Association between childhood maltreatment and attachment disorganization in young adulthood: The protective role of early mother-child interactions.
Child Abuse Negl
; 143: 106281, 2023 09.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37301115
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Individuals who experience chronic relational trauma within the parent-child relationship are at risk of developing disorganized representations of attachment relationships in the form of Hostile-Helpless (HH) states of mind. While this association is well recognized theoretically, few studies to date have empirically tested predictors of HH states of mind.OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this study was to examine whether retrospective self-reports of maltreatment and the quality of mother-child affective communication assessed in childhood predict HH states of mind in young adulthood.METHODS:
The sample was composed of 66 young adults from a low-income community sample, who had been taking part in a longitudinal project since they were preschoolers.RESULTS:
Results indicate that childhood maltreatment experiences significantly predict HH states of mind and that the quality of mother-child affective communication serves a protective role in the association between childhood maltreatment severity and adult attachment disorganization.CONCLUSION:
This study is one of the first to prospectively examine how the quality of mother-child affective communication in childhood relates to attachment disorganization in young adulthood. Our results highlight the importance of providing support to families in which the child is at risk of experiencing relational trauma, with a particular focus on improving the quality of parent-child interactions.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Maus-Tratos Infantis
/
Relações Mãe-Filho
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Child
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article