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The role of early child care experiences on the development of the mother--child attachment relationship has been studied extensively. However, no prospective studies of early child care have addressed how these experiences might be reflected in the content of attachment representations during adolescence and beyond. The goal of this study was to estimate relatively precise associations between child care quality, child care quantity, and type of care in the first 54 months of life and the content of adolescents' attachment representations around age 18 years (N = 857; 51% female; 78% White, non-Hispanic; mean income-to-needs ratio = 4.13), leveraging data from the longitudinal National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. We identified a small positive association between the observed quality of early child care (but not quantity or type of care) and secure attachment states of mind as measured by the Adult Attachment Interview (but not the Attachment Script Assessment) at age 18 years that was robust to demographic covariates and observations of maternal and paternal sensitivity during childhood. We observed no significant interactions among child care variables. Associations between early child care experiences and indicators of adolescent attachment were likewise not moderated by maternal sensitivity from infancy to midadolescence or by maternal reports of child temperament in early childhood.

John Bowlby's (1982) attachment theory can be applied to an existing therapeutic framework to enhance the effectiveness of therapy. Using the Adult Attachment Inventory (AAI), a therapist can identify the type of attachment the client formed with his/her caregivers, and use this to navigate an authentic attachment between client and therapist. This paper focuses on the application of attachment theory in adolescent counselling, because in adolescence a person has the linguistic and psychological constructs in place to recognize the significance of attachment, and can take advantage of the brain's adaptive state before brain development reaches its adult configuration.

The study examined the effectiveness of PRERAYMI (Promoting Responsiveness Emotion Regulation and Attachment in Young Mothers and Infants) attachment-based intervention programme aimed at adolescent mother-infant dyads. The intervention used video-feedback and developmental guidance to promote maternal mind-mindedness and sensitivity. 32 adolescent mother-infant dyads in the intervention group were compared to 12 adolescent mother-infant dyads in the control group. Maternal mind-mindedness and maternal/infant styles of interaction were evaluated, at the pre-treatment (infant 3 months) and at the post-treatment (infant 9 months). The results indicated the effectiveness of the intervention in enhancing mind-mindedness, with more mind-related comments and fewer non-attuned mind-related comments, maternal sensitivity and infant cooperative behaviour, and in reducing maternal controlling behaviour, in the intervention group. Changes in mother/infant interaction styles or in mind-mindedness in the control group were not detected. The attachment based medium term intervention helped to improve adolescent mother-infant relationship, which is otherwise potentially at risk.

This study examined early adolescent romantic "churning," defined here as having a large number of boyfriends/girlfriends by age 13, as a problematic marker likely to predict hostility, abuse, and avoidance during conflict in later relationships. A sample of 184 adolescents was followed through age 24 to assess predictions of hostility, abuse, and avoidance during conflict from early romantic churning. Controlling for gender and family income, romantic churning at age 13 predicted relative decreases in peer preference and relative increases in conflict and betrayal in close friendships from ages 13 to 16, as well as higher observable hostility and self- and partner-reported abuse in romantic relationships by age 18 and greater avoidance during conflict with romantic partners by age 24. Findings remained after accounting for attachment security, social competence, and friendship quality in early adolescence, suggesting that early romantic churning may uniquely predict a problematic developmental pathway.

We examined the extent to which new mothers' recollections of their mothers' emotion socialization practices during childhood predict sensitive/supportive responses to their own toddlers in distressing situations both directly and indirectly via effects on mothers' social information processing about infant cry signals. Mothers' adult attachment was tested as a possible moderator and we tested model invariance across racial groups. These questions were assessed using a 3-wave longitudinal study of first-time mothers (131 African American, 128 European American) followed from pregnancy until children were 14 months old. Expectant mothers were administered the Adult Attachment Interview and self-report measures of remembered childhood emotion socialization. When infants were 6 months old, mothers' cry processing was assessed using a video-recall method in which they watched videos of their interactions with their infants during distress tasks and reported on their emotions and cognitions during the interaction. Maternal sensitivity to distress at 14 months was assessed via observed maternal sensitivity during distress tasks and mothers' self-reported responses to child distress. Consistent with prediction, mothers who recalled their own mothers as high on nonsupportive responses to their distress in childhood engaged in more self-focused and negative cry processing at 6 months, which in turn predicted less supportive responding to their toddlers in distressing situations. This indirect effect was statistically significant. These effects were not moderated by adult attachment coherence. The full model was invariant across racial groups. Thus, remembered childhood emotion socialization experiences have longstanding consequences for subsequent social behavior, including parenting the next generation.

This study aimed to explore the self-protective strategies of six parents with ADHD and the sensitivity they displayed in dyadic interaction with their under 3-years-old children. The parents were interviewed using the Adult Attachment Interview. Parental sensitivity was assessed using the CARE-Index. The study showed a variation of the parents' self-protective strategies and sensitivity. The more complex the parent's self-protective strategy was, the less sensitive was the interaction. Some parents' need for self-protection compromised their ability to protect their child and decreased their sensitivity. All parents displayed indications of unresolved traumas, which also impaired their sensitivity to the signals of their child and ability to engage in mutual regulation of arousal and emotion with their child. Attachment-oriented family psychological assessment, including assessments of the self-protective strategies of each family member would make possible to design a treatment adapted to the unique family needs, also in order to alleviate early risk.

