No More Faceplants Science

Parenting and Attachment Strategy references

Looking into the future of becoming a parent, their view of themselves as caregivers to their child, and their expectations of this parent/child relationship:

  • Secure mothers experienced a more positive self-view of their ability to relate to their future child.
  • Anxious mothers experienced a less-positive self-view of their ability to relate to their future child. They had more exaggerated, perfectionistic and unrealistic standards that they felt they must live up to in order to be an effective caregiver.
  • Avoidant mothers experienced a less-positive self-view of their ability to relate to their future child. They anticipated less satisfaction as a parent. They imagined their future children as being less secure and affectionate. (The findings were not explained by personality traits, only their attachment strategy.)
  • George, C., and Solomon, J. “Attachment and Caregiving: The Caregiving Behavioral System.” In J. Cassidy and P. R. Shaver, eds., Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Applications. New York: Guilford Press, 1999: 649-670.
  • Rholes, W. S., Simpson, J. A., and Blakely, B. S. “Adult Attachment Styles and Mothers’ Relationships with their Young Children.” Personal Relationships 2, 1995: 35-54.
  • Rholes, W. S., Simpson, J. A., Blakely, B. S., Lanigan, L., and Allen, E. A. “Adult Attachment Styles, the Desire to Have Children, and Working Models of Parenthood.” Journal of Personality 65, 1997: 357-385.
  • Slade, A., and Cohen, L. J. “The Process of Parenting and the Remembrance of Things Past.” Infant Mental Health Journal 17, 1996: 217-238.
  • Snell, W. E. Jr., Overbey, G. A., and Brewer, A. L. “Parenting Perfectionism and the Parenting Role.” Personality and Individual Differences, 39, 2005: 613-624.

When they actually had children, their view of themselves as caregivers and their view of their child were that:

  • Secure mothers experienced more joy and pleasure in their relationship with their child than mothers with other attachment strategies.
  • Anxious mothers experienced less joy and less pleasure in their relationship with their child. They described themselves as less competent parents. They had more worries about separation from their child. They viewed their children as more prone to distress and less sociable. The same findings were replicated with fathers.
  • Avoidant mothers also experienced less joy and pleasure in their relationship with their child. They felt less competent as a caregiver with their stepchildren as well.
  • Belsky, J. “Modern Evolutionary Theory and Patterns of Attachment.” In J. Cassidy and P. R. Shaver, eds., Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Applications. New York: Guilford Press, 1999: 141-161.
  • Ceglian, C. P., and Gardner, S. “Attachment Style and the ‘Wicked Stepmother Spiral’.” Journal of Divorce and Remarriage 34, 2000: 111-129.
  • DeOliveira, C. A., Moran, G., and Pederson, D. R. “Understanding the Link Between Maternal Adult Attachment Classifications and Thoughts and Feelings about Emotions.” Attachment and Human Development 7, 2005: 153-170.
  • Lutz, W. J., and Hock, E. “Maternal Separation Anxiety: Relations to Adult Attachment Representations in Mothers of Infants.” Journal of Genetic Psychology 156, 1995: 57-72.
  • Pesonen, A. K., Raikkonen, K., Keltikangas-Jarvinen, L., Strandberg, T., and Jarvenpaa, A. L. “Parental Perception of Infant Temperament: Does Parents’ Joint Attachment Matter?” Infant Behavior and Development 26, 2003: 167-182.
  • Pesonen, A. K., Raikkonen, K., Strandberg, T., Kelitikangas-Jarvinen, L., and Jarvenpaa, A. L. “Insecure Adult Attachment Style and Depressive Symptoms: Implications for Parental Perceptions of Infant Temperament.” Infant Mental Health Journal 25, 2004: 99-116.
  • Priel, B., and Besser, A. “Bridging the Gap Between Attachment and Object Relations Theories: A Study of the Transition to Motherhood.” British Journal of Medical Psychology 74, 2001: 85-100.
  • Scher, A., and Dror, E. “Attachment, Caregiving, and Sleep: The Tie That Keeps Infants and Mothers Awake.” Sleep and Hypnosis 5, 2003: 27-37.
  • Scher, A., and Mayseless, O. “Mothers’ Attachment with Spouse and Parenting in the First Year.” Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 11, 1994: 601-609.
  • Simpson, J. A., and Rholes, W. S. “Anxious Attachment and Depressive Symptoms: An Interpersonal Perspective.” In W. S. Rholes and J. A. Simpson, eds., Adult Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Implications. New York: Guilford Press, 2004: 408-437.
  • Volling, B. L., Notaro, P. C., and Larsen, J. J. “Adult Attachment Styles: Relations with Emotional Well-Being, Marriage, and Parenting.” Family Relations 47, 1998: 355-367.