A Prospective Longitudinal Study of Attachment Disorganization/Disorientation

Abstract

The research explores the antecedents and consequences of attachment disorganization from a prospective longitudinal perspective. The relations of attachment disorganization I disorientation to endogenous (e.g., maternal medical history, infant temperament) and environmental (e.g., maternal caregiving quality, infant history of abuse) antecedents and to behavioral consequences from 24 months to 19 years are examined. For the 157 participants in the longitudinal study, attachment disorganization was correlated significantly with environmental antecedents (e.g., maternal relationship and risk status, caregiving quality, and infant history of maltreatment), but not with available endogenous antecedents. Infant history of attachment disorganization was correlated with consequent variables related to mother-child relationship quality at 24 and 42 months, child behavior problems in preschool, elementary school and high school, and psychopathology and dissociation in adolescence. Structural models suggest that disorganization may mediate the relations between early experience and later psychopathology and dissociation. The findings are considered within a developmental view of psychopathology, that is, pathology defined in terms of process, as a pattern of adaptation constructed by individuals in their environments.

Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Function in Dissociative Disorders, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Healthy Volunteers

“…Also, certain types of traumatic stressors commonly encountered in such DD groups are not tapped by standard childhood maltreatment scales, such as sudden death of family and close friends, growing up with severely mentally ill parents, or experiencing a severe traumatic episode of mental illness that triggers chronic depersonalization . In addition to maltreatment, prospective studies have found that serious disruptions of the early mother-infant dyad contribute to increased dissociation scores in late adolescence and adulthood (Hesse and Main 2006, Lyons-Ruth et al 2006, Ogawa et al 1997, Carlson 1998. Genetic contributions to dissociation have also been reported by some researchers (Becker-Blease et al 2004, Jang et al 1998).…”

Epigenetic mechanisms and the transgenerational effects of maternal care

“…Secure infants also have improved emotional regulation, express more positive emotion and exhibit appropriate persistence and flexibility in response to stress. Infant disorganized attachment has been associated with the highest risk of developing later psychopathology [88], including dissociative disorders [89], aggressive behavior [90], conduct disorder and self-abuse [15]. Thus, aspects of the mother-infant interaction which have been demonstrated to be transmitted intergenerationally in humans and primates have profound effects on infant development and thus can mediate the inheritance by offspring of increased risk or resilience to physical or emotional disorder.…”

The trauma model of dissociation: Inconvenient truths and stubborn fictions. Comment on Dalenberg et al. (2012).

“…Moreover, highly imaginative children's narratives might have been more rich and elaborated than those of other children, contributing to higher scores on the stem measure of dissociation. In one of the most comprehensive longitudinal studies (Carlson, 1998), the teacher rating scale used to assess dissociation consisted of five items ("explosive and unpredictable behavior," "strange behavior," "gets hurt a lot, accident-prone," "confused or seems to be in a fog," and "stares blankly") that may not be specific to dissociation. Moreover, the link between a measure of early caregiving and the DES in adolescence was a modest r ϭ .21.…”