Attachment theory suggests that early experiences with caregivers are carried forward across development in the form of mental representations of attachment experiences. Researchers have investigated at least two representation-based constructs when studying attachment and successful adaptation in adulthood: (a) coherence of autobiographical discourse/memories and (b) knowledge of the secure base script. Here, we present data examining the unique contributions of coherent discourse regarding childhood caregiving experience and secure base script knowledge in a prospective high-risk longitudinal study, the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation. The current study included three indicators of the quality of romantic relationships: (a) observed quality of interaction with romantic partners, (b) self-reported relationship satisfaction, and (c) interview-rated effectiveness of romantic engagement. Parent-child relationship quality was also assessed across three key outcomes: (a) infant attachment security, (b) observations of supportive parenting, and (c) interview-rated supportive parenting. When examining both attachment representations simultaneously, each representation-based construct was uniquely associated with different relationship quality indices. Specifically, secure base script knowledge was uniquely associated with infant attachment security in the next generation, and coherence of discourse was uniquely associated with observations of romantic relationships quality and interview-rated supportive parenting.

The current study investigated the intergenerational transmission of attachment in Sapporo, Japan, using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP). This is the first SSP study in Sapporo in three decades, after a study in the mid-1980s reported controversial results. The SSP distributions found in the current study, however, were similar to those reported in the earlier Sapporo study, including its controversial finding that ambivalent attachment was predominant in insecure infants. The current study used the AAI and the SSP to study the intergenerational transmission of attachment in Japan and found a strong categorical match consistent with those reported elsewhere in the world. A proportion of infants who were judged disorganized as the first report in this Japanese sample was also found to be similar to the reported global norm. Disorganized attachment in Japanese infants was strongly predicted by the mother's unresolved state of mind as was found across normative samples.

The present study explored how romantic relationship qualities develop with age and relationship length. Eight waves of data on romantic relationships were collected over 10.5 years during adolescence and early adulthood from a community-based sample in a Western U.S. city (100 males, 100 females; M age Wave 1 = 15.83). Measures of support, negative interactions, control, and jealousy were derived from interviews and questionnaire measures. Using multilevel modeling, main effects of age were found for jealousy, and main effects of relationship length were found for each quality. However, main effects were qualified by significant age by length interactions for each and every relationship quality. Short relationships increased in support with age. In comparison, long-term adolescent relationships were notable in that they were both supportive and turbulent, with elevated levels of support, negative interactions, control, and jealousy. With age, long-term relationships continued to have high levels of support, but decreased in negative interactions, control, and jealousy. Present findings highlight how the interplay between age and relationship length is key for understanding the development of romantic relationships.

One of the most striking pieces of evidence in attachment research is that attachment security is transmitted from 1 generation to the next. Although there has been an enormous advance in the understanding of this process, this area of research suffers from some significant gaps, as for example the transmission across 3 generations when considering the 2 parents as well as the 2 couples of grandparents. The current study was designed to fill this gap in existing literature by investigating AAI attachment representations in the members of 3 generations, belonging to a total of 32 families, each including an adult offspring, both parents and the 4 grandparents (N = 224). Main findings show that the transmission across 2 generations was stronger in the presence of a female caregiver (either mother or maternal/paternal grandmother), and that across 3 generations was confirmed only in the presence of 2 female caregivers (grandmother to mother to offspring). Conversely, the transmissions across 3 generations with only 1 or no female caregiver were not confirmed. Last, experiencing 2 secure parents increased the likelihood of developing a secure state of mind with respect to attachment among offspring, mothers and fathers, 95% confidence intervals [3.52, 1,238.72], [1.67, 31.17], and [1.67, 19.98], respectively. These findings may have important theoretical implications related to the understanding of the factors involved in the continuity and discontinuity of attachment patterns across generations.

Background: The link between disorders of attachment and psychopathology is well documented. Consequently, a person's attachment style has a profound effect on his or her development and psychological well-being. At-risk populations such as adopted children are more prone to developing pervasive patterns of attachment, given the maternal disruptions they experience early in life. Objective: The aim of this review was to identify and systematically appraise the current literature addressing a range of attachment-based interventions for adopted chidren. Methods: A comprehensive search of the literature from the most recent decade was conducted. The Cochrane, Ebscohost, Sage, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, and Wiley databases were used. Results: Three randomized controlled trials were included in this review. Two studies were conducted in the USA and one in the Netherlands. All studies made use of quantitative methodologies. Conclusion: Although each article highlighted significant findings in the respective study, there remains a deficit of empirical information aimed at addressing attachment-related behaviour in adopted children through intervention.

