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Avoidant attachment transmission to offspring in families with a depressed parent
Abstract
Background:
Insecure attachment is associated with mental health morbidity. We explored associations between parent and offspring attachment style in a longitudinal study of families with a depressed parent.
Methods:
Parents (N = 169) with a DSM-IV mood disorder and their adult offspring (N = 267), completed the Adult Attachment Questionnaire at one or more time points during up to 9.7 years of follow-up. Linear mixed effects models explored associations between parent and offspring anxious and avoidant attachment scores. Residualized models accounted for parent and offspring depression severity.
Results:
Avoidant attachment scores were associated between parents and offspring with (p = .034) and without (p = .012) adjustment for baseline age and sex of parent and offspring. Depressed father-offspring relationships showed more avoidant attachment in offspring compared to depressed mother-offspring pairs (p = .010). After accounting for depression severity, parent average residualized avoidant attachment scores did not significantly correlate with those of offspring (unadjusted p = .052; adjusted p = .085), though the effect sizes did not change substantially, and 75 % of the correlation was retained. Parent-son relationships exhibited stronger avoidant attachment correlations compared to parent-daughter pairs (p = .048).
Limitations:
Small sub-sample of fathers, parent and offspring assessments not always completed at the same time, and use of a self-report attachment style instrument.
Conclusions:
Familial transmission of insecure avoidant attachment, a risk factor for negative mental health outcomes, merits research as a potential treatment target. In this preliminary study, its transmission to offspring seemed mostly independent of depression. Depressed fathers and their sons may deserve focus to reduce insecure avoidant attachment and improve clinical course.
... Therefore, it might be necessary to understand the presence of other variables involved in the formation of attachment. Considering the characteristics of the sample and our findings, the association between the parent's mood disorder, their avoidant attachment style, and the transmission to their offspring (Tumasian III et al., 2023) could help to understand the attachment style found. Turmassian et al. found an association in the relationship between father and son; however, they also noted that more research is required. ...
Background: Workplace bullying constitutes a negative interaction, that owing to its frequency and duration, leads targets to an inferior position, having several effects on the targets. Personality interacts with workplace factors in the development of aggression, appearing in some cases as vulnerability, which is expressed in perceptions and behavior and in some cases in coping with rumination. Objectives: This study, on the one hand, aimed to detect the presence of not only the antecedents of such vulnerability but also the protective factors in the personal history of people who experience workplace bullying. On the other hand, it aimed to understand how workplace bullying activates the said vulnerability, so that the association between the antecedents and their effects could be determined. Methods: The study sample consisted of 108 people who had reported being victims of workplace bullying. Most of them were of Spanish origin (84%); women comprised 78% of the study participants, and the average age of this group was 47 years (SD = 9.07). Correlations, hierarchical regressions, multiple mediations, and a moderated mediation model were used to determine the said association, as well as its indirect effects. The results described a relation between antecedents and effects. Maternal cognition predicts memory recall. A high attainment level constitutes a protective factor from psychological discomfort in targets of workplace bullying. Implications: Promoting access to education and the search for elevation attainment, especially in women, will enhance executive function and act as a preventive measure for psychological discomfort.
Mood disorders like depression, bipolar disorder are some of the chronic mental health conditions. Depression is characterized by feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness and helplessness for a period of at least two weeks. Bipolar disorder is a condition characterized by unpredictable episodes of mania (excitement, irritability, aggressiveness) and depression (lethargic, inactivity, fatigue). Growing up with a parent suffering from a mood disorder is a challenge, since the moods of the parent are unpredictable and it can adversely affect the psychological wellbeing and overall development of the offspring. The objective of the study is to understand the life experiences of the offspring living with parents suffering from mood disorders, their ability to cope with the situations, and being kind and compassionate to oneself and to their parents. The study also strives to understand how these individuals are able to forgive the adverse events and hurt they experience. A phenomenological approach was used where four participants who are the offspring of mood disorder patients, were selected by purposive sampling. A semi-structured interview was conducted with the participants and their responses were recorded and analysed using thematic analysis. Twelve themes were extracted from the data collected: 1. Struggles of mood disorder patients, 2. Characteristics of mood disorders-bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder, 3. Relationship with the parent, 4. Perceived social support and family support, 5. Self-perception, 6. Negative experiences and coping, 7. Values and challenges in life, 8. Forgiveness 9. Responsibility towards parent, 10. Empathy 11. Karma and 12. Gratitude. This research paper extensively discusses the identified themes during the process of research and elaborates on the experiences of the offspring whose parents suffer from mood disorders. The paper also suggests future directions for further research in the area and its limitations and recommendations have also been discussed.
Background
Parent mental health and wellbeing may have implications for understanding attachment transmission. In this systematic review, we synthesise the published literature to determine the nature of the relationship between parent mental health and wellbeing and the intergenerational transmission of attachment and to provide recommendations for future research, clinical practice and intervention.
Method
Using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) approach, five electronic databases were searched for peer-reviewed empirical studies, published in English. Articles were considered for inclusion if data was collected on adult attachment, child attachment, and a domain of parent mental health/wellbeing. No date parameters were applied to the search strategy. The review was registered with PROPSERO (registration number: CRD42020157247).
