When insecure attachment dispositions affect mentoring relationship quality : an exploration of interactive mentoring contexts

In this study, we explored the effects of mentor and mentee insecure attachment dispositions (ambivalence and avoidance) on mentoring relationship quality while considering the specific nature of the interactive mentoring context. Participants (n = 252 matches) were enrolled in the MIRES program, a one-year college-based mentoring program that matches late adolescent mentees (17-year-olds) with young adult mentors (23-year-olds) designed to facilitate the transition to college. Using data drawn from mentors’ logbooks (at 9 time points), two interactive contexts were addressed: 1) situations involving mentee academic issues and mentor proactive academic support (academically-oriented), and 2) situations involving mentee personal issues and mentor emotional support, and caring (emotionally-oriented). Linear regression results showed that both mentors’ and mentees’ avoidance uniquely predicted lower reports of mentoring relationship quality, but especially inemotionally-oriented matches and when their partners’ attachment ambivalence was high. In matches less focused on emotional support, mentors’ attachment avoidance interacted with mentees’ ambivalence to predict positive mentoring relationship quality. Theoretical, practical, and mentor training issues are discussed

L’intervention auprès de jeunes mères et de leur enfant : perspective de la théorie de l’attachement

The children of adolescent mothers are among those presenting the highest level of psychosocial risk, compromising their socio-emotional development on a number of levels. Several intervention strategies have been designed to address some of the problems that characterize these mother-infant dyads. While these strategies have proven to be beneficial to young mothers, relatively little impact has been found on the level of infant and child development. The purpose of this article is to address the issue of intervention aimed at adolescent mothers and their infant, and underline that the relational dimension, while absent from most intervention programs, is necessary to our understanding of the problems presented by these dyads. An intervention program, currently undergoing evaluation, is described having as a main objective the improvement of the early mother-infant relationship. Attachment theory is presented as an organizing construct. Characteristics of the intervention, as well as the evaluation strategy, are described

Both Maternal Sensitivity and Atypical Maternal Behavior Independently Predict Attachment Security and Disorganization in Adolescent Mother–infant Dyads

On the basis of these findings, at odds with current models of the origins of secure vs disorganized attachment, the current study examined the association between distinct qualities of maternal interaction and attachment in a single study. The participants in the current study were adolescent mothers and their infants, a population that has been shown to be at substantial developmental risk and to exhibit a range of markedly atypical interactions with their infants (Jaffee, Caspi, Moffitt, Belsky, and Silva, 2001)

Grandparents as Foster Parents: Psychological Distress, Commitment, and Sensitivity to their Grandchildren

Grandparents are increasingly solicited to become foster parents. This study aims to describe the psychological distress, parental sensitivity, and parental commitment of a group of Quebec foster grandparents. Forty-eight foster parents were assessed in this study, including 12 grandparents. Psychological distress was assessed using the Symptom Checklist–90–R (SCL–90–R®; Derogatis & Lazarus 1994), parental sensitivity using the short version of the Maternal Behavior Q-Sort (Tarabulsy et al., 2009; Pederson & Moran, 1995) and commitment using a semi-structured interview (This is My Baby; TIMB: Bates & Dozier, 1998). Results indicate no difference between foster parents and grandparents as a function of parental characteristics, sensitivity and commitment. However, results show an association between grandparent status and depressive symptoms even after controlling for family income and child externalization. Challenges faced by foster grandparents are discussed as well as their need of support from child welfare protection

Reconsidering the links between sibship size, maternal sensitivity, and child attachment : a multidimensional interactive approach

