Emerging criteria for the low-coherence cannot classify category

Abstract

As suggested by Main et al., to respond to the need for an adaptation of the existing Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) coding system, especially regarding the application to nonnormative samples, this study presents additional criteria that characterize the low-coherence cannot classify (CC) category. Three AAIs were selected from a sample of parents of maltreated children. All transcripts indicated a very low coherence, with no evidence of contradictory insecure discourse strategies. Moreover, global category descriptors were identified, together with specific indices of discourse characteristics and features that highlight the breakdown in reasoning and discourse experienced by the speakers. The aim of the study is to illustrate new criteria to identify and rate a low-coherence CC profile toward the operationalization of this pervasively unintegrated state of mind. Through the definition of additional criteria for low-coherence CC category, our study helps the AAI and its coding system be more flexible and effective when dealing with clinical samples.

The Role of Complex Trauma and Attachment Patterns in Intimate Partner Violence

“…More than the abnormal absorption and lapses of Ud subjects, the incoherence and conflicting strategies of CC subjects are likely the consequence of the activation of disorganized internal working models [IWMs; (Bowlby, 1969(Bowlby, , 1980] resulting from complex trauma (Liotti, 2004;Speranza et al, 2017). In the presence of disorganized IWMs, individuals may develop conflicting and chaotic representations of themselves and their relationships, confusing violence and love, abuse and intimacy (Meares, 2013).…”

An attachment perspective on the risk for psychosis: Clinical correlates and the predictive value of attachment patterns and mentalization

“…Moreover, a cannot classify (CC) classification is assigned to subjects who present a global breakdown in discourse, switching between two or more contradictory attachment strategies (Hesse, 1996). Finally, additional criteria (specifically indicated for a clinical sample) were recently proposed to detect the so-called cannot classify low-coherence category (CC low coherence; Speranza et al, 2017). This emerging category is assigned to subjects demonstrating very low coherence, with no evidence of contradictory insecure discourse strategies; this pattern indicates a pervasively and globally unintegrated state of mind that may arise from exceptionally harsh and traumatic childhood experiences.…”

Personality organization and maternal addiction: A structural-developmental psychodynamic contribution.

“…Unresolved and insecure attachment representations—characterized by emptiness, inconsistency, and fragmentation (Speranza, Nicolais, Maggiora Vergano, & Dazzi, 2017)—are indeed more common in mothers with SUDs than in those without SUDs (Bean et al, 1981; Isosävi et al, 2016; Sokolowski et al, 2007; Suchman, DeCoste, Rosenberger, & McMahon, 2012). It has been argued that the internalization of a negative attachment figure—a common consequence of early traumatic experiences—might lead to a learned fear of minds altogether (Fonagy & Bateman, 2008; Sweet, 2013).…”