Results
Eleven studies examining the impact on parent mental health and wellbeing on the intergenerational transmission of attachment were identified for inclusion in this review. Our review found preliminary evidence that parent mental health and wellbeing play a role in the intergenerational transmission of attachment. Other key findings from the review were: evidence quality is mixed due to variable measurement of attachment and mental health; studies have mostly included correlational analysis or do not utilise contemporary methodological approaches to testing mediating or moderating relationships; and literature is largely focused on psychopathology and negative factors of mental health.
Conclusions
The limited scope of parent mental health and wellbeing constructs examined in the literature, the sparse use of robust statistical analyses, and the lack of literature in general makes it difficult to draw conclusions on how and why parent mental health impacts attachment transmission. Addressing these limitations will further progress attachment-related literature and may have particular implications for attachment-informed interventions with clinical populations.
Men who do not seek help for mental health problems may experience unnecessary suffering which ultimately affects the well-being of themselves and others. Gendered manifestations of depressive symptoms may play an important role in why some men do not seek help for mental health issues. Using data from 2,382 male respondents in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, the authors examined the relationship that both traditional and male-typical symptoms of depression had on the help-seeking behaviors of men. Traditional symptoms increased the odds of seeking help for depression for all men. Male-typical symptoms, however, did not increase the odds of seeking help for depression or another mental health concern. Both traditional and male-typical symptoms increased the odds of initially seeking help from a medical provider, and men with male-typical symptoms had an overall higher likelihood of seeking help from a medical provider. Consequently, it is important that medical professionals assess for depression even when it is not a presenting concern.
Twenty years ago, meta-analytic results (k = 19) confirmed the association between caregiver attachment representations and child-caregiver attachment (Van IJzendoorn, 1995). A test of caregiver sensitivity as the mechanism behind this intergenerational transmission showed an intriguing "transmission gap." Since then, the intergenerational transmission of attachment and the transmission gap have been studied extensively, and now extend to diverse populations from all over the globe. Two decades later, the current review revisited the effect sizes of intergenerational transmission, the heterogeneity of the transmission effects, and the size of the transmission gap. Analyses were carried out with a total of 95 samples (total N = 4,819). All analyses confirmed intergenerational transmission of attachment, with larger effect sizes for secure-autonomous transmission (r = .31) than for unresolved transmission (r = .21), albeit with significantly smaller effect sizes than 2 decades earlier (r = .47 and r = .31, respectively). Effect sizes were moderated by risk status of the sample, biological relatedness of child-caregiver dyads, and age of the children. Multivariate moderator analyses showed that unpublished and more recent studies had smaller effect sizes than published and older studies. Path analyses showed that the transmission could not be fully explained by caregiver sensitivity, with more recent studies narrowing but not bridging the "transmission gap." Implications for attachment theory as well as future directions for research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record
Suicide attempts are strong predictors of suicide, a leading cause of adolescent mortality. Suicide attempts are highly familial, although the mechanisms of familial transmission are not understood. Better delineation of these mechanisms could help frame potential targets for prevention.
To examine the mechanisms and pathways by which suicidal behavior is transmitted from parent to child.
In this prospective study conducted from July 15, 1997, through June 21, 2012, a total of 701 offspring aged 10 to 50 years (mean age, 17.7 years) of 334 clinically referred probands with mood disorders, 191 (57.2%) of whom had also made a suicide attempt, were followed up for a mean of 5.6 years.
The primary outcome was a suicide attempt. Variables were examined at baseline, intermediate time points, and the time point proximal to the attempt. Participants were assessed by structured psychiatric assessments and self-report and by interview measures of domains hypothesized to be related to familial transmission (eg, mood disorder and impulsive aggression).
Among the 701 offspring, 44 (6.3%) had made a suicide attempt before participating in the study, and 29 (4.1%) made an attempt during study follow-up. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that proband suicide attempt was a predictor of offspring suicide attempt (odds ratio [OR], 4.79; 95% CI, 1.75-13.07), even controlling for other salient offspring variables: baseline history of mood disorder (OR, 4.20; 95% CI, 1.37-12.86), baseline history of suicide attempt (OR, 5.69; 95% CI, 1.94-16.74), and mood disorder at the time point before the attempt (OR, 11.32; 95% CI, 2.29-56.00). Path analyses were consistent with these findings, revealing a direct effect of proband attempt on offspring suicide attempt, a strong effect of offspring mood disorder at each time point, and impulsive aggression as a precursor of mood disorder.
Parental history of a suicide attempt conveys a nearly 5-fold increased odds of suicide attempt in offspring at risk for mood disorder, even after adjusting for the familial transmission of mood disorder. Interventions that target mood disorder and impulsive aggression in high-risk offspring may attenuate the familial transmission of suicidal behavior.
Objective:
To investigate relationships of depressed parents' attachment style to offspring suicidal behavior.
Method:
244 parents diagnosed with a DSM-IV depressive episode completed the Adult Attachment Questionnaire at study entry. Baseline and yearly follow-up interviews of their 488 offspring tracked suicidal behavior and psychopathology. Survival analysis and marginal regression models with correlated errors for siblings investigated the relationship between parent insecure attachment traits and offspring characteristics. Data analyzed were collected 1992-2008 during a longitudinal family study completed January 31, 2014.
