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PubMed2004

Attachment of mothers and children with recurrent asthmatic bronchitis.

OBJECTIVE: This study on attachment in children with recurrent asthmatic bronchitis and their mothers addresses three issues. The first aim was to test whether children affected by recurrent asthmatic bronchitis more often display an insecure pattern of attachment in comparison with healthy children. The second aim was to verify whether the distribution of adult attachment representations in the mothers of children affected by recurrent asthmatic bronchitis is different from the one shown by the mothers of the healthy comparison group. The third aim was to investigate intergenerational transmission of attachment. METHODS: Sixty Italian children, aged between 2 and 5 years, and their mothers participated in the study. The Adult Attachment Interview and the Attachment Q-Sort were used to assess, respectively, the security of mothers' attachment representations and of mother-child attachment. RESULTS: Children affected by recurrent asthmatic bronchitis appeared to be less secure in comparison with healthy children. Their mothers showed a higher percentage of insecure attachment representations. Finally, the intergenerational transmission of attachment was not influenced by the preclinical condition of the children. CONCLUSIONS: We propose a model of genetic and social transmission of insecure attachments in families struggling with asthma.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Maternal representations of attachment during pregnancy predict the organization of infant-mother attachment at one year of age.

While strong retrospective and concurrent associations between maternal and infant patterns of attachment have been noted, this is one of the first reports of a prospective investigation of such associations. The Adult Attachment Interview was administered to 100 mothers expecting their first child, and, at 1-year follow-up, 96 of these were seen with their infants at 12 months in the Strange Situation. Maternal representations of attachment (autonomous vs. dismissing or preoccupied) predicted subsequent infant-mother attachment patterns (secure vs. insecure) 75% of the time. These observed concordances, as well as the discordances, are discussed in terms of the uniquely powerful contribution the Adult Attachment Interview makes to the study of representational and intergenerational influences on the development of the infant-mother attachment.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

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.

Anxiety, Separation↗
PubMed1999

Attachment change processes in the early years of marriage.

The authors examined 4 models of attachment change: a contextual model, a social-cognitive model, an individual-difference model, and a diathesis-stress model. Models were examined in a sample of newlyweds over the first 2 years of marriage, using growth curve analyses. Reciprocal processes, whereby attachment representations and interpersonal life circumstances affect one another over time, also were studied. On average, newlyweds became more secure over time. However, there was significant within-subject variability on attachment change that was predicted by intra- and interpersonal factors. Attachment representations changed in response to contextual, social-cognitive, and individual-difference factors. Reciprocal processes between attachment representations and marital variables emerged, suggesting that these factors influence one another in an ongoing way.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

Working models of attachment and representations of the object in a clinical sample of sexually abused women.

This study examined internal working models of attachment as assessed by the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; George, Kaplan, & Main, 1984) and self-other differentiation as assessed by the Description of Significant Other (Marziali & Oleniuk, 1990) in a clinical sample of 40 women reporting a history of childhood sexual abuse. Although there was some relationship between the two measures, the association was not strong. The Cannot Classify category of the AAI, which is increasingly being assigned in clinical samples, needs refinement to increase the usefulness of the AAI for clinical purposes. Integration of concepts from objects relations theory may also enhance the value of the AAI in studies of clinical samples.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Mother- and father-child attachment themes in the story completions of pre-schoolers from post-divorce families: do they predict relationships with peers and teachers?

Based on Bowlby's claim that 'internal working models' of self-with-parent influence the way a child approaches relationships with others, this study examined attachment representations of 66 pre-schoolers (39 boys, 27 girls) in relation to teachers' or child-care providers' perceptions of their social competence. The study goes beyond previous related studies in three ways: (1) all children were from post-divorce families; (2) mother- and father-child representations were examined separately; and (3) teachers rated their own relationship to the child in addition to children's socially competent behaviors and behavior problems with peers. Attachment representations were assessed with an expanded version of the Attachment Story Completion Task (see Bretherton, Ridgeway, & Cassidy, 1990) adapted for children of divorce by presenting the mother and father as living in separate houses. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that children's enactments of child-mother attachment behavior in their story completions were the best predictor of boys' and girls' teacher-rated social competence. However, boys' and girls' enactments of empathy toward mother and father as well as child-father attachment themes correlated with social competence in opposite directions: For boys, these narrative enactments were related positively to social competence, while for girls, these relationships were negative. Theoretical and methodological implications of the findings for children of divorce and for assessing the working model construct are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Cognitive underpinnings of narrative attachment assessment.

Traditional story completion methods used to examine attachment representations in childhood draw heavily on socially significant content and clinical judgment. Using these methods with 37-month-olds, Bretherton, Ridgeway, and Cassidy (1990) found that attachment security scored from story completions were related to a wide range of secure base, personality, intellectual, and family variables. We examined story completions from 24 of Bretherton et al. 's (1990) subjects who had also produced story completions at 54 months, but scored passage length (idea units) and scriptedness. Results captured much of the attachment-related variance associated with the traditional scoring, but had better discriminant validity vis-à-vis general developmental level. These results indicate that analysis of cognitive variables underlying conventional scoring can advance understanding of attachment representations and their relations to the organization and content of attachment-related narratives.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The adult attachment projective (AAP) - psychometric properties and new reserach results].

