Pathways to earned-security: The role of alternative support figures

摘要

This study explored the kinds of relationship experiences associated with earned-security, i.e., the extent to which mothers who report early negative relationship histories with their parents are later able to form a secure working model of attachment (indicated by the ability to speak clearly and coherently about these histories). Mothers from a low-risk sample (N = 121) expecting their first child completed the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), which was used to assess earned-security retrospectively using the stringent definition recommended by Main and Hesse (Hesse, 200811. Hesse, E. 2008. “The Adult Attachment Interview: Protocol, method of analysis, and empirical studies”. In The handbook of attachment: Theory, research and clinical applications , Edited by: Cassidy, J. and Shaver, P. R. 552-598. New York, NY: The Guilford Press. View all references; Main, Goldwyn, & Hesse, 200212. Main, M., Goldwyn, R. and Hesse, E. 2002/2008. Adult attachment scoring and classification system , Unpublished scoring manual, University of California at Berkeley. View all references), as well as to identify alternative support figures. Participants also completed self-report measures of depressive symptomatology, questionnaires concerning their experiences in therapy, and later, when their babies were 12 to 15 months old, the Strange Situation procedure. Sixteen mothers were classified as earned-secure (25% of those classified as secure-autonomous and 13% of the whole sample). Women who were earned-secure (vs. insecure and continuous-secure) reported significantly higher levels of emotional support, but not instrumental support, from alternative support figures. They also spent more time in therapy than did insecure and continuous-secure women and were more likely to form secure attachments with their infants than insecure women. These findings were obtained even after controlling for depressive symptoms.View full textDownload full textKeywordsearned-secure AAI status, adversity, attachment security, continuous-secureRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2011.584405