Cited by 186Attachment and Relationship DynamicsPsychoanalysis and Psychopathology ResearchChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

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Sensitive attunement to infants’ internal states: operationalizing the construct of mind-mindedness

Meins, Elizabeth·2013·Attachment & Human Development

DOI 10.1080/14616734.2013.830388

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Abstract

This paper focuses on caregiver sensitivity, its relation to mind-mindedness (caregivers' attunement to their infants' internal states), and how well both constructs predict infant attachment security. The seminal Baltimore research on sensitivity and its relation to attachment security is summarized, highlighting the conclusion that mothers in the insecure-resistant and insecure-avoidant categories could not be distinguished on the basis of sensitivity. The contrast between the complex, sophisticated construct detailed in the original studies and the broad-based nature of the sensitivity coding scale is discussed. This paper argues that we should return to Ainsworth, Bell, and Stayton's (1971, 1974) original emphasis on the caregiver's ability to perceive things from the child's point of view in defining a measure of the quality of early infant-caregiver interaction. This approach led to the development of the construct of mind-mindedness. There are two mind-mindedness indices: caregivers' tendency during infant-caregiver interaction to (a) comment appropriately on their infants' putative thoughts and feelings (appropriate mind-related comments), and (b) misread their infants' internal states (non-attuned mind-related comments). Both indices predict independent variance in infant-caregiver attachment security, and together can distinguish between the secure, avoidant, and resistant categories. The specific, multidimensional nature of mind-mindedness complements the global construct of sensitivity.

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Authors: Meins, E.
Affiliations: University of York (GB)
Corresponding author: Meins, Elizabeth
ORCID: Meins, Elizabeth
Venue: Attachment & Human Development
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Published: 2013-11
Volume: 15
Issue: 5-6
Pages: 524-544
ISSN: 1461-6734 (ISSN-L)
1469-2988
DOI: 10.1080/14616734.2013.830388
OpenAlex: W2132933484
Cited by: 186
References: 62
Citations by year: 2026: 8 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 37 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 2
FWCI: 8.49
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Attachment & Human Development (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders: Staffordshire University
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research
Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
Keywords: mind-mindedness, caregiver sensitivity, infant attachment security, caregiver-infant interaction, internal state, insecure-avoidant attachment, insecure-resistant attachment, attachment classification
MeSH terms: Child, Preschool, Empathy, Female, Humans, Mother-Child Relations, Psychological Theory, Mindfulness

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Sensitive attunement to infants’ internal states: operationalizing the construct of mind-mindedness

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