Maternal Depression, Children's Attachment Security, and Representational Development: An Organizational Perspective

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.     

Effect of Maternal Social Support on Attachment: Experimental Evidence

The present study used an experimental format to evaluate the influence of maternal social support on the development of attachment. 46 WIC primigravidas were randomly assigned to an experimental or control condition. Volunteer coaches, trained to provide maternal support and information, met with experimentals prenatally and during the first postpartum year. Experimentals and controls did not differ on demographics, ego level, verbal ability, affect, or perceived social support. At 14 months, experimental infants scored higher on an Attachment Ratings cluster from Waters and Deane's new Q-sort procedure. This cluster was more sensitive than a Criterion Sort measure in detecting the effect of the manipulation and as or more sensitive to maternal affect, perceived support, and the HOME. These findings provide experimental evidence regarding the importance of social support on infant attachment and support for an alternative approach for reducing data from the attachment Q-sort.     

Attachment Quality in Very Low-Birthweight Premature Infants in Relation to Maternal Attachment Representations and Neurological Development

Objective. To study the development of attachment in very low-birthweight preterm infants with respect to neurological development and maternal attachment representations. Design. Emotional development in a high-risk sample (N = 79) of very low-birthweight preterm infants (≤ 1,500 g) is reported. The quality of attachment in preterm infants was classified using the Strange Situation Procedure at 14 postnatal months (corrected for prematurity) and was associated with maternal attachment representation assessed with the Adult Attachment Interview at 6 postnatal months. Neurological development at 14 months was taken into account. Results. The distribution of the quality of attachment in preterm infants (60.3% secure, 23.5% insecure - avoidant, 2.9% insecure - ambivalent, 10.3% insecure - disorganized, and 2.9% not classifiable) was comparable with results of studies of term infants. There was no correspondence between maternal representations of attachment and infant quality of attachment. However, neurologically impaired infants were more often insecurely than securely attached. Conclusions. Very low-birthweight preterm infants more often develop an insecure quality of attachment if their neurological outcome is impaired. Therefore, minimizing risk factors for the development of neurological deficits may have a preventive effect both on the somatic and on the emotional development of high-risk infants.     

Infant Attachment Security and Early Childhood Behavioral Inhibition Interact to Predict Adolescent Social Anxiety Symptoms

Insecure attachment and behavioral inhibition (BI) increase risk for internalizing problems, but few longitudinal studies have examined their interaction in predicting adolescent anxiety. This study included 165 adolescents (ages 14–17 years) selected based on their reactivity to novelty at 4 months. Infant attachment was assessed with the Strange Situation. Multimethod BI assessments were conducted across childhood. Adolescents and their parents independently reported on anxiety. The interaction of attachment and BI significantly predicted adolescent anxiety symptoms, such that BI and anxiety were only associated among adolescents with histories of insecure attachment. Exploratory analyses revealed that this effect was driven by insecure‐resistant attachment and that the association between BI and social anxiety was significant only for insecure males. Clinical implications are discussed.     

Maternal Support Networks, Maternal Cognitions, and Young Children's Social and Cognitive Development

The relations among maternal support networks, maternal perceptions of parenting, maternal attributions for parenting situations, and children's social development, as indexed by peer acceptance, and cognitive performance, as indexed by the PPVT-R and PSI, were examined in a sample of 69 mothers and their preschool-age children. Network characteristics directly predicted cognitive performance and indirectly predicted peer acceptance through effects on maternal perceptions and attributions. Parent cognitions as mediators of network effects on children's development are discussed, addressing variation due to network dimensions, types of parent cognitions, and domain of children's development.     

Maternal Sensitivity and the Security of Infant-Mother Attachment: A Q-Sort Study

40 mothers and their 12-month-old infants were observed twice at home by 2 observers for 2 hours. After the second visit, the observers described the infant using the Waters Attachment Behavior Q-sort and the mother's interactive behavior with the Maternal Behavior Q-sort developed by the present authors and Ainsworth's rating scales. Maternal sensitivity was unrelated to maternal age, income, or SES, but correlated positively with maternal education. Mothers of more difficult children were less sensitive. A strong relation was found between infant attachment and maternal sensitivity as measured by the Maternal Behavior Q-sort and by the Ainsworth scales. Using the Q-sort procedure, mothers of more secure infants were more frequently characterized as noticing their babies' signals and using these signals to guide their behavior; they also were more knowledgeable about their infant and appeared to enjoy them more than mothers of less secure infants.     

Chronic Illness and Preterm Infants: Family Stress and Support Issues

As the survival rate for children with complex medical conditions has increased, the body of knowledge regarding childhood chronic illness has grown. While the initial focus of this literature was the effect of the illness on the child, recent studies have focused on chronic illness and broader family issues. The transactional and family systems perspectives suggest the need for longitudinal studies of chronically ill infants from the point of diagnosis. Although a few studies of relatively healthy preterm infants have documented family stress levels, there is a paucity of research on the effects of parenting a very low birthweight infant with complex medical needs. The Chronically Ill Infant Intervention (CIII) Project and its broad based interdisciplinary intervention is used to illustrate the changing needs of this population. Preliminary analyses of specific intervention needs during the infants' first 18 months are discussed in relation to the reduction of family stress.     

