Mothers’ Attachment Style Predicts Response to Child Distress: The Role of Maternal Emotions and Attributions

Gross, Jacquelyn T.; Stern, Jessica; Brett, Bonnie E.; Fitter, Megan H.; Cassidy, Jude

doi:10.1007/s10826-022-02517-5

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 66 publications

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“…The fact that romantic attachment anxiety was unrelated to changes in permissive discipline could suggest that attachment anxiety may be associated with changes in reactionary forms of discipline over time. Romantic attachment anxiety is typically associated with higher levels of negative emotional reactivity (Gross et al, 2023) which, in turn, is linked to power-assertive discipline directly following conflictual parent–child interactions (Holden, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hostile interparental conflict and parental discipline: Romantic attachment as a spillover mechanism.

Platts,

Sturge-Apple,

Davies

2024

Developmental Psychology

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This study examined parental romantic attachment security as a mediator of prospective associations between hostile interparental conflict and parental discipline (i.e., power-assertive, permissive, and inductive discipline) for mothers and fathers of young children. Furthermore, this study utilized a novel, automatic assessment of romantic attachment security in examining whether romantic attachment assessed at controlled (i.e., self-reported) and automatic (i.e., a rapid word-sorting task) levels of representation differentially serve as spillover mechanisms. Participants included 235 mothers (62% White), fathers (55% White), and a target child between the ages of 2 and 4 (Mage = 2.97; 55% girls) recruited from a moderate-sized metropolitan area in the Northeastern United States. Families were assessed annually across three waves of data collection. Results from autoregressive structural equation model analyses revealed that romantic attachment operated as spillover mechanism for mothers. In particular, hostile interparental conflict was associated with power-assertive discipline through changes in mothers’ automatic romantic attachment security. We also found that hostile interparental conflict was associated with inductive discipline through changes in mothers’ romantic attachment avoidance. Neither controlled nor automatic romantic attachment representations served as spillover mechanisms for fathers. Findings are discussed within family systems and attachment frameworks.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hostile interparental conflict and parental discipline: Romantic attachment as a spillover mechanism.

Platts,

Sturge-Apple,

Davies

2024

Developmental Psychology

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Maternal insecure attachment representation as a long-term risk factor for disrupted mother–child-interaction and child mental health

Rost,

Ziegenhain,

Fegert

et al. 2024

BMC Psychol

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Maternal childhood maltreatment (CM) represents an important factor in the transmission of trauma that may lead to impaired child mental health. Apart from childhood maltreatment insecure attachment has been identified as a risk factor for insensitive caregiving behavior, which may affect child's mental health. The aim of this study is to identify the working mechanisms in the relationship between maternal CM and child mental health, considering maternal attachment representation, mother–child-interaction und maternal helplessness and fear. N = 103 mother–child-dyads from a longitudinal cohort study were examined at four different measuring points. Data was assessed using self and external report questionnaires as well as the AMBIANCE scales during the Strange Situation Procedure and the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP). Maternal CM experience did not predict an insecure attachment representation (OR = 2.46 [0.98, 6.53], p = .060). Maternal insecure attachment was associated with higher AMBIANCE scores (F(8, 94) = 11.46, p < .001), which indicates more disrupted communication between mother and child. AMBIANCE scores in turn predicted higher self-perceived helplessness (F(9, 93) = 8.62, p < .001) and fear (F(9, 93) = 7.40, p < .001) in mothers. Helplessness and fear both were associated with higher SDQ-scores, indicating more mental health problems in children (F(10, 92) = 3.98, p < .001; F(10, 92) = 3.87, p < .001). The results of this study highlight how even insecure attachment in a low-risk sample has a long-term impact on parenting behavior and child mental health, therefore underlining the need of early intervention programs in affected and at-risk families.

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Mothers’ Attachment Style Predicts Response to Child Distress: The Role of Maternal Emotions and Attributions

Cited by 2 publications

References 66 publications

Hostile interparental conflict and parental discipline: Romantic attachment as a spillover mechanism.

Hostile interparental conflict and parental discipline: Romantic attachment as a spillover mechanism.

Maternal insecure attachment representation as a long-term risk factor for disrupted mother–child-interaction and child mental health

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