Associations Between First‐Time Expectant Women's Representations of Attachment and Their Physiological Reactivity to Infant Cry

Abstract

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.

Attachment and physiological reactivity to infant crying in young adulthood: Dissociation between experiential and physiological arousal in insecure adoptees

“…They found some evidence for parasympathetic withdrawal in women with relatively secure AAI classifications. Also, Ablow et al [1], who included simple and complex cry stimuli as an attachment-related stressor, found that RSA decreases in reaction to the cry stimuli were absent in insecure-dismissing women, a pattern of responding that is generally not indicative of efforts to soothe the infant [3,29].…”

“…Deactivating strategies during the AAI were associated with heightened skin conductance levels (SCLs) in reaction to negative attachment stimuli [1,18,34,55,56], whereas hyperactivation strategies were associated with increases in heart rate [55]. Using the ASA to assess attachment, Groh and Roisman [27] found that low scores on the ASA were uniquely linked to heightened electrodermal reactivity (SCL) in individuals listening to infant crying.…”

“…Based on their experiences with caregivers in (early) childhood and adolescence, individuals develop emotion regulation patterns that are shaped by the security of the relationship with their main attachment figures to cope with stressful situations without becoming too overwhelmed by negative emotions [8,19]. In recent studies, physiological measures have been used to index emotional responding and regulation, potentially broadening our understanding of variation in emotional reactivity as a function of attachment security (e.g., [1,27,48]). In the present study we tested whether young adults' attachment representations, as measured with secure base scripts in the Attachment Script Assessment (ASA; [70], also known in the literature as Secure Base Script), were related to their experiential and physiological arousal to emotional stimuli.…”

Aspetos psicofisiológicos da interação mãe/pai-bebé

“…Mais recentemente, os estudos conduzidos sobre a reactividade psicofisiológica parental aos bebés, têm tendencialmente optado por situações de interação face-a-face que, por um lado são mais próximas da realidade e, por outro lado, são potencialmente mais exigentes por implicarem uma resposta comportamental. Na generalidade, estes estudos têm mostram que a reactividade psicofisiológica materna em situações de interação depende não só do comportamento do bebé (Ham & Tronick, 2006) como também da psicopatologia parental (Oppenheimer, Measelle, Laurent, & Ablow, 2013) e do estilo de vinculação parental (Ablow, Marks, Feldman, & Huffman, 2013). De facto, num estudo conduzido com 12 mães e os seus bebés de 5 meses, Ham e Tronick (2006), avaliaram os padrões de arritmia sinusal respiratória (RSA), batimentos cardíacos e nível de condutância da pele durante a interação diádica seguindo o paradigma Face-to-Face Still-Face (FFSF), tendo verificado que a reactividade psicofisiologia das mães se encontra relacionada com as características comportamentais dos bebés, num efeito bidirecional entre a reactividade materna e a resposta comportamental do bebé ao desafio ambiental induzido durante o procedimento.…”

“…Estes padrões fisiológicos distintos entre mães deprimidas e não deprimidas podem explicar algumas das diferenças encontradas ao nível da adaptação e sensibilidade materna. Ablow et al (2013), num estudo que explora as reações fisiológicas de mães primíparas ao choro das crianças de acordo com o seu estilo de vinculação, observaram que mães com um estilo de vinculação inseguro apresentaram uma diminuição não só do RSA, como dos níveis de condutância da pele, consistente com respostas fisiológicas de inibição. No entanto, as mães com um estilo de vinculação seguro demonstram uma diminuição do RSA, consistente com as respostas fisiológicas de orientação e regulação.…”