Implications of attachment theory for developmental
psychopathology

Sroufe, L. Alan; Carlson, Elizabeth A.; Levy, Alissa K.; Egeland, Byron

doi:10.1017/s0954579499001923

Cited by 536 publications

(390 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

353

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…1 When a parent deploys, the separation of parent and child influences the child's current and future development. 2,3 Similar effects of child separation from a parent have been documented in a variety of settings, including divorce and parental incarceration, migration, or hospitalization. [4][5][6][7][8][9] In a 2006 survey of military spouses, 20% of parents reported that their children coped poorly during military deployments.…”

mentioning

confidence: 82%

Wartime Military Deployment and Increased Pediatric Mental and Behavioral Health Complaints

2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT:Military deployment of a parent influences children's behavior in a variety of settings. The clinical significance of these deployment-associated behavior changes has not been determined. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS:Children experiencing separation from a parent due to wartime military deployment have an 11% increase in outpatient visits for mental and behavioral health complaints, which contrasts with a general deploymentassociated decrease in health care visits in all other diagnostic categories.abstract BACKGROUND: Children of military personnel face stress when a parent deploys. OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to determine the effect of parental military deployment on the relative rate of outpatient visits for mental and behavioral health disorders in children aged 3 to 8 years. METHODS:This was a retrospective cohort study. Records of children of active-duty personnel during fiscal years 2006 and 2007 were linked with their parent's deployment records. Mental and behavioral health visits were identified by using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, codes. The incidence rate ratio (IRR) of visits per year according to parental deployment status was determined with random-effects negative binomial regression modeling with longitudinal data analysis. RESULTS: A total of 642 397 children aged 3 to 8 years and 442 722 military parents were included. Mean child age was 5.0 years (SD: 1.9 years); 50.6% were male, and 68.0% were white. Ninety percent of the parents were male, and 90.5% were married; 32.0% of the parents were deployed during the study. There were 1 049 081 person-years with 611 115 mental and behavioral health visits (0.6 visit per year). The IRR of mental and behavioral health visits for children with a deployed parent compared with when a parent was home was 1.11 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07-1.14; P Ͻ .001). IRRs of pediatric anxiety, behavioral, and stress disorders when a parent deployed were 1.14 (95% CI: 0.98 -1.32; P ϭ .095), 1.19 (95% CI: 1.07-1.32; P Ͻ .001), and 1.18 (95% CI: 1.10 -1.26; P Ͻ .001), respectively. Older children and children with military fathers and married parents had larger increases in rates of mental and behavioral health visits during parental deployments. In contrast, the overall outpatient rate and rates of visits for other diagnoses decreased when a parent was deployed. CONCLUSIONS: Mental and behavioral health visits increased by 11% in these children when a military parent deployed; behavioral disorders increased 19% and stress disorders increased 18%. Rates especially increased in older children and children of married and male military parents.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 82%

Wartime Military Deployment and Increased Pediatric Mental and Behavioral Health Complaints

2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…10,11 Children can be exposed to violence across multiple socio-ecological contexts including in the neighborhood, school, and home. 12 In the home, child maltreatment, including neglect, as well as physical and psychological aggression, has consistently been associated with elevated aggressive and externalizing behavior in children and youth.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of Direct and Indirect Violence Exposure on Externalizing Behavior in Children

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The objective of this study was to examine the association between externalizing behaviors and indirect violence exposure, assessed both within the household and at the community level, as well as the interaction effect of indirect and direct violence exposure. A sample of parents of children ages 4-15 who have not been referred or enrolled in child welfare (n = 82) were recruited from the greater New Orleans community. Externalizing behavior was assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). The child's indirect exposure to violence included witnessing community violence, witnessing physical assault, and witnessing fighting or domestic violence at home. Direct exposure to violence included the child experiencing physical aggression from a caregiver. All assessments were based on caregiver reports. To decrease potential for confounding, children were matched for analysis based on age, Hurricane Katrina exposure, and their propensity to be exposed to high indirect violence. Cumulative indirect exposure to violence was significantly positively correlated with CBCL scores. After controlling for key covariates, CBCL externalizing T score increased significantly by approximately 1.25 points for each level increase in indirect violence exposure (β = 1.25, SE = 0.57, p = 0.027). There also was a significant interaction between indirect and direct exposure to violence in the association with CBCL score (β = −0.08, SE = 0.03, p = 0.002). These findings extend previous research by demonstrating that exposure to both direct and cross-contextual indirect violence influences externalizing behaviors in children. Additionally, the findings suggest that community and household social environments are both important targets for interventions designed to decrease externalizing behaviors and improve longterm outcomes for youth at risk of exposure to violence.KEYWORDS Childhood exposure to violence, Cumulative exposure to violence, Indirect exposure to violence, Direct exposure to violence, Community violence, Household violence, Child physical aggression, Child externalizing behaviors BACKGROUND