This study investigates whether individual differences in attachment status can be detected by electrophysiological responses to loss-themed pictures. The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) was used to identify discourse/reasoning lapses during the discussion of loss experiences via death that place speakers in the Unresolved/disorganized AAI category. In parents, Unresolved AAI status has been associated with Disorganized infant Strange Situation response, a known risk factor for psychopathology (e.g., internalizing/externalizing/dissociation). This association has been related to anomalous frightening (FR) parental behavior in the infant's presence, behavior presumed to be instigated by vulnerability to trauma-related fright. Here, psychophysiological methods were utilized to examine whether Unresolved AAI status could be detected in brain responses to subtle/symbolic reminders of loss. One year after AAI administration, 31 undergraduate women who had experienced loss (16 Unresolved) underwent continuous electroencephalogram (EEG) recording during a picture-viewing, valence-rating task. Picture onset-locked event-related potentials (ERPs) revealed millisecond responses to 4 picture categories: pleasant people, pleasant nature, cemetery (symbolic death), and gruesome death (dead or dying people). Participants' valence ratings did not differ between groups across picture categories. However, the N2 ERP, implicated in detecting stimulus salience, was selectively greater in Unresolved participants viewing cemetery scenes; it was in fact as high as the N2 for gruesome death images observed throughout the sample. Additionally, Unresolved participants exhibited a right-hemispheric P3 asymmetry across picture categories, suggestive of continuously heightened vigilance/arousal. Together, these results suggest that Unresolved AAI status is associated with greater neurophysiological sensitivity to subtle reminders of loss that may disrupt ongoing mental function.

This paper reports on the longitudinal links between first-time mothers (N = 48) Adult Attachment Interviews (AAIs), provided during pregnancy, and their first-born children's AAIs, provided at age 16 years. The AAIs from the adolescents were scored for reflective functioning (RF), and this was found to be significantly linked to whether their mothers' AAI were appraised as free-autonomous/secure as opposed to insecure-dismissing. Discussion concerns the unique influence of mothers upon their first-born children's development of reflective functioning skills, including the understanding of mind and emotion. Fathers, for whom AAIs were also available, appeared to have no influence on this process. RF scores from the adolescents did not differ as a function of either the previously observed infant-mother attachment or the infant-father attachment.

A longstanding question for attachment theory and research is whether genetically based characteristics of the child influence the development of attachment security and its stability over time. This study attempted to replicate and extend recent findings indicating that the developmental stability of attachment security is moderated by oxytocin receptor (OXTR) genetic variants. Using longitudinal data from over 550 individuals, there was no evidence that OXTR rs53576 moderated the association between attachment security during early childhood and overall coherence of mind ("security") during the Adult Attachment Interview at age 18 years. Additional analyses involving a second commonly investigated OXTR variant (rs2254298) and indices of individuals' dismissing and preoccupied attachment states of mind also failed to provide robust evidence for oxytonergic moderation of the stability in attachment security across development. The discussion focuses on research strategies for investigating genetic contributions to attachment security across the life span.

Epistemological development and attachment theory have been independent frameworks for understanding psychological development. This study examined the association between epistemological development (using the Measure of Epistemological Reflection) and attachment (using the Adult Attachment Interview) in a sample of 60 pre- and postgraduated college students. Results showed that absolute knowing is rarely present in secure students and that it is most common among preoccupied students. Students with dismissing attachment have restricted ways of knowing, progressing from transitional knowing to independent knowing. For a more comprehensive analysis of these findings selected cases are presented. These results may be relevant for further interdomain research and intervention with college students.

This study aims to investigate the association between the mental state talk of mothers and their preadolescent children, with the hypothesis that an intergenerational transmission of mentalizing abilities may extend beyond early childhood. The participants were 41 mother-preadolescent child nonclinical dyads. The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and the Child Attachment Interview (CAI) were administered to the mothers and their children, respectively, to evaluate the frequency and the quality of their mental state talk. The AAI transcripts were coded according to the Reflective Functioning Scale. Analyses revealed a clear albeit complex relationship between the mentalizing abilities of mothers and their preadolescent children. The correlations between the mental state talk of mothers and children were generally limited. In contrast, children's use of mental terms was significantly predicted by maternal education and maternal reflective functioning, whereas the production of markers of uncertainty in children was associated with the mothers' use of markers of uncertainty.

Based on a subsample (N = 673) of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) cohort, this article reports data from a follow-up assessment at age 18 years on the antecedents of "secure base script knowledge", as reflected in the ability to generate narratives in which attachment-related difficulties are recognized, competent help is provided, and the problem is resolved. Secure base script knowledge was (a) modestly to moderately correlated with more well-established assessments of adult attachment, (b) associated with mother-child attachment in the first 3 years of life and with observations of maternal and paternal sensitivity from childhood to adolescence, and (c) partially accounted for associations previously documented in the SECCYD cohort between early caregiving experiences and Adult Attachment Interview states of mind (Booth-LaForce & Roisman, 2014) as well as self-reported attachment styles (Fraley, Roisman, Booth-LaForce, Cox, & Holland, 2013).

