Intergenerational pathways linking attachment security in parents and outcomes in children: a clinical commentary

Abstract

No simple, direct equations can be drawn between attachment security and outcomes for children from the research presented in this special issue. Instead, a more complex picture emerges, and one that is likely to be convincing to clinicians. Psychotherapists, whose clinical gaze is drawn to relationship process rather than behavioral category and who need no convincing about the power of one person's subjective realities to shape those of others, will be drawn to the essentially relational conclusions of the research. This commentary observes the studies in this volume through the lens of couple psychotherapy, and suggests ways in which empirical research and clinical practice can enrich each other. In particular, it highlights the significance of the relationship between parents not only as a pathway for the intergenerational transmission of attachment security but also as a focus for therapeutic intervention.

Keywords:

• attachment security
• outcomes for children
• intergenerational research
• couple psychotherapy