Despite being a well-documented predictor of children’s cognitive and social development, sibship has received remarkably little attention in the attachment and maternal sensitivity literature. The only study that has examined both sensitivity and attachment in relation to sibship found greater maternal sensitivity but no more secure attachment among first-born infants. In the current study, we sought to examine the same links while testing two related hypotheses: that sibship size relates only to some specific aspects of sensitivity, and that sibship size relates to sensitivity only among certain mothers, namely those who are at risk for suboptimal parenting because of an insecure attachment state of mind. We assessed three dimensions of maternal sensitivity at 12 months and child attachment at 15 and 25 months among 258 mother–infant dyads living in intact biparental families. Compared with mothers who had fewer children, those with more children were observed to be less accessible/available, less positive, but not less cooperative/attuned, when interacting with their infant. These links were moderated by maternal attachment state of mind, such that significant relations were observed only among mothers presenting a more insecure state of mind. Finally, sibship size was unrelated to attachment. These findings suggest that failure to consider different dimensions of sensitivity or important parental moderators may result in the erroneous conclusion that birth order and sibship size are inconsequential for parent–child relationships

Deconstructing maternal sensitivity: Predictive relations to mother-child attachment in home and laboratory settings

Despite the well-documented importance of parental sensitivity for child development, there is a lack of consensus regarding how best to assess it. We investigated the factor structure of maternal caregiving behavior as assessed at 12 months by the Maternal Behavior Q-Sort (Pederson, Moran, & Bento, 1999) with 274 mother-infant dyads. Subsequently, we examined associations between these empirically-derived dimensions and child attachment, assessed in the home and laboratory (final N = 157). Three dimensions of maternal behavior were identified, corresponding fairly closely to Ainsworth’s original scales. They were labeled Cooperation/Attunement, Positivity, and Accessibility/Availability. Only Cooperation/Attunement consistently predicted home-based attachment at 15 months and 2 years, and at comparable strength to the overall sensitivity score, suggesting that this construct may be central to sensitivity. At 18 months, compared to their primarily secure counterparts, different types of laboratory-assessed insecure attachment were associated with different patterns of maternal behavior. Mothers in avoidant relationships (n = 18) were low on Cooperation/Attunement and Accessibility/Availability, but fairly high on Positivity. Mothers of disorganized infants (n = 11) were Cooperative/Attuned but somewhat less Positive toward, and less Accessible/Available to, their infants. A multi-dimensional approach to parental behavior may facilitate the identification of parenting precursors of insecure parent-child relationships

Examining Ecological Constraints on the Intergenerational Transmission of Attachment Via Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis

Parents\u2019 attachment representations and child\u2013parent attachment have been shown to be associated, but these associations vary across populations (Verhage et al., 2016). The current study examined whether ecological factors may explain variability in the strength of intergenerational transmission of attachment, using individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis. Analyses on 4,396 parent\u2013child dyads (58 studies, child age 11\u201396 months) revealed a combined effect size of r =.29. IPD meta-analyses revealed that effect sizes for the transmission of autonomous-secure representations to secure attachments were weaker under risk conditions and weaker in adolescent parent\u2013child dyads, whereas transmission was stronger for older children. Findings support the ecological constraints hypothesis on attachment transmission. Implications for attachment theory and the use of IPD meta-analysis are discusse

Conceptual comparison of constructs as first step in data harmonization: Parental sensitivity, child temperament, and social support as illustrations

This article presents a strategy for the initial step of data harmonization in Individual Participant Data syntheses, i.e., making decisions as to which measures operationalize the constructs of interest - and which do not. This step is vital in the process of data harmonization, because a study can only be as good as its measures. If the construct validity of the measures is in question, study results are questionable as well. Our proposed strategy for data harmonization consists of three steps. First, a unitary construct is defined based on the existing literature, preferably on the theoretical framework surrounding the construct. Second, the various instruments used to measure the construct are evaluated as operationalizations of this construct, and retained or excluded based on this evaluation. Third, the scores of the included measures are recoded on the same metric. We illustrate the use of this method with three example constructs focal to the Collaboration on Attachment Transmission Synthesis (CATS) study: parental sensitivity, child temperament, and social support. This process description may aid researchers in their data pooling studies, filling a gap in the literature on the first step of data harmonization. • Data harmonization in studies using combined datasets is of vital importance for the validity of the study results. • We have developed and illustrated a strategy on how to define a unitary construct and evaluate whether instruments are operationalizations of this construct as the initial step in the harmonization process. • This strategy is a transferable and reproducible method to apply to the data harmonization process