In an Idealized World: Can Discrepancies Across Self-Reported Parental Care and High Betrayal Trauma During Childhood Predict Infant Attachment Avoidance in the Next Generation?

Abstract

Adult caregivers’ idealization of their parents as assessed by the Adult Attachment Interview is a risk factor for the intergenerational transmission of the insecure-avoidant attachment style. This study evaluated a briefer screening approach for identifying parental idealization, testing the utility of prenatal maternal self-report measures of recalled betrayal trauma and parental care in childhood to predict observationally assessed infant attachment avoidance with 58 mother–infant dyads 18 months postpartum. In a logistic regression that controlled for maternal demographics, prenatal psychopathology, and postnatal sensitivity, the interaction between women's self-reported childhood high betrayal trauma and the level of care provided to them by their parents was the only significant predictor of 18-month infant security versus avoidance. Results suggest that betrayal trauma and recalled parental care in childhood can provide a means of identifying caregivers whose infant children are at risk for avoidant attachment, potentially providing an efficient means for scientific studies and clinical intervention aimed at preventing the intergenerational transmission of attachment problems.

Keywords:

• attachment
• assessment
• methodology
• betrayal trauma
• childhood abuse
• cognitive processes

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant 1 R03MH068692-01A1 and a University of Oregon Center for the Study of Women in Society Faculty Research Grant, both awarded to senior author Jennifer Ablow, PhD, and was approved by University of Oregon's Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects. The authors express their deepest gratitude to the many research assistants who worked on this project, as well as to the mothers and children who participated in this study.

The action editor for this article was Julian Ford, PhD, Associate Editor.

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