Unresolved trauma in mothers: intergenerational effects and the role of reorganization

Abstract

A mother's unresolved trauma may interfere with her ability to sensitively respond to her infant, thus affecting the development of attachment in her own child, and potentially contributing to the intergenerational transmission of trauma. One novel construct within the Dynamic Maturational Model of Attachment and Adaptation (DMM) coding of the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) is “reorganization,” a process whereby speakers are actively changing their understanding of past and present experiences and moving toward attachment security. We conducted a study of mothers with unresolved trauma, exploring their own attachment classification, attachment outcomes of their children, and the potential effects of reorganization on child attachment. Forty-seven first-time mothers participated in the AAI during pregnancy, and returned with their child at 11 months to assess child attachment using the Strange Situation Procedure. Mothers with and without unresolved trauma were compared. We found that mothers with unresolved trauma had insecure attachment themselves and were more likely to have infants with insecure attachment. However, the one exception was that all of the mothers with unresolved trauma who were reorganizing toward secure attachment had infants with secure attachment. These preliminary findings suggest that mothers who are reorganizing may be able to more sensitively respond to their child's cues, contributing to the development of secure attachment. While our results need to be replicated in a larger cohort, this study is the first to explore the construct of reorganization and its potential relationship with child attachment. If confirmed in future studies, it may provide clinical insight into the intergenerational transmission of insecure attachment within the context of unresolved trauma.

Preventing intergenerational trauma transmission: A critical interpretive synthesis

“…It is important to note that despite significant evidence of the transmission of attachment styles across generations (both traumatic and nontraumatic), this transmission pathway may not always occur (Iyengar, Kim, Martinez, Fonagy, & Strathearn, ). Individuals can reorganise their attachments using a variety of methods via external and internally driven processes, as well as develop sustained relational security through resilience (Iyengar et al, ). Fostering and supporting these mechanisms may result in altering the transmission of attachment patterns and trauma across generations.…”

“…Developmental neuroplasticity is such that while early life experiences are mapped onto the structure and functioning of the brain, infant brains can also rebound from traumatic experiences, particularly if they experience stable, nurturing caregiving (Harden et al, ). While attachment is formed in early relationships, it is also influenced by later relationships or circumstances (Bowlby, ; Iyengar et al, ) and can be effectively “reorganised.” The reorganisation of attachment prior to parenting may result in significant alterations to the transmission of trauma through attachment relationships (Iyengar et al, ). This may occur during trauma therapy, but it also forms another potential component prevention approaches not explored here.…”

Can Attachment Inform Decision‐making in Child Protection and Forensic Settings?

“…Additional modifiers included intrusions of forbidden negative affect (i.e., sudden disinhibition of extreme inhibition of fear, anger, or desire for comfort attachment behavior) and expressed somatic signs (i.e., somatic states that disrupt strategic behavior). The DMM also identifies strategies that are in the process of change (i.e., reorganizing; Iyengar, Kim, Martinez, Fonagy, & Strathearn, ). If reorganizing markers in DMM attachment assessments, identified by clinicians and validated on a case‐by‐case basis, can be empirically validated in larger comparative studies, it will represent a significant advance for intervention research that has had only modest success in shifting insecure attachment (Bakermans‐Kranenburg, van IJzendoorn, & Juffer, , ; Mountain, Cahill, & Thorpe, ).…”

Early adverse experience and substance addiction: dopamine, oxytocin, and glucocorticoid pathways

“…Profound early deprivation, as was seen in Romanian institutional rearing, has been observed to lead to severe long‐term attachment disturbances and social deficits . The developmental literature is replete with decades of prospective longitudinal and cross‐sectional studies linking early trauma and/or disrupted attachment to long‐term social and attachment dysfunctions . There has been an increasing number of studies linking these social deficits to compromised OT functions …”

“…89,90 The developmental literature is replete with decades of prospective longitudinal and cross-sectional studies linking early trauma and/or disrupted attachment to long-term social and attachment dysfunctions. [91][92][93][94] There has been an increasing number of studies linking these social deficits to compromised OT functions. 57,95,96 Recent advances in neuroscience have revealed that there may be a significant overlap in the neurobiological mechanisms that underpin social attachment and addiction.…”