Attachment's role in children's memories of wellbeing and distress was evaluated through the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task in 30 Italian children, aged 6 years (15 secure and 15 insecure). Their mothers' coherence of discourse was determined using the Adult Attachment Interview. A mediation model examining whether children's attachment mediated the relation between mothers' ability to talk coherently about their past and children's memories was tested. Children's attachment was associated with their ability to describe memories of wellbeing and distress and mediated the influence of maternal coherence on the same ability. A regression model was estimated to further evaluate the association between children's attachment and ability to describe memories. Results suggest that attachment influences how children understand and recollect emotional experiences.

This study examined the developmental significance of mothers' adult attachment representations assessed prenatally with the Adult Attachment Interview in relation to observed maternal sensitivity at 6 months postpartum in an ethnically diverse sample (N = 131 African American; N = 128 European American). Multiple-group confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence for partial measurement invariance of a two-factor dismissing and preoccupied latent structure of adult attachment across the two ethnic groups of women. African American women showed modest elevations on the preoccupied factor relative to European American women. Although the dismissing factor showed an empirically equivalent negative association with maternal sensitivity in both ethnic groups, this effect was reduced to marginal significance when controlling for maternal socioeconomic status.

Background: Longitudinal research has demonstrated that individual differences in attachment security show only modest continuity from infancy to adulthood. Recent findings based on retrospective reports suggest that individuals' genetic variation may moderate the developmental associations between early attachment-relevant relationship experiences and adult attachment security. The purpose of this study was to use a prospective, longitudinal design to investigate genetic contributions to continuity and changes in attachment security from infancy to young adulthood in a higher risk sample. Methods: Infant attachment security was assessed using the Strange Situation Procedure at 12 and 18 months. Adults' general attachment representations were assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview at ages 19 and 26. Romantic attachment representations were assessed with the Current Relationship Interview (CRI) at ages 20-21 and ages 26-28. Individuals were genotyped for variants within the oxytocin receptor (OXTR), dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4), and serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR). Results: The continuity of attachment security from infancy into young adulthood was consistently moderated by OXTR genetic variation. Infant attachment security predicted the security of adults' general and romantic attachment representations only for individuals with the OXTR G/G genotype. This interaction was significant when predicting adult attachment security as measured by the Adult Attachment Interview at ages 19 and 26 and the CRI at ages 26-28. Dopamine D4 receptor and 5-HTTLPR genetic variation did not consistently moderate the longitudinal associations between attachment security during infancy and adulthood. Conclusions: This study provides initial longitudinal evidence for genetic contributions to continuity and change in attachment security from infancy to young adulthood. Genetic variation related to the oxytocin system may moderate the stability of attachment security across development.

The goals of this article were to examine (1) the relative and absolute stability of maternal autonomy support between infancy and preschool age, and (2) the moderating role of child gender, maternal attachment state of mind, and stressful life events. Sixty-nine mother-child dyads participated in five visits when the child was 8, 15, and 18 months, as well as 2 and 3 years. The results suggested that maternal autonomy support is stable in relative terms, but that its mean level decreases over time. Moreover, there was significant relative stability only for mothers of girls, mothers who showed greater coherence of mind with respect to attachment, and mothers who experienced fewer stressful life events. These results speak to the relevance of investigating parent, child, and contextual factors when examining the conditions that promote or hinder stability in parenting behaviors. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

This study explores factors that influence problem-solving coping style across cultures. There was no significant difference in applying problem solving across U.S., Taiwanese, and Chinese samples. The effective predictors of problem solving in the U.S. and Chinese samples were self-efficacy and trait resilience, respectively. In the Taiwanese sample, predictors were self-efficacy and trait resilience. Trait resilience was found to mediate the effect of self-efficacy on problem solving in the Taiwanese and Chinese samples. Practical implications are discussed. (Contains 2 tables and 4 figures.)

The Reflective Functioning Scale (RFS) was developed to assess individual differences in the ability to mentalize attachment relationships. The RFS assesses mentalization from transcripts of the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). A global score is given by trained coders on an 11-point scale ranging from antireflective to exceptionally reflective. Coding procedures rely on a distinction of demand and permit questions during the AAI. Demand questions directly probe for reflective functioning (RF), whereas permit questions do not. Coding focuses on detecting qualitative markers of RF and qualitative markers of absent RF, respectively. Despite its relevant empirical contributions in clinical research, several psychometric properties of the RFS are still unclear. In this article, we present data on the reliability and internal structure of the RFS based on a combined sample of 196 subjects. We were able to show that (a) the global score can be assessed with good interrater reliability, is relatively stable across time, and is significantly reduced in persons with mental disorders; (b) demand questions are based on a single latent factor; (c) demand questions do not differ in terms of difficulty; (d) all demand questions but 1 are incrementally predictive of the global score; (e) 5 permit questions contribute to the global score over and above demand questions; and (f) the number of qualitative markers of RF is also predictive of the global score. Our results have important conceptual and methodological implications for future studies using the RFS. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

This study examined differences in children's responses to their family photographs within a sample of Japanese 6-year-olds ("N"?=?44), exploring associations with their mothers' attachment status. The differences in children's photo reactions were captured by a 5-point continuous scale to rate how engaged children were and how positively they responded to the photographs taken earlier with their mothers. Mothers' attachment security was assessed by the Adult Attachment Interview. The findings revealed that children of mothers with secure attachment status were significantly more engaged/positive in their photo reactions than were children of mothers with insecure attachment status. Implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed. (Contains 1 table and 1 note.)

