Childhood abuse and neglect are prospectively associated with scripted attachment representations in young adulthood

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Marissa D. Nivison ◽  
Christopher R. Facompré ◽  
K. Lee Raby ◽  
Jeffry A. Simpson ◽  
Glenn I. Roisman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Childhood Abuse ◽  
Young Adulthood ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Maternal Sensitivity ◽  
Adult Attachment Interview ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Secure Base ◽  
Attachment Representations ◽  
Published Evidence ◽  
Secure Base Script

Abstract Waters, Ruiz, and Roisman (2017) recently published evidence based on the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation (MLSRA) that sensitive caregiving during childhood is associated with higher levels of secure base script knowledge during the Adult Attachment Interview (AAIsbs). At present, however, little is known about the role of variation in atypical caregiving, including abuse and/or neglect, in explaining individual differences in AAIsbs. This study revisited data from the MLSRA (N = 157) to examine the association between experiencing abuse and/or neglect in the first 17.5 years of life and secure base script knowledge measured at ages 19 and 26 years. Several aspects of abuse and/or neglect experiences were assessed, including perpetrator identity, timing, and type. Regressions revealed that childhood abuse and/or neglect was robustly associated with lower AAIsbs scores in young adulthood, above and beyond previously documented associations with maternal sensitivity and demographic covariates. Follow-up analyses provided evidence that the predictive significance of abuse for secure base script knowledge was specific to perpetration by parental figures, rather than non-caregivers. Exploratory analyses indicated that abuse and/or neglect: (a) in middle childhood and adolescence (but not infancy and early childhood) and (b) physical abuse (but not sexual abuse or neglect) were uniquely associated with lower AAIsbs scores.

scholarly journals Taxometric Analysis of Secure Base Script Knowledge in Middle Childhood Reveals Categorical Latent Structure

2019 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 694-707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore E.A. Waters ◽  
Christopher R. Facompré ◽  
Adinda Dujardin ◽  
Magali Van De Walle ◽  
Martine Verhees ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Latent Structure ◽  
Secure Base ◽  
Taxometric Analysis ◽  
Secure Base Script

scholarly journals (In)variability of Attachment in Middle Childhood: Secure Base Script Evidence in Diary Data

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 225-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Bosmans ◽  
Magali Van de Walle ◽  
Lien Goossens ◽  
Eva Ceulemans
Keyword(s):  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Secure Base ◽  
Secure Attachment ◽  
Attachment Figure ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Diary Studies ◽  
Secure Base Script ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Insight Into

Secure attachment is characterised by a secure base script regarding the attachment figure as a source for support. Having such a cognitive script should affect the stability of state attachment. Specifically, incongruent attachment-related information should get assimilated to this secure base script, leading to state attachment scores that hardly fluctuate. For children without a script, state attachment should vary depending on the quality of attachment-related interactions. Two diary studies were carried out in 9- to 13-year-old children. Results suggested that with assimilation: (1) securely attached children fluctuated less in their daily attachment-related appraisals; (2) fluctuations were related to conflicts with mother; (3) this relation was stronger for less securely attached children. Consequently, these studies further support the secure base script hypothesis and provide insight into the interplay of trait and state components of attachment-related appraisals.

scholarly journals Attachment Disorder Symptoms and Prosocial Behavior in Middle Childhood: The Role of Secure Base Script Knowledge

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bien Cuyvers ◽  
Noortje Vervoort ◽  
Guy Bosmans
Keyword(s):  
Behavior Problems ◽  
Prosocial Behavior ◽  
Primary Caregivers ◽  
Secure Base ◽  
Attachment Representations ◽  
Attachment Disorder ◽  
Attachment Figure ◽  
Withdrawn Behavior ◽  
Secure Base Script

