Maternal depression and the quality of early attachment: an examination of infants, preschoolers, and their mothers

Teti, Douglas M.; Gelfand, Donna M.; Messinger, Daniel S.; Isabella, Russell

doi:10.1037/0012-1649.31.3.364

Cited by 506Attachment and Relationship DynamicsMaternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and PostpartumChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

Maternal depression and the quality of early attachment: an examination of infants, preschoolers, and their mothers

Teti, Douglas M., Gelfand, Donna M., Messinger, Daniel S., Isabella, Russell·1995·Developmental Psychology

DOI 10.1037/0012-1649.31.3.364

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Abstract

Relations between maternal depression and attachment security among 50 infant-mother and 54 preschool child-mother dyads were examined using the classification system of M.D.S. Ainsworth, M.C. Blehar, E. Waters, and S. Wall (1979) and M. Main and J. Solomon (1990) for infants and the Preschool Assessment (P.M. Crittenden, 1992b) for preschoolers. Attachment insecurity was significantly associated with maternal depression among infants and preschoolers. Futhermore, children without unitary, coherent attachment strategies tended to have more chronically impaired mothers than did children with coherent, organzed attachment strategies. Results stress the importance of severity-chronicity of parental illness in the study of depression and early attachment relations, and that differences between children with and without coherent, organized attachment strategies are as clinically informative as are differences between secure and insecure children

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Maternal depression decreases the likelihood of secure attachment and increases the risk for avoidant and disorganized attachment.
“Research suggests that maternal depression decreases the likelihood of secure attachment and increases the risk for avoidant and disorganized attachment (Martins & Gaffan, 2000;Teti et al. 1995).”
From The effects of paternal depression on child and adolescent outcomes: A systematic review (2016) · cites this paper as Teti et al. 1995

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Authors: Teti, D. M., Gelfand, D. M., Messinger, D. S., & Isabella, R.
Affiliations: University of Maryland, Baltimore County (US)
University of Utah (US)
University of Miami (US)
ORCID: Teti, Douglas M.
Messinger, Daniel S.
Venue: Developmental Psychology
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Published: 1995-05
Volume: 31
Issue: 3
Pages: 364-376
ISSN: 0012-1649 (ISSN-L)
1939-0599
DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.31.3.364
OpenAlex: W2010288941
Cited by: 506
References: 36
Citations by year: 2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 33 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 23 · 2012: 21
FWCI: 29.07
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Developmental Psychology (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
Keywords: maternal depression, attachment security, insecure attachment, infant-mother attachment, attachment strategies

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Maternal depression and the quality of early attachment: an examination of infants, preschoolers, and their mothers

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