Associations among 53 primiparous women's Adult Attachment Interview classifications (secure-autonomous vs. insecure-dismissing) and physiological and self-reported responses to infant crying were explored. Heart rate, skin conductance levels, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were recorded continuously. In response to the cry, secure-autonomous women demonstrated RSA declines, consistent with approach-oriented responses. Insecure-dismissing women displayed RSA and electrodermal increases, consistent with behavioral inhibition. Furthermore, insecure-dismissing women rated the cries as more aversive than secure-autonomous women. Nine months postpartum, secure-autonomous women, who prenatally manifested an approach-oriented response to the unfamiliar cry stimulus, were observed as more sensitive when responding to their own distressed infant, whereas women classified prenatally as insecure-dismissing were observed as less sensitive with their own infants. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

In this commentary, Spangler evaluates the Steele, Perez, Segal, and Steele report that arguede that reflective functioning in adolescence could not be predicted by quality of early infant attachment, but was associated with maternal (but not paternal) attachment representation, assessed before the adolescents' birth. Assuming that parental attachment representations are quite stable during adulthood, it could be expected that they contribute to attachment differences in their children at any age. Spangler provides alternatives as to why he does not support the monotropy hypothesis of Steele and colleagues. First, as long as caregiving in western cultures, despite enduring efforts on equally distributing caregiving tasks to mothers and fathers, is mainly accomplished by the mothers, they might be more influential simply because they provide the children with more experiences than fathers do. Thus, it is not the mothers specifically who are influential, it is the caregiver who spends more relevant amounts of time with the child. Second, based on their findings from their German longitudinal studies, it was concluded that mothers and fathers may be influential in different domains, with the father's influence on social outcome of children lying in the domain of experiences during play situations. [For "Maternal Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) Collected During Pregnancy Predicts Reflective Functioning in AAIs from their First-Born Children 17 Years Later," see EJ1142160.]

To test proposals regarding the hierarchical organization of adult attachment, this study examined developmental origins of generalized and romantic attachment representations and their concurrent associations with romantic functioning. Participants (N = 112) in a 35-year prospective study completed the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and Current Relationship Interview (CRI). Two-way analysis of variance tested interactive associations of AAI and CRI security with infant attachment, early parenting quality, preschool ego resiliency, adolescent friendship quality, and adult romantic functioning. Both representations were associated with earlier parenting and core attachment-related romantic behavior, but romantic representations had distinctive links to ego resiliency and relationship-specific romantic behaviors. Attachment representations were independent and did not interactively predict romantic functioning, suggesting that they confer somewhat distinctive benefits for romantic functioning. (Contains 4 tables.)

The association between fathers' adult attachment representations and their recollections of childhood experiences with their caregiving quality with their eight-month-old infants and with father-infant attachment classification was examined in a longitudinal study of 117 fathers and their infants. Sensitive caregiving was related to secure-autonomous classification in the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), hostile caregiving was related to fathers' dismissing and unresolved attachment, and emotional disengagement and role-reversed caregiving were both related to fathers' unresolved attachment. Childhood experiences of parental pressure to achieve were related to fathers' hostile and role-reversed caregiving and low sensitivity, independent of AAI classification. However, fathers' childhood experiences of maternal neglect were related to high-quality caregiving. It was also found that fathers' secure-autonomous AAI classification was related to secure father-child attachment in the Strange Situation Paradigm, and this relation was mediated by sensitive caregiving. (Contains 4 tables.)

This report examines young adults' states of mind regarding their early attachment experiences in relation to the observed and perceived quality of their sibling relationships. Sixty sibling pairs (18-25 years of age) were (a) administered the Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1985), (b) videotaped during a conflict resolution task, and (c) asked to describe the quality of their relationship using the Adult Sibling Relationship Questionnaire (Stocker, Lanthier, & Furman, 1997). As hypothesized, dismissing states of mind were associated with lower levels of positive and negative affect while participants attempted to resolve an area of conflict with a sibling as well as with relatively low levels of reported warmth in the relationship. In contrast--but also in line with predictions--preoccupied states of mind were associated with heightened expression of negative affect toward a brother or sister, and the siblings of highly preoccupied individuals reported more conflict in their relationships. Findings provide further support for the importance of young adults' representations of childhood attachment experiences with respect to the quality of their adult relationships. In addition, this study extends previous findings regarding the significance of dismissing versus preoccupied states of mind by demonstrating that these dimensions are differentially associated with behavioral and self-reported aspects of sibling relationship quality in early adulthood. (Contains 2 tables.)