George, West and Pettem developed a new measure, the Adult Attachment Projective (AAP) to assess attachment representation in adults. The AAP is comprised of a set of eight drawings, one neutral scene and seven scenes of attachment situations. Although the pictures were drawn as projective stimuli, the method of administration combines projective and interview techniques in the form of a semi-structured interview. In this paper the coding procedure and attachment classifications of the AAP will shortly be described. The current results on reliability and convergent validity are reported. Developmental studies examining correlates of attachment during the preschool-age years, as well as adult attachment classification and foster mothers' perceptions of their relationship with their at risk foster children give first evidence for the predicitve validity of the AAP. The results of a recent study with dysthymic women using the AAP add to the increasing number of studies that have identified an association between preoccupied attachment and depression. This study encourages the use of the AAP in a broader clinical context. The modified application of the AAP using functional MRI opens a new approach to assess neural correlates of attachment representation in patients with a Borderline Personality Disorder compared to controls, and other clinical groups.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Representations of attachment in mothers and their one-year-old infants.

Attachment classifications in mothers and their 1-year-old infants were independently and concurrently assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview and the Strange Situation Procedure. Overall concordance was significant (k = 0.62), with strong links apparent between mothers classified dismissing and infants classified avoidant and between mothers classified autonomous and infants classified secure. Mothers' classified preoccupied were not more likely to have infants classified resistant. Mothers' perceptions and interpretations of the emotional distress of an infant observed in a 4-minute videotape were related to both infant and mother attachment classifications. These results are compatible with the suggestion that attachment classification reflect differences in internal working models of relationships. Other measures of maternal psychosocial adjustment were not related to infant attachment classifications.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Factors influencing maltreated children's early adjustment in foster care.

Internal representations of self and primary attachment figures may be one mechanism by which maltreatment affects children's interpersonal behavior and relationships with others. Research on the continuity and influence of maltreated children's attachment representations, however, has not included youngsters removed from abusive or neglectful home environments. This paper examines the influence of maltreated children's maternal and self-representations on subsequent relationships with foster mothers and behavioral adjustment in foster care. Participants included 32 children, ages 9-13 years, who entered foster placement for the first time after a sustained relationship with a maltreating biological mother. Upon initially entering foster care, children's maternal and self-representations were significantly related to each other and to severity of maltreatment history but not to other factors believed to influence the quality of parent-child relationship (e.g., maternal mental health, partner stability). In addition, these representations significantly predicted children's subsequent views of their relationships with foster mothers. Finally, children's behavior in their foster homes was associated with maltreatment severity, internal representations assessed at entry into foster care, and to concurrent perceptions of their new foster mothers. These findings advance our understanding of foster placement's role in maltreated children's development and provide preliminary insight into the processes associated with the formation of potentially compensatory relationships.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Internal working models of attachment during late childhood and early adolescence: an exploration of stability and change.

This article addresses the question of how the transition from late childhood to early adolescence influences the organization of attachment. The applicability of a measure for attachment representations in early adolescence, the Attachment Interview for Childhood and Adolescence (AICA), was explored. The AICA is based on the Adult Attachment Interview, which was adapted in minor ways to the early adolescent age-group. It was hypothesized that attachment shows considerable stability from late childhood to early adolescence, although some changes might become manifest especially because distancing mechanisms toward the parents may be activated in this period. Also, stability may be different for the various secure and insecure attachment classifications. Lastly, because gender differences become larger during the transition from childhood to adolescence, attachment differences between boys and girls were explored. The same 31 Italian participants (14 girls, 17 boys) completed the AICA at 10 years and at 14 years of age. The AICA attachment classification distributions did not differ from Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) distributions in comparable but older adolescent or young adult samples. The stability of attachment security was considerable: 74% (k = .48). The stability of the dismissing and secure categories was somewhat higher than the stability of the (small) preoccupied and unresolved categories. The participants tended to show more dismissing strategies across the four years, and to report more rejection from their parents. It was suggested that the activation of dismissing defense mechanisms might be necessary to keep parental figures at some distance in order to achieve a more definite personal identity. Finally, no significant gender differences in attachment emerged during the transition from late childhood to early adolescence.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

[Transmission of binding over generations--contribution of the Adult Attachment Interview].

A new domain has been established within attachment research that deals with mental representations of attachment in adults, particularly in parents. This contribution describes the procedure of the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) developed by George et al. (1996) and the scoring and classification system by Main and Goldwyn (1994). This method allow trained coders a reliable classification of different states of mind with respect to attachment based on a content and discourse analysis of the interview transcripts. By means of observational procedure of the Strange Situation for infants and the AAI for the adults, several studies support the assumption of a transmission of attachment relationships from one generation to the next one. These findings reveal that parents with secure autonomous attachment representations predominantly have infants with secure attachment patterns, parents with insecure-dismissing attachment representations mostly have children with an avoidant attachment and parents with insecure-preoccupied representations often have children with an insecure-ambivalent attachment. Less consistent results have been found for the correspondence between parents unresolved attachment status with respect to traumatic experiences and their infants' disoriented/disorganized attachment patterns. A recent study assessing attachment in six year olds revealed as well the transmission from mothers' attachment representations to those of their children for this older age. Since many studies have confirmed the correspondence of parents' and infants' attachment classifications, research interests are now directed towards the mediating processes of transmission.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Organization and predictive power of general and relationship-specific attachment models: one for all, and all for one?

