Mothers' Internal Models of Relationships and Children's Behavioral and Developmental Status: A Study of Mother-Child Interaction

Psychological characteristics pertaining to attachment relationships were measured in mothers of 25 hospitalized failure‐to‐thrive (FTT) infants and mothers of 25 hospitalized, normally growing infants. The groups were matched for race, socioeconomic status, maternal education, and infant's age and sex. Results showed that 96% of mothers of FTT infants were classified as insecure with respect to attachment, as assessed by the Adult Attachment Interview (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1985), compared to 60% of control group mothers. Lack of resolution of mourning over the loss of a loved one was found in 52% of the mothers in the FTT group and in 32% of mothers in the control group. Mothers of FTT infants reported receiving less support from their families and rated their current relationship with their partner as less satisfying. These findings provide empirical support for the widely held clinical notion that FTT in infants is often a relationship disorder between infant and caregiver.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Maternal attachment disturbances in failure to thrive

Benoit

Zeanah

Barton

1989

“…Main and her colleagues have developed a typology that describes overall patterns of organization in these interview responses. This system of classifying internal representations of attachment has been shown previously to predict infant attachment (Eichberg, 1987;Grossman, Fremmer-Bombik, Rudolph, & Grossman, 1988; Main & Goldwyn, in press), clinical status (Crowell & Feldman, 1988) and interactional behavior (Crowell & Feldman, 1988;Grossman et al, 1988). (Main & Goldwyn, in press) have defined the construct measured by the AAI as the adult's "state of mind" with respect to attachment.…”

mentioning

confidence: 90%

Introduction: Internal representations and parent-infant relationships

Zeanah

Barton

1989

Infant mental health practitioners have continually striven to understand and to improve disordered parent‐infant relationships. Recently, researchers have begun attempts to describe and study these relationships systematically. There is an increasing interest in the construction of internal representations as indices of how relationship patterns are carried internally and transmitted from parent to child. This special issue of the Infant Mental Health Journal presents theoretical and clinical perspectives on internal representations, as well as results from some preliminary empirical investigations. This new convergence of efforts among theoreticians, clinicians, and investigators may yield important advances in our efforts to capture the complexity and riches of parent‐infant relationships and their disorders.

“…Carefully designed laboratory sessions may be more useful in capturing differences in mothers' secure base interactional patterns with older children. Using a laboratory stressful problem-solving procedure, Crowell and Feldman (1988) recently found mothers' internal working models of attachment to be significantly related to individual differences in interactive behavior.…”

Section: Correspondence Between the Internal Working Models Of Attachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Internal working models of caregiving and security of attachment at age six

George

Solomon

1989

125

This study describes the relation between internal working models of caregiving, child attachment, and maternal behavior in the home. Thirty‐two mothers of 6‐year‐old children were observed in the home and subsequently interviewed regarding experiential and affective dimensions of parenting. Interviews were examined in order to assess the quality of the mother's thinking regarding two dimensions of caregiving (secure base, competence) which we hypothesized to be related to attachment security. Results indicated a strong correspondence between internal working models of caregiving and child mental representations of attachments as measured from the child's response to a laboratory reunion. The correspondence between mental representations of caregiving and maternal behavior in the home was limited. Representation ratings were most strongly associated with competence‐supporting behavior. Implications for infant mental health research and program evaluation are discussed.