The aim of this report was to investigate the associations between attachment state of mind, romantic attachment style, and indices of maternal functioning in two relational spheres: the mother-child relationship (i.e., maternal sensitivity and child attachment security) and the marital relationship (i.e., mothers' and their partners' marital satisfaction). The results, based on 59 families, indicated that attachment state of mind was associated with maternal sensitivity and with child attachment security, although not to mothers' or their partners' subjective feelings of marital satisfaction. In contrast, romantic attachment styles were related to both mothers" and their partners' marital satisfaction, although not to maternal sensitivity or child attachment. These findings add to the growing literature highlighting the unique value of each tradition of assessment in adult attachment research, by suggesting that variation in attachment security tapped by each measure may bear particular relevance for specific relationships. (Contains 3 tables.)

The aim of this study was to examine the developmental significance of the newly developed dimensional approach to attachment state of mind by investigating its capacity to predict individual differences in the quality of two caregiving behaviors--maternal sensitivity and maternal autonomy support--that are linked to numerous important child outcomes. Seventy-one upper-middle-class, predominantly French-speaking and Caucasian dyads participated in 3 home visits (34 girls). The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) was administered when the infants were 8 months old, maternal sensitivity was assessed when they were 12 months old, and maternal autonomy support was assessed at 15 months. The results revealed that, above and beyond SES, maternal sensitivity was negatively related to the dismissing dimension of the AAI, whereas maternal autonomy support was negatively linked to the preoccupied/unresolved dimension. In contrast, the traditional AAI categories were not significantly linked to parenting. These results speak to the relevance of using a continuous approach to attachment state of mind when predicting individual differences in specific caregiving behaviors. (Contains 5 tables and 2 footnotes.)

Adjustment to the transition from high school to military service in Israel was examined in a longitudinal study with a sample of 120 late-adolescent girls. During their senior year in high school (Time 1) the young women were administered the Adult Attachment Interview. Their coping and adjustment to the new environment were assessed (at two further points in time after the transition) by reports of the young women, their mothers, their fathers, and their friends. Young women with preoccupied attachment representations demonstrated the lowest levels of adjustment at both the second and third time points. Young women with dismissing attachment representations did not differ from those with autonomous attachment representations. Satisfaction with social support from parents mediated the association between attachment representations and adjustment (assessed by the young women's reports). (Contains 3 tables and 1 footnote.)

Continuity and intergenerational transmission of representations of attachment were examined in a longitudinal sample of 88 Mexican immigrant mothers and their children who participated in the local intervention group of the Early Head Start Evaluation Study. The authors interviewed mothers with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and Parent Attachment Interview (PAI). Mothers and children were observed when the children were 14 months old with the Attachment Q-Set (AQS), and children were interviewed at 54 months with the MacArthur Story Stem Battery. Early maternal AAI and PAI scores were associated with toddler-age children's AQS scores and preschool Story Stem scores. Mothers who were more secure in their attachment representations in the AAI had children who were also more secure, as measured by the AQS and in their Story Stem narratives. Mothers' high comfort and low enmeshment PAI scores predicted children's Story Stem security. Mothers' AAI security scores predicted children's Story Stem narrative coherence. (Contains 9 tables.)

This study examined the developmental significance of adult attachment security--as measured by the Adult Attachment Interview--for romantic relationship functioning concurrently and approximately 1 year later in a sample of heterosexual dating couples between the ages of 18 and 25 (115 dyads at Time 1 [T1] and 57 dyads at T2, 74% White). The authors assessed romantic relationship functioning at T1 and T2 using observers' ratings of emotional tone during a laboratory conflict resolution task and via participants' self-reports about their relationships, yielding evidence that adult attachment security prospectively predicted the observed and perceived quality of adults' romantic relationships even after prior levels of interpersonal functioning were controlled. Measures of autonomic responding were also acquired during the interactions, replicating prior evidence that insecurity is concurrently associated with electrodermal reactivity in attachment-relevant contexts. (Contains 1 footnote and 2 tables.)

The current study examined the links between attachment state of mind (assessed with the Adult Attachment Interview) and atypical parenting behavior among 39 foster mothers. Insecure states of mind were associated with increased atypical parenting while interacting with the foster child, whereas unexpectedly, an unresolved state of mind was not. Furthermore, caregivers with higher coherence and lower passivity scores on the AAI were less likely to display atypical parenting behaviors. Finally, presence of abuse in the caregiver's history and overall unresolved attachment state of mind were found to relate specifically to fearful/disoriented parenting. The results suggest that an insecure state of mind may be a risk factor for atypical caregiving in certain populations, even in the absence of unresolved attachment representations. (Contains 6 tables.)

This longitudinal study of 125 families investigated whether negative child outcomes related to fathers' frightening (FR) behaviours with infants would be mitigated if fathers were also sensitive. Results indicated that children whose fathers were frightening and insensitive with them during infancy showed the highest emotional under-regulation at 24 months and highest teacher ratings of attention problems at age 7, whereas those whose fathers were frightening and sensitive did not differ from children whose fathers were sensitive but not frightening. Sensitive caregiving mitigated the negative impact of FR behaviours on child outcomes for fathers, but not mothers. Perhaps fathers who can be sensitive but also engage in stimulating, albeit frightening, interactions with their infants may actually be scaffolding their ability to regulate their affect in intensely emotional situations. FR behaviours by mothers may be more problematic for child outcomes since these behaviours conflict with the primary caregiver's role of providing comfort. (Contains 4 tables and 2 figures.)

