Attachment Security and Emotional Availability

Biringen, Zeynep; Harman, Jennifer J.; Saunders, Hannah; Emde, Robert N.

doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-2404-5.ch013

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The task of parenting as a TP can be extremely challenging. It is very difficult for TPs to be emotionally available to a child who is hostile or holds false beliefs about them (Biringen, Harman, Saunders, & Emde, 2017; Johnston, 2003). The result can inadvertently lead to parental behaviors that confirm what the child believes and can be used to justify or exacerbate their rejection of them (Stahl, 2004).…”

Section: Family Violencementioning

confidence: 99%

Parental alienating behaviors: An unacknowledged form of family violence.

Harman

Kruk

Hines

2018

Psychological Bulletin

Self Cite

106

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Despite affecting millions of families around the world, parental alienation has been largely unacknowledged or denied by legal and health professionals as a form of family violence. This complex form of aggression entails a parental figure engaging in the long-term use of a variety of aggressive behaviors to harm the relationship between their child and another parental figure, and/or to hurt the other parental figure directly because of their relationship with their child. Like other forms of family violence, parental alienation has serious and negative consequences for family members, yet victims are often blamed for their experience. In order to be recognized as a form of family violence and to secure protection for victims under law and social policies, a formal review and comparison of parental alienating behaviors and outcomes to child abuse and intimate partner violence has been sorely needed. The result of this review highlights how the societal denial of parental alienation has been like the historical social and political denial or other forms of abuse in many parts of the world (e.g., child abuse a century ago). Reframing parental alienating behaviors as a form of family violence also serves as a desperate call to action for social scientists to focus more theoretical and empirical attention to this topic. Public Significance StatementThis article presents parental alienating behaviors as a form of family violence with serious consequences for children and families. Professional recognition of parental alienation and the alienating behaviors that cause it is a necessary first step toward stimulating much needed research in this area and in the development and testing of effective clinical, educational, and legal interventions to prevent and mitigate the damaging effects of this form of family violence.

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Section: Family Violencementioning

confidence: 99%

Parental alienating behaviors: An unacknowledged form of family violence.

Harman

Kruk

Hines

2018

Psychological Bulletin

Self Cite

106

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Maternal sensitivity was assessed using the maternal sensitivity scale from the Emotional Availability Scales (EAS) at 6 months postpartum (Biringen, 2008). The EAS is an observational assessment designed to evaluate emotional availability by observing and rating parent–child interactions.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Major depression as a predictor of the intergenerational transmission of attachment security: Findings from a pregnancy cohort study

Galbally

Watson

Tharner

et al. 2021

Aust N Z J Psychiatry

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Objective: Understanding the relationship between attachment and mental health has an important role in informing management of perinatal mental disorders and for infant mental health. It has been suggested that experiences of attachment are transmitted from one generation to the next. Maternal sensitivity has been proposed as a mediator, although findings have not been as strong as hypothesised. A meta-analysis suggested that this intergenerational transmission of attachment may vary across populations with lower concordance between parent and infant attachment classifications in clinical compared to community samples. However, no previous study has examined major depression and adult attachment in pregnancy as predictors of infant–parent attachment classification at 12 months postpartum. Methods: Data were obtained on 52 first-time mothers recruited in early pregnancy, which included 22 women who met diagnostic criteria for current major depression using the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The Adult Attachment Interview was also administered before 20 weeks of pregnancy. A history of early trauma was measured using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and maternal sensitivity was measured at 6 months postpartum using the observational measure of the Emotional Availability Scales. Infant–parent attachment was measured using the Strange Situation Procedure at 12 months. Results: Overall, we found no significant association between the Adult Attachment Interview and the Strange Situation Procedure classifications. However, a combination of maternal non-autonomous attachment on the Adult Attachment Interview and major depression was a significant predictor of insecure attachment on the Strange Situation Procedure. We did not find that maternal sensitivity mediated parental and infant attachment security in this sample. Conclusion: While previous meta-analyses identified lower concordance in clinical samples, our findings suggest women with major depression and non-autonomous attachment have a greater concordance with insecure attachment on the Strange Situation Procedure. These findings can guide future research and suggest a focus on depression in pregnancy may be important for subsequent infant attachment.

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“…The Infant Motor Profile [IMP, ( 13 , 14 )], primary outcome measure of the RCT CareToy-R study, is a video-based assessment of motor behavior of infants. Peabody Developmental Motor Scales—Second Edition [PDMS-2, ( 15 , 16 )], Bayley Scales of Infant Development [BSID-III, ( 17 )] Cognitive subscale, standardized video-recordings of parent-infant interaction ( 18 , 19 ), Teller Acuity Cards® ( 20 ), and Actigraphic analysis [Motionlogger Microwatch, ( 21 )] were included as secondary measures. In addition, two questionnaires were administered to parents at all assessment times: BSID-III social-emotional scale ( 22 ) and Parenting stress index [PSI, ( 23 )].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feasibility Analysis of CareToy-Revised Early Intervention in Infants at High Risk for Cerebral Palsy

et al. 2020

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Infants with perinatal brain injury are at high risk for Cerebral Palsy (CP). Progresses in detection of early signs of brain injury and of CP allow early intervention (EI) programs for improving the outcome of these infants. CareToy system (CT), developed within a European project (Trial Registration: NCT01990183), allows providing, by means of tele-rehabilitation, a highly personalized, family-centered, home-based EI for young infants, remotely managed by clinicians. CareToy, already used with pre-terms without brain injury, has been adapted for high-risk infants in a project funded by the Italian Ministry of Health, and the CareToy-Revised (CareToy-R) has been realized (Trial registration: NCT03211533 and NCT03234959). Before assessing its efficacy, it was crucial to evaluate the acceptability, usability, and feasibility of CareToy-R EI. Nineteen high-risk infants with perinatal brain injury, aged 5.95 ± 2.13 months (range 3.12–10.78 months), carried out an 8-week training with CareToy-R at home, performing customized playful activities with their parents, tailored to their rehabilitative needs, remotely managed by clinicians. The feasibility of training and study procedures was assessed through criteria derived from literature; acceptability and usability have been analyzed from data about individual training and an ad hoc questionnaire. All CareToy-R trainings were planned by the clinical staff with a daily personalized use for each infant between 30 and 45 min (mean 34.37 min). The amount of executed training by the infants was very high (daily mean 30.30 min), with no differences related to infant age, sex, and gestational age. All the nine feasibility criteria were achieved, family compliance to the project was very good, data collection was completed and the CareToy-R system worked properly and easily for parents. The answers to the questionnaire had a total mean score of 84.49% and they ranged from a minimum of 81.05% (in “easy to use” area) to a maximum of 86.49% (“changes due to the training” area), with no differences related to nationality or familiarity with technology of the mothers. This study reports preliminary evidence to the feasibility of a home-based EI with CareToy-R system in infants at high risk for CP. Results of the RCT will provide data about the potential effectiveness of this approach.

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Attachment Security and Emotional Availability

Cited by 6 publications

References 40 publications

Parental alienating behaviors: An unacknowledged form of family violence.

Parental alienating behaviors: An unacknowledged form of family violence.

Major depression as a predictor of the intergenerational transmission of attachment security: Findings from a pregnancy cohort study

Feasibility Analysis of CareToy-Revised Early Intervention in Infants at High Risk for Cerebral Palsy

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