Poster #148 - Stability of Adult Attachment Across the Transition to Motherhood

• In Event: 3-003 - Poster Session 09
  In Poster Session: PS 09 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

Adult attachment is a powerful predictor of caregiving and child outcomes; thus, it is important to understand whether and how it may change over time. Longitudinal research has shown attachment representations to be mostly stable over time, with instability being predictable based on changes in the caregiving environment. The transition to parenthood is a time of intense reorganization of the caregiving environment, as new parents take on the role of attachment figure for their new infant. Stability and change on the gold standard Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; George et al., 1985) has been examined in a handful of studies, though with limited exploration of first-time parenthood. As such, little is known about the changes in attachment representations that may occur across the major life transition of becoming a parent. Attachment theory posits that this transition may be the catalyst for representational reorganization resulting from providing care for the new child. This study examined stability and change in adult attachment representations across the transition to parenthood for first-time mother and explored possible factors associated with change. Participants were 93 first-time mothers who completed the AAI during their third trimester of pregnancy and again when their child was 24-months old. Mothers also provided information on major life events (Social Readjustment Rating Scale; Holmes & Rahe, 1967). At the first assessment, mothers had an average age of 29 years and were either married (91%) or cohabiting (9%) with the child’s father. Mothers were predominantly white and socioeconomic status ranged from lower to upper middle class. Adult attachment classifications differed in their level of stability over time. Organized attachment showed stability over time (X2 (4) = 0.37, p < .05), though with variability between groups. Preoccupied was the most stable organized category (78.6%), followed by autonomous (64.1%), with dismissing being the least stable (33.3%). Mothers who were dismissing prenatally mostly became autonomous (53.3%). Neither unresolved loss nor abuse showed stability across the transition to parenthood (X2 (1) = 1.311, p = .281). Of the mothers who were unresolved for loss prenatally, only 21% were still unresolved when their child was 24-months-old. Of those who were unresolved for abuse prenatally, 41% were still unresolved. Participants who remained unresolved experienced more stressful life events (e.g., loss of job, moving) than those who resolved their trauma. These findings have meaningful implication for clinicians working with new mothers, as well as for researchers seeking to understand attachment stability over time. While adult attachment is more likely to be stable than unstable, results demonstrate that major life transition of becoming a parent has the potential to shift internal representations of attachment, potentially toward security. Connections between organized and unresolved attachment will be discussed, as well as potential mechanisms of change.

Authors

• Samantha Reisz, University of Cambridge
  Presenting Author

• Nancy Hazen, The University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author

• Deborah Jacobvitz, The University of Texas at Austin
  Non-Presenting Author