Results:
Parental avoidant attachment predicted offspring suicide attempts at a trend level (P = .083). Parental anxious attachment did not predict offspring attempts (P = .961). In secondary analyses, anxious attachment in parents was associated with offspring impulsivity (P = .034) and, in offspring suicide attempters, was associated with greater intent (P = .045) and lethality of attempts (P = .003). Avoidant attachment in parents was associated with offspring impulsivity (P = .025) and major depressive disorder (P = .012). Parental avoidant attachment predicted a greater number of suicide attempts (P = .048) and greater intent in offspring attempters (P = .003). Results were comparable after adjusting for parent diagnosis of borderline personality disorder.
Conclusions:
Insecure avoidant, but not anxious, attachment in depressed parents may predict offspring suicide attempt. Insecure parental attachment traits were associated with impulsivity and major depressive disorder in all offspring and with more severe suicidal behavior in offspring attempters. Insecure parental attachment merits further study as a potential target to reduce risk of offspring psychopathology and more severe suicidal behavior.
For decades, attachment scholars have been investigating how parents' adult attachment orientations relate to the ways in which they parent. Traditionally, this research has been conducted by developmental and clinical psychologists who typically employ the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) to measure adult attachment. However, dating back to the mid-1990s, social and personality psychologists have been investigating how self-reported adult attachment styles relate to various facets of parenting. The literature on self-reported attachment and parenting has received less attention than AAI research on the same topic and, to date, there is no comprehensive review of this literature. In this article, we review more than 60 studies of the links between self-reported attachment styles and parenting, integrate the findings to reach general conclusions, discuss unresolved questions, and suggest future directions. Finally, we discuss the potential benefits to the study of parenting of collaborations among researchers from the developmental and social attachment research traditions.
We examined intergenerational transmission of attachment organization in the context of adult romantic relationships. Similarities and differences in adult attachment style between young female adults and their parents were investigated. Results generally supported the hypothesis that mothers’ adult attachment organization, but not fathers’, is related to daughters’ adult attachment organization. This relationship was detected at both categorical and dimensional levels. The Avoidance dimension of the Experiences in Close Relationships Questionnaire, which reflects the degree of discomfort with physical and emotional closeness in romantic relationships, was the strongest predictor of daughters’ attachment organization. Mothers’ Avoidance predicted daughters’ Avoidance. Mothers high in Avoidance were also more likely to be divorced, separated, or unmarried.
Examined the impact of secure, anxious, and avoidant attachment styles on romantic relationships in a longitudinal study involving 144 dating couples. For both men and women, the secure attachment style was associated with greater relationship interdependence, commitment, trust, and satisfaction than were the anxious or avoidant attachment styles. The anxious and avoidant styles were associated with less frequent positive emotions and more frequent negative emotions in the relationship, whereas the reverse was true of the secure style. 6-mo follow-up interviews revealed that, among those individuals who disbanded, avoidant men experienced significantly less post-dissolution emotional distress than did other people. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Maternal mental health and the contents of her representational world are important determinants of early parent–child relationship. We examined, first, the role of prenatal and postnatal depressive symptoms and maternal attachment style in predicting the quality of mother–child interaction. Second, we analysed whether the secure-autonomous attachment style can protect the dyadic interaction from the negative effects of maternal depression. The participants were 59 mother–infant pairs examined during pregnancy (T1), 4–5 months postpartum (T2) and when the children were approximately 14 months old (T3). Maternal attachment style was assessed with a modified Adult Attachment Interview -procedure, depressive symptoms with Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and observed mother–child interaction with Care Index. The results show that autonomous mothers were more sensitive and responsive and their children more co-operative than dyads with dismissing maternal attachment style. As hypothesized, mothers with the combination of both prenatal and postpartum depressive symptoms were highly unresponsive in their dyadic interaction. Further, prenatal depressive symptoms had a stronger impact on maternal unresponsiveness than postnatal symptoms. As hypothesized, mother's autonomous attachment style protected the mother–child interaction from the negative impact of maternal postnatal depressive symptoms, whereas dyads with preoccupied mothers were especially at risk for interaction problems when mothers had postpartum depressive symptoms. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The twentieth century has been characterized by four important social trends that have fundamentally changed the social cultural context in which children develop: women's increased labor force participation, increased absence of nonresidential fathers in the lives of their children, increased involvement of fathers in intact families, and increased cultural diversity in the U.S.. In this essay, we discuss how these trends are changing the nature of father involvement and family life, and in turn affecting children's and fathers' developmental trajectories. We end with an eye toward the twenty-first century by examining how the children of today will construct their expectations about the roles of fathers and mothers as they become the parents of tomorrow. This life-span approach to fatherhood considers the broader sociohistorical context in which fatherhood develops, and emphasizes the urgent need to consider mothers, fathers, and family structure in future research as we seek to understand and model the effects of parenting on children's development.
