Parents' Joint Attachment Representations and Perceptions of their Spouses' Parenting Competence Predict Triadic Family Interactions

• In Event: Families as Systems and Subsystems

Abstract

Attachment researchers are increasingly taking a family systems approach to understand the role of both parents’ attachment representations and marriage on caregiving quality. Previously, we found that parents joint attachment representations (both secure, both insecure, mixed pairs) predicted emotional attunement in the marriage which then predicted each parents’ caregiving quality 8 months later. This study builds on those finding to understand the role of parents’ perceptions of each other’s caregiving competence at 8 months on relations between expectant parents’ joint attachment and family interactions at 24 months.
We expect secure attachment pairs will have more positive perceptions of their spouses caregiving ability and parents classified as secure will more likely agree with observers ratings of their spouses caregiving. However, mothers may be upset if their husbands judge their caregiving negatively, especially if their maternal role is central to their identity and fathers have been found less involved in infant caregiving when mothers are critical of their caregiving, which may increase negativity in family interactions. Thus, we expect that parent’s perceptions of spouses’ caregiving at 8 months would mediate relations between couples’ attachment pairings and family interaction quality 24 months later.
Couples (n=125), mostly Caucasian and middle-SES, were followed over the transition to first-time parenthood. Prenatally, each parent was administered the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). At 8 months, parents’ perceptions of each other’s caregiving ability were coded from an interview in which each parent discussed their spouse’s parenting strengths and weaknesses. Mothers and fathers also were videotaped playing, feeding and changing their infant’s clothes and rated on caregiver sensitivity. At 24 months,, mothers, fathers and toddlers were videotaped for 30 minutes playing and solving problems and rated on balanced/engaged vs. controlling interactions.
Based on their AAI scores, couples were placed into one of four groups: secure/secure, mother-secure/father-insecure, mother-insecure/father-secure, and insecure/insecure. Structural equation models of multicategorical mediation (run in Mplus) indicated that mothers in pairs other than secure/secure had significantly poorer perceptions of their husbands’ caregiving. However, only fathers in pairs with one insecure member had poorer perceptions of their spouse’s caregiving than fathers in secure/secure pairs. Parents’ classified as secure (vs. insecure) more strongly agreed with observer ratings of their partners’ caregiving ability (mothers: r = 43, p < .01; fathers: r = 34, p < .01). Both parents’ perceptions of each other’s caregiving mediated the relation between couple attachment pairings and triadic interaction quality, except that for insecure/insecure couples, only fathers’ perceptions of mothers mediated this relation (See Figures).
This study highlights the importance of taking a family systems perspective when examining the relation of parents attachment to family interaction patterns. Family dynamics may be best understood when both parents working models of attachment are taken into account. Parents’ perceptions of each other’s parenting also played a critical role. When parents show appreciation for each other’s parenting, families were more likely to maintain a positive emotional climate. These findings increase our theoretical understanding of how attachment operates within the family system and has implications for developing effective family interventions

Authors

• Deborah B Jacobvitz, University of Texas at Austin
  Presenting Author

• Ziyu Tian, University of Texas at Austin

• Shuqi Zhang, University of Texas at Austin

• Bradley Maclaine, University of Texas at Austin

• Nancy Lynn Hazen, University of Texas at Austin