‘Adoption and attachment theory’ the attachment models of adoptive mothers and the revision of attachment patterns of their late-adopted children

Abstract

Our data suggest that revision of the attachment patterns in the late-adopted children is possible but gradual, and that the adoptive mothers' attachment security makes it more likely to occur.

A proposal for a brief-term post-adoption intervention in the attachment-perspective: a single case study with a late-adopted child and his adoptive mother

“…In the SRP, the child experiences two separations from the mother and two reunions with her, both of which are coded. The first separation lasts for 10-15 minutes, the second for approximately 45-60 minutes (Pace & Zavattini, 2011). The first coding comprises assigning scores on two scales: avoidance and security.…”

“…Globally adoption research, on the one hand, has pointed out that late-adopted children are at high risk for elevated rates of socio-emotional and behavioural difficulties, including insecure/disorganized attachment patterns and internalizing and externalizing behaviour problems; on the other hand, high resilience, capacity of recovery from early deprivation, ability to build positive representations of new caregivers, and earned attachment security emerged in adopted children and their adoptive families (Barone & Lionetti, 2012;Bimmel, Juffer, van IJzendoorn, & Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2003;Pace & Zavattini, 2011;Pace, Cavanna, Velotti, & Zavattini, 2014;. Recent longitudinal attachmentbased studies on adoption and maternal sensitivity showed that more sensitive parenting -in infancy middle childhood, and/or adolescence-predicted continuity of secure attachment of adopted children from infancy to adolescence, less inhibited and delinquent behaviours in adolescence and secure attachment representations in young adulthood (Beijersbergen, Juffer, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & van IJzendoorn, 2012;Pace, Di Folco, Guerriero, Santona, & Terrone, 2015a;Schoenmaker et al, 2015a; IJzendoorn, 2013;van der Voort et al, 2014).…”

Social work’s fingerprint on the evolution of attachment theory: Some essential knowledge for care practice

“…The prospect for attachment revision has been realised in this population, as earlier attested, by a growing body of research involving maltreated children who have been both fostered and adopted from State care (Dozier, Stovall, Albus, & Bates, 2001;Pace & Zavattini, 2011). Notable from these studies are the positive shifts found in a child's relational expectancies when placed with caregivers assessed as attachment secure (Pace & Zavattini, 2011;Steele et al, 2010).…”

“…A growing number of attachment researchers have found that the internal working model of a child's new caregivers, with respect to attachment, is an important element in the revision of the child's internal working model of relationships (Pace & Zavattini, 2011). Thus, care practice social workers need to pay close attention to relational facets in prospective caregivers' assessments as some literature suggests that practitioners struggle to understand the role attachment orientation plays in the care relationship (Bick & Dozier, 2008).…”

“…Notable from these studies are the positive shifts found in a child's relational expectancies when placed with caregivers assessed as attachment secure (Pace & Zavattini, 2011;Steele et al, 2010). Such adults are more likely to override the child's invitation for them to respond in kind, by not employing distancing strategies in the face of distress or responding angrily when the child makes persistent and demanding bids for proximity (Bick & Dozier, 2008).…”