Epistemological development and attachment theory have been independent frameworks for understanding psychological development. This study examined the association between epistemological development (using the Measure of Epistemological Reflection) and attachment (using the Adult Attachment Interview) in a sample of 60 pre- and postgraduated…

This study aims to investigate the association between the mental state talk of mothers and their preadolescent children, with the hypothesis that an intergenerational transmission of mentalizing abilities may extend beyond early childhood. The participants were 41 mother-preadolescent child nonclinical dyads. The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI)…

Zeanah argues that ethological attachment theory, as outlined by John Bowlby, has provided one of the most important frameworks for understanding crucial risk and protective factors in social and emotional development. However, although attachment theory and the notion of attachment disorders have influenced such initiatives, many psychologists,…

Studied the relation of patterns of attachment and psychiatric status in 82 nonpsychotic inpatients and 85 case-matched controls using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Preliminary outcome results suggest that individuals rated as dismissing on the AAI are more likely to show improvements in psychotherapy. Discusses other findings. (KW)

Examines the relationship between parental attachment histories and child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. The Adult Attachment Interview was given to 27 mothers and fathers with children 3.5 years old. Models that included fathers' attachment histories predicted more variance in kindergarten teachers' descriptions of children's…

Correlated teens' strategies for regulating their attachment to their mothers as measured by the Adult Attachment Interview, and emotion regulation during teen-mother problem solving. Teens with secure strategies engaged in problem-solving discussions characterized by less dysfunctional anger and less avoidance of problem solving than other teens.…

The validity of the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), and its relation to toddlers' social and emotional adaptation, were investigated. The AAI and the Parental Bonding Instrument were related, but only the AAI yielded classifications that corresponded to the quality of infant-parent attachment. (Author/LB)

Examined differences in self-reported psychiatric symptomatology on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 according to the Adult Attachment Interview in first-time mothers from a high-risk poverty sample. Different symptom patterns were consistent with adult attachment status as an index of self-representation and as a set of…

Examines the relationship between attachment strategies and symptom reporting among college women (N=61). The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) was administered and interview transcripts were rated with the Attachment Interview Q-Sort. Findings support the hypothesis that secondary or defensive attachment strategies predispose individuals toward…

Work in developmental psychiatry and psychology has increasingly focused on how internal representations of early experiences with primary figures of childhood affect relationship formation in later childhood and adulthood. Investigations of the reflective self function, which involves mental states in which individuals become the subject of their…

Adolescents in psychiatric treatment (N=133) participated in a case-comparison study investigating the association of attachment patterns with a history of suicidal behaviors. Attachment patterns were assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview. In accordance with definitions provided in the scoring system, 86% of case and 78% of comparison…

This meta-analysis on 33 studies, including more than 2,000 Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) classifications, presents distributions of AAI classifications in samples of nonclinical fathers and mothers, in adolescents, in samples from different cultures, and in clinical groups. Fathers, adolescents, and participants from different countries show…