Fathers' and mothers' attachment representations as predictors of preadolescents' attachment security: A ten‐year follow‐up of Finnish families. Issue 5 (30th June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kouvo, Anna M.; Voeten, Marinus; Silvén, Maarit
• Is Part Of: Scandinavian journal of psychology. Volume 56:Issue 5(2015)
• Page Start: 527
• Page End: 536
• Publication Date: 2015-06-30
• Subjects: Adult Attachment Interview -- Security Scale -- categorical versus continuous approach -- mothers -- fathers -- preadolescents -- intergenerational transmission of attachment; Psychology -- Periodicals; 150
• DOI: 10.1111/sjop.12224
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0036-5564

Abstract

Abstract : The question of how mothers' and fathers' representations of attachment correlate ten years later with children's perceptions of attachment relationships was examined in a longitudinal study on Finnish families ( N = 42). The parents completed the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) during the child's first year of life. At 11 years, the children filled out three scales on how secure they perceive the relationship with each parent. Parents' AAI classifications and AAI dimensions based on continuous scales were used as predictors of the preadolescents' attachment security. Regression analyses demonstrated that fathers' but not mothers' State‐of‐Mind and Experience dimensions predicted preadolescents' security of attachment to father. The discussion focuses on the predictive validity of the classical categorical versus the recently proposed continuous approach and the different roles of parents in transmitting security from one generation to another.