Maternal adult attachment representations across relationship domains and infant outcomes: the importance of family and couple functioning

Abstract

This study focused on maternal adult attachment with respect to family of origin experiences (assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview) as well as maternal marital attachment (assessed using the Marital Attachment Interview), both obtained during the prenatal period, to evaluate the extent to which accounting for family interaction patterns helps to elucidate links between mothers' adult attachment and children's attachment security. This conceptualization begins to address the complex nature of attachment within the family context, and findings suggest that family process (marital and family unit relationships) is an important mechanism to examine as a link between adult attachment and child outcomes.

Keywords:

• adult attachment
• marital attachment
• child outcomes