The Effects of Domestic Violence on the Stability of Attachment from Infancy to Preschool

Abstract

We hypothesized that trajectories of domestic violence (DV), maternal depression, and household income (from pregnancy to age 4) would be differentially associated with instability and stability of attachment, as measured by the Strange Situation at ages 1 and 4. Participants were 150 women and children. Women were first assessed during pregnancy and then yearly when the children were 1 to 4 years old. Overall, attachment was unstable for 56% of the sample from age 1 to age 4. Trajectories of DV and income both predicted attachment patterns. Positive outcomes (secure-secure and insecure-secure) were related to initially low levels of DV that stayed constant or became lower as well as initially high or low levels of income that increased over time.

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Justice (8–7958-MI-IJ) and the Centers for Disease Control (RO1/CCR518519–01) to the first, second, and fifth authors. We thank the Mother–Infant Study research assistants for the considerable time and energy they devoted to the challenging data collection, as well as Susan Paris and Bonnie Conley for coding the Strange Situation videotapes.

Notes

Note: Preg. = pregnancy; DV = domestic violence; Mat. Dep. = maternal depression.

*p < .05.

Note: 44.3% agreement, κ = .07; χ²(9, N = 150) = 9.76, p = .37. When collapsed into secure/insecure groups, there was 57% agreement, κ = .12; χ²(1, N = 150) = 2.11, p < .15.