show abstract

“…20 Preterm infants, especially those born with lower birth weights or greater medical risks, seem to be at risk for developing insecure attachments. [21][22][23] Insecure attachment is a nonspecific risk for later psychopathological conditions, [24][25][26] whereas attachment security is related to subsequent social competence and empathy. [27][28][29] The association between maternal grief resolution and attachment has been explored among children with diagnosed chronic medical conditions or disabilities by using the Reaction to Preterm Birth Interview (RPBI).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…34 Since initial validation, associations between RPBI grief resolution and the quality of parent-child interactions or attachment have been demonstrated for multiple clinical samples, including children with Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and phenylketonuria, [31][32][33][35][36][37][38] but has not been explored for premature infants. Because feelings of grief are common among mothers of preterm infants 4,6 and because infant attachment predicts children's later social/emotional development, 25 it is important to identify associations between maternal grief regarding preterm birth and attachment, so that vulnerable mother-infant dyads can be identified and supported.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal Resolution of Grief After Preterm Birth: Implications for Infant Attachment Security

Shah

Clements²,

Poehlmann

2011

Pediatrics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT:For mothers of children with chronic medical conditions or disabilities, such as epilepsy or cerebral palsy, a history of maternal unresolved grief regarding the child's diagnosis has been associated with insecure infantmother attachment. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS:Unresolved grief related to a preterm birth is associated with the development of insecure infantmother attachment. Mothers with resolved grief after preterm birth are 2.9 times as likely to have securely attached infants, compared with mothers with unresolved grief. abstract OBJECTIVE: This study explored the association between mothers' unresolved grief regarding their infant's preterm birth and infant-mother attachment security. We hypothesized that mothers with unresolved grief would be more likely to have insecurely attached infants at 16 months and that this association would be partially mediated by maternal interaction quality. METHODS:This longitudinal study focused on 74 preterm infants (age of Ͻ36 weeks) and their mothers who were part of a larger study of high-risk infants. The present analysis included assessment of neonatal and socioeconomic risks at NICU discharge; maternal depression, Reaction to Preterm Birth Interview findings, and quality of parenting at a postterm age of 9 months; and infant-mother attachment at postterm age of 16 months. Associations among findings of grief resolution with the Reaction to Preterm Birth Interview, quality of parenting interactions, and attachment security were explored by using relative risk ratios and logistic and multivariate regression models. RESULTS:The relative risk of developing insecure attachment when mothers had unresolved grief was 1.59 (95% confidence interval: 1.03-2.44). Controlling for covariates (adjusted odds ratio: 2.94), maternal feelings of resolved grief regarding the preterm birth experience were associated with secure infant-mother attachment at 16 months. Maternal grief resolution and interaction quality were independent predictors of attachment security. CONCLUSION:Maternal grief resolution regarding the experience of preterm birth and the quality of maternal interactions have important implications for emerging attachment security for infants born prematurely.

show abstract

Implications of attachment theory for developmental psychopathology

Cited by 536 publications

References 5 publications

Wartime Military Deployment and Increased Pediatric Mental and Behavioral Health Complaints

Wartime Military Deployment and Increased Pediatric Mental and Behavioral Health Complaints

Role of Direct and Indirect Violence Exposure on Externalizing Behavior in Children

Maternal Resolution of Grief After Preterm Birth: Implications for Infant Attachment Security

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About