Below the Major Classifications: A Large-Scale Analysis of Variation in Adult Attachment States of Mind and Parental Sensitivity

• In Event: 1-028 - Attachment in the Age of Big Science: Theoretical Progress Through Consortium-Building

Integrative Statement

Since the now-classic observation that adult attachment states of mind are associated with infant attachment security, attention has been focused on parental sensitivity in mediating intergenerational transmission. Although considerable evidence exists that insecure adult attachment is associated with lower sensitivity, sensitivity does not fully account for intergenerational transmission (Verhage et al., 2017; Van IJzendoorn, 1995). One possibility that has not been thoroughly explored is that the operationalisation of adult attachment variation poorly captures its role in parental behaviour. The vast majority of past studies, for example, have been small in scale and lacking the power required to investigate how consistent the association is for different insecure classifications and sub-classifications. Furthermore, recent work has questioned whether gross nominal classifications are the best way of representing adult attachment states of mind and that dimensional approaches may be more appropriate. The current paper uses individual participant data from a large consortium for the synthesis of studies on attachment transmission to investigate whether a more fine-grained analysis of adult attachment states of mind, below the level of the major classifications, reveals a greater level of predictability with respect to parental sensitivity, based on sub-classifications and dimensions derived from the AAI state of mind rating scales. A secondary aim was to identify any insecure dimensions or sub-classifications where parental sensitivity is less impaired than others, which may cast light on possible sources of the transmission gap phenomenon.
A multilevel analysis showed clear differences across all sub-classifications in overall sensitivity (χ2(8) = 80.18, p <.0001). The model-estimated sensitivity scores are shown in Figure 1. An omnibus test showed no significant differences between insecure sub-classifications (χ2(7) = 6.12, p = .53). Repeating this analysis for the 4-way classifications produced a similar pattern of results (Figure 2).
We estimated the 2- and 3-factor models described in paper 1 in this symposium, which distinguished Dismissing and Preoccupied dimensions (the latter including unresolved states of mind) and a further model distinguishing a separate Unresolved factor. The two-factor model showed that both Dismissing and Preoccupied states of mind were independently associated with sensitivity (b = -.28, p < .001 95% CI [-.35,-.22] and b = -.31, p < .001, 95% CI [-.37,-.25] respectively). The three-factor model showed evidence of multicollinearity in the regression on sensitivity, due to the high correlation between Preoccupied and Unresolved states of mind. Estimating each individual dimension separately yielded regression coefficients of b = -.14 (p < .001 95% CI[-.20,-.10]) for Dismissing, b = -.15 (p < .001; 95% CI [-.20,-.11]) for Preoccupation and b = -.22 (p < .001; 95% CI [-.25,-.17]) for Unresolved.
The results of our analysis show for the first time the remarkable consistency of the association between insecure parental states of mind, assessed at the sub-classification or dimensional scale, and sensitivity, including an unexpected and comparatively strong association for unresolved loss and trauma. Further analysis will explore whether different domains of sensitivity show evidence of differential association with adult insecurity.

Group Authors

The Collaboration on Attachment Transmission Synthesis

Authors

• Pasco Fearon, Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London
  Presenting Author

• Marije L. Verhage, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  Non-Presenting Author

• Marinus H van IJzendoorn, Erasmus University Rotterdam
  Non-Presenting Author

• Carlo Schuengel, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  Non-Presenting Author

• Marian J Bakermans-Kranenburg, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sheri Madigan, University of Calgary and the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Calgary
  Non-Presenting Author

• Glenn Roisman, University of Minnesota
  Non-Presenting Author

• Mirjam Oosterman, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  Non-Presenting Author