Chapter III. Maternal Sensitivity, Child Functional Level, and Attachment in Down Syndrome

Atkinson, Leslie; Chisholm, Vivienne; Scott, Brian S.; Goldberg, Susan; Vaughn, Brian E.; Blackwell, Janis; Dickens, Susan E.; Tam, Frances

doi:10.1111/1540-5834.00033

Cited by 93 publications

(72 citation statements)

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“…Thus, our findings replicate and extend a substantial body of empirical evidence linking cognitive skill and attachment security in children with autism (Capps et al, 1994; Rogers et al, 1993, 1991; Willemsen-Swinkels et al, 2000), Down syndrome (Atkinson et al, 1999), and typically developing children (Main, 1983; Van IJzendoorn et al, 1995) and document these links longitudinally.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…Associations between autistic children’s language and social skills on the one hand and attachment security and maternal sensitivity on the other raise the issue of whether our measurement of these attachment-relevant constructs lacks discriminant validity in this population (Atkinson et al, 1999). With such concurrent associations, it could be argued that our measurement tools for evaluating attachment security and maternal sensitivity – via strange situation coding and maternal sensitivity ratings – are simply capturing level of functioning in ASD.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, associations between individual differences in quality of attachment and symbolic and cognitive abilities have been reported among samples of children with autism (e.g. Naber et al, 2008; Willemsen-Swinkels et al, 2000), typically developing children (see Van IJzendoorn, Dijkstra, & Bus, 1995 for a meta-analysis) and children with Down syndrome (Atkinson et al, 1999). We hypothesized that, compared to children with autism classified as organized insecure or disorganized, children classified as securely attached would have better language skills and that these group differences would persist through the 1-year follow-up.…”

Section: Current Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

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A short-term longitudinal study of correlates and sequelae of attachment security in autism

Rozga

Hesse

Main

et al. 2017

Attachment & Human Development

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In this short-term longitudinal study, 30 preschool-aged children with autism were first observed in Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Procedure and, separately, interacting with the primary caregiver in the home. One year later, each child completed both a developmental assessment and an observational assessment of empathic responding. Behaviors typical for children with autism were distinguished from behaviors suggestive of relationally based attachment disorganization. Forty-five percent of the children were classified as securely attached. The secure group demonstrated language skills superior to those of the insecurely attached group, concurrently and during the follow-up. Compared to parents of children who were insecurely attached, parents of securely attached children were rated as more sensitive. Compared to both organized insecure and disorganized children, secure children were rated as more responsive to an examiner’s apparent distress during the follow-up relative to their ratings at intake, whereas empathy ratings of children with insecure classifications did not increase. Importantly, attachment security was associated with empathy above and beyond the contribution of children’s language level. These results indicate that the sequelae of attachment security in autism may be similar to those documented for typically developing children.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Current Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

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A short-term longitudinal study of correlates and sequelae of attachment security in autism

Rozga

Hesse

Main

et al. 2017

Attachment & Human Development

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“…These difficulties may have a negative impact on the formation of infant attachment security. However, researchers have questioned the validity of the traditional measure of infant attachment security, the strange situation, for use with children with developmental delay (Atkinson et al, 1999;van IJzendoorn, Goldberg, Kroonenberg, & Frenkel, 1992;Vaughn et al, 1994). The attachment Q-set (AQS; Waters, 1986;Waters & Dean, 1985) } the other instrument considered a valid measure of infant attachment security (van IJzendoorn, Vereijken, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & Riksen-Walraven, 2004) } has proved difficult to code reliably (cf.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal sensitivity and behaviour problems in young children with developmental delay

Niccols

Feldman

2006

Infant and Child Development

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Children with developmental delay are at increased risk for behaviour problems, but little is known about risk and resilience factors. Previous research has established links between maternal sensitivity and behaviour problems in typically developing children, but no studies have examined maternal sensitivity in the development of behaviour problems in children with developmental delay. In this study, we coded videotaped interactions of 30 2-year-olds with developmental delay and their mothers using the maternal behaviour Q-sort and a child behaviour coding system. Mothers completed the child behaviour checklist when their children were 2 and 3 years old. Results revealed significant inverse relations between maternal sensitivity and concurrent and later externalizing problems, and significant positive relations between maternal sensitivity and concurrent observed appropriate behaviour (compliance and social engagement). This study informs developmental theory and identifies an important maternal variable that may reduce the risk of behaviour problems in children with developmental delay.

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“…Very few studies have examined the relationship between caregiver sensitivity and infant attachment security in dyads with infants with developmental delay, but the existing research suggests that the risk of insecure attachment for these children may be related to caregiver responsiveness (Lederberg & Mobley, 1990;Wasserman, Lennon, Allen, & Shilansky, 1987). In a longitudinal study of children with Down syndrome, Atkinson and his colleagues found that maternal coping style and affective distress interact to influence maternal sensitivity (Atkinson et al, 1995), and that maternal sensitivity and child cognitive level interact to predict attachment security (Atkinson et al 1999 (1995) found that the most effective were short-term behavioral approaches rather than longer-term, intensive psychotherapeutic approaches. The meta-analysis included studies involving a variety of at-risk samples, but none involved parents of infants with developmental delay.…”

Section: The Importance Of Infant Attachment Securitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Parent Training in Groups: Pilot Study with Parents of Infants with Developmental Delay

Niccols

Mohamed

2000

Journal of Early Intervention

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This paper describes an innovative 8-week parent-child interaction skills training group for parents of infants with developmental delay. We developed the "Skill Building Group" within an attachment theory framework. Parents actively learned skills in sensitive responding to infant cues through small and large group discussion of video segments of common parenting challenges, homework assignments, and peer support. We conducted a pilot study comparing 12 participants and 5 controls on several self-report pre-test/post-test measures. Results for the intervention group indicated decreases in dysfunctional parent-child interaction, parental distress, sadnessldepression, and follow-up service utilization, and high levels of consumer satisfaction. For the comparison group, pre-post differences were not significant.

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Chapter III. Maternal Sensitivity, Child Functional Level, and Attachment in Down Syndrome

Cited by 93 publications

References 0 publications

A short-term longitudinal study of correlates and sequelae of attachment security in autism

A short-term longitudinal study of correlates and sequelae of attachment security in autism

Maternal sensitivity and behaviour problems in young children with developmental delay

Parent Training in Groups: Pilot Study with Parents of Infants with Developmental Delay

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