Disorganized Infant Attachment Classification and Maternal Psychosocial Problems as Predictors of Hostile-Aggressive Behavior in the Preschool Classroom

This study of 62 lowincome families examined the relation between maternal and infant measures assessed at 18 months infant age and child behavior problems at age 5 as rated by preschool teachers. The infancy assessments included measures of mother-infant interaction, maternal psychosocial problems, infant cognitive development, and infant attachment security, including the disorganized/disoriented classification. The strongest single predictor of deviant levels of hostile behavior toward peers in the classroom was earlier disorganized/disoriented attachment status, with 71% of hostile preschoolers classified as disorganized in their attachment relationships in infancy. Maternal psychosocial problems independently predicted hostile aggressions in preschool and combined additively with infant attachment security in prediction. Results are discussed in relation to the asymmetry of forward and backward prediction that characterized the findings and in relation to the potential significance of disorganized attachment behavior as a precursor to later maladaptation.     

The Relations among Infant Temperament, Security of Attachment, and Behavioral Inhibition at Twenty-Four Months

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations among infant temperament, attachment, and behavioral inhibition. 52 infants were seen at 2 days, 5, 14, and 24 months of age. Assessments were made of temperament at 2 days and 5 months of age, and attachment and behavioral inhibition were assessed at 14 and 24 months, respectively. EKG was recorded at each assessment, and measures of heart period and vagal tone were computed. Distress to pacifier withdrawal at 2 days of age was related to insecure attachment at 14 months. 2 types of distress reactivity at 5 months, reactivity to frustration and reactivity to novelty, were identified and related to high vagal tone. Attachment classification at 14 months was directly related to inhibited behavior at 24 months. Infants classified as insecure/resistant were more inhibited than those classified as insecure/avoidant. In addition, an interaction of infant reactivity to frustration and attachment classification was found to predict inhibition at 24 months. Infants classified as insecure/resistant and who had not cried to the arm restraint procedure at 5 months were the most inhibited at 24 months. These findings are discussed in terms of hypotheses regarding multiple modes of distress reactivity and regulation in early infancy and their different social and behavioral outcomes.     

Chronic Illness and Preterm Infants: Family Stress and Support Issues

As the survival rate for children with complex medical conditions has increased, the body of knowledge regarding childhood chronic illness has grown. While the initial focus of this literature was the effect of the illness on the child, recent studies have focused on chronic illness and broader family issues. The transactional and family systems perspectives suggest the need for longitudinal studies of chronically ill infants from the point of diagnosis. Although a few studies of relatively healthy preterm infants have documented family stress levels, there is a paucity of research on the effects of parenting a very low birthweight infant with complex medical needs. The Chronically Ill Infant Intervention (CIII) Project and its broad based interdisciplinary intervention is used to illustrate the changing needs of this population. Preliminary analyses of specific intervention needs during the infants' first 18 months are discussed in relation to the reduction of family stress.     

The Contribution of Infant, Maternal, and Family Conditions to Maternal Feeding Competencies

OBJECTIVE: Because little is known about the role of family problem-solving processes in the development of mothers' competencies in feeding a very low birth-weight (VLBW) infant, we explored the contribution made by the competence in negotiating displayed by a mother and family member as they jointly problem solve infant-care issues. The infant's neonatal biomedical condition, maternal depressive symptoms, and family poverty status may also contribute to feeding competencies. DESIGN: A sample of 41 mothers of VLBW infants from 2 longitudinal studies who were observed during feeding at 1 and 8 months infant postterm age, with a family member of their choosing, participated in a dyadic problem-solving exercise. We assessed maternal feeding competencies with the Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment (Clark, 1997) and dyadic negotiating competence using an observational scale from the Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scales (Melby & Conger, 2001). We classified infant condition through medical record audit. Maternal depressive symptoms were assessed with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) Scale (L. S. Radloff, 1977), and family poverty status was determined through the mother's report of family income. RESULTS: Mothers' feeding competencies, structured into 2 factors, Parental Positive Affective Involvement, Sensitivity, and Responsiveness (PPAISR) and Parental Negative Affect and Behavior (PNAB, scored in the direction of low negativity) were stable from 1 to 8 months, accounting for the entire set of predictor variables. Neonatal biomedical condition had no effect on either PPAISR or PNAB; depressive symptoms were negatively associated with PNAB at 8 months; poverty status negatively predicted both PPAISR and PNAB at 1 and 8 months; and negotiating competence of the mother-family member dyad was positively associated with PNAB at 1 month. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence that family poverty status and dyadic negotiating competence were both associated with maternal feeding competencies supports inclusion of these family-level variables in a model of feeding competencies. A mother's negotiating competence with another family member who takes a responsible role in infant care may support maternal feeding competencies during a VLBW infant's early weeks when parenting patterns are forming.     