Prior research has established a link between negative early parent–child relationships and cognitive styles related to risk for depression. In attempting to explain this association, several theorists have proposed that attachment insecurity may play a key mediating role. The present study examined the relationships between adolescents perceptions of their primary caregivers and negative cognitive styles (i.e., low self-esteem, dysfunctional attitudes, and a negative attributional style), and tested whether these relations were mediated by attachment insecurity. Results from 134 high-school students suggested that adverse parenting tends to have a more negative effect on cognitive style among girls compared to boys and that the association between parenting and cognitive style is largely mediated by attachment insecurity. Adolescents who perceive their parents as critical and perfectionistic tend to report insecure attachment styles characterized by difficulties getting close to others and fears about abandonment, and in turn, these dimensions of attachment insecurity appear to contribute to low self-esteem, dysfunctional attitudes and a negative attributional style.
We investigated the influence of self-reported parental romantic attachment status and rearing behaviors on children’s self-reported
attachment (in)security towards father and mother in a sample of 237 non-clinical children aged 9–12. All children and their
parents completed a single-item measure of attachment style. The parents further completed an index of their authoritative,
authoritarian, and permissive rearing behaviors. Results showed that the attachment status of the father was significantly
related to the child’s attachment style to the father. Further, children who portray themselves as insecurely attached to
their fathers have fathers with lower average authoritative scores compared to children who are securely attached to their
fathers. In examining the relative contribution of attachment style and rearing behaviors of the parents, insecure attachment
status of the father was still significantly related to insecure attachment style of the child but the effect of authoritative
rearing behaviors of the father on attachment (in)security of children was not statistically significant anymore. Altogether,
these results support the notion that attachment status of the father was most substantially associated with self-reported
insecure attachment of children.
This article presents the first meta-analysis of sex differences in the avoidance and anxiety dimensions of adult romantic attachment, based on 113 samples (N = 66,132) from 100 studies employing two-dimensional romantic attachment questionnaires (Experiences in Close Relationships, Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised, and Adult Attachment Questionnaire). Overall, males showed higher avoidance and lower anxiety than females, with substantial between-study heterogeneity. Sex differences were much larger in community samples (bivariate D = .28) than in college samples (D = .12); web-based studies showed the smallest sex differences (D = .07) in the opposite direction. Sex differences also varied across geographic regions (overall Ds = .10 to .34). Sex differences in anxiety peaked in young adulthood, whereas those in avoidance increased through the life course. The relevance of these findings for evolutionary models of romantic attachment is discussed, and possible factors leading to underestimation of sex differences are reviewed.
Objective:
Over the past 25 years, attachment research has extended beyond infant-parent bonds to examine dyadic relationships in children, adolescents, and adults. Attachment has been shown to influence a wide array of biopsychosocial phenomena, including social functioning, coping, stress response, psychological well-being, health behavior, and morbidity, and has thus emerged as an important focus of psychosomatic research. This article reviews the measurement of adult attachment, highlighting instruments of relevance to-or with potential use in-psychosomatic research.
Methods:
Following a literature search of articles that were related to the scales and measurement methods of attachment in adult populations, 29 instruments were examined with respect to their utility for psychosomatic researchers.
Results:
Validity, reliability, and feasibility were tabulated on 29 instruments. Eleven of the instruments with strong psychometric properties, wide use, or use in psychosomatic research are described. These include the following: Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, and Main); Adult Attachment Projective (George and West); Adult Attachment Questionnaire (Simpson, Rholes, and Phillips); Adult Attachment Scale (and Revised Adult Attachment Scale) (Collins and Read); Attachment Style Questionnaire (Feeney); Current Relationship Interview (Crowell and Owens); Experiences in Close Relationships (Brennan, Clark, and Shaver) and Revised Experiences in Close Relationships (Fraley, Waller, and Brennan); Parental Bonding Instrument (Parker, Tupling, and Brown); Reciprocal Attachment Questionnaire (West and Sheldon-Keller); Relationship Questionnaire (Bartholomew and Horowitz); and Relationship Scales Questionnaire (Grifiin and Bartholomew).
Conclusion:
In addition to reliability and validity, investigators need to consider relationship focus, attachment constructs, dimensions or categories of interest, and the time required for training, administration, and scoring. Further considerations regarding attachment measurement in the context of psychosomatic research are discussed.
This study extends the existing adult literature on insecure attachment as a predictor of depression and anxiety by examining these pathways in a sample of adolescents. In addition, dysfunctional attitudes and low self-esteem were tested as mediators of the association between insecure attachment and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Youth (N = 350; 6th-10th graders) completed self-report measures of attachment, dysfunctional attitudes, self-esteem, and symptoms of depression and anxiety in a 4-wave prospective study. Results indicate that anxious and avoidant attachment each predicted changes in both depression and anxiety (after controlling for initial symptom levels). The association between anxious attachment, but not avoidant attachment, and later internalizing symptoms was mediated by dysfunctional attitudes and low self-esteem. Effects remained even after controlling for initial co-occurring symptoms.
About a decade ago, the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; C. George, N. Kaplan, & M. Main, 1985) was developed to explore parents' mental representations of attachment as manifested in language during discourse of childhood experiences. The AAI was intended to predict the quality of the infant-parent attachment relationship, as observed in the Ainsworth Strange Situation, and to predict parents' responsiveness to their infants' attachment signals. The current meta-analysis examined the available evidence with respect to these predictive validity issues. In regard to the 1st issue, the 18 available samples (N = 854) showed a combined effect size of 1.06 in the expected direction for the secure vs. insecure split. For a portion of the studies, the percentage of correspondence between parents' mental representation of attachment and infants' attachment security could be computed (the resulting percentage was 75%; kappa = .49, n = 661). Concerning the 2nd issue, the 10 samples (N = 389) that were retrieved showed a combined effect size of .72 in the expected direction. According to conventional criteria, the effect sizes are large. It was concluded that although the predictive validity of the AAI is a replicated fact, there is only partial knowledge of how attachment representations are transmitted (the transmission gap).
