Adult Attachment, Mental Representations, and Faith: Mediators of Trauma and Self-Regulation

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gibaeg Han ◽  
Patricia L. Kaminski ◽  
Jennifer Huynh
Keyword(s):  
Adult Attachment ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Self Regulation

Co-creating secure attachment imagery to enhance relational healing

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-55
Author(s):  
David S. Elliott
Keyword(s):  
Adult Attachment ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Patient Experiences ◽  
Secure Attachment ◽  
Valuable Contribution ◽  
Relational Context ◽  
Attachment Figure ◽  
Attachment Relationships ◽  
Attachment Experience ◽  
Therapeutic Model

All treatments for adult attachment insecurity include in some form a set of principles and methods that can be termed therapist-as-good-attachment-figure. This relational context is widely and appropriately accepted as a foundation for any attachment-focused therapy. After highlighting some of the principles of this approach, this article describes a therapeutic model that includes using patient-and-therapist co-created imagery of positive attachment experience. This imagery method is intrapersonal, in that it focuses on the patient's inner experience of mental representations of attachment relationships; it is interpersonal, in that the process calls upon the therapist to be highly attuned and responsive — as a good attachment figure — to the patient experiencing the imagery; and it is metainterpersonal, in that the patient experiences the imagined interaction with the positive attachment relationships in the context of the therapist supporting and participating in the process. The use of imagery in this way can be a valuable contribution towards relational healing and adult earned secure attachment.

Adult Attachment Interview, Thematic Analysis, and Communicative Style in Families with Substance Use Disorder

2002 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 279-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigi Anolli ◽  
Michela Balconi
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Adult Attachment ◽  
Attachment Styles ◽  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Adult Attachment Interview ◽  
Linguistic Patterns ◽  
Within Subjects ◽  
Attachment Pattern

The paper examined the Adult Attachment Interview with special reference to thematic and semantic analysis in line with the discourse study (van Dijk, 1997). The hypothesis was that correspondence between the communicative organization of speech and the mental representations of the attachment experiences would be substantial Eight Adult Attachment Interview transcripts of fathers with a heroin addicted young son were analyzed at two levels, (a) thematic analysis to individuate the topics of their talk applying the structural and semantic study of discourse and (b) enunciative analysis of speech to define their linguistic patterns utilizing a set of linguistic micro- and macro-units. Results showed nine main topics in the Adult Attachment Interview, each of which was characterized by a distinctive linguistic profile. In this perspective this device seems to be effective not only for discriminating attachment styles between subjects but also to identify differences within subjects belonging to the same attachment pattern.

Qualitŕ della disorganizzazione nelle rappresentazioni mentali d'attaccamento delle madri: uno studio pilota nell'ambito del maltrattamento

2009 ◽  
pp. 39-50
Author(s):  
Lavinia Barone ◽  
Alessandra Frigerio
Keyword(s):  
Adult Attachment ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Adult Attachment Interview ◽  
Disorganized Attachment ◽  
Control Group ◽  
States Of Mind ◽  
Socio Economic Status ◽  
Coding Systems ◽  
Potential Risk Factors

- Objective: this study focuses on the investigation of disorganized attachment in a group of maltreating mothers in order to identify potential risk factors of abusive parenting. Method: A sample of 10 "maltreating" mothers and a control group matched by age and socio-economic status were recruited. Mothers' attachment mental representations were assessed using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). The AAIs were coded by two different coding systems (i.e. Main et al. and Lyons-Ruth et al. systems) in order to fully investigate the disorganization of maternal states of mind. Results: Preliminary data show a significant percentage of disorganized attachment according to the new Hostile-Helpless classification system. Specifically, the hostile subtype was more frequent than other indicators of disorganization, thus showing potential implications related to abusive parenting.Key words: Adult Attachment Interview, disorganization, maltreatment, parenting.Parole chiave: Adult Attachment Interview, disorganizzazione, maltrattamento, genitorialitŕ.

Mental Representations of Attachment among Prospective Australian Fathers

1994 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 505-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marija Radojevic
Keyword(s):  
Adult Attachment ◽  
Transition To Parenthood ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Measurement Instrument ◽  
Adult Attachment Interview ◽  
Infant Attachment ◽  
Internal Representations

Research into security or otherwise of infant attachment and its correlates is well established. Research into adult internal representations of attachment is still in its infancy. This emergent area of investigation is facilitated by a new measurement instrument, the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). This paper presents the first Australian report of the distribution of adult attachment classifications in a group of 62 men, prior to the transition to parenthood. Using the AAI, 35.4% of these men were classified as secure. This proportion is congruent with those reported by other investigators. Validity of the AAI is discussed and some theoretical questions related to the findings are raised.

Mothers with borderline personality and their young children: Adult Attachment Interviews, mother–child interactions, and children's narrative representations

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 539-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Macfie ◽  
Scott A. Swan ◽  
Katie L. Fitzpatrick ◽  
Christopher D. Watkins ◽  
Elaine M. Rivas
Keyword(s):  
Adult Attachment ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Borderline Personality ◽  
Adult Attachment Interview ◽  
Role Reversal ◽  
Narrative Representations ◽  
Normative Comparisons ◽  
Fear Of Abandonment ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Larger Sample

AbstractBorderline personality disorder (BPD) involves disruptions in attachment, self, and self-regulation, domains conceptually similar to developmental tasks of early childhood. Because offspring of mothers with BPD are at elevated risk of developing BPD themselves (White, Gunderson, Zanarini, & Hudson, 2003), studying them may inform precursors to BPD. We sampled 31 children age 4–7 whose mothers have BPD and 31 normative comparisons. We examined relationships between mothers' Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) representations (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1984), mothers' observed parenting, and children's narrative representations. Replicating previous studies, mothers with BPD were more likely to be classified as preoccupied and unresolved on the AAI. In a larger sample, which included the current one, we also replicated two underlying AAI dimensions found in normative samples (Roisman, Fraley, & Belsky, 2007; Whipple, Bernier, & Mageau, 2011). Controlling for current mood, anxiety, and other personality disorders, mothers with BPD were significantly higher than were comparisons on the preoccupied/unresolved, but not the dismissive, dimension. Children's narrative representations relevant to disruptions in attachment (fear of abandonment and role reversal), self (incongruent child and self/fantasy confusion), and self-regulation (destruction of objects) were significantly correlated with the preoccupied/unresolved, but not the dismissive, dimension. Furthermore, mothers' parenting significantly mediated the relationship between the preoccupied/unresolved dimension and their children's narrative representations of fear of abandonment.

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