Failure to thrive: Risk for clinical disturbance of attachment?

This study tests the hypothesis that infants with failure to thrive (FTT) are at risk for a clinical disturbance of attachment (defined as a combination of: (1) nonautonomous caregiver state of mind with respect to attachment, measured by the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI); (2) nonbalanced caregiver representation of the infant, measured by the Working Model of the Child Interview (WMCI); (3) problematic play interactions; and (4) problematic feeding interactions). Participants were 57 infants (30 FTT, 27 non-FTT) and their primary caregivers, recruited from outpatient pediatric clinics. Caregivers were interviewed with AAI and WMCI and observed interacting with their infants during play and feeding. Results show that more infants with FTT than infants without FTT met some of the criteria for risk for a clinical disturbance of attachment —nonautonomous AAI and nonbalanced WMCI classifications, and less dyadic reciprocity during feeding. However, there were no group differences in play. Future directions for research are discussed.