Attachment research has traditionally focused on individual differences in global patterns of attachment to important others. The current research instead focuses primarily on within-person variability in attachments across relational partners. It was predicted that within-person variability would be substantial, even among primary attachment figures of mother, father, romantic partner, and best friend. The prediction was supported in three studies. Furthermore, in line with self-determination theory, multilevel modeling and regression analyses showed that, at the relationship level, individuals' experience of fulfillment of the basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness positively predicted overall attachment security, model of self, and model of other. Relations of both attachment and need satisfaction to well-being were also explored.
Risk for depression and other disorders is known to be high among children of depressed mothers, but little is known about the parameters of severity, chronicity, and timing of depression and its effects on children. The study addresses these issues, disaggregating their overlapping effects.
A sample of 816 women and their 15-year-old children in an Australian community were selected from a large birth cohort study to represent variation in maternal depression history during the child's first 10 years of life. Quantification of maternal depression severity and duration, and dates of occurrence, permitted analyses of youth depression and nondepressive disorders as a function of relative severity, chronicity, and timing of maternal depression.
Diagnosable depression in children as old as 15 years was twice as likely among offspring of depressed, as compared with never-depressed mothers. After controls for demographic factors, severity of maternal depression contributed more to children's risk for depression than did chronicity. Children exposed even to 1 to 2 months of maternal major depression, or to more than 12 months of mild depression had elevated risks of depression; however, chronicity of maternal depression was associated more with nondepressive outcomes than was severity. Timing of exposure did not differentially predict risk for the disorder in children when separated from confounding chronicity and severity parameters.
Even relatively brief maternal major depression, but more prolonged mild depression, predicted children's risk for depressive disorders by age 15 years in a community sample. Nondepressive outcomes were more complex to predict, which was due in part to difficulty dating disorder onset in relation to maternal depression. Exposure to maternal depression at any period in the first 10 years equally predicted youth depression if the mother was depressed only once. Further studies are needed to shed light on the mechanisms by which maternal depression has its effects.
The Vulnerable Attachment Style Questionnaire (VASQ) was developed to provide a brief self-report tool to assess adult attachment style in relation to depression and validated against an existing investigator-based interview (Attachment Style Interview--ASI). This paper describes the development and scoring of the VASQ and its relationship to poor support and major depression.
Items for the VASQ reflected behaviours, emotions and attitudes relating to attachment relationship style, drawn directly from the ASI. The VASQ was validated against the ASI for 262 community-based subjects. Test-retest was determined on 38 subjects.
Factor analysis derived two factors, labelled 'insecurity' and 'proximity-seeking'. The VASQ insecurity dimension had highest mean scores for those with interview-based Angry-dismissive and Fearful styles and was significantly correlated with degree of interview-based insecurity. The proximity-seeking VASQ scores had highest mean for those with Enmeshed interview attachment style and was uncorrelated with ASI insecurity. VASQ scores were highly correlated with a well-known self-report measure of insecure attachment (Relationship Questionnaire) and text-retest reliability of the VASQ was satisfactory. The total VASQ score and the insecurity subscale proved highly related to poor support and to depressive disorder. This was not the case for the proximity-seeking subscale.
The VASQ is a brief self-report measure that distinguishes individuals with attachment styles vulnerable for depressive disorder. The use of the measure for screening in research and clinical contexts is discussed.
The present study investigates stability of adult attachment style and concurrent covariation between attachment security and coping and well-being within a 6-year longitudinal-sequential study, with a sample ranging from late adolescence to late adulthood. The findings indicate that attachment style was relatively stable over the six-year period; nevertheless, it was characterized more by fluidity than by stability. Fluctuation in attachment security showed a negative concurrent covariation with defensive coping and depressive symptoms, but a positive covariation with integrative coping and self-perceived well-being. At any point when participants were better copers and reported a better state of well-being (than their own average baseline), they were also more secure (than their own average baseline). An age effect in attachment change was also found. Over time, older individuals became more secure and more dismissing, but less preoccupied than young people.
This meta‐analytic study examined the associations between child‐father attachment in early childhood and children's externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. Based on 15 samples (N = 1,304 dyads), the association between child‐father attachment insecurity and externalizing behaviors was significant and moderate in magnitude (r = 0.18, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.27 or d = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.20, 0.55). No moderators of this association were identified. Based on 12 samples (N = 1,073), the association between child‐father attachment insecurity and internalizing behaviors was also significant, albeit smaller in magnitude (r = 0.09, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.15; or d = 0.17, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.31). Between‐study heterogeneity was insufficient to consider moderators. When compared to the effect sizes of prior meta‐analyses on child‐mother attachment and behavior problems, the quality of the attachment relationship with fathers yields a similar magnitude of associations to children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Results support the need to consider the role of the attachment network, which notably includes attachment relationships to both fathers and mothers, to understand how attachment relationships contribute to child development.