In this article, it is hypothesized that disorganizing, disorienting, and unresolved states of mind about loss experiences, as classified by the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) coding system, may offer insight into the bereaved mind and may guide clinical treatment approaches. This article discusses pre-loss attachment organizations and the disorganizing/disorienting markers of unresolved loss found in the AAI. Although sometimes subtle in nature, the unresolved, disorganized, and disorienting indices--defined as lapses in monitoring of reason, discourse and behavior--provide concrete markers for assessing the degree of resolution for loss experiences. An attachment-based grief treatment model can add to existing models implemented in prolonged grief disorder treatment. (Contains 1 footnote.)

Research on antecedents of organized attachment has focused on the quality of caregiving received during childhood. In recent years, research has begun to examine the influence of genetic factors on quality of infant attachment. However, no published studies report on the association between specific genetic factors and adult attachment. This study examined the link between the 5-HTTLPR promoter polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene and adult unresolved attachment assessed with the Adult Attachment Interview. Genetic material and information on attachment-related loss or trauma were available for 86 participants. Multivariate regression analyses showed an association between the short 5-HTTLPR allele and increased risk for unresolved attachment. Temperament traits and psychological symptoms did not affect the association between 5-HTTLPR and unresolved attachment. The authors hypothesize that the increased susceptibility to unresolved attachment among carriers of the short allele of 5-HTTLPR is consistent with the role of serotonin in modulation of frontal-amygdala circuitry. The findings challenge current thinking by demonstrating significant genetic influences on a phenomenon previously thought to be largely environmentally driven. (Contains 8 tables.)

This study examined contributions of maternal sensitivity and maternal representation of childhood experiences to differences in attachment strategies in a cohort of infants from birth to six years. Antenatal maternal attachment representation was assessed with the Adult Attachment Interview. Maternal sensitivity was assessed with the Child-Adult Relationship Experimental Index at 15 months. The child's attachment strategy was classified with the Strange Situation for preschool children at 24-30 months and with a new representational measure at six years. Results indicate that mothers with a secure representation of the attachment system are more sensitive to their infants, and their children tend to develop secure attachment patterns. Changes in patterns of insecurity over time are discussed along with limitations of the study. (Contains 4 tables.)

This study examined the relationship between adolescents' attachment style and their decision to enter mentoring relationships. The participants were 569 Greek Cypriot high school students. It was found that adolescents who have a mentor are more secure in their attachment than those who do not. Girls with low scores in secure attachment do not enter easily into mentoring relationships. Older adolescents are more anxious in their attachments, probably because they can better appreciate the possible difficulties if something goes wrong; thus, they are more reluctant to take the risk of starting a mentoring relationship than younger students. Furthermore, secure attachment was found to be positively correlated to the perceived impact of the whole experience: the more secure the attachment, the stronger the mentoring bond seems to be. (Contains 6 tables.)

Disorganized attachment in infancy is known to predict a wide range of maladaptive outcomes, but its origins are poorly understood. Parental lack of resolution concerning loss or trauma has been proposed to result in atypical parenting behaviors, which in turn have a disorganizing effect on the parent-child relationship. The authors review the evidence for this transmission pathway, considering other factors (e.g., social environment, child characteristics) that might enrich understanding of the antecedents of disorganization. A threshold approach is proposed to explain (a) why different parental behaviors are linked to disorganization depending on prevailing social conditions and (b) why certain children appear more vulnerable to forming a disorganized attachment relationship.

The current study examined whether adolescents' attachment representations were associated with differences in emotion regulation during the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; C. George, N. Kaplan, & M. Main, 1996) and during a mother-adolescent conflict interaction task (Family Interaction Task [FIT]; J. P. Allen et al., 2003). Participants were one hundred and fifty-six 14-year-old adolescents. Dismissing adolescents showed less interbeat interval (IBI) reactivity (indicating less stress) during the AAI than secure adolescents. However, during the FIT, dismissing adolescents showed more IBI reactivity. No differences in physiological reactivity were found between individuals with resolved or unresolved loss or trauma during the AAI or FIT. The results indicate that dismissing adolescents may effectively use a defensive strategy during the AAI but less so in direct conflict interaction with their attachment figure.

This study investigates whether attachment quality at ages 1, 6 and 16 is related to autonomy and relatedness behavior in adolescence. In a follow-up of the Regensburg Longitudinal Study, forty-three 16-year-old adolescents and their mothers were assessed in a revealed differences task and a planning a vacation task. Attachment was assessed during infancy using the Ainsworth Strange Situation and at age six with the reunion procedure. Adolescent attachment representation was assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview. Results provided no evidence for significant continuity between infant or childhood attachment behavior and adolescent attachment representation. Instability of attachment organization, however, was linked to a higher number of experienced risk factors. Substantial relations between adolescent attachment representation and adolescent autonomy and relatedness behavior were found in both interaction tasks with their mothers. Further, significant relations between attachment qualities at ages 1 and 6 and adolescent interaction behavior during the planning a vacation task at age 16 were found. Thus, independent of attachment stability or instability, both early attachment in infancy and childhood and concurrent attachment representation were significantly related to autonomy and relatedness behavior in adolescence. (Contains 4 tables.)