Infant Proneness-to-Distress Temperament, Maternal Personality, and Mother-Infant Attachment: Associations and Goodness of Fit

66 mother-infant pairs were examined when the infants were 9 and 13 months. The purpose of this report was to examine relations between infant proneness-to-distress temperament, maternal personality characteristics, and mother-infant attachment. There were no main-effect relations between infant proneness-to-distress temperament as assessed at 9 months and infant attachment classification at 13 months. This was true whether security of attachment (A and C vs. B) or proposed temperament (A1-B2 vs. B3-C2) groupings of attachment classifications were examined. Infant proneness-to-distress temperament, however, was associated with maternal behavior and personality. Furthermore, security of attachment could be predicted by an interaction between maternal personality and infant proneness-to-distress. The importance of considering goodness-of-fit relations in predicting attachment security is discussed.     

Perceptions of Joint Family Storytelling as Mediators of Family Communication Patterns and Family Strengths

Using family communication patterns theory, this study tested the degree to which perceptions of joint family storytelling mediate the relationship between family communication patterns (i.e., conversation and conformity orientations) and family strengths. Participants included 267 young adults from first-marriage families. Results indicated that conversation orientation is positively associated with the interactional sense-making (ISM) behaviors that characterize jointly told family stories (i.e., engagement, polite turn-taking, perspective-taking and coherence) and family strengths, while conformity orientation is negatively associated with ISM behaviors and family strengths. Indirect effects emerged for conversation and conformity orientations on family strengths through perceptions of ISM behaviors. Specifically, perceptions of storytelling engagement and polite turn-taking mediated the positive association between conversation orientation and family strength, while engagement, perspective-taking, and polite turn-taking mediated the inverse association between conformity orientation and family strength.     

Secure Base Provision: A New Approach to Examining Links Between Maternal Caregiving and Infant Attachment

This observational study addressed a critical gap in the understanding of the precursors of infant attachment by examining whether a new conceptualization of maternal caregiving behavior, secure base provision (SBP), explained variance in attachment above and beyond variance explained by sensitivity. Participants included 83 low-socioeconomic status (SES), 4.5-month-old infants (56% male) and their mothers. Infant–mother dyads completed laboratory tasks at 4.5 months and three 30-min home visits between 7 and 9 months, then returned to the laboratory at 12 months for an attachment assessment. Maternal sensitivity did not significantly predict infant attachment security. SBP significantly predicted infant attachment, over and above sensitivity, with an effect size eight times larger than that of sensitivity in meta-analytic findings for low-SES families.     

Extending Models of Sensitive Parenting of Infants to Women at Risk for Perinatal Depression

Objective. Recognizing that not all mothers at risk for depression engage in insensitive parenting, this study examined predictors of individual differences in sensitive parenting of infants by mothers with histories of depression, who are at elevated risk for depression during the perinatal period. Design. We examined maternal personal characteristics, context, and early infant temperament as predictors of sensitive parenting. Seventy-six women with a history of major depression were followed through pregnancy and postpartum and observed during play and feeding interactions with their 12-month-old infants. Results. Maternal personal characteristics (recurrence of clinically significant depression symptom levels during pregnancy or postpartum and higher trait anxiety), context (lower social context and lower income), and early infant temperament (higher negative affectivity, surgency/extraversion, and orienting/regulation) are often associated with less sensitive parenting, with stronger and clearer associations for play than feeding and with some differences based on whether sensitivity was defined as affective matching or rated sensitivity. Conclusions. The findings extend support for multi-determination of sensitive parenting of infants to women with histories of depression, albeit with small to medium effect sizes, and suggest ways to identify those who may be most at risk for insensitive parenting and the potential value of intervening in pregnancy to enhance subsequent sensitivity of parenting.     

抑郁症：一个依恋和社会阶层的视角

依恋、社会阶层与抑郁症的形成相关联。依恋和社会阶层的观点认为,抑郁症的核心症状——行为退缩、低自尊以及快感丧失等是为调节人的行为和情绪、表达人对成胁与安全的感受进化而来的,情感的调节机制对抑郁症有重要的影响。这些观点为预防和治疗抑郁症提供了一个新的思路。     

传播网络社会支持：以网络抑郁症支持群体为例

社会支持是人类沟通的基本形式,能减少发病率和死亡率、延长患者的寿命以及提高患者对应激性生活事件的应对水平。近年来。随着互联网的普及,网络社会支持已经发展成为信息传播技术社会应用的主题之一。研究发现,抑郁症支持群体最主要的社会支持类型是信息和情感支持,自尊支持和网络支持居次．实物支持最少。     

Child-Mother Attachment of Six-Year-Olds and Social Competence at School

89 children and their mothers participated in a study examining the association between attachment and peer social competence. During the summer following kindergarten, quality of attachment was assessed from reunion episodes following a 1-hour separation. In the fall, measures of sociometric status, peer behavior nominations, and peer liking ratings were collected. Teachers completed liking ratings and ratings of behavior problems and competence. Consistent with longitudinal studies of infant attachment and peer relations, insecurely attached boys were less well liked by peers and teachers, were perceived as more aggressive by classmates, and were rated by teachers as less competent and as having more behavior problems than were their secure counterparts. No such associations emerged for girls. Possible explanations for unanticipated differences in the pattern of results for boys and girls are discussed.