Although fathers actively provide infant care and support to their partners in modern societies, data on fathers' difficulties and mental health problems is still limited. This study examined paternal postpartum depression and its adverse impact on infants, and the possible mediating role of father-infant attachment in the link between fathers' depressive symptoms and infants' outcomes. Pregnant women and their partners were recruited from the antenatal clinics of two public hospitals in Hong Kong. Information about paternal and maternal depression, paternal-infant attachment, and infant development were collected at antenatal period, 6 weeks and 6 months postpartum. Linear regression was employed to examine risk factors for paternal depression symptoms, and mediation analysis was used to examine the mediating mechanisms. 121 couples joined the longitudinal study and completed all the assessments. Paternal postpartum depression was associated with fathers' prenatal depression symptoms, and mothers' postpartum depression symptoms. Fathers with postpartum depression symptoms experienced reduced paternal-infant attachment, which also acted as mediators between postpartum depression in fathers and adverse infants' social and overall development. Effective assessment and interventions targeted at preventing or identifying and reducing paternal postpartum depression and improving father-infant relationship would help to lower the risk of infant disorders and poor development. Strategies improving the fathers' mental health during antenatal period and their partner's psychosocial well-being may also help to reduce paternal postpartum depression.
Attachment theory has been proposed as one explanation for the relationship between childhood maltreatment and problematic mental and physical health outcomes in adulthood. This study seeks to determine whether: (1) childhood physical abuse and neglect lead to different attachment styles in adulthood, (2) adult attachment styles predict subsequent mental and physical health outcomes, and (3) adult attachment styles mediate the relationship between childhood physical abuse and neglect and mental and physical health outcomes. Children with documented cases of physical abuse and neglect (ages 0–11) were matched with children without these histories and followed up in adulthood. Adult attachment style was assessed at mean age 39.5 and outcomes at 41.1. Separate path models examined mental and physical health outcomes. Individuals with histories of childhood neglect and physical abuse had higher levels of anxious attachment style in adulthood, whereas neglect predicted avoidant attachment as well. Both adult attachment styles (anxious and avoidant) predicted mental health outcomes (higher levels of anxiety and depression and lower levels of self-esteem), whereas only anxious adult attachment style predicted higher levels of allostatic load. Path analyses revealed that anxious attachment style in adulthood in part explained the relationship between childhood neglect and physical abuse to depression, anxiety, and self-esteem, but not the relationship to allostatic load. Childhood neglect and physical abuse have lasting effects on adult attachment styles and anxious and avoidant adult attachment styles contribute to understanding the negative mental health consequences of childhood neglect and physical abuse 30 years later in adulthood.
Espagnol :
La afectividad del progenitor (del progenitor hacia el infante) y la alianza de crianza se definen como dos componentes importantes del reajuste sico-afectivo al papel de ser progenitor. Este estudio se propuso como meta construir un modelo de predicción de la afectividad del progenitor y la alianza de crianza para mamás y papás usando PLS-SEM. Específicamente, teníamos interés en evaluar cómo la afectividad romántica entre adultos, la calidad de la relación marital y la ansiedad sicológica influían en la afectividad del progenitor (del progenitor al infante) y en la alianza de crianza. Cuarenta parejas heterosexuales completaron cuestionarios durante el tercer trimestre del embarazo y dos meses después del nacimiento del niño. Los resultados mostraron que la afectividad romántica entre adultos, la calidad de la relación marital y la ansiedad sicológica eran factores determinantes importantes de la afectividad del progenitor y la alianza de crianza en el período antenatal a pesar de que tales factores se comportaron diferentemente en el caso de las mamás y los papás. De manera que, por tanto, se propusieron modelos de predicción diferentes para mamás y papás. La afectividad de las mamás hacia el niño estuvo influida por factores internos como las dimensiones de la afectividad entre adultos, mientras que para los papás tal afectividad también dependía de la afectividad antenatal de las mamás hacia el niño y de la calidad de la relación marital. Con respecto a la alianza de crianza, tanto las mamás como los papás dependían de las variables propias y de las de su pareja. Las variables antenatales son importantes por lo que ocurre durante la transición al ser papá o mamá en términos de reajuste a la crianza y actúan diferentemente para las mamás y los papás. Es, por tanto, importante evaluar el funcionamiento sicológico tanto de las mamás como de los papás.