Background: Attachment theory's original formulation was substantially driven by Bowlby's (1969/1982) quest for a meaningful model of the development of psychopathology. Bowlby posited that aberrant experiences of parenting increase the child's risk of psychopathological outcomes, and that these risks are mediated by the quality of the attachment relationship. To empirically examine this hypothesis, the current study explores the associations between the development of toddler behavior problems and a) maternal unresolved attachment representations, b) maternal interactive behavior, and c) infant attachment relationships. Second, we test the mediating role of disorganized attachment in the association between disruptive behavior and toddler behavior problems, as well as unresolved attachment and behavior problems. Method: Sixty-four adolescent mother-infant dyads participated in this longitudinal study. The Adult Attachment Interview was administered at 6 months, the Strange Situation procedure was conducted at 12 months, disrupted behavior was assessed during play interactions at 12 months using the AMBIANCE measure, and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was used to assess behavior problems at 24 months of age. Results: Maternal reports of externalizing problems were significantly associated with unresolved representations of attachment, disrupted maternal behavior, and disorganized attachment. Inclusion of these variables in a path analytic model suggested that disorganized attachment mediated the associations between disrupted maternal behavior and externalizing problems. Although the association between unresolved attachment representations and externalizing problems was no longer significant when mediation by disrupted behavior and disorganized attachment was taken into account, this indirect pathway was not significant. Conclusions: The results are consistent with Bowlby's (1969/1982) original conceptualization of the explanatory role of the attachment relationship in the development and manifestation of behavioral maladaptation. Effects of unresolved attachment on externalizing problems await further explanation.

Zeanah argues that ethological attachment theory, as outlined by John Bowlby, has provided one of the most important frameworks for understanding crucial risk and protective factors in social and emotional development. However, although attachment theory and the notion of attachment disorders have influenced such initiatives, many psychologists, particularly educational psychologists, remain sceptical about the relevance of attachment theories. Research and major contributions towards the theoretical development of attachment theory are outlined, and the potential contribution of attachment theory to educational psychology is explored. Brief Descriptions of Adult Attachment Interview Categories in Relation to Corresponding Infant "Strange Situation" Categories are appended.

This study is the first to examine the latent structure of individual differences reflected in the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; C. George, N. Kaplan, & M. Main, 1985), a commonly used and well-validated measure designed to assess an adult's current state of mind regarding childhood experiences with caregivers. P. E. Meehl's (1995) taxometric methods (i.e., MAXCOV-HITMAX) were applied to data from 504 AAIs. Analyses revealed that the variation underlying secure versus dismissing states of mind was more consistent with a dimensional than a taxonic model. (Taxometric analyses of preoccupation were indeterminate.) In addition, variation in secure adults' (n = 278) reports about their early experiences revealed little evidence for qualitative groups of earned- and continuous-secures. Rather, the inferred life experiences of secure adults appeared to be distributed continuously. Findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical implications regarding the phenomenon of earned-security specifically and variation underlying secure and insecure states of mind more generally. The consequences of these analyses for AAI reliability training and coding are also explored.

This study was the first to examine relations between attachment and religion-spirituality in adults using a developmentally validated attachment assessment, the Adult Attachment Interview. Security of attachment was expected to be linked to a religiosity-spirituality that is socially based on the parental relationships and reflects extrapolation of attachment experiences with sensitive parents to perceived relationships with a loving God. Insecurity of attachment was expected to be related to religiosity-spirituality via emotional compensation for states of insecurity. Participants (N = 84; 40% men; mean age = 29 years) were drawn from religious-spiritual groups. Religiousness-spirituality was assessed with questionnaires. Results generally supported the hypotheses ( ps = 0.05). Estimates of parental loving were linked to socially based religiosity, loving God images, and gradual religious changes occurring at early ages and in life contexts indicating a positive influence of close relationships. Estimates of parental rejection and role reversal were related to New Age spirituality and sudden-intense religious changes occurring in life contexts of turmoil. Current attachment state of mind was generally unrelated to traditional religiosity, but current preoccupation, unresolved- disorganized, and cannot classify states were associated with New Age spirituality.

A secure "state of mind with regard to attachment", as assessed by the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), as well as attachment styles as assessed by questionnaires (the two most prevalent facets of attachment representations assessed in adolescence and adulthood) were examined as potential contributors to adolescents' capacity for intimacy. Eighty male Israeli adolescents were administered the two measures and reported on their impulsiveness during their senior year of high school. Four years later, at the end of their mandatory military service, they were interviewed regarding their capacity for intimacy, and they filled out questionnaires. State of mind with regard to attachment and attachment styles uniquely predicted capacity for romantic intimacy and affective relationships with friends. Impulsiveness interacted with attachment security (benefiting dismissing and avoidant participants, and hampering secure ones) in predicting romantic intimacy. The discussion underscores the distinctiveness and importance of different facets of attachment representations to close relationships with peers.