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Cited by 98Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology ResearchAttachment and Relationship DynamicsChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

Disturbances of Attachment and Parental Psychopathology in Early Childhood

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Schechter, Daniel S., Willheim, Erica·2009·Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America
DOI 10.1016/j.chc.2009.03.001PMC PMC2690512
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Abstract

As the field of attachment has expanded over the past four decades, the perturbations in the relational context which give rise to disturbances of attachment are increasingly, though by no means conclusively, understood. In Part I, this article reviews the historical and current state of research regarding normative attachment classification, the diagnosis of Reactive Attachment Disorder, and the proposed categories of Secure Base Distortions and Disrupted Attachment Disorder. In Part II, the article explores the role of parental psychopathology and the manner in which disturbed caregiver self-regulation leads to disturbances in the mutual regulation between caregiver and infant. The question of the relationship between particular types of maternal pathology and particular forms of attachment disturbance is examined through recent research on the association between maternal posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Atypical Maternal Behavior, and child scores on the Disturbances of Attachment Interview (DAI). The authors present original research findings to support that the presence and severity of maternal violence-related PTSD were significantly associated with secure base distortion in a community pediatrics sample of 76 mothers and preschool-age children. Clinical implications and recommendations for treatment of attachment disturbances conclude the article.

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  • DAI has shown strong convergent and discriminant validity.

    “The instrument has shown strong convergent (9, 30) and discriminant (29) validity.”

    From A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Foster Care and Institutional Care for Children With Signs of Reactive Attachment Disorder (2012) · cites this paper as [30]

    In Part II, ‘PTSD and Secure Base Distortions’ (page unavailable), the paper describes the DAI and reports internal consistency for its secure-base-distortion items and an association between DAI scores and maternal PTSD severity. Neither that passage nor searches for ‘convergent validity’ and ‘discriminant validity’ establish that the DAI has strong validity of either kind. (LLM, conf=0.72)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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6 of the 143 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. [64]Hinshaw-Fuselier S Boris NW Zeanah CH Reactive attachment disorder in maltreated twins Infant Mental Health Journal 1999 20 1 42 59
  2. [92]Slade A Keeping the baby in mind: A critical factor in perinatal mental health Bulletin of ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families 2002 22 6 10 16
  3. [94]Dozier M Lindhiem O Ackerman JP Attachment and biobehavioral catch up: an intervention targeting empirically identified needs of foster care infants Berlin LJ Ziv Y Amaya-Jackson L Greenberg MT Enhancing early attachments New York The Guilford Press 2005 178 194
  4. [120]Lyons-Ruth K Block D The disturbed caregiving system: relations among childhood trauma, maternal caregiving, and infant affect and attachment Infant Mental Health Journal 1996 17 257 275

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Authors
Schechter, D. S., & Willheim, E.
Affiliations
  • University Hospital of Geneva (CH)
  • Columbia University Irving Medical Center (US)
Corresponding author
Schechter, Daniel S.
ORCID
Venue
Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2009-07
Volume
18
Issue
3
Pages
665-686
ISSN
1056-4993 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.chc.2009.03.001
PMC
PMC2690512
OpenAlex
W2040108063
Cited by
97
References
143
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 7
FWCI
5.67
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (K23MH068405, K23-MH68405)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
Keywords
attachment disturbance, reactive attachment disorder, parental psychopathology, preschool children, early childhood
MeSH terms
Adult, Child, Humans, Maternal Behavior, Mother-Child Relations, Object Attachment, Parents, Personality Development, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Reactive Attachment Disorder

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