Français :
L'attachement parental (de parent à nourrisson) et l'alliance de parentage sont définis comme deux composantes importantes de l'ajustement psycho-affectif au rôle parental. Cette étude s'est donnée pour but de construire un modèle prédicteur de l'attachement parental et de l'alliance de parentage pour les mères et les pères utilisant le PLS-SEM. Plus spécifiquement, nous nous sommes intéressés à l’évaluation de la manière dont l'attachement romantique, la qualité conjugale et la détresse psychologique ont influencé l'attachement parental (de parent à nourrisson) et l'alliance de parentage. Quarante couples hétérosexuels ont rempli des questionnaires durant le troisième semestre de la grossesse et deux mois après la naissance. Les résultats montrent que l'attachement romantique adulte, la qualité conjugale et la détresse psychologique étaient des déterminant d'avant la naissance importants de l'attachement parental et de l'alliance de parentage bien qu'ils se comportaient différemment pour les mères et les pères. Par conséquent des modèles prédicteurs différents ont donc été proposés pour les mères et pour les pères. L'attachement des mères à l'enfant était influencé par des facteurs internes comme les dimensions de l'attachement adulte alors que pour les pères il dépendait aussi de l'attachement que les mères avaient avant la naissance à l'enfant et à la qualité conjugale. Pour ce qui concerne l'alliance de parentage à la fois les mères et les pères ont dépendu de leurs propres variables et celles du partenaire. Les variables d'avant la naissance sont importantes parce qu'elles ont lieu durant une transition au parentage pour ce qui concerne l'ajustement au parentage et agissent différemment pour les mères et les pères. Il est donc important d’évaluer le fonctionnement psychologique d’à la fois les mères et les pères.
Objective:
While the increased risk of psychopathology in the biological offspring of depressed parents has been widely replicated, the long-term outcome through their full age of risk is less known. The authors present a 30-year follow-up of biological offspring (mean age=47 years) of depressed (high-risk) and nondepressed (low-risk) parents.
Method:
One hundred forty-seven offspring of moderately to severely depressed or nondepressed parents selected from the same community were followed for up to 30 years. Diagnostic assessments were conducted blind to parents' clinical status. Final diagnoses were made by a blinded M.D. or Ph.D. evaluator.
Results:
The risk for major depression was approximately three times as high in the high-risk offspring. The period of highest risk for first onset was between ages 15 and 25 in both groups. Prepubertal onsets were uncommon, but high-risk offspring had over 10-fold increased risk. The early onset of major depression seen in the offspring of depressed parents was not offset by later first onsets in the low-risk group as they matured. The increased rates of major depression in the high-risk group were largely accounted for by the early onsets, but later recurrences in the high-risk group were significantly increased. The high-risk offspring continue to have overall poorer functioning and receive more treatment for emotional problems. There was increased mortality in the high-risk group (5.5% compared with 2.5%) due to unnatural causes, with a nearly 8-year difference in the mean age at death (38.8 years compared with 46.5 years).
Conclusions:
The offspring of depressed parents remain at high risk for depression, morbidity, and mortality that persists into their middle years. While adolescence is the major period of onset for major depression in both risk groups, it is the offspring with family history who go on to have recurrences and a poor outcome as they mature. In the era of personalized medicine, until a more biologically based understanding of individual risk is found, a simple family history assessment of major depression as part of clinical care can be a predictor of individuals at long-term risk.
This study is a reliability generalization meta-analysis that reviews 5 of the most frequently used continuous measures of adult attachment security: the Adult Attachment Scale, Revised Adult Attachment Scale, Adult Attachment Questionnaire, Experiences in Close Relationships, and Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised. A total of 313,462 individuals from 564 studies provided 1,629 internal consistency reliability estimates for this meta-analysis. We present the average internal consistency reliability of scores for each measure and test the consistency of score reliabilities across a wide variety of sample characteristics. In light of this, we highlight several issues in the measurement of adult attachment security and make concrete recommendations for researchers seeking to measure adult attachment.
Hazan and Shaver have identified three adult attachment styles corresponding to the infant-mother attachment patterns observed by Ainsworth and associates in the first year of life: secure, avoidant, and anxious-ambivalent. These three styles are related to a wide variety of close relationship processes and outcomes. To date, however; little research has focused on relations between attachment styles and major personality constructs. Such re-search can clarify, the nature of attachment styles and ensure that they are not simply redundant with existing constructs. The present research examined associations between attachment measures, relationship quality and outcome measures, and the 'Big Five"personality traits assessed by the NEO Personality Inventory. Attachment styles were related in theoretically predictable ways to the Big Five dimensions and especially to some of their 'facet' subscales but were not simply redundant with them. The NEO scales were generally not as powerful as the attachment style measures in predicting romantic relationship outcomes, probably because of the greater specificity of the attachment measures.
To study two aspects of interpersonal function - attachment security and social adjustment - in relation to suicide attempt and major depressive episode (MDE) during naturalistic follow-up of up to one year after presentation with MDE.
136 adults who presented with a DSM-IV MDE completed the Adult Attachment Scale and the Social Adjustment Scale-Self Report at study entry. Based on follow-up interviews at three months and one year, we used survival analysis to investigate the relationship of scores on these measures with time to a suicide attempt and time to recurrent MDE.
Less secure/more avoidant attachment predicted increased risk of suicide attempt during the 1-year follow-up (Wald chi(2)=9.14, df=1, p=0.003, HR=1.16, 95% CI=1.05 to 1.27). Poorer social adjustment predicted increased risk of recurrent MDE (Wald chi(2)=6.95, df=1, p=0.008, HR=2.36, 95% CI=1.25 to 4.46), and that in turn increased the risk of a suicide attempt (z=4.19, df=1, p<0.001, HR=17.3, 95% CI=4.6 to 65.5).
Avoidant attachment in the setting of major depressive disorder is a potential therapeutic target to prevent suicidal behavior. Enhancing social adjustment may reduce relapse in major depressive disorder and thereby reduce risk of a suicide attempt. Study limitations include small sample size and use of a self-report attachment scale.
