The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships among maternal psychopathology, early sensitive caregiving, and security of attachment in a sample of cocaine-using women from environments with high contextual risks that include poverty, low educational attainment, minority status, and single parenthood. Thirty-five women and their offspring participated in the study. Maternal psychopathology, including Axis I and Axis II disorders, was assessed during the prenatal period via a selfreport clinical measure. Maternal sensitivity was assessed at 1 month and 6 months postdelivery through rating scales. At 18 months postdelivery, toddlers' attachment to their mothers was assessed via the Strange Situation procedure. Also at 18 months, mothers' level of depression was assessed via a depression inventory. Maternal psychopathology during pregnancy was found to be associated with both early caregiving and attachment. Mothers demonstrating clinical levels of particular Axis II disorders provided less sensitive caregiving, and had toddlers who were more likely to be disorganized/disoriented in their attachments. For Axis I disorders, only clinical levels of prenatal dysthymia were found to be associated with a greater likelihood of secure attachment.RESUMEN: El propósito de este estudio es examinar las relaciones entre la sicopatología materna, las sensibles formas de prestar cuidado el principio, y la seguridad de la unión afectiva en un grupo-muestra de mujeres que usan cocaína y que provienen de ambientes con altos riesgos contextuales, entre los cuales se incluye la pobreza, los bajos logros educacionales, la condición de minoría étnica, y el ser madres solteras. En el estudio participaron 35 mujeres y sus niños. La sicopatología materna-trastornos de Axis I y Axis II-fue evaluada durante el período prenatal por medio de una medida clínica autodeclarativa. La sensibilidad materna fue evaluada al mes y a los seis meses del parto por medio de escalas de puntuación. A los 18 meses después del parto, la unión afectiva de los infantes para con sus madres fue evaluada por medio del procedimiento de la Situación Extraña. También a los 18 meses, se evaluó el nivel de depresión de las madres a través de un inventario apropiado para la depresión. Se determinó que la sicopatología materna durante el embarazo estaba asociada tanto con las primeras manifestaciones del cuidado como la unión afectiva. Las madres que demostraron niveles clínicos de específicos trastornos de Axis II prestaban un cuidado menos sensible y tenían infantes que estaban más propensos a la desorganización y desorientación en la unión afectiva. En cuanto a los trastornos de Axis I, sólo se encontró que los niveles clínicos de distemia estaban asociados con una mayor probabilidad de unión afectiva segura. Psychopathology and Attachments • 317RÉ SUMÉ : Le but de cette étude est d'examiner les liens entre la psychopathologie maternelle, le soin sensible très tôt apporté à l'enfant, et la sécurité de l'attachement chez un groupe de femmes adonné...

The course of severe depressive symptoms from pregnancy to 6 months postpartum, as well as the occurrence of severe paranoid symptoms prenatally, were examined by the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory I and the Beck Depression Inventory, in 78 women who were heavy, chronic cocaine users and who retained custody of their children after birth. Six months postpartum, the quality of caregiving was observed and assessed in the home, and the children were assessed on the Bayley MDI Index in the laboratory. Mothers who were depressed and paranoid prenatally, regardless of whether the depression continued to 6 months postpartum, were less sensitive in caregiving than women without severe symptoms of paranoia or depression during pregnancy or those who reported only depression that lifted by 6 months postpartum. Mothers who were depressed prenatally and continued to be depressed by 6 months postpartum, regardless of the presence or absence of paranoia, had infants who earned lower Bayley MDI scores than the offspring of women without severe psychological symptoms or women whose depression had lifted. Severe depressive symptoms during pregnancy, if they did not continue to 6 months postpartum, did not appear to adversely influence either caregiving or infant functioning.

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The behavioral and heart rate responses of 22 children with autism and 22 children with other developmental disabilities were compared whilst they were watching videotapes of a baby either playing or crying. We expected both groups to show arousal as increased heart rate when watching the video of the crying baby, and the children with autism to attend less than the other children to both videos. However, the children with autism were as attentive to the videos as the other children, and both groups showed heart rate slowing compared with a baseline condition. There was no change in heart rate during interactions with a stranger or separation from mothers. The findings suggest that the lack of social attention often demonstrated by children with autism does not stem from increased arousal in social situations. An alternative explanation is considered.

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