting for family interaction patterns helps to elucidate links between mothers' adult attachment and children's attachment security. This conceptualization begins to address the complex nature of attachment within the family context, and findings suggest that family process (marital and family unit relationships) is an important mechanism to examine as a link between adult attachment and child outcomes.

Factors predicting attachment patterns in infants of adolescent mothers

The aim of the current study was to examine predictors of the mother-infant attachment relationship in adolescent mother-infant dyads. Seven factors were investigated: Maternal adult attachment style, childhood maltreatment history, depression, parenting stress and sensitivity; infant temperament difficulty; and social support. The sample consisted of138 dyads. Predictive factors were measured during pregnancy, and at four and ten months, whereas attachment was evaluated at fifteen months using the Strange Situation procedure. Results indicated that the secure infants' mothers expressed less parenting stress and more satisfaction with social support as compared to mothers of avoidant or resistant infants. Moreover, these mothers completed more years of schooling than mothers of avoidant, resistant or disorganised infants. Contrary to our expectations, it was found that neither maternal sensitivity, nor adult attachment style contributed to the prediction of attachment patterns. Furthermore, disorganised attachments were not predicted by more severe constellations of risk factors. These findings are discussed in relation to the particular ecology of adolescent mothers.

Understanding the link between maternal adult attachment classifications and thoughts and feelings about emotions

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between maternal representations of attachment, as assessed with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; George, Kaplan, & Main, 1996), and mothers' thoughts and feelings about their own emotions and emotions emerging in their toddlers. Eighty-nine adolescent mothers completed the AAI and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977) and Katz, Gottman, Shapiro, and Carrere's (1997) meta-emotion interview for parents of toddlers. Autonomous mothers demonstrated the most open and flexible mindset around a variety of emotions in themselves and their toddlers. Dismissing mothers exhibited a tendency to minimize internalizing emotions in themselves and their children, while unresolved mothers described the most emotion regulatory difficulties.

Attachment patterns across multiple family relationships in adulthood: Associations with maternal depression

We explored attachment in a family context by applying family systems principles to the investigation of multiple attachment relationships within families. This study focused on maternal adult attachment with respect to family of origin experiences (assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview [AAI]) as well as maternal marital attachment (assessed using the Marital Attachment Interview [MAI]). We examined associations between maternal adult attachment (or marital attachment) and three levels of family functioning including individual maternal depression symptoms, dyadic marital satisfaction (reported by mothers), and family unit functioning. We also examined associations between combined attachment security (consistent secure, AAI secure/MAI insecure, AAI insecure/MAI secure, and consistent insecure) and family outcomes. Finally, we assessed the extent to which attachment representations operate differently in the context of family stress, namely maternal depression. We found that attachment security with respect to particular relationships was differentially associated with different levels of family functioning. Examination of the security of combined adult and marital attachment further supported the multilevel organization of the family system.

Relationships Between Maternal Adult Attachment Security, Child Perceptions of Maternal Support, and Maternal Perceptions of Child Responses to Sexual Abuse

ABSTRACT This study assessed the relationships between maternal adult attachment style, children's perceptions of maternal support following disclosure of sexual abuse, and maternal perceptions of children's behavioral and emotional responses to sexual abuse among African-American child sexual abuse victims aged 4 to 12 (n = 96) and a comparison group of nonabused subjects (n = 100). Mothers with insecure attachment styles reported significantly higher rates of internalizing behaviors in their sexually abused children than did securely attached mothers. Among mothers of nonabused children, those with insecure adult attachment styles reported significantly higher rates of externalizing behaviors shown by their children in comparison with mothers with a secure adult attachment style. Mothers with insecure adult attachment styles also reported higher rates of overall behavior problems in their nonabused children that approached statistical significance. Sexually abused children's perceptions of maternal support were not related to maternal attachment style nor to child functioning. Contrary to our prediction, mothers of sexually abused children did not show lower rates of secure attachments when compared to mothers of nonsexually abused children. Our findings indicate that fostering parent-child attachment is important in order to decrease the risk for behavior problems and symptomatology in sexually abused children.

Attachment representations in 6-year-olds: Related longitudinally to the quality of attachment in infancy and mothers' attachment representations

A new method to assess attachment representations in children by applying a story completion procedure in doll play (SCPDP) is presented. Transmission and continuity of attachment were tested in 28 German families by using the Strange Situation procedure (SS) with the mother and her infant, the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) with the mother when the child is 5 years old, and the attachment representations (SCPDP) of the 6-year-olds. Relying on the twofold distinction (secure/insecure), results revealed a significant continuity of attachment from 1 to 6 years of age, and a correspondence between maternal AAI and child's attachment quality in SS, as well as a correspondence between maternal AAI and the 6-year-olds' attachment representations. Using configural frequency analysis, we found continuity in patterns of security and insecurity when looking across the measures of infant and pre-school attachment and maternal adult attachment. Processes underlying the high match of mothers' and children's attachment representations are discussed.

The Manchester Child Attachment Story Task: relationship with parental AAI, SAT and child behaviour

The Manchester Attachment Story Task (MCAST) is a new method for eliciting the internal working model (IWM) of attachment representations in children between 5 and 7 years. The instrument is described in the companion paper, ‘A New Method of Evaluating Attachment Representations’. This paper reports initial findings on a non-clinical sample comparing the MCAST with concurrent maternal attachment representation, measures of child temperament and behaviour, and concurrent ratings on the Separation Anxiety Test (SAT). Ratings of disorganized attachment on the MCAST show association with Unresolved status on concurrent maternal Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and with independent teacher ratings of classroom behaviour. Child temperament shows an effect on the style of engagement with the interview but not the attachment ratings. Possible alternative explanations for the phenomena seen are discussed, along with potential applications of the instrument and directions for future research.

The Relationship of Maternal Adult Attachment Style and Risk of Physical Child Abuse

The present study assessed maternal adult attachment style and the specific adult attachment attitudes and behaviors of mothers as factors in physical child abuse risk. Interviews were conducted with 48 single mothers who were receiving government assistance and had a child of preschool age. Participants' child abuse risk potential was determined by their responses or performance on several instruments previously found to discriminate between abusive and adequate mothers. Mothers with an insecure adult attachment style (ambivalent or avoidant) were at significantly higher risk for child abuse than mothers with a secure attachment style. The role of several attachment-related dynamics (i.e., trust difficulties, jealousy or clinging behaviors, ambivalence in relationships, frustration with partners, and fear of abandonment) in physical child maltreatment dynamics are discussed.

Test-retest reliability of team consensus best-estimate diagnoses of axis I and II disorders in a family study.

The present study examined the test-retest reliability of team consensus best-estimate diagnoses of axis I and II disorders. As part of a series of family studies of outpatients with depressive and personality disorders, best-estimate diagnoses of relatives were derived in team diagnostic conferences held regularly over 4 years. Diagnoses were based on all available information, including direct interviews, family history data, and treatment records, and explicit guidelines were developed to resolve discrepancies between data sources. To evaluate the reliability of the team best-estimate diagnoses, 92 relatives were independently rediagnosed after a 2-year interval. The reliability of both axis I and II disorders was good to excellent. The results were similar for cases in which diagnoses were based on direct interviews plus informant data and cases in which diagnoses were based on informant data alone. These data indicate that the team consensus best-estimate diagnostic method can be applied consistently, even over an interval of several years.