Relations among maternal depression, child attachment, and children's representations of parents and self were examined. Participants included toddlers and their mothers with a history of major depressive disorder (n= 63) or no history of mental disorder (n= 68). Attachment was assessed at 20 and 36 months and representations of parents and self were assessed at 36 and 48 months. Depressive symptoms were assessed at all 3 time points. While early-occurring maternal depression had a negative impact on children's negative and positive representations of parents, attachment security mediated the relation between depressive symptoms and negative representations. Attachment security served as an intervening variable between maternal depression and changes in children's negative representations of self. Implications for prevention are highlighted.
Recurrent depression is associated with interpersonal dysfunctioning which is related to underlying insecure attachment. In this study we examined associations between adult attachment and the long-term course of depression in depressed primary care patients.
Depressed primary care patients were 3-monthly assessed during a prospective 3-year follow-up regarding: (1) severity of depression (BDI); and proportions of: (2) depression-free time; (3) depressive symptom-free time; and (4) time on antidepressants (all CIDI interview). Attachment style was assessed by the Experiences in Close Relationships questionnaire at two points in time: (1) one year before the end of follow-up (1-year prospectively followed subsample; n=68); and (2) at the end of the 3-year follow-up (3-year retrospective subsample; n=145). Mixed model analyses and non-parametric tests were used to determine whether different attachment styles were associated with different courses of depression.
Fearfully attached patients in the prospective sample reported a statistically significant worse depression course compared with securely attached patients (adjusted mean BDI 12.7 v. 6.8 respectively; F=3.22; p=0.029), which was confirmed in the retrospective sample (adjusted mean BDI 15.7 v. 8.8; F=7.86; p<0.001). They reported significantly more prior depressive episodes and residual symptoms, longer use of antidepressants, and worse social functioning as well.
Size of the prospective sample was restricted.
Fearfully attached subjects constitute a particularly vulnerable category of depressed patients. Information on their attachment style may provide GPs with indications regarding intensity, goals and approach of treatment.
Although adoption, twin, and family studies have shown that suicidal behavior is familial, the risk factors for familial transmission from parent to child remain unclear.
A high-risk family study was conducted comparing the offspring of 2 mood-disordered groups: suicide attempters and nonattempters. Recruited from 2 sites, probands were 81 attempters and 55 nonattempters, with 183 and 116 offspring, respectively. Offspring were assessed by investigators masked to proband status. Probands and offspring were assessed with respect to psychopathologic findings, suicide attempt history, impulsive aggression, and exposure to familial environmental stressors.
Offspring of attempters had a 6-fold increased risk of suicide attempts relative to offspring of nonattempters. Familial transmission of suicide attempt was more likely if (1) probands had a history of sexual abuse and (2) offspring were female and had a mood disorder, substance abuse disorder, increased impulsive aggression, and a history of sexual abuse.
The offspring of mood-disordered suicide attempters are at markedly increased risk for suicide attempts themselves. Familial transmission of suicidal behavior in families with mood disorders almost always requires transmission of a mood disorder and is also related to the offspring's impulsive aggression and the familial transmission of sexual abuse. Early treatment of mood disorders and targeting impulsive aggression and sexual trauma may be helpful in the prevention and treatment of suicidal behavior in families with mood disorders.
Empirical studies have revealed a significant, but modest association between maternal depression and insecure mother-child attachment. Across studies, however, a substantial number of mothers with depression are able to provide a sensitive caretaking environment for their children. This paper aimed to explore whether a mother's own state of mind regarding attachment moderated the association between postpartum depression and insecure mother-child attachment.
Mothers (n = 111), mainly middle-class mothers, and their infants participated in a longitudinal study of postnatal depression, maternal attachment state of mind and child attachment. Depression was assessed using a diagnostic interview (at 4 and 12 months) and symptom checklists (at 4, 12 and 15 months). The Adult Attachment Interview was conducted at 12 months and the Strange Situation procedure at 15 months.
Mothers diagnosed as depressed were more likely to have an insecure state of mind regarding attachment. Infants of chronically depressed mothers were more likely to be insecurely attached; however, the relationship between maternal depression and child attachment was moderated by maternal attachment state of mind.
Results are discussed with reference to resiliency factors for women with postnatal depression and implications for intervention.
Although motherhood and the mother-infant bond have been extensively researched, the same is not true for fatherhood and the father-infant bond.
This article discusses the psychological tasks of the expectant father, the adjustment issues for men during their partners pregnancy and the postnatal period, and the development of the father-infant bond.
The 9 months of pregnancy are conceptualised as a time of psychological preparation for the first time expectant father. Four psychological tasks of this period are described with guidelines regarding how a health professional might assess and foster progress. In the postnatal period, 10% of new fathers will have a partner suffering from postnatal depression and the male response to this can positively or negatively influence recovery. This article concludes that the father-infant relationship is influenced by the partner relationship as well as the fathers psychological wellbeing.
The changing faces of fatherhood and father-child relationships: from fatherhood as status to father as dad
- Lamb
Parents' self-reported attachment styles: a review of links with parenting behaviors, emotions, and cognitions
- Jones
Adult attachment and affect regulation
- Mikulincer