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Disorganized attachment behavior in infancy: Short-term stability, maternal and infant correlates, and risk-related subtypes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2009

Karlen Lyons-Ruth ,
Betty Repacholi ,
Sara McLeod  and
Eugenia Silva
Karlen Lyons-Ruth*
Affiliation:
Harvard Medical School
Betty Repacholi
Affiliation:
Harvard Medical School
Sara McLeod
Affiliation:
Harvard Medical School
Eugenia Silva
Affiliation:
Harvard Medical School
*
Address reprint requests to: Karlen Lyons-Ruth, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Hospital, 1493 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA02139.
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Abstract

This study of 71 low-income mothers and infants examined whether the disorganized/disoriented (D) infant attachment classification is best viewed as a single category or whether at least two subgroups exist, corresponding to the forced-secure and forced-insecure alternate classifications. Correlates of the D classification as a whole, and of the two subtypes of disorganized behavior, were examined in five domains, including 6-month stability, maternal childhood history of loss, severity of maternal psychosocial risk, maternal behavior toward the infant at home, and infant mental development. Results indicated that the two subtypes of disorganized infant attachment behavior differed in age of emergence, maternal childhood history, severity of associated family risk factors, and the extent of the mother's lack of involvement with the infant at home. Across both D subtypes, disorganization of attachment strategies was associated with less optimal maternal behavior at home and with decreased mental development scores at 18 months. Results are discussed in relation to Main and Hesse's (1990) theory of the role of fear-inducing parental behavior in the genesis of disorganized infant attachment behavior and in relation to Aber, Allen, Carlson, and Cicchetti's (1989) concept of secure readiness to learn.

Type
Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , October 1991 , pp. 377 - 396
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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