Abstract Background: Children with attachment disorder show prosocial behavior problems. Prosocial behavior problems are an operationalization of the symptom of inhibited and emotionally withdrawn behavior in children with attachment disorder symptoms. However, the underlying mechanism between attachment disorder symptoms and prosocial behavior problems is still unclear and findings in literature are mixed.Methods: The current study investigated the role of children’s attachment representations in this association. Attachment representations reflect knowledge about a cognitive script regarding the attachment figure as a source for support (Secure Base Script). We tested whether secure base script knowledge 1) mediates or 2) moderates the link between attachment disorder symptoms and prosocial behavior problems in 67 children (6-11 years; 83.1% boys) recruited from special education schools for children with behavioral problems. Children completed a pictorial Secure Base Script Test. Their attachment disorder symptoms were assessed during an interview with the primary caregivers. Primary caregivers and teachers filled out a prosocial behavior questionnaire about the child. Results: Results did not support the mediation hypothesis, but evidence for the moderation hypothesis was found. Secure base script knowledge attenuated the negative association between attachment disorder symptoms and prosocial behavior.Conclusions: These findings contribute to the discussion about the link between attachment representations and attachment disorders.

scholarly journals Stability and change in secure base script knowledge during middle childhood and early adolescence: A 3-year longitudinal study.

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (11) ◽  
pp. 2379-2388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore E. A. Waters ◽  
Christopher R. Facompré ◽  
Magali Van de Walle ◽  
Adinda Dujardin ◽  
Simon De Winter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Early Adolescence ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Secure Base ◽  
Stability And Change ◽  
Secure Base Script

scholarly journals Reactive Attachment Disorder Symptoms and Prosocial Behavior in Middle Childhood: The Role of Secure Base Script Knowledge 

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bien Cuyvers ◽  
Eleonore Vervoort ◽  
Guy Bosmans
Keyword(s):  
Behavior Problems ◽  
Prosocial Behavior ◽  
Primary Caregivers ◽  
Reactive Attachment Disorder ◽  
Secure Base ◽  
Attachment Representations ◽  
Attachment Disorder ◽  
Secure Base Script ◽  
Reactive Attachment

Abstract Background: Children with attachment disorder show prosocial behavior problems. Children with a reactive attachment disorder show inhibited and emotionally withdrawn behavior. Consequently, these children typically display prosocial behavior problems. However, the underlying mechanism between reactive attachment disorder and prosocial behavior problems is still unclear and findings in literature are mixed. Methods: The current study investigated the role of children’s attachment representations in this association. Attachment representations reflect knowledge about a cognitive script regarding the attachment figure as a source for support (Secure Base Script). We tested whether secure base script knowledge 1) mediates or 2) moderates the link between reactive attachment disorder and prosocial behavior problems in 83 children (6-11 years; 83.1% boys) recruited from special education schools for children with behavioral problems. Children completed a pictorial Secure Base Script Test. Their reactive attachment disorder symptoms were assessed during an interview with the primary caregivers. Primary caregivers and teachers filled out a prosocial behavior questionnaire about the child. Results: Results did not support the mediation hypothesis, but evidence for the moderation hypothesis was found. Secure base script knowledge attenuated the negative association between attachment disorder symptoms and prosocial behavior. Conclusions: These findings contribute to the discussion about the link between attachment representations and attachment disorders.

scholarly journals Multiple domains of parental secure base support during childhood and adolescence contribute to adolescents’ representations of attachment as a secure base script

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 317-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian E. Vaughn ◽  
Theodore E.A. Waters ◽  
Ryan D. Steele ◽  
Glenn I. Roisman ◽  
Kelly K. Bost ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Secure Base ◽  
Secure Base Support ◽  
Secure Base Script ◽  
Multiple Domains

scholarly journals Beating the brain about abuse: Empirical and meta-analytic studies of the association between maltreatment and hippocampal volume across childhood and adolescence

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 507-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madelon M. E. Riem ◽  
Lenneke R. A. Alink ◽  
Dorothée Out ◽  
Marinus H. Van Ijzendoorn ◽  
Marian J. Bakermans-Kranenburg
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Childhood Maltreatment ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Hippocampal Volume ◽  
Adult Attachment Interview ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Moderating Role

