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Presentation
Associations between Caregivers' Global and Specific Attachment Representations and the Infant-Caregiver Attachment Relationship
Psychology Presentations
  • Erinn Hawkins, University of Western Ontario
  • Sheri Madigan, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
  • Diane Benoit, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
  • Greg Moran, University of Western Ontario
Document Type
Presentation
Publication Date
4-1-2009
Abstract

The primary objectives of the current study were: (1)to determine the extent to which caregivers’ conceptualizations of their own attachment history (global attachment representations are congruent with the way in which they conceptualize their relationships with a specific child (relationship-specific attachment representations); and (2)to evaluate whether these relationship-specific representations play a mediating role in the intergenerational transmission of attachment. Prenatal assessments of caregivers’ global attachment representations, as measured by the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), and relationship-specific attachment representations, as measured by the Working Model of the Child Interview (WMCI), were obtained in a sample of 196 mother-infant dyads. Infant-caregiver attachment status was assessed using the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) when infants were 12 months of age. Considerable correspondence was found between caregivers’ global and relationship-specific attachment representations; however, there was no evidence for the mediational hypothesis. The current study makes a significant contribution to the literature as it represents the first attempt to directly evaluate the links between caregivers’ global and relationship-specific attachment representations within the domain of caregiver-child relationships.

Notes
Presented at Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Denver, Colorado in April 2009.
Citation Information
Erinn Hawkins, Sheri Madigan, Diane Benoit and Greg Moran. "Associations between Caregivers' Global and Specific Attachment Representations and the Infant-Caregiver Attachment Relationship" (2009)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/gregmoran/35/