Refining the assessment of internal working models: the Attachment Multiple Model Interview

Abstract

The Attachment Multiple Model Interview (AMMI) was developed to assess internal working models (IWMs) of specific relationships in adulthood (e.g., with mother, father, and romantic partner). In an initial effort to validate the AMMI, the interview was administered to participants who were followed from age 4 to 23. ANOVA and contrast tests confirmed the AMMI’s capacity to discriminate between mother, father, and partner IWMs. AMMI security with each parent was correlated with coherence according to the Adult Attachment Interview, and AMMI disorganization with mother with unresolved trauma (N = 53). AMMI dimensions of security, deactivation, and hyperactivation with the mother were associated with cumulative lifetime scores of security (N = 23), avoidance, and resistance (N = 34), respectively. Intercorrelations between these AMMI scales were also theory-consistent. Associations with the AAI and between AMMI security scores of different relationships are consistent with previous findings suggesting a contribution from both parents in the development of a state of mind, but a more important role of the mother for representations of the partner.

Keywords:

• attachment
• internal working models
• adulthood
• assessment
• longitudinal studies

Notes

1. For information on AMMI training, please contact the corresponding author.

a. due to space limitations, we refer to this probe by “example”

b. we refer to these probes by “feel/do”

c. we refer to this probe concerning the parent that has not been brought up by “example other parent”

d. we refer to this type of probe by “she/he/you respond” or “she/he/you react”

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by grants and scholarships received from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) [grant number 302665] and the Fonds Québécois de Recherche sur la Société et la Culture (FQSRC) [grant number 171323]. This research was conducted at the University of Quebec at Montreal and Paris 8 University.