ABSTRACT We examined whether the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) is applicable not only for assessing children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their mothers but also with their fathers. Forty preschoolers with ASD were observed in the SSP with their mothers and 39 with their fathers. Unexpectedly, the SSP was found to be not applicable (NA) to 25% of the SSPs with fathers because levels of attachment behavior were minimal, but all SSPs with mothers were codable. NA children had lower cognitive functioning and more severe symptoms than those not so coded. Insecure children with their fathers had more severe symptoms than secure children, but were not different in their cognitive functioning. No associations between attachment with mother and severity of symptoms/cognitive functioning were found. Attachment was unrelated to parents’ distress or Broad Autism Phenotype. The study raises questions regarding the applicability of the SSP with fathers of children with ASD.

Attachment to fathers and mothers in preschoolers with an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis

Disrupted maternal communication during mother-infant interaction has been found to be associated with infants' disorganized attachment, but has been studied primarily in North American and European samples and not in Arab samples. To address this gap the study examined the association between disrupted maternal communication and infant attachment in a sample of 50 Arab mothers and their one-year-old infants in Israel. Attachment was assessed with the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP), and disrupted communication with the AMBIANCE. Disrupted communication was higher in mothers of infants with disorganized and ambivalent attachment than in mothers of securely attached infants. The findings support the link between disrupted communication and disorganized attachment in the Arab society in Israel and add to our understanding of maternal behavior associated with ambivalent attachment.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/imhj.22047

Disrupted maternal communication and disorganized attachment in the Arab society in Israel.

ABSTRACT Maternal sensitivity and disrupted communication are usually considered independently as antecedents of attachment security and attachment disorganization, respectively. This study examined whether considering them jointly allows specific predictions of attachment classifications. The sample (N = 159) was selected from a previous study conducted in Israel between 1991–1993, and over-represented disorganized and ambivalent attachment. Attachment was assessed at 12 months in the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP), sensitivity was assessed from free-play observations at 6 and 12 months, and disrupted communication was coded from the SSP. As hypothesized, high sensitivity and low disruption predicted secure attachment; low sensitivity and high disruption predicted disorganized-insecure attachment or ambivalent attachment; and high sensitivity and high disruption predicted disorganized-secure attachment. Low sensitivity and low disrupted communication did not predict avoidant attachment. The results show that combining maternal sensitivity and disrupted communication improves the precision in identifying maternal antecedents of attachment.

The combined contribution of maternal sensitivity and disrupted affective communication to infant attachment in an Israeli sample

This article provides an overview of attachment theory, which focuses on the emotional bond tying a child to his or her caregivers. Attachment theory's origins and main hypotheses are discussed. The significance of early relationships for later developmental outcomes is emphasized. Other topics reviewed include the intergenerational transmission of attachment, assessment, clinical applications, developmental psychopathology and cultural aspects of attachment theory. 

Attachment

ABSTRACT Intergenerational transmission of attachment is one of the core hypotheses of attachment theory. How parents or other caregivers look back on their childhood attachment experiences is suggested to shape their infants’ attachments. In the current paper, we show that a new twist to correspondence analysis (Canonical Correlation Analysis [CCA]) of cross-tabulated attachment classifications with oblique rotation Correspondence Analysis (CA) may uncover the latent structure of intergenerational transmission showing the unique role of parental Unresolved representations in predicting infant Disorganized attachments. Our model of intergenerational transmission of attachment supports predicted associations between parental and infant attachments. Despite growing skepticism about the validity of parental Unresolved trauma and infant Disorganized attachment, we come to an evidence-based statistical defense of these generative clinical components of attachment theory awaiting a substantive experimentum crucis.

https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2023.2187851

In defense of unresolved attachment: re-modelling intergenerational transmission of attachment

This study examined whether maternal disrupted communication, which is associated with disorganized infant attachment, also characterizes mothers of ambivalent infants. The study, conducted in Israel, included a Jewish sample (N = 163; 68 Girls) from diverse socioeconomic status, collected between 1991 and 1993 in an earlier study. The sample over-represented ambivalent and disorganized attachments. Attachment was assessed in the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) at 12 months and disrupted communication was coded from the SSP using the Atypical Maternal Behavior Instrument for Assessment and Classification (AMBIANCE; Lyons-Ruth et al., 1999). Mothers of ambivalent infants showed higher disrupted communication than mothers of secure, avoidant, and disorganized infants. The findings shed further light on the correlates of ambivalent attachment and call for research regarding maternal and infant characteristics that differentiate ambivalent versus disorganized attachment.

Disrupted affective communication characterizes mothers of infants with disorganized but also ambivalent attachments: An Israeli study

We examined whether disrupted maternal communication, which is associated with disorganized attachment in typically developing children, is also associated with disorganized attachment in children with ASD. The attachments of 45 boys with ASD and maternal disruption were assessed in the Strange Situation Procedure. Analyses revealed a link between low cognitive functioning and resistant/ambivalent and disorganized attachment, and children's functioning was therefore controlled. Contrary to expectations, mothers of children with disorganized attachments did not show more disrupted communication than mothers of children with organized attachments. However, the 4-way attachment breakdown showed that the mothers of disorganized and ambivalent/resistant children had higher disruption scores than mothers of secure and avoidant children. The findings suggest that the expected associations between maternal disruption and attachment disorganization apply to children with ASD as well, but raise questions whether disrupted behavior is a unique antecedent of disorganized attachment or also of resistant/ambivalent attachment.

Inbar Ariav-Paraira

Papers

Disrupted affective communication characterizes mothers of infants with disorganized but also ambivalent attachments: An Israeli study

Disrupted maternal communication and attachment disorganization in children with autism spectrum disorder

Disrupted maternal communication and disorganized attachment in the Arab society in Israel.

The combined contribution of maternal sensitivity and disrupted affective communication to infant attachment in an Israeli sample