Propensities towards absorption are related to lapses in the monitoring of reasoning or discourse during the Adult Attachment Interview

Abstract

Unresolved/disorganized (U) states of mind are identified in the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) through brief lapses in the monitoring of reasoning or discourse during the discussion of potentially traumatic experiences such as loss or abuse. These lapses have been hypothesized to indicate temporary alterations in normal states of consciousness. In parents, U attachment status predicts a pattern of infant behaviour that is associated with relatively unfavourable outcomes and has been found to be a risk factor for psychopathology in middle childhood and adolescence. In the present study (N = 140), unresolved subjects were found to be significantly elevated on Tellegens' Absorption Scale (TAS) when compared with subjects classified into the remaining adult attachment categories (secure; dismissing; preoccupied; and cannot classify). Additionally, the TAS was significantly correlated with AAI scale scores for lapses in monitoring of reasoning and/or discourse during the discussion of traumatic events. This study appears to provide the first behaviorally anchored correlate of the absorption construct outside of the domain of hypnosis. Some possible developmental origins of propensities towards absorption are discussed, including early abuse experiences and infant disorganized attachment.

Psychological distress in college-aged women: Links with unresolved/preoccupied attachment status and the mediating role of negative mood regulation expectancies

“…In the present study, 40% of the female participants were secure, and 30% were unresolved. Like Hesse and van IJzendoorn (1999), about 9% of the present sample was preoccupied.…”

“…In terms of attachment classi cation percentages, these data are similar to other AAI-based studies involving college students and adolescents. For example, Hesse and van IJzendoorn (1999), in a sample of 70 female college students, documented that approximately 40% of their participants were secure, while almost 30% were unresolved due to loss or trauma. In the present study, 40% of the female participants were secure, and 30% were unresolved.…”

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Questionnaire and Adult Attachment Interview (AAI): Implications for parent child relationships

“…This pattern of speech can also be seen as a failure of reality testing (Main et al, 2003). Although psychologically understandable, and perhaps inevitable in the immediate aftermath of trauma/loss experiences, speech patterns judged U have been validated against independent psychological measures of absorption and dissociation (Hesse & van IJzendoorn, 1999).…”

Use of the Adult Attachment Interview to measure process and change in psychotherapy

“…The criteria for identifying and scoring unresolved mourning in an AAI (Hesse, 1999(Hesse, , 2008Main et al, 2003Main et al, , 2008 include subtle and discrete markers of the ways that loss and trauma experiences may lead to persisting irrational beliefs, deep fears, and pronounced disturbances of behavior. Interestingly, absorption in the context of the AAI has been linked to independent measures of this construct (see Hesse & van IJzendoorn, 1999). Adults with AAIs Use of the AAI in psychotherapy 637 classified as ''unresolved'' have been shown to be especially prone to having infants who are disorganized/disoriented based on the Ainsworth strange situation assessment (Main & Solomon, 1990), with one probable mechanism of influence being frightened or frightening behavior by the caregiver toward the child (Main & Hesse, 1990;Schuengel, van IJzendoorn, Bakermans-Kranenburg, & Bloom, 1999).…”