Given recent evidence for multiple attachment models, we examined the organization and predictive power of general and relationship-specific attachment representations in two samples using two distinct measures of attachment models. With regard to associations among relationship-specific models, peer models (romantic partner and friend) and parental models (mother and father) were more similar to each other than to any other models, and anxiety/self-model representations were more consistent across relationships than avoidance/other-model representations. With regard to links between general and specific models, romantic and friend models made the strongest and independent contributions to general models, and romantic relationship involvement moderated the importance of romantic models to general models. With regard to differential predictive power of multiple models, general, romantic partner, and mother attachment made unique contributions to well-being indicators; relationship outcomes, however, were only predicted by individuals' corresponding relationship-specific models. Implications for the measurement and conceptualization of adult attachment are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A "natural experiment" in childrearing ecologies and adolescents' attachment and separation representations.

Employing a quasi-experimental design, this study explored the long-term effects of different childrearing ecological contexts. Participants were 131 adolescents (aged 16-18) from four groups: some who lived in a city, some from a kibbutz familial setting, some from a kibbutz communal setting, and a transitional group that included adolescents raised in a communal setting as young children who moved to a familial sleeping arrangement before the age of six. Adolescents' state of mind with regard to attachment and representations regarding separation were examined. Participants were administered the Adult Attachment Interview, the Separation Anxiety Test, and background questionnaires. The group raised in a communal setting in the kibbutz showed a higher incidence of nonautonomous attachment representations and less competent coping with imagined separations than did the other groups. By contrast, the transitional group was comparable to the city and the kibbutz familial groups. These results are discussed in light of the plasticity and adaptability of children to changed circumstances.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Introduction to attachment theory and its significance for psychotherapy].

In the first part of this article we give a review of the basic concepts of attachment theory and summarize Bowlby's crucial thoughts about attachment. In the second part we introduce the traditional attachment methods with concrete cases. In this context we describe the transgenerational aspect of attachment and highlighten the bridge between infant attachment and adult attachment representation. Further we give a critical review about adult attachment measures. In the third part we consider implications of attachment theory in respect to psychopathology and psychotherapy.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Adult Attachment Interview: linkages with dimensions of emotional availability for mothers and their pre-kindergarteners.

Maternal attachment representations were assessed using the George, Kaplan, and Main (1985) Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), and emotional availability during observed mother-child interactions was assessed using the third edition of the Emotional Availability (EA) Scales (Biringen, Robinson, & Emde, 1998). This edition of EA included four parental scales and two child scales (Maternal Sensitivity, Structuring, Nonintrusiveness and Nonhostility; and Child Responsiveness and Child Involvement). Separate Hierarchical Multiple Regressions (HMRs) were computed to examine the prediction of the separate EA dimensions from demographic information, the AAI classification, and AAI scales. These analyses indicated that each of the EA dimensions (with the exception of maternal nonintrusiveness and nonhostility) was predicted by the AAI classification and/or AAI scales. Using three-step HMRs, the strongest prediction was for maternal sensitivity where 54% of the total variance in maternal sensitivity was explained by maternal education, AAI classification, and AAI 'state of mind' scales. Maternal nonhostility was predicted by maternal education and gender of the child, with lower-income mothers and mothers of girls demonstrating greater hostility.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The similarity of siblings' attachments to their mother.

Do siblings develop similar attachment relationships with their mother? Attachment theory suggests that brothers and sisters growing up in the same family are likely to relate in similar ways to their parents, at least when parental attachment representations and interactive styles remain stable across time. In the current study, sibling attachment data from three research groups (from Pennsylvania State University, Leiden University, and the University of Western Ontario) have been pooled to assemble a sufficiently large sample of observations (N = 138 sibling pairs) for a detailed comparison of sibling attachment relationships. Spacing between the births, differences in maternal sensitivity, and gender of siblings were examined as possible sources of concordance of nonconcordance. Attachment security (including disorganized attachment) of each sibling was assessed with the Strange Situation procedure between 12 and 14 months after birth. Maternal sensitivity was observed with the same rating scale in a laboratory play session in one of the studies and in home observations in the others. Sibling relationships were found to be significantly concordant when classified as secure/nonsecure (62% concordance, p < .01, 1-tailed, intraclass correlation = .23) but not when further subcategorized. Maternal insensitivity to both siblings (shared environment) was associated with concordance of sibling nonsecurity. Siblings of the same gender were more likely to form concordant relationships with their mother (68%; p < .01, 1-tailed, intraclass correlation = .37) than those of opposite gender. Same-sex sibling concordance was comparable to the concordance found for monozygotic twins in earlier studies. Genetic factors may, therefore, play a relatively small role in the development of attachment.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

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.

Adult↗