AbstractWe present new empirical data and meta-analytic evidence for the association of childhood maltreatment with reduced hippocampal volume. In Study 1, we examined the effects of maltreatment experiences reported during the Adult Attachment Interview on hippocampal volume in female twin pairs. We found that reduced hippocampal volume was related to childhood maltreatment. In addition, individuals who reported having experienced maltreatment at older ages had larger reductions in hippocampal volume compared to individuals who reported maltreatment in early childhood. In Study 2, we present the results of a meta-analysis of 49 studies (including 2,720 participants) examining hippocampal volume in relation to experiences of child maltreatment, and test the moderating role of the timing of the maltreatment, the severity of maltreatment, and the time after exposure to maltreatment. The results of the meta-analysis confirmed that experiences of childhood maltreatment are associated with a reduction in hippocampal volume and that the effects of maltreatment are more pronounced when the maltreatment occurs in middle childhood compared to early childhood or adolescence.

Mothers’ electrophysiological, subjective, and observed emotional responding to infant crying: The role of secure base script knowledge

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (4pt1) ◽  
pp. 1237-1250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley M. Groh ◽  
Glenn I. Roisman ◽  
Katherine C. Haydon ◽  
Kelly Bost ◽  
Nancy McElwain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Positive Emotion ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Secure Base ◽  
Attachment Representations ◽  
Infant Crying ◽  
Infant Distress ◽  
Emotional Responding ◽  
Secure Base Script ◽  
Eeg Activation

AbstractThis study examined the extent to which secure base script knowledge—reflected in the ability to generate narratives in which attachment-relevant events are encountered, a clear need for assistance is communicated, competent help is provided and accepted, and the problem is resolved—is associated with mothers’ electrophysiological, subjective, and observed emotional responses to an infant distress vocalization. While listening to an infant crying, mothers (N= 108,Mage = 34 years) lower on secure base script knowledge exhibited smaller shifts in relative left (vs. right) frontal EEG activation from rest, reported smaller reductions in feelings of positive emotion from rest, and expressed greater levels of tension. Findings indicate that lower levels of secure base script knowledge are associated with an organization of emotional responding indicative of a less flexible and more emotionally restricted response to infant distress. Discussion focuses on the contribution of mothers’ attachment representations to their ability to effectively manage emotional responding to infant distress in a manner expected to support sensitive caregiving.

scholarly journals Increasing secure base script knowledge among parents with Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
K. Lee Raby ◽  
Theodore E. A. Waters ◽  
Alexandra R. Tabachnick ◽  
Lindsay Zajac ◽  
Mary Dozier
Keyword(s):  
Child Protective Services ◽  
Low Risk ◽  
Secure Base ◽  
Attachment Representations ◽  
Protective Services ◽  
Parental Sensitivity ◽  
Control Intervention ◽  
Secure Base Script ◽  
Catch Up ◽  
To Receive

Abstract This study evaluated whether Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC), a parenting intervention, altered the attachment representations of parents (average age of 34.2 years) who had been referred to Child Protective Services (CPS) due to risk for child maltreatment when their children were infants. Approximately 7 years after completing the intervention, parents who had been randomized to receive ABC (n = 43) exhibited greater secure base script knowledge than parents who had been randomized to receive a control intervention (n = 51). Low-risk parents (n = 79) exhibited greater secure base script knowledge than CPS-referred parents who had received a control intervention. However, levels of secure base script knowledge did not differ between low-risk parents and CPS-referred parents who had received the ABC intervention. In addition, secure base script knowledge was positively associated with parental sensitivity during interactions with their 8-year-old children among low-risk and CPS-referred parents. Mediational analyses supported the idea that the ABC intervention enhanced parents’ sensitivity 7 years later indirectly via increases